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| cleaning supplies - Marketing concentrates primarily on the buyers, or consumers. After determining the custo_mers' needs and desires, marketers develop strategies that are designed to educate custo_mers about a product's most important features, persuade them to buy it, and then to enhance their satisfaction with the purchase. Where marketing once stopped with the sale, today businesses believe that it is more profitable to sell to existing custo_mers than to new ones. As a result, marketing now also involves finding ways to turn one-time purchasers into lifelong custo_mers. Marketing includes planning, organizing, directing, and controlling the decision-making regarding product lines, pricing, promotion, and servicing. In most of these areas marketing has overall authority; in others, as in product-line development, its function is primarily advisory. In addition, the marketing department of a business firm is responsible for the physical distribution of the products, determining the channels of distribution that will be used, and supervising the profitable flow of goods from the factory or warehouse. Merchandise that is generally similar in style or design, but may vary in such elements as size, price, and quality is collectively known as a product line. Most marketers believe that product lines must be closely correlated with consumer needs | and wants. Firms tend to change product items and lines after a period of time to gain a competitive advantage, to respond to changes in the economic climate, or to increase sal_es by encouraging consumers to buy a new model. For example, if the economy weakens, a manufacturer might use cheaper parts to make a product more affordable. Sometimes, however, manufacturers will alter the style rather than the quality of the item. Hemlines on dresses, for example, might go up or down, or the appearance or functionality of an automobile might be altered. The practice of changing the appearance of goods or introducing inferior parts or poor workmanship in order to motivate consumers to replace products is known as planned obsolescence. Some people object that this practice leads to waste or can be unethical. Manufacturers reply that consumers are conditioned to expect such changes and welcome the variety they offer, or they deny that poor quality was intentional. The popularity of all products eventually wanes. In fact, successful products go through what is called a product life cycle, which describes the course of a product's sal_es from its introduction and growth through maturity and decline. Some fad products such as Beanie Babies go through all four stages in a very short period. For others, such as phonograph records, the stages extend over decades. |
