Approaches to Marketing Management

In common parlance, marketing is the process of selling something at a shop or market place. To some it has meant the study of individual commodities and their movement in the more place; to some it has meant the study of institutions and personas who move these products or study of the economic contribution; whereas to product movements and the way eh perosnas involved move them.

Thus the study of marketing has, thus, been approached in more than one ways. However, these different approaches have immensely contributed to the evolution of the modern approach and the concept of marketing. To facilitate the study, these different approaches may be broadly classified as the commodity approach, the institutional approach and the managerial approach. Besides these well recognized and established approaches, of late, the recently developed societal and systems approaches have been attracting considerable attention. A brief description of these different approaches is given below, reflectionghtie respective focus and characteristics.

(A)    Commodity Approach :

In the commodity approach to the study of marketing, the focus of study is a specific commodity, say, wheat, rice, approach, the subject matter of discussion around the specific commodity selected for the study; nature and extent of demand, the distribution channels used and the function, such as buying , selling , financing, advertising, storage repeating such studies in case of different commodities  one gets a compete picture of the entire field of marketing.

(B)    Functional Approach :

In the functional approach, the focus of market study is on the different kinds of function which are recognized for thief repetitive occurrences’ and are necessarily performed to consummate market transaction. Though  there is no unanimity about the number and nature of function that constitute marketing, nevertheless, some functions  often recognized are selling, storage, transportation and functions . In this approach, meeting is regarded as the “business of buying and selling and as including those business activates involved in the flow of goods and serves between producer and consumer”. These functions are also studied in relation to given commodities and marketing institutions in terms of their nature, importance, operational methods, costs and problems.

The functional approach to the study of marketing is identified with Weld, Shaw and Cherington.

(C)    Management Approach :

In the managerial approach, the focus of marketing study is on the decision making process involved in the performance of marketing functions at the level of a firm. The study encompasses discussion of the different underlying concepts, decision influencing factors, alternative strategies –their relative importance, strengths and weaknesses, and techniques and methods of problem-solving.

Here there is apt to be some confusion between the functional and managerial approaches to the study of marketing owing to the terms “function” used in both these approaches. However, there is a distinct difference I the connotations of this term in both the approaches. In the functional approach the emphasis on the study of marketing functions is at the macro level and its scope extends to those functions only which are involved during the flow of goods and services from producers to consumers. In the managerial approach, o the other hand, the emphasis shift to the micro parts of the economy and settles at the level of a business firm which performs all those functions which impinge upon and are involved I the creation and distribution upon and are involved in the creation and distribution of goods and services desired buy hr market. The managerial approach thus entails the study of marketing at the micro-level- level of a business firm- of the managerial functions of analysis, planning, execution, coordination and control in relation to the marketing functions of creating, stimulating, facilitating and valuing transactions.

The managerial approach to the study of marketing has been in vogue for nearly 25 years. It has been recognized as the most useful way of studying a phenomenon which considerably and increasingly influences the life of an individual group and community as a whole. It is a well established approach and has found favors with many teachers and researchers both in India and abroad, particularly the USA. This book has also adopted this approach.

Among the pioneers of this approach are Howard, Phelps and Wasting and Laze and Corbin. Thereafter, it found strong flag bears in Stack and Taylor and Lazar and Kelly.

(D)    Institutional Approach :

In the institutional approach to the study of marketing, the focus is on the study of the various middlemen and facilitating agencies. The study includes their position in the distribution  canes, the purpose of there intense, the function performed and services rendered by them, their operating methods, the cost involved an the problems faced by them.” In order to obtain a comprehensive view of marketing, the study is related to each type of institution.

(E)    Societal Approach :

In the societal approach to the study of marketing, the entire marketing process is regarded not as a means by which business meets the needs of consumers but as a means by which society meets its own consumption needs. In it, the focus of study, therefore, is the interactions between the various environmental factors (sociological, cultural, political, and legal) and marketing decisions and there impact on the well-being of society. As such, in this kind of approach there is a significant element of normative and substantial reliance on the value judgment based o an accepted value system in the society at a point of time.

The societal approach to the study of marketing is relatively recent and was born out of the criticism of the marketing behavior of business obsessed with profit attainment a growth by such critics as Galbraith, Packard and Marcuse.

(F)    Systems Approach:

Among the recent approaches to the study of marketing, the one that has been engaging considerable attention lately is the system approach. It is based on Von Bartalanffy’s “general system theory”. He defined system ass a “set of objects together with the relationships among them and their attributes. Systems thinking recognize the inter-relations and inter-connections among the components of a marketing system in which products, services, and money, equipment and information flow form marketers to consumers. These flows largely determine the survival and growth capacities of a firm. TH focus of systems approach is, therefore, the analysis of these marketing flows and communication. It stresses built-in organization capacity to adapt business to a changing ecosystem.

A holistic approach to the study of marketing was presented by Daddy and Raven though basically identified with the instructional approach while expelling marketing structure as an organic whole made up of inter-related parts function in the process of distribution. The persona most prominently associated with systems approach is Alderson.

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