Perspectives of Marketing

Four Perspectives of Marketing:

The given statement underlines that marketing may mean different things and can be viewed in different shades. Marketing is used in many different ways and refers to many different things. 

The view-points affec­ting the concept and scope of marketing can be illustrated by a chart below:

(1) Economic Perspective: The economic perspective explains the flow of goods and services from the producers to the consumers so as to match supply and demand and thereby accomplish the objectives of society. Here the economist emphasises two specific marketing functions promotion and distribution. But he fails to recognise the broader role of marketing within a given society.

(2) Business Perspective: The business perspective also emphasises the sane view point as economic perspective. It refers to designing a pro­duct or service, setting a price, promoting and distributing. A business firm utilises all these four functions in order to satisfy the customers. In other words, marketing performs the process of adjusting the resources of a business firm to meet the needs of the market.

 (3) Customer Perspective: Customer perspective emphasises that mar­keting is more concerned with the stand point of customer i.e. his needs and wants, the price he is required to pay, the service, and the utilities, etc. The marketing specialists and executives opine that any product or service that is produced must add ‘value’ to a customer in relation to the price he pays. Marketing attaches importance to the customer first and then organises the resources of a company to satisfy customers’ needs at a profit.

This means, the selling concept which depends on aggressive sales promotion did not work well. As Kotler has stated selling concept is superfluous. It can be preceded by several other marketing functions such as analysis of custo­mer needs, marketing research, product development, and pricing and distribu­tion, etc.

 (4) Social Perspectives: Stanton stated very succinctly that profi­table sales volume and not just sales volume, market orientation, and inte­gration of all marketing activities such as sales, advertising, marketing research, promotion are very important elements of total marketing. Marketing concept calls for a high degree of social responsibility which may be cha­racterised as “societal marketing”.

Societal marketing is a further stage in marketing. It is not enough if a firm makes profit. It must also assume social responsibility, that is, the long-run veil being of consumers and the society the quality of life, happiness of consumers and society.