Which one of these concepts suggests that customers will Favour products?

Some of the most important concepts of marketing are as follows: 1. Production Concept 2. Product Concept 3. Selling Concept 4. Marketing Concept 5. Holistic Marketing Concept.

1. Production Concept:

It is the oldest concept in business. It holds that consumers prefer products that are widely available and inexpensive. Thus, managers concentrate on achieving high production efficiency, low costs and mass distribution.

2. Product Concept:

The product concept holds that consumers favour those products that offer highest quality performance or innovative features. Thus, managers focus on making superior products. However, a new or improved product will not be successful unless the product is priced, distributed, advertised and sold properly.

3. Selling Concept:

This concept holds that consumers and business, if left alone, will ordinarily not buy the products. Thus, organizations must undertake aggressive selling and promotion efforts. It also believes that the consum­ers have the opportunity to choose from many alternatives.

Their aim is to sell what they make rather than make what the market wants. However, marketing based on hard selling carries high risk. This is because consumer’s expectations and consumerism is on the rise. Thus, the study of consumer wants rather than aggressive promotion is the need of the hour.

4. Marketing Concept:

With the emergence of the marketing concept, business shifted to a customer-centred ‘sense and respond’ philosophy instead of a product-centred ‘make and sell’ philosophy. Theodore Levitt drew a difference between the selling and marketing concepts to emphasize on the need to shift to the marketing concept.

Selling:

i. It focuses on the needs of the seller.

ii. Its aim is to convert product into cash.

Marketing:

i. It focuses on the needs of the buyer.

ii. Its aim is to associate with creating, delivering and final consumption of the product.

Thus, the companies understanding and meeting customers’ expressed needs are likely to be successful. However, this results in organized resistance. Departments such as production, finance and HRD believe that a stronger marketing function threatens their power in the organization.

Marketers argue that marketing is a core function and needs top priority as it generates revenue, and the other functions have to support them. However, what is necessary is to put customers at the centre of the company for survival and sustainability.

5. Holistic Marketing Concept:

New marketing and business practices that have appeared in the last decade have given rise to the holis­tic marketing concept. According to Kotler and Keller, it is an approach to marketing that attempts to recognize and reconcile the scope and complexities of marketing activities.

Figure 1.1 shows the four broad themes characterizing the holistic marketing concept.

Internal Marketing:

It ensures that everyone accepts marketing principles.

It takes place at two levels:

1. Various marketing functions—sales force, advertising, customer service, product management and marketing research—must work together.

2. Each department in the company must think from the customer’s point of view.

Integrated Marketing:

According to Kotler, the four P’s represent the seller’s view of marketing tools available. However, Robert Lauterborn suggests that the seller’s P’s correspond to the customer’s C’s. Thus, a marketer’s task is to devise marketing activities and assemble fully integrated programmes to deliver value for consumers.

Social Responsibility or Societal Marketing Concept:

This concept calls upon the marketers to build social and ethical considerations into their marketing practices. They must balance the conflicting criteria of company profits, consumer wants, customer sat­isfaction and PR.

Thus, the cause-related marketing practice is gaining importance. Pringle and Thomp­son define this as, ‘an activity by which a company with a product for marketing builds a relationship or partnership with a cause or causes for mutual benefit’. Thus, cause-related marketing practice is gaining importance.

The concept believes that customers will increasingly look for signs of such good corporate prac­tices while taking decisions on brand preferences. This is more long lasting than emotional and rational benefits. Thus, the concept of marketing clearly extends beyond the company and the customer to the society as a whole. Marketers must promote social welfare to prosper in the long run.

Relationship Marketing:

It has the aim of building mutually satisfying long-term relationships with key parties—customers, suppliers, distributors, detailers, advertising agencies and other marketing partners—in order to earn and retain business. Developing strong relations require understanding the needs, capabilities and resources of different groups. Thus, companies create a marketing network.