Analysis of Marketings Role Is to Encourage Consumption Statement - Term Paper Example

Marketing’s role is to encourage consumption (Lazer, 1969). This ment is as true now as it was in 1969. Debate Justin Marcus Lecturer Name Submission Date University The world of marketing has changed over the last few years but the change has been incremental. The marketing world has seen its highs and lows but the changes have not happened overnight. These have required years and even decades to take place, which is an important consideration whilst understanding the intricate details with this subject. In 1969, marketing was viewed as one of the most potent tools behind encouraging the stakeholders to consume, though literally make a sale for the betterment of them alone. For the better part, this is applicable even in the time and age of today. Marketing is a progressing field, one that believes in providing success to the stakeholders who are involved within the different reigns of the same. This success is measured in terms of the relative values of business processes and undertakings. Marketing’s long term success is measured by the kind of opportunities that are unveiled over a period of time relative to the problems that the resources have had (Buxton 2002). The statement of marketing being a significant factor within the encouragement of consumption is true even to this day, more so due to the advantages that marketing has on the pertinent role of the business. This paper takes a deep and incisive look at the way marketing has been seen as an enabling agent with regards to consumption and the eventual sale which in essence has been the case since 1969 and even beyond. If the customer does not come back to buy a product, there is no use of marketing it. However this would be a very negative stance on the part of the organization under question. Any organization would dearly require its line of products to make a sale time and time again. This will enable the organization to understand the psyche of the customers in a very amiable way. Similarly this was a precedent which was followed even in the yesteryears, for instance 1969 when marketing was thought of as being an important instigator within the consumption avenues. What makes the whole debate even more significant and interesting lies in the fact that this is the case even in the time and age of today and one can easily predict that marketing will continue to play its due role in a similar capacity in the days to come (Fink 1973). Marketing is a very unpredictable entity but its results can be gauged over a period of time only if the related settings are taken into consideration. These could include the ways and means through which customers, employees and stakeholders merge in a singular capacity to bring about a potent benefit for the sake of one and all as well as the organization in essence. Marketing is therefore a very important force which brings all the relevant stakeholders within the thick of things, meshes them with one another and creates a base for eventual growth patterns in the long run. What marketing is today is mainly due to the combined efforts of the chosen few, the ones who have essentially comprehended the premise of a differential offering for the sake of the customers. Marketing is closely connected with the sales avenue since sales eventually result in a profit-making exercise for the organization and this is one desired proposition that marketers look for in the current times. Sales is different from marketing as it looks to counter the profit-making exercise only after the product is made available, but the latter starts even when the product is not manufactured and brought under the aegis of the said organization (Hackley 2001). Consumption is what the marketing regimes are all about. If consumption is not coming about in a quantifiable way, there is all the more reason that the product is not doing adequately well. Consumption is related very closely with the way the product is manufactured, produced, channeled and delivered right to the intended customer (user). If consumption is an essential ingredient of the marketing mix activities, the organization would understand how and where the success criteria has been established and it will see for itself that the people will throng the retail stores to buy the product or brand under question (Varey 2001). They would come back and forth in order to satisfy their needs and requirements, which are being dealt with through this product that in essence takes care of their pertinent needs and desires. What is even more understanding is the fact that marketing revolves around the angle of consumption because it is a two-way process – one; producing the product for the intended customer and two, asking the customer to come back and build a chain for satisfying his need, time and again. Therefore the connectivity is a long one and depends a great deal on the way the intended customer believes in the sanctity of the product that is being offered his way through the organization’s realms. The thing that asks the customer to come back and demand the product is an important element behind understanding the science of marketing and this is the same as it used to be in 1969 or even way before than that. Marketing’s behaviors might have changed but its basic elements still remain the same, in more ways than one (Dato-on 2000). The best thing to come out of this comparison between today’s marketing and the one that was being done in 1969 and even beyond is that it establishes a very close link with the way things get done within the related contexts of business operations, management studies and marketing quarters. It also paves the way for the marketers to understand as to how and where the evolvement for the marketing strategies, activities, tactics and undertakings has happened and who is responsible for carrying out the same. More than anything else, it is the collective vision of the marketers, the people who are the decision-makers and many more who have believed in the philosophy of marketing for all the right reasons. If marketing is asking the customers to limit their usage of a certain product, it would not be called as marketing in the first place. If marketing asks the people to buy products that are not even available within their respective zones or territories, this is a classic case of failed marketing comprehension. This happens so frequently within the time and age of today that it looks very normal to all the people. However what marketing really wants to do is to build an image in the minds of the people that a particular product is present that can look after their needs and satisfy their requirements and hence whenever they visit this very area or territory, their minds would immediately click on the recall of this product and hence the purchase decision will be made. Hence this marks the very fundamental difference that has come about between today’s marketing efforts and the ones that used to take place way back in 1969. However the consumption patterns for both of these remain largely dependent on the way the media has been able to exploit the possibilities (Cundiff & Hilger 1982). Similarly if marketing asks the customers to purchase goods even when they do not require, however provision of a tangible benefit is made available upon them, this is good marketing that is being done. The basic premise of selling gets differentiated from marketing here since selling speaks of all those activities that come into action when the product is ready to be sent to the customer once it is already present. Marketing is a totally different ballgame and thus needs to be understood in a much different perspective. Marketing is a mind game more than anything else and needs to be treated very separately from the way selling regimes come into total culmination, with the end goal of reaching the customer and hence looking to satisfy the need once and for all. However repetitive steps ensure that marketing and selling look to build upon customers who come back and forth and hence become hard loyal customers, whereby they are essentially providing the organization with a potential client base in the end. This is however a debatable proposition because it suggests the ways and means through which success could be envisioned as far as the product’s scope is concerned. Defining the scope would only make the product look more tangible and more long-lasting than it is at the present. This is essential in the long term scheme of things (Durning 1991). Consumption asks for post purchase behaviors on the part of the customers, who come back and forth to make their points clear with regards to the product that they have bought. If the customer is unhappy, he will revert back with more pressure and negative resilience than he would if his need has been satisfied in an adequately sound manner (positive reinforcement) (Lazer 1971). Therefore the negativities get highlighted more than the positives which have been related with the marketing regimes. This is normal human psyche that he reverts with resistance whenever he feels that the value for his money has not come about in a dignified way. He feels let down and absolutely bewildered at the thought of being let down by the product manufacturer or the organization that is bringing out the product in the first place. The basic human science behind understanding how marketing works is very important so that a proper definition of consumption patterns is established. However this could be difficult to achieve as times keep changing and the probability of people finding out their needs and requirements also modify with the passage of time. Some people might believe that marketing helps them achieve what they expect from the products while others are of the view that marketing is nothing but mere eyewash (Saren 2007). There are different representations available to this study and each one of these has its own related implications. What remains within the relevant midst of this discussion is the way to chalk out a proper plan of action which will take care of the consumer needs and wants in a quantifiable manner – the exact way, through which success for the customer’s sake could be discerned, determined and eventually established in the long run. This is important as it pinpoints the grey areas within the connected discussions as well as highlights where areas of strength could be further bolstered time and time again. There is always some room for improvement and hence any amount of quality addition is always welcomed at the consumer’s end. In the end, it is definitive to state here that marketing’s consumption angle has not changed much in the last 40 years. One can predict the changes to come about in a subtle manner but the basic premise will more or less remain that marketing is much dependent on the way the consumers are able to derive a potent benefit out of the products that are manufactured or produced under the aegis of the organization. This highlights the strengths that the organization is able to deliver as promised by it in the past. This paper took a very incisive look at the way marketing has been able to satisfy the customers in the last 40 years and what trends within its basic philosophy have changed over the years. One can expect that a number of modifications and amendments will come about in the coming times ahead as these highlight the need to remain very spot on and targeted with the consumers’ requirements (Smith 2007). All these aspects have been covered within this paper so that the readers could easily comprehend the important role of consumption within the marketing realms and relate them with the way marketing has been able to create a strong impression on the minds and hearts of the people for whom these activities are carried out in the first place. Marketing is essentially a very strong and coherent factor within the dynamics of running any business and there are several benefits that need to be derived so that success could be achieved at the end. Bibliography BUXTON, P. (2002). Companies with a Social Conscience. Marketing, 27 April CUNDIFF, E. W. & Hilger, M.T. (1982). The Consumption Function: Marketings Role in Economic Development. Management Decision, Vol. 20 (4), pp. 36 – 46 DATO-ON, M. (2000). Cultural Assimilation and Consumption Behaviors: A Methodological Investigation. Journal of Managerial Issues, Vol. 12 DURNING, A. (1991). Limiting Consumption: Toward a Sustainable Culture. The Futurist, Vol. 25, July-August FINK, G. (1973). Criteria for a theory of responsible consumption. Journal of Marketing, Vol. 37, April, pp. 24–31 HACKLEY, C. (2001). Marketing and Social Construction: Exploring the Rhetorics of Managed Consumption. Routledge, pp. 67-69 LAZER, W. (1971). Marketing Management: A Systems Perspective. John Wiley & Sons, pp. 9-10 SAREN, M. (2007). To Have Is To Be? A Critique of Self-Creation through Consumption. The Marketing Review, Vol. 7 (4), pp. 343-354 SMITH, T. (2007). The Existential Consumption Paradox: An Exploration of Meaning in Marketing. The Marketing Review, Vol. 7 (4), pp. 325-341 VAREY, R. (2001). Marketing Communication: Principles and Practice. Routledge, pp. 126-128 Word Count: 2,021 Read More