Consumer Interests and the Ethical Implications of Marketing - Essay Example

Marketing Today Marketing in the time and age of today is certainly a different ball game than it used to be in the past. This is because the different platforms upon which marketing laid its very basis have immensely been altered and this has happened with the consent of the people who are responsible for enacting the different marketing policies, strategies and steps from time to time. Thus it would be fairly adequate to state that marketing has attained the position of a monster, though in very realistic terms. It has become a world of its own and there would not be any wrong dispositions in relation with this very statement. It is a sure fact that marketing has addressed those areas which were deemed as the grey ones in the past by the people who had business dealings, undertook high-level strategies, initiated one to one connections and so on (Kotler 2003). This paper will take a keen look on the basis of marketing coming about in full circle and that too for the betterment of the masses in meticulous. Marketing is defined as the art of selling products and/or services through the effective usage of persuasion, psychology and repetition. One must believe that marketing employs a number of practices which are regarded as its sub-fields namely advertising, sales promotion activities, personal selling, public relations (or publicity) and direct mailing to name a few. With the passage of time, the definition of marketing has changed as it has included a pre-manufacture tilt to its basis with regards to a product and/or service. Selling gets differentiated from marketing in the fact that selling is only done when a product is made available on the shelf within a retail outlet while marketing starts even when there is an idea or concept of the related product and thus the whole game starts as a result of this hype within the relevant audiences. Marketing aims to pinpoint the needs of the target consumers and addresses the same whilst meeting their very needs through the purchase of the product/service and its ultimate usage. If there is no selling of the product, there would be no association of the need with the target audience and hence marketing might not be needed at all. Thus marketing looks to solve the problems in which the consumers are tied up and even when there is no problem at all – just to satisfy one’s desires – they are asked to purchase a product/service so as to have a better standing within a particular social circle or society. In other words, this encompasses the basis of self-esteem needs if not something totally different. Undoubtedly, marketing is now being seen as a science, which needs to be mastered more than anything else. There is a need to comprehend the very basis of marketing in the truest sense before the marketers could think about launching their product/service within the relevant territorial settings. The emphasis must remain on the way the marketing tactics and strategies would collectively combine to bring the result that is much needed and much sought from the relevant quarters. Marketing is different from sales as marketing creates the end product as well as the post purchase dissonance features. However sales is just focused on selling the product after it has been manufactured. Marketing is one step ahead of the related equation, as it starts even before the product is manufactured. Marketing is indeed the selling up of an idea in the minds of the target audience even before this product has been produced in essence. This indeed is a very different yet enticing aspect that marketing brings to the table. It would be right to state that marketing is very different in the way it comes to the fore as well as the manner in which it makes the rounds of the people who matter the most as far as the organization that produces or manufactures the product is concerned (Waitman 1996). The manner in which marketing is being propagated in the time and age of today is certainly very comparable as there are serious differences which could easily be identified. Earlier marketing used to be seen as an option in order to sell a product but now it is being viewed as the only definitive route in order to achieve success in the long run. Hence the manner in which marketing is speaking its own language is very important towards the eventual basis of doing business within the related market territories and domains. It is imperative to understand that marketing presently is sub-divided into a host of areas, all of which are very fundamental towards getting the idea behind having the very business in essence. There is no need to have selling strategies alone; however marketing strategies would benefit the organizations more and this has been proven with the passage of time. What is understandable is an urge to sell the product without actually making the best use of the marketing strategies and tactics as these could be costly. However what the smart marketer forgets is the fact that marketing in such a way could lead towards disaster, and this is never appreciated by any organization in today’s age (Rogers 2001). The changing technological world has meant that the marketing strategies have also improved for the better. These have generally taken into account the shortcomings which were not apparent in the past. Technological dependence has meant that these grey areas have been highlighted in a fair enough amount and hence all the pitfalls have been addressed in a reasonable way. The use of technology is quintessential because it will decide the future course of action for the organization as well as the manner in which its different processes, activities and policies will be devised (Jackson 2003). The role of technology is having sound results for the organizations as these seek to have advanced marketing policies, which will eventually shape up the relation that these have with their relevant stakeholders – the customers, employees and just about everyone who is involved in one way or the other. Delving deep into the domains of technology, it would be appropriate to suggest that technology has forced its way within the related settings in a very subtle yet endearing way (Dennis 2002). Nearly everyone is involved with the different facets of technology and this is something that makes the marketing domains stand out within their respective areas. Today the marketing regimes have immensely changed because these have had more people within the organizations who are tech-savvy and who know how to get work done quickly and more effectively, within the shortest possible time. The results could thus be envisaged whilst keeping the objectives in mind as well as the efficient use of technology within the relevant quarters. Safely put, technology is here to stay as far as the marketing realms in the present times as well as the future are concerned. This is because technology is the end-all, be-all of all organizations, notwithstanding any one in meticulous. Moving ahead, technology should always be allowed to implement its basis within the marketing domains because it can do so much to change the fate of the people who are involved with it. Organizations are the biggest users of Information Technology and they mostly employ it for the promotion of their products and services, which are introduced in the local as well as global markets every now and then. Information Technology for these organizations provides benefits aplenty. These advantages can be in the form of providing information to the users as well as advertising on the net and thus setting sights and their target market on the whole world. The domestic use of Internet is spreading at a fast pace. E-mail is the most famous of the net services that is being used by people all over the world. Other than this, chat programs and voice is also being used all over the world and is quite famous. Information Technology is very helpful from the technical as well as specification information viewpoint; about the different machines and their tools that are a part of the business industry throughout the world. The use of Information Technology is a two-way communication platform between the buyer and the seller and it is up to either one of them to harness its potentials as much as he/she possibly can. It can also be used on the buyer’s part to “offset” a salesman’s characteristics and benefits with prior knowledge of the product. This very valuable knowledge attained can be used to undervalue other’s products and services. The training of staff over a certain period of time becomes immensely important since they stagnate in their current positions and they need to look out of their spaces to explore more and more. The communication aspect for these staff members comes in handy that have to be considered all said and done (Peterson 1989). All sets of employees work for the organization and hence care must be taken to ensure these employees are on the same level and there is not any discrimination whatsoever. The risks associated with the usage of Information Technology within any organization are significant to understand and are stated as follows. An organization could give up its core values in the wake of getting on the bandwagon of Information Technology and thus lose the real essence of understanding what it really wanted to achieve in the long run perspective of the business. The reliance on Information Technology might just mean that the organization can lose its focus on the attainment of certain goals and objectives which it wanted to have within its ranks in a particular time period. Similarly, organizational values and its related discussions can have a serious bearing with the advent of Information Technology and more so with the passing times. Marketing has changed today as Information Technology and its role has changed for the better. It is essential to state here that the role of Information Technology within any present day business is very important. This is because Information Technology brings in more speed than the humans could ever put into work. It eases up tasks and processes as well as benefits the organization both from the short term perspective as well as the long run scheme of things. The logistics and supply chain management issues are best handled when there is information technology running within the relevant ranks and when it is easy to comprehend the whole related regimes in the light of technological prowess (Lim 2006). Thus it is safe to conclude here that Information Technology will continue to play a major role in the business fields in the times to come and there is absolutely no doubt on this notion whatsoever. This indeed is one facet which will continue to get bolstered in the coming times all said and done. Times have changed and so have the marketing regimes. Now marketing aims to pinpoint the need of the target consumers and addresses the same whilst meeting their very needs through the purchase of the product/service and its ultimate usage. If there is no selling of the product, there would be no association of the need with the target audience and hence marketing might not be needed at all (Bradley 2003). Thus marketing looks to solve the problems in which the consumers are tied up and even when there is no problem at all – just to satisfy one’s desires – they are asked to purchase a product/service so as to have a better standing within a particular social circle or society. One must make sure that marketing employs a number of practices which are regarded as its sub-fields namely advertising, sales promotion activities, personal selling, public relations (or publicity) and direct mailing to name a few. With the passage of time, the definition of marketing has changed as it has included a pre-manufacture tilt to its basis with regards to a product and/or service. Selling gets differentiated from marketing in the fact that selling is only done when a product is made available on the shelf within a retail outlet while marketing starts even when there is an idea or concept of the related product and thus the whole game starts as a result of this hype within the relevant audiences. Now marketing aims to pinpoint the needs of the target consumers and addresses the same whilst meeting their very needs through the purchase of the product/service and its ultimate usage (Kasper 1999). Marketing in my opinion has both a positive as well as a negative impact on the individuals, the society at large and the economic settings of a country as well. What this means is the fact that marketing has targeted the different stakeholders with absolutely distinctive offers – and hence the fact that marketing looks glorious at the end of the day. Some individuals might view marketing as a very positive thing since it gives them the opportunity to analyze, judge and eventually understand the difference between a product and that of its competitors’. A check and balance mechanism could be installed by the consumer groups within the society to check for such shortcomings coming to the fore. Thus one of the most important issues that businesses face today is to remain abreast of the societal needs alongside the profit making exercise undertaken by all organizations. The benefits of marketing within the Corporate Social Responsibility levels are manifolds since it looks at a number of different issues like the understanding related with the psychology (Cui 2003). The needs, wishes and desires of the target audience in fact the whole society is touched upon and with that there is a general consensus as to what exactly the definitive segment of the society actually needs for fulfilling its desires and utmost requirements. This could be in the form of different marketing strategies brought together by product offerings and service packs delivered to all consumers day in day out through the retail outlet of the marketing ground (Samli 1992). In the end, this will said that marketing is indeed a science if not an art in the real sense of the word. Marketers must make sure that they get proper marketing lessons before they decide to join the bandwagon which is set on the path of understanding brands and different strategies associated with them. With that, the comprehension brought towards the corporate heads and top management is immensely significant (Stoneman 2002). These people are indeed the torchbearers for a number of different policies that will be enacted by these corporate giants in the times to come. In the yesteryears, it was very difficult to envision where marketing would reach where it has today (George 1994). However whatever changes and amendments with marketing have come about rest largely on the shoulders of the people who have made the same happen, and that too time and time again. One can expect much more to happen within the coming times as well, without a shadow of a doubt. Hence one can surely look up to the coming times in order to seek rich dividends for the marketing regimes. References Bradley, F. (2003). Strategic Marketing: In the Customer Driven Organization. Wiley Cui, G. (2003). Consumer Interests and the Ethical Implications of Marketing: A Contingency Framework. Journal of Consumer Affairs, Vol. 37 Dennis, C. (2002). Marketing the E-Business. Routledge George, M. (1994). Reinventing the Marketing Organization. The McKinsey Quarterly Jackson, C. (2003). Marketing Technology: If You Had $1 to Spend, Where Would You Put It? ABA Banking Journal, Vol. 95 Kasper, H. (1999). Services Marketing Management: An International Perspective. John Wiley & Sons Kotler, P. (2003). Lateral Marketing: New Techniques for Finding Breakthrough Ideas. Wiley Lim, L. (2006). Development of Archetypes of International Marketing Strategy. Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 37 Peterson, R. (1989). Small Business Adoption of the Marketing Concept vs. Other Business Strategies. Journal of Small Business Management, Vol. 27 Rogers, S. (2001). Marketing Strategies, Tactics, and Techniques: A Handbook for Practitioners. Quorum Books Samli, A. (1992). Social Responsibility in Marketing: A Proactive and Profitable Marketing Management Strategy. Quorum Books Stoneman, C. (2002). The New Form of Marketing. Business Asia, Vol. 10, December Waitman, R. (1996). Marketing to the Digital Consumer. 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