END-OF-CHAPTER SUPPORT
MARKETING DEBATE—Does Marketing Create or Satisfy Needs?
Marketing has often been defined in terms of satisfying customers’ needs and wants. Critics,
however, maintain that marketing goes beyond that and creates needs and wants that did not
exist before. They feel marketers encourage consumers to spend more money than they should
on goods and services they do not really need.
Take a position
Marketing shapes consumer needs and wants versus marketing merely reflects the needs and
wants of customers.
Suggested Response
Pro: With the vast amount of information available to marketers today and the emphasis on
relational marketing, marketers are in more of a position to suggest needs and wants to the
public. Certainly, not all consumers have all the needs and wants suggested by society today.
However, with the vast amount of exposure to these societal needs and wants via the media, a
substantial amount of consumers will, through mere exposure, decide that they “have” the
same needs and wants of others. Marketers by their efforts increase peer pressure, and group
thinking, by showing examples of what others may have that they do not. An individual’s
freedom to choose is substantially weakened by constant and consistent exposure to a range of
needs and wants of others. Marketers should understand that when it comes to resisting the
pressure to conform, that individuals are and can be weak in their resolve. Marketers must
take an ethical position to only market to those consumers able to purchase their products.
Con: Marketing merely reflects societal needs and wants. The perception that marketers
influence consumers’ purchasing decisions discounts an individual’s freedom of choice and
their individual responsibility. With the advent of the Internet, consumers have greater
freedom of choice and more evaluative criteria than every before. Consumers can and do
make more informed decisions than previous generations. Marketers can be rightly accused of
influencing wants, along with societal factors such as power, influence, peer pressure, and
social status. These societal factors pre-exist marketing and would continue to exist if there
was no marketing efforts expended.
MARKETING DISCUSSION – Shifts in Marketing
Consider the three key forces driving the new marketing realities. How are they likely to
change in the future? What other major trends or forces might affect marketing?
Suggested Response
Consumers can increasingly participate in marketing, and collaborative marketing is enabled
by technological advances and widespread technology adoption. This will continue to create
new opportunities, as technology improves companies’ abilities to share information and
manage customer relationships, including the customization of interactions. Globalization has
made countries increasingly multicultural and has changed innovation and product
development, as companies apply lessons from one country to another country. The rise of a
creative society is a third major trend. Consumers are empowered through technology, and
will continually to develop creative products and participate in a way that enables individually
differentiated goods. Student responses to how these trends will affect marketing in the future
may vary, but look for ideas that reflect an understanding of the importance of delivering value
to consumers, including staying in touch with consumer needs and communicating value.
Other trends and forces that might affect marketing include:
a) Social responsibility: the private second is taking more responsibility for improving
living conditions and firms have elevated the role of corporate social responsibility.
Sustainability is increasingly important to customers and firms.
b) New consumer capabilities: Consumers are empowered through technology, like
social media, and via expanded information, communication, and mobility
c) Company changes: Technology has also changed the way companies deliver value, as
have changing channels, heightened competition, media fragmentation, and marketing
accountability
d) Sociocultural shifts: The population in the U. S. is aging and becoming increasingly
diverse. Emerging markets will become more critical in the next decade
Marketing Excellence: Nike
1.What are the pros, cons, and risks associated with Nike’s core marketing strategy?
Suggested Answer:
2.If you were Adidas, how would you compete with Nike?
Marketing Excellence: GOOGLE
1. With a portfolio as wide as Google’s, what is the company’s core brand value?
2. What’s next for Google? Is the company right to put so much focus on Mobile?