EVOLUTION OF MARKETIG

The evolution of marketing is the evolution of the exchange process. Un­less two or more individuals or organizations have something to exchange, there is no need for marketing. The desire to exchange occurs only when someone produces more than he/she can consume (a surplus). This surplus is exchanged for surplus someone else produced. Possibly the first market­ing transaction took place when one cave-dweller, who enjoyed making arrows but did not like to hunt, persuaded a fellow cave-dweller, who liked to hunt but did not enjoy making arrows, to accept some arrows in exchange for some animal skins and meat. Since that primitive time, mar­keting has become very sophisticated indeed.

The Egyptians, Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans all had well-devel­oped trade systems. The Old Testament contains many references to such marketing topics as money, wealth, credit, products, international trade, government regulation, middlemen, taxation, poverty, welfare, pricing, trade fairs, and business ethics.

During the Middle Ages trade declined. However, it picked up again during the Age of Discovery (roughly 1400-1760 A.D.) as merchants sought to extend their reach over much of the world. As you no doubt recall, Columbus made his first voyage to America in an effort to find a more direct trade route to Asia and the Far East.

In the late 1700s the Industrial Revolution began, and as it continued, marketing grew in importance. This latter-day development can be divided into three periods—the production era, the sales era, and the marketing era.

1.Why is marketing considered to be the evolution of the exchange process?

2.What do you know about the marketing topics mentioned in paragraph 2 of the text?

3. Explain in what the production era differs from the sales era and the marketing era.

T E X T 2

Read the text. What is it about? Give the title to the text. Defend your variant.

Marketing is closely related to economics, the social science concerned with the production, distribution, and consumption of useful goods and services. In traditional economic thought economic activity creates utilities of form, place, time, and possession. To marketers the form created is the product; place and time refer to having the product available where and when it is needed; and possession relates to ownership or transfer of title. Marketing is a part of the broad field of economics and helps to create these four all-important utilities.

Marketing is also related to other social sciences. It draws freely from sociology, the scientific analysis of social institutions as a functioning whole and as they relate to the rest of society. Marketing studies people in a social context, as members of different groups. Advertisers, for example, aim their appeals at particular market segments, such as the youth market, the urban market, the black market, or the farm market. Sociology helps us understand the differences not only between our society and those of other nations but also between various subcultures within our own country.

Psychology is the study of the mental, attitudinal, motivational, or behav­ioral characteristics of an individual or a group of individuals. Marketing practitioners find knowledge of psychology helpful in formulating adver­tising and sales campaigns. How do people think? What motivates them to buy? How can we change their buying habits? What price will have the strongest appeal? Psychological research has become a major tool of mar­keting analysts.

1. How does the study of marketing relate to economics? Sociology? Psychology?

T E X T 3

WHAT IS MARKETING?

It is impossible to speak about marketing without understanding what “needs and wants” mean.So let’s begin with the definition of needs and wants. A needoccurs when a person feels physiologically deprived of basic necessities like food, clothing, and shelter. A want is a felt need that is shaped by a person’s knowledge, culture, and personality. So if you feel hungry, you have developed a basic need and desire to eat something. Let’s say you then want to eat an apple or a candy bar because, based on your past experience and personality, you have these will satisfy your hunger need. Effective marketing, in the form of creating an awareness of good product at convenient locations, can clearly shape a person’s wants.

The American Marketing Association, representing marketing professionals in the United States and Canada, states that "marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives." Many people incorrectly believe that marketing is the same thing as advertising or personal selling. This definition shows marketing to be a far broader activity. Further, this definition stresses the importance of beneficial exchanges that satisfy the objectives of both those who buy and those who sell ideas, goods, and services—whether they be individuals or organizations.

To serve both buyers and sellers, marketing seeks (1) to discover the needs and wants of prospective customers and (2) to satisfy them. These prospective customers include both individuals buying for themselves and their households and organizations that buy for their own use (such as manufacturers) or for resale (such as wholesalers and retailers). The key to achieving these two ob­jectives is the idea of exchange, which is the trade of things of value between buyer and seller so that each is better off after the trade.

For marketing to occur, at least four factors are required: (1) two or more parties (individuals or organizations) with unsatisfied needs, (2) desire and ability on their part to be satisfied, (3) a way for the parties to communicate, and (4) something to exchange.

1.Differentiate between needs and wants.

2.What is marketing?

3.Is marketing the same as advertising or personal selling?

4.What factors are required for marketing to occur?

T E X T 4