Basic Marketing: A Global Managerial Approach

Perreault−McCarthy: Basic
Marketing: A
Global−Managerial
Approach, 14/e

1. Marketing’s Role in the
   Global Economy

Text © The McGraw−Hill

Companies, 2002

organizations—and activities that facilitate those exchanges—based on applications

of information technology. The technology-mediated exchanges fostered by

e-commerce are helping to cut costs from almost every aspect of marketing while

at the same time helping firms to better satisfy their customers. Collectively, these

developments have had a significant impact on the efficiency of our macro-market-

ing system. For example, most experts believe that the growth of the U.S. economy

during the last decade, coupled with low levels of price increases (inflation), is due

to the fact that e-commerce has helped sellers reduce costs.

Throughout this text we will detail the many ways in which e-commerce is

increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of different areas of marketing. On the

other hand, keep in mind that the upward trend in the macro-marketing system

does not ensure a successful outcome for any individual firm or its customers. The

headlines of the past few years provide ample evidence of this. Many individual dot-

com firms—companies established to do business over the Internet—failed. These

companies were started by people who thought they had come up with “a better

mousetrap,” but customers didn’t always see it that way. These failures are expen-

sive, and ultimately that expense is shared by members of the society. That’s because

money spent on a business that fails—that does not make a positive contribution

to the macro-marketing system—could have had a positive effect if it was spent

more wisely in some other way. So, it is important to see that if individual man-

agers make poor decisions it may affect many people. Throughout this text we will

be focusing on how managers can make better decisions—to improve both micro-

marketing performance and the performance of the whole macro-marketing system.

In explaining marketing’s role in society, we described some of the benefits of a

market-directed macro-marketing system. We can see this in the macro-marketing

system of the United States. It provides—at least in material terms—one of the

highest standards of living in the world. It seems to be “effective” and “fair” in many

ways.

We must admit, however, that marketing—as it exists in the United States and

other developed societies—has many critics. Marketing activity is especially open

to criticism because it is the part of business most visible to the public. There is

nothing like a pocketbook issue for getting consumers excited!

A market-directed, macro-

marketing system encourages

marketing managers to develop

innovative ways to meet

customers’ needs.

Marketing has its

critics

Marketing’s Role in the Global Economy 25