Text b The core marketing concepts

The core marketing concepts are needs, wants, demands, products, exchange, transactions, markets.

The most basic concept underlying marketing is that of human needs. A human need is a state of felt deprivation. Human beings have many complex needs. They include basic physical needs for food, clothing, warmth, and safety; social needs for belonging and affection; and individual needs for knowledge and self-expression. These needs are not invented. They are a basic part of the human makeup.

When a need is not satisfied, a person will do one of two things- look for an object that will satisfy it or try to reduce the need. People in industrial societies may try to find or develop objects that will satisfy their desires. People in less-developed societies may try to reduce their desires and satisfy them with what is available.

A second basic concept in marketing is that of human wants — the form taken by human needs as they are shaped by culture and individual personality. A hungry person in Bah may want mangoes, suckling pig, and beans. A hungry person in the United States may want a hamburger, French fries, and a Coke. Wants are described in terms of objects that will satisfy needs. As a society evolves, the wants of its members expand. As people are exposed to more objects that arouse their interest and desire, producers try to provide more want-satisfying products and services.

But people have almost unlimited wants and limited resources. Thus, they want to choose products that provide the most satisfaction for their money. When backed by buying power, wants become demands.

Human needs, wants, and demands suggest that there are products available to satisfy them. A product is anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use, or consumption and might satisfy a need or want. The concept of product is not limited to physical objects. Anything capable of satisfying a need can be called a product. In addition to goods and services, products include persons, places, organizations, activities, and ideas. A consumer decides which entertainers to watch on television, which places to go on a vacation, which organizations to contribute to, and which ideas to support. To the consumer, these are all products. If at times the term product does not seem to fit, we could substitute such terms as satisfier, resource, or offer. All describe something of value to someone.

Consumers view products as bundles of benefits and choose products that give them the best bundle for their money. Thus, a Ford Festiva means basic transportation, a low price, and fuel economy. A Mercedes means comfort, luxury, and status. Given their wants and resources, people choose the product whose benefits add up to the most satisfaction.

Exchange is the act of obtaining a desired object from someone by offering something in return. Exchange is only one of many ways people can obtain a desired object

Exchange is also the core concept of marketing. For an exchange to take place, several conditions must be satisfied. Of course, there must be at least two parties, and each must have something of value to the other. Each party must also want to deal with the other party; each must be free to accept or reject the other’s offer. Finally, each party must be able to communicate and deliver.

These conditions simply make exchange possible. Whether exchange actually takes place depends on the parties’ coming to an ag­reement. If they agree, we must conclude that the act of exchange has left both of them better off (or at least not worse off): After all, each was free to reject or accept the offer. In this sense, just as production creates value, exchange creates value. It gives people more consumption possibilities.

Whereas exchange is the core concept of marketing, a transaction is marketing’s unit of measurement. A transaction consists of a trade of values between two parties. In a transaction, we must be able to say that A gives X to В and gets У in return. For example, you pay Sears $ 400 for a television set. This is a classic monetary transaction. But not all transactions involve money. In a barter transaction, you might trade your old refrigerator in return for a neighbor’s secondhand television set. A barter transaction can also involve services as well as goods—for example, when a lawyer writes a will for a doctor in return for a medical exam. A transaction involves at least two things of value, conditions that are agreed upon, a time of agreement, and a place of agreement.

In the broadest sense, the marketer tries to bring about a response to some offer. And the response may be more than simply «buying» or «trading» goods and services in the narrow sense. A political candidate, for instance, wants a response called «votes,» a church wants «membership,» a social-action group wants «idea acceptance.» Marketing consists of actions taken to obtain a desired response from a target audience toward some product, service, idea, or other object.

The concept of transactions leads to the concept of a market. A market is the set of actual and potential buyers of a product.

As the number of persons and transactions increases in a society, the number of merchants and marketplaces also increases. In advanced societies, markets need not be physical locations where buyers and sellers interact. With modern communications and transportation, a merchant can easily advertise a product on late evening television, take orders from hundreds of customers over the phone, and mail the goods to buyers on the following day without having had any physical contact with them.

A market can grow up around a product, a service, or anything else of value. For example, a labor market consists of people who are willing to offer their work in return for wages or products. In fact, various institutions, such as employment agencies and job-counseling firms, will grow up around a labor market to help it function better. The money market is another important market that emerges to meet the needs of people so that they can borrow, lend, save, and protect money. The donor market has emerged to meet the financial needs of nonprofit organizations.

Marketing means working with markets to bring about exchanges for the purpose of satisfying human needs and wants. Thus, we return to our definition of marketing as a process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want by creating and exchanging products and value with others.

Exchange processes involve work. Sellers must search for buyers, identify their needs, design good products, promote them, store and deliver them, and set prices for them. Such activities as product development, research, communication, distribution, pricing, and service are core marketing activities.

Although we normally think of marketing as being performed by sellers, buyers also perform marketing activities. Consumers do «mar­keting» when they search for the goods they need at prices they can afford. Company purchasing agents do «marketing» when they track down sellers and bargain for good terms. A seller’s market is one in which sellers have more power and buyers must be the more active «marketers.» In a buyer’s market, buyers have more power and sellers have to be more active «marketers.» In the early 1950s, the supply of goods began to grow faster than the demand. Most markets became buyer’s markets, and marketing became identified with sellers trying to find buyers.

І. Key terms:

Need — знадоба, потреба — that which occurs when a person feels deprived of food, clothing, or shelter; the basic force that motivate a person to do something.

Want — потреба — a need that is shaped by a person’s knowledge, culture, and individual characteristics.

Demand — попит — human wants that are backed by buying power.

Transaction — угода, ділова операція — a trade between two parties that involves at least two things of value, agreed-upon conditions, a time of agreement, and a place of agreement.

Exchange — обмін — the trade of things of value between buyer and seller so that each is better off after the trade.

Market — ринок — a group of potential customers with similar needs and sellers offering various products (that is, ways of satisfying those needs) or a group of sellers and buyers who are willing to exchange goods and/or services for something of value.

ІІ. Vocabulary notes:

evolve, v.

1) (cause to) unfold; develop — розвивати(ся), розгортати;

2) be developed, and (usu) gradually — розвиватися, еволюціонува­ти; виділяти (газ тощо), випускати, видихати; розкривати, виявляти;

evolution, n.

1) evolving; process of opening out or developing — еволюція, поступ;

2) development of more complicated forms of life from earlier and simpler forms — розвиток, процес заміни;

3) movement according to plan — розгортання (сюжету, думки); пересування, маневр.

reduce, v.

1) (to) make less; make smaller in size, number, degree, price, etc. — знижувати, зменшувати; скорочувати; послабляти, полегшувати; to reduce speed — зменшувати швидкість; to reduce pressure — знижувати тиск; to reduce prices — знижувати ціни; to reduce staff — ско­рочувати штат; to reduce taxes — знижувати податки; to reduce temperature — знижувати (збивати) температуру; to reduce expenses — скорочувати видатки; to reduce pain — полегшувати біль;

2) bring or get to a certain condition, way of living, etc. — перетворювати, обертати (на щось); to reduce to ashes — спалити дощенту; to reduce to order — навести порядок, упорядкувати; to reduce to tears — довести до сліз; to reduce to nothing — звести нанівець; to reduce to silence — примусити замовкнути;

3) change (to another form) — спрощувати, скорочувати, доводити (до певного стану); to reduce equation/argument/state­ment to its simplest form; to reduce to an absurdity — довести до абсурду;

reduction, n.

1) reducing or being reduced; instance of this — знижка, зменшення, скорочення; reduction of wages — скорочення заробітної плати; a reduction in/of numbers — скорочення кількості; reductions in prices; price reductions — зниження ціни; a reduction of punishment — юр. пом’якшення покарання;

2) copy, on a small scale, of a picture, map, etc. — зменшена копія;

provide, v.

1) provide for sb/sth. — make ready, do what is necessary for — давати, надавати; уживати заходів; приготуватися; provide against sth. — take steps to guard against.

2) provide sth. (for sb.); provide sb. with sth. — give, supply (what is needed, esp. what a person needs in order to live) — постачати, забезпечувати (чимось); to provide sb. with money — забезпечувати грошима; to provide sb. with a good education — дати комусь добру освіту;

3) stipulate — передбачати (щось — for).

acquisition, n.

acquiring; sth. acquired — надбання, здобуття; придбання;

acquire, v.

gain by skill or ability, by one’s own efforts or behavior — набувати, здобувати; одержувати; досягати; оволодівати;

consumption, n.

using up, consuming (of food, energy, materials, etc.); the quantity consumed — споживання, витрачання; затрати, витрати;

consume, v.

1) eat or drink — з’їдати, випивати, поглинати;

2) use up; get to the end of; destroy by fire or wastefulness — споживати, витрачати; знищувати, винищувати; розтринькувати, марнувати (час, гроші тощо);

3) to be filled with (envy, hatred, greed) — бути охопленим (заздрістю, ненавистю, жадобою); to be consumed with grief — бути пригніченим горем.

consumer, n.

person who uses goods — споживач; consumer goods/consumer commodities — those which directly satisfy human needs and desires (e.g. food and clothing), (opp. to capital goods, e.g. factory equip­ment) — споживчі товари, товари широкого вжитку;

support, v.

1) bear the weight of; hold up or keep in place — підтримувати, підпирати;

2) strengthen; help (sb. or sth.) to continue — надавати сили, морально підтримувати; захищати, сприяти, надавати допомогу; підтверджувати; to support a claim/a political party;

3) provide for (financially, etc.) — допомагати (матеріально); підсобляти; утримувати (сім’ю тощо);

4) endure — витримувати, терпіти, зносити.

bargain, n.

1) agreement to buy, sell or exchange sth., made after discussion; sth. obtained as the result of such an agreement — торговельна угода; договір про купівлю; домовленість; to make (to close, to strike) a bargain (with sb. over sth.) — укласти угоду; домовитися, дійти згоди; a good (bad, losing) bargain — вигідна (невигідна, збиткова) угода; to bind a bargain — дати завдаток; to be off (with) one’s bargain — анулювати угоду; a bargain is a bargain — договір дорожчий за гроші;

2) sth. offered, sold or bought cheap — вигідна покупка, за­дешево куплена річ; to buy at a bargain — купити дешево; into the bargain — на додачу, до того ж; to make the best of a bad bargain — не зане­падати духом у біді; that’s a bargain! — згода, домовились;

bargain, v.

1) bargain (with sb. for sth.) — talk for the purpose of reaching an agreement (about buying or selling sth., doing a piece of work, etc.) — торгуватися, вести переговори;

2) bargain about/bargain over/bargain for — be ready or willing to accept or agree to — домовлятися; чекати, передбачати;

3) make a condition — укласти угоду (договір); дійти згоди; bargain off — збути з рук, здихатися.

ІІІ. Answer the following questions:

1. What are the core marketing concepts?

2. What kinds of need do human beings have? Are they invented?

3. Give the definition of the second basic concept in marketing.

4. Are human wants the same in different countries? Why or why not?

5. Why do people want to choose products that provide the most satisfaction for their money?

6. How do consumers view products? Give examples.

7. What is a product?

8. Is the concept of a product limited to physical objects? Give your reasons.

9. What are the conditions necessary for an exchange to take place?

10. What is marketing’s unit of measurement?

11. Give examples of monetary and barter transactions. What is the difference between them?

12. What do you know about the concept of a market? Is it necessarily a physical location where buyers and sellers interact?

13. Where can a market grow up?

14. What are the core marketing activities?

15. Prove that there is a difference between a seller’s market and a buyer’s market.