Approaches to the Study of Marketing

The study of marketing has been approached in more than one way. To some it has meant to sell something at a shop or market place; to some it has meant the study of individual product and its movement in the market; to some it has meant the study of persons-wholesalers, retailers, agents etc., who move the products and to some it has meant the study of behaviour of commodity movement and the way the persons involved to move them. The approach to the study of marketing has passed through several stages before reaching the present stage.

Product or Commodity Approach

Under the commodity approach the focus is placed on the product or it is an approach on the marketing on commodity wise basis. In other words, the study relates to the flow of a certain commodity and its movement from the original producer right up to the ultimate customer. The subject-matter, under this study, is commodity.

When one studies the marketing on this basis—commodity approach, one must begin to study and analyses the problems relating to a commodity i.e., sources and conditions of supply, nature and extent of demand, mode of transporting, storage, standardization, packing etc. Again, take an example of a commodity, say rice.

Institutional Approach

In the institutional approach, the focus is on the study of institutions- middlemen, wholesalers, retailers, importers, exporters, agencies, warehousing etc., engaged in the marketing during the movement of goods. The approach is also known as middlemen approach. Here, emphasis is given to understand and analyses the functions of institutions, who are discharging their marketing functions.

The activities of each institution form a part of marketing and collectively complete the marketing functions. In the process of moving the goods from the producer to the final consumers, a large number of persons are engaged. This system pays attention to the problems and functions of marketing institutions-transporting, banks and other financial institutions, warehousing, advertising, insurance etc.

Functional Approach

Functional approach of marketing indicates the study of the functions of marketing. Whatever function are marketing performs is called marketing as a whole. Marketing performs exchange function, physical distribution function and other auxiliary functions. The study of these functions is marketing.

Exchange functions

Exchange functions of marketing include purchasing and selling. These are the basic functions of marketing.

Physical distribution functions

Physical distribution function includes transportation and storage. These functions transport goods/products to the right place at right time as desired by the customers.

Auxiliary functions

The auxiliary functions of marketing include standardization and classification, financing, labeling, packaging, risk bearing, information flow etc. These functions simplify the exchange function.

Management Approach

Managerial approach advocates for the scientific management of marketing. This gives more importance to the activities of managers and managerial decisions on marketing. This approach gives high priority to goal achievement and emphasizes that the marketing managers should always remain effortful to achieve the goal. These functions are based on planning, implementation and controlling.

Planning

Formation of goal and the process of defining future activities for achievement of the goal, analyzing and selecting them is called marketing plan. It prepares certain yardstick for control.

Implementation

The task of handing over authority to work and giving direction to carry out marketing plan is called implementation. Marketing manager makes plan for his/her subordinates and other employees implement it. The manager should explain the plan to the related employees and make them understand the importance while implementing it.

Controlling

Works are performed according to plan. The task of examining and analyzing whether or not the work has been completed according to plan is controlling. In controlling, actual performance is compared with plan or predetermined standard.

System Approach

This approach supposes marketing as a system which includes input, processing, output and feedback. Goods, price, place (distribution) and promotion are included in input of this system. Environmental effect and buyers' are included in processing. Similarly, profit, customers' satisfaction and social welfare are included in output and the task of sending message asking for redesigning input and processing fall under feedback. Marketing system can be shown in figure as follows:

Marketing is a system which functions in dynamic environment. Economic, political and legal, social and cultural and technological contexts are the external elements of marketing system whereas the organizational activities and stakeholders are the internal elements of marketing system. The marketing system approach can be explained as subsystem of exchange system, marketing mix system, organization system etc.

Environmental Approach

According to environmental approach, environment affects marketing. So, marketing should be made suitable to the environment by studying and scanning the environment. Environment always becomes dynamic. It changes continuously. So, it also appears both as an opportunity and as a challenge. The environment of marketing can be classified into two types as micro environment and macro environment.

Micro Environment

Micro environment is also called internal environment. Production, financial resource, human resource, research and development (R & D), culture of organization, goal of organization, structure of organization, suppliers, customers, labor organization, pressure group, competitors, market intermediaries etc. are the micro environmental elements.

Macro Environment

Macro environment is also called external environment. External/macro-environmental elements do not remain under control of marketing. So, marketing should be suitable to these elements. Economic, political and legal, social and cultural and technological elements are included in macro environmental elements. Inflation, monitory policy, financial policy, economic condition, income distribution etc. are economic elements, and law, rules and regulations, government policy, government procedure, interest group, political thought, political culture etc. are political-legal elements. This approach is important to make marketing suitable to the environment by environmental scanning. But this approach is expensive and gives less emphasis to the achievement of objective.

Legal Approach

This approach advocates that marketing should be regularized by laws. All the marketing activities should agree with and remain under control of legal provisions. Acts, rules and regulations, policy, procedure, working process etc. are included in law. Law restricts to do some works and prior permission should be taken to do some other works. Legal approach strongly advocates that all the marketing activities should remain within legal purview. It gives high priority to bearing social responsibility. But this approach has not made clear how to adopt dynamic environment. Although it tries to protect consumers through legal provisions, rules and regulations, it does not care for consumers' needs, wants and satisfaction.

Economic Approach

This approach understands the economic aspects of marketing by studying various laws of economics such as the law of diminishing marginal utility, law of demand and law of variable proportion etc. This approach deals with only the problems of supply, demand and price. These are important from the economic point of view, but fail to give a clear idea of marketing.