Passage 2
The term market and marketing can have several meenings depending upon how they are used. The term stock market refers to the buying and selling of shares in corporations as well as other activities related to stock trading and pricing. Another type of market is a grocery market, which is a place where people purchase food. When economists use the word market they mean sct of forces or conditions that determine the price of a product, such as the supply available for sale and the demand for it by consumers. The term marketing in business ineludes all of these meanings, and more.
In the past, the concept of marketing emphasized sales.The manufacturer made a product he wanted to sell. Marketing was the task of figuring out how to sell the product.Basically, selting the product would be accomplishec by sales promotion, which included advertising and personal seiling. In addition to sales promotion, marketing also involved the physical distribution of the product to the places where it was actuaily sold. Distribution consisted of transportation, storage, and related services such as financing, standardization and grading, and the related risks.
The modern marketing concepr inctudes all of the activities mentioned, but it is bascd on a different set of principles. It suggests that production can be economically justificd only by consumption. In other words, goods should be produced only if they can be sold. Therefore, the producer shouid consider who is going to buy the product or what the market for the product is-before production begins.
Marketing now involves first deciding what the customer wants, and designing and producing a product that satisfies these wants at a profit to the company. Instead of concentrating solely on production, the company must consider the desires of the consumer, and this is much more difficult since it involves human behavior. Production, on the other hand, is mostly an engineering problem.
Because products are often marketed internationall, distribution has increased in importance. Goods must be at the piace where the customer needs them and must be brought there. This is known as place utility; it adds value to a produet. However, many markets are separated from the place of production which means that often both rew materials and finished products must be transported to the points where they are needed.
Modern marketing is therefore a coordinated system of many business activities, but basically it involves four things: 1.selling the correct product at the proper place; 2.selling it at a price determined by demand; 3. satisfying a customer's needs and wants; and 4. producing profit for the economy.
51.Distribution is a basic activity of modern marketing.