There are various concepts and philosophies which act as a guidelines and holds good when the various decisions are to be made in marketing. According to Phillip Kottler there are five concepts in marketing.
• The production concept
• The product Concept
• The selling Concept
• The marketing concept
• The societal Marketing Concept
The Production Concept
It will lead to economies of scale and decline in cost per unit. The philosophy holds that high production efficiency and wide distribution coverage would sell the product offered to the market. Thus, the concept holds that customer favors products with low offered price and easily available product.
This orientation of the organization is mostly practiced in situations where demand exceeds supply or product cost in high that can be brought down by mass production. The market situation in most of the developing countries is such that while demand for products exists, the products are not available.
The Product Concept
The firms following this philosophy believe that by making superior products and improving their quality over time, they will be able to attract customer. The underlying assumption is that customer favours quality, performance, innovative features, etc. the buyer will admire such products. Given the product concept, superior products are perhaps always welcomed by the customer. But product is only one element of the total marketing-mix. Thus better product at high price (because improvement in quality might be at a cost) will not disturb customer budget, it is believed. However, as we shall see, pricing is one of the elements of segmentation basis. The division of demographic on economic grounds of affordability would come in that way of implementing such better quality products at high prices.
The Selling Concept
The concept adoption comes when there is aggressive selling and promotional efforts. The consideration of this philosophy is customer buying inertia and resistance. The assumption is that customer, if left alone, would not buy enough of the company’s product. This sort of customer attitude is mostly found for unsought goods like surgery, insurance, videophone, etc. Here hard-Sell takes place. The other areas are from the non-profit organizations.
The Marketing Concept
Consumer-oriented marketing has given rise to a new philosophy in business known as „marketing concept‟. The marketing concept emphasizes the determination the requirements of potential customer and supplying products to satisfy their requirements. Marketing should be viewed as an integrated process of identification, assessment and satisfaction of human wants. The marketers following consumer orientation regard the creation of customer and satisfaction of his wants as the justification of business. Determination of wants of the customers takes precedence over production. In other words, product is developed and produced to satisfy the needs of the customers. Thus, the emphasis is on selling satisfaction and not merely o selling goods.
The Societal Marketing Concept
Humanistic or societal marketing concept holds that the firm’s task is to determine the needs, wants and interests of target markets and to deliver desired satisfactions in such a way that preserves or enhances the consumer’s and the society’s well-being. Thus, every firm should take every firm should take care of social and ethical considerations while developing their marketing strategies. This would help the organization to create its better public image.
