8 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCINGMARKETING
ConsumerContent
Whatmakestheexistenceofany organizationpossibleis thattherearea significantnum-
berofpeoplewhoneedtheproductorserviceofferedbythatorganization.Assoonas that
groupbecomestoosmall,ortheneednolonger exists, orsomeotherorganizationcansat-
isfythatneedbetter,the organizationwillbe eliminated.That is thewayofa freeeconomy.
Thus, a poli ticiandoesn'tgetre-elected, aninner-c itychurchcloses itsdoors,themoney
neededtocureAIDSis notallocated,andthe Vail SkiResortfiles forbankruptcy.
Inthecaseofbusinessorganiz ations,andmarketingorganization:.:inparticular, the
peoplewiththeneeds arecalledconsumersorcustomers.Inmarketing,th eactofobtain-
inga desiredobjectfromsomeonebyofferingso methingofvalueinreturnis calledthe
exchangeprocess.Moreover, theexchangebetween the personwiththeneed(whogives
moneyorsomeotherpersonalresource)andth eorg anizationsellingthis need-satisfying
thing(aproduct,service, or i dea)is inherently economic,andis calledatransaction.There
tendstobesomenegotiationbetweentheparties.Individualsonbothsidesattempttomax-
imizerewardsan d minimizecostsintheirtran sactionssoas toobtainthe:'nostprofitable
outcomes. Ideally,allpartiesachievea satisfactorylevelofreward.
Ineachtransaction, th ereisanunderlyingphi losophyinrespecttohowtheparties
perceivetheexchange. Sometimesdeceptionandlyingpermeatetheexchange.Other
exchanges maybecharacterized asequitable,where eachpartyreceives aboutthesameas
theother-thecustomer'sneedis sati sfiedandthe businessmakes areasonableprofit.With
theemergenceoftheInternetande-comrnerce duringthe 1990s,thenatureoftheexchange
formanybusinessesandcustomers haschangeddramatically.Today's consumershaveaccess
to farmorean d farbetterinformation. They alsohavemanymorechoices.Businesses must
providea similarlevelofinformationandmustdealwithnewcompetitorsthatarequicker,
smarter,andopen 24 hours a day.
An organizationthatemploysmarketingcorrectly knowsthat keepingcustomers
informedis easieriftheykeepin constantcontactwiththe customer. Thisdoesnotneces-
sarilymeanthattheywrite andcallregularly, although it could.Rather,it morelikelymeans
thata marketing organizationknows a greatdealaboutthecharacteristics, values,inter-
ests,andbehaviorsof itscu stomers,and monitors howthesefactorschangeovertime.
Althoughtheprocess is notanexact sc ience,there is sufficientevidencethatmarketerswho
dothiswelltendtosucceed.
Whenthi~at temptto knowas much ab outth e consumeras possibleiscoupledwith
a decisiontobaseallmarketingonthis information,itissaidthattheorganizationisconsumer-
orientedorhas adoptedthemarketingconcept.Itmeansworkingbackfromthecustomers'
needs,ratherthanforward fromthefactory's capabilities.
Bothhistoricallyan d currently,many businessesdonotfo~lowthemarketingcon-
cept.Companies suchasTexasInstruments andOtisElevatorfollowed whathasbeenlabeled
aproductionorientation,where thefocusisontechnology, innovation,andlowproduc-
tioncosts.Suchcompaniesassume that a technicallysuperiororlessexpensiveproduct
sellsitself. Therearealsocompanies, suchasAmway, wheresalesandmarketingare essen-
tially thesamething. Thissalesorientationassumesthata goodsalespersonhasthecapa-
bilitytosellanything.Often, this focus onthe sellingprocessmayignoretheconsumerOf
viewtheconsumerassomeonetobemanipulated. Insightfulbusinesses acknowledgethe
importanceofproduction andsales,butrealizeth ata three-stepprocessismosteffective:
(1)continuouslycollectinformationaboutcustomers' needsandcompetitors'capabilities;
(2)sharetheinformationacrossdepartments; and(3)usethe informationtocreatea com-
petitiveadvantage byincreasing val ueforcustomers. Thisistruemarketing.