A. Marketing simply reflects the needs and wants of customers. B. Marketing shapes the needs and wants of consumers.

Part A  

“Marketing simply reflects the needs and wants of customers.” We all need to eat, drink, sleep and reproduce, all of this is part of who we are as human beings. Therefore, at the basic level, companies will strive to fulfill these functions and will continue to do so from time to time by displaying advertisements that tell the public that they are around and that they can provide the products they need.

The other aspect is that needs vary depending on the country in which you live. “For example, a consumer in the United States may need food, but may want a hamburger, fries, and a soft drink, and a person living in Mauritius who needs food may want a mango, rice, lentils, and beans. Society.” another part is desires, everyone can want something, but only a few have the means to acquire it. A good example would be that everyone wants to eat at expensive restaurants every day, but in reality only very few people can afford that lifestyle. That is why various segments have been created to target different groups and classes of people.

Therefore, marketers must continually create and develop attractive products and then, in turn, come up with a brilliant marketing strategy to convince the consumer to buy their product over other competing products. Companies strive to retain their customer base by delivering value and satisfaction of their products and this is formulated in the minds of consumers as a combination of service, quality and price. Some consumers would not mind paying a higher price for an item or service if they received very good service.

This is all part of a consumer’s expectations of a product, if these perceived expectations are met over and over again, they become a loyal customer to that particular company. We as people like consistency and if a marketer provides consistent service in addition to great products and prices, we will keep coming back for years to come. A good example would be Ben’s Chili Bowl located in Washington DC. It is a restaurant that has been in business for decades and the fact that it has kept so many loyal customers is because they have offered consistent service and great food over the years and the people who used to eat when were children still go there as adults. They even have customers who fly to Washington DC just to experience their food and service. Companies also create brands and these brands have an effect on people’s buying habits.

These brands can mean various aspects of the company combined to form a perception in the mind of the consumer, such as products, services, information and experiences. The more unique and interesting a brand is, the better it will work. One brand that comes to mind is the Coach Company that makes accessories in the retail sector. They produce items such as bags, purses, belts, and other items. Coach has built a strong brand for itself by being unique in its style and service, and this is primarily why customers create such high demand for its products. This has also allowed the company to maintain an above-average price for its products compared to its competitors with the knowledge that consumers would pay that higher price. Segmentation is another way that companies target the consumer to meet their needs and companies use this technique to target where they should market their products. There are several criteria that companies use to segment their products and some of them are geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavioral.

They would use factors such as how populated and the area is or how rich the population of a specific area is and focus on products that fit that mold. This has proven to be a very successful tactic for companies in marketing. Companies also use marketing channels to reach their consumers. They use three types of marketing channels which are communication, distribution and service channels. Communications are important in getting the company’s message out to the public and this could be in many forms, such as radio, television, the Internet, billboards, and the like. They also need to distribute their products to the consumer and this means that they will need a physical location such as a store, or be a wholesaler and have others sell their products for you and also sell their products on the internet. Service channels are needed to transact with consumers and these could be banks for credit card purchases and transportation companies like UPS to deliver products to homes and businesses.

Marketing has been based on four marketing skills and tools and they are sales force, advertising, sales promotion and marketing research, they should also use brand building, customer relationships, telemarketing and others to make the sale of your products come true. Businesses must also operate ethically and honestly to serve the consumer in the best possible way. Marketing in the United States is unique in the world because it has evolved and changed over the years to integrate into the capitalist society in which we live in the United States. This also means that some of the marketing we use in this country can only work with the credit system we currently have. This is not the case in other parts of the world, even in industrialized countries. Therefore, I would view marketing in the United States as one of the spokes in the wheel that makes our economy as giant as it is today.

Part b 

As for the second argument, “marketing shapes the needs and wants of consumers.” I also have to agree with this statement. My reasons are many and varied. After seeing so many TV commercials and advertisements both on the internet and in newspapers, I have come to the conclusion that some companies build their advertisements to create a need in the mind of the consumer, even if they were not originally interested in the product. . I took some time to research some of the words that ads commonly use and I found an interesting combination of words and phrases. The word ‘free’ is the most common denominator I found in the ads, free is used in combinations like free home trial, free inspection, buy one get one free, free installation, free estimates, free parking, free demo and consultation free. The word free is often a powerful catalyst that prompts the consumer to buy that particular product or idea, even if they don’t need it. I think other terms also lead people to buy things they don’t need.

Terms such as ‘no payments until 2010’ or ‘money back guarantee’ ‘no down payment’ ‘offer valid while supplies last’ help dispel any doubts the consumer may have and encourage them to make the purchase. “Because the goal is to get the attention of customers, persuade and create demand, market segmentation has historically been based on variables that correlate with demand creation: geography, age, gender, income, education, occupation and other traditional demographics as well as psychographics around personality, lifestyle, values, and attitudes. It works because these attributes are helpful in defining how to speak effectively with different groups of people. “

Some companies act unethically in their advertising, for example, I have seen some ads on the Internet, especially where companies advertise a product and make it very attractive to the consumer, and at the bottom there are small fonts with the word ‘restrictions apply’. hide the link that takes you where the restrictions are listed. So if you buy that product without reading the fine print and something happens that you are not satisfied or want to return the item, the company will refuse and reference their restriction policy. Other tactics companies use to shape consumer needs and wants is to use celebrities or other famous people to sell their products. A good example of a company would be Nike. Nike partnered with Michael Jordan to create a marketing giant. One of the themes behind their association was creating a desire among consumers that if they wore Michael Jordan’s shoes they could play basketball or jump as high as him.

This was primarily aimed at younger consumers and turned out to be a great marketing success. Companies also take advantage of world events or changes in the economy to introduce new products. A good example is the growing popularity of hybrid cars. This has been caused by the rise in gas prices and the slowdown in the economy. However, the rise in hybrid cars has led to a marked decline in large SUVs. In the past, we used to associate hybrid cars with car companies like Toyota and Honda, but today companies like Lincoln, Ford, and others are launching hybrid vehicles. This has been a necessity for them to compete in today’s changing automotive market.

However, advertising is not the only driving force behind the consumer. Most companies do a lot of research before running an ad to get an idea of ​​what consumers really want. There is a constant interaction with the public in the study of what is fashionable at the moment and also with which brands people want to associate. I’ve always wondered why companies are introducing new models or new releases at such a rapid pace. This tactic is basically an adjustment or improvement of the previous model or version in order to create the perception of an entirely new product which in turn creates more demand for the product.

A good example of these products would be software, Microsoft is especially good at releasing new versions of its products. For example, the release of the Microsoft Vista operating system meant that people had to upgrade their computers as well because their existing hardware could not support the requirements of Microsoft Vista. In conclusion, newer companies tend to be more inclined towards creating needs because the public is not yet aware of their products. Established businesses are more interested in meeting existing consumer needs. These companies are already well known and their products have already been considered essential to their lives so they would continue to buy their products even with little or no advertising.