What is the philosophy that businesses should analyze the needs of their customers and then make decisions to satisfy those needs better than the competition?

Marketing concepts or marketing management philosophies are the philosophies used by the businesses to guide their marketing efforts.

In simple terms, marketing concepts relate to the philosophy a business use to identify and fulfil the needs of its customers, benefiting both the customer and the company.

Same philosophy cannot result in a gain for every business, hence different businesses use different marketing concepts (also called marketing management philosophies).

Marketing concepts are driven by clear objectives like cost efficiency, product quality, customer’s need fulfilment etc.

There are five marketing concepts. A company should choose the right one according to their and their customers’ needs.

1. Production Concept
2. Product Concept
3. Selling Concept
4. Marketing Concept
5. Social Marketing Concept

Production Concept

This concept works on an assumption that consumers prefer a product which is inexpensive and widely available. This viewpoint was encapsulated in Says Law which states ‘Supply creates its own demand’. Hence companies focus on producing more of the product and making sure that it is available to the customer everywhere easily.

Increase in the production of the product makes the companies get the advantage of economies of scale. This decreased production cost makes the product inexpensive and more attractive to the customer.

A low price may attract new customers, but the focus is just on production and not on product quality. This may result in a decrease in sales if the product is not up to the standards.

This philosophy only works when the demand is more than the supply. Moreover, a customer not always prefers an inexpensive product over others. There are many other factors which influence his purchase decision.

Examples of Production Concept of Marketing Management Philosophies

• Companies whose product market is spread all over the world may use this approach.
• Companies having an advantage of monopoly.
• Any other company whose product’s demand is more than its supply.

Product Concept

This concept works on the assumption that customers prefer products of ‘greater quality’ and ‘price and availability’ doesn’t influence their purchase decision. Hence the company devotes most of its time in developing a product of greater quality which usually turns out to be expensive.

Since the main focus of the marketers is the product quality, they often lose or fail to appeal to customers whose demands are driven by other factors like price, availability, usability, etc.

Examples of Product Concept of Marketing Management Philosophies

• Companies in the technology industry.
• Companies having an advantage of monopoly.

Selling Concept

Production and product concept both focus on production but selling concept focuses on making an actual sale of the product. Selling Concept focuses on making every possible sale of the product, regardless of the quality of the product or the need of the customer. The main focus is to make money. This philosophy doesn’t include building relations with customers. Hence repeated sales are very less. Companies following this concept may even try to deceive the customers to make them buy their product.

Companies which follow this philosophy have a short-sighted approach as they ‘try to sell what they make rather than what market wants’.

Examples of Selling Concept of Marketing Management Philosophies

• Companies with short-sighted profit goals. This often leads to marketing myopia.
• Fraudulent companies.

Marketing Concept

Selling Concept cannot let a company last long in the market. It’s a consumers market after all. To succeed in the 21st century, one has to produce a product to fulfil the needs of their customers. Hence, emerged the marketing concept. This concept works on an assumption that consumers buy products which fulfil their needs. Businesses following the marketing concept conduct researches to know about customers’ needs and wants and come out with products to fulfil the same better than the competitors. By doing so, the business establishes a relationship with the customer and generate profits in the long run.

However, this isn’t the only philosophy that should be followed by all the businesses. Many businesses still follow other concepts and make profits. It totally depends on the demand and supply and the needs of the parties involved.

Examples of Marketing Concept of Marketing Management Philosophies

• Companies in perfect competition.
• Companies who want to stay in the market for a long time.

Societal Marketing Concept

Adding to the marketing concept, this philosophy focuses on society’s well-being as well. The business focuses on how to fulfil the needs of the customer without affecting the environment, natural resources and focusing on society’s well-being. This philosophy believes that the business is a part of the society and hence should take part in social services like the elimination of poverty, illiteracy, and controlling explosive population growth etc.

Many of the big companies have included corporate social responsibility as a part of their marketing activities.

Holistic Marketing Concept

Holistic marketing is a new addition to the business marketing management philosophies which considers business and all its parts as one single entity and gives a shared purpose to every activity and person related to that business. A business, like a human body, has different parts, but it’s only able to function properly when all those parts work together towards the same objective. Holistic marketing concept enforces this interrelatedness and believes that a broad and integrated perspective is essential to attain the best results.

Go On, Tell Us What You Think!

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A startup consultant, digital marketer, traveller, and philomath. Aashish has worked with over 20 startups and successfully helped them ideate, raise money, and succeed. When not working, he can be found hiking, camping, and stargazing.

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