Here is an essay on the ‘Core Concepts of Marketing’ for class 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on the ‘Core Concepts of Marketing’ especially written for school and college students.

There are various key concepts in marketing that a customer and a marketer should know. The knowledge of these concepts is very important for an organization to fulfill the customer’s expectations and organizational goals. All the core concepts of marketing revolve around the concept of product.

This happens because all the marketing activities of an organization are undertaken to sell the product. As you know that a product is an indispensible part of our lives. We spend our day performing various activities, such as brushing teeth, eating food, reading newspapers, studying, or going to office. All of these activities involve products, such as toothpaste, bread, tea, books, newspapers, and transport.

It is essential to study the core concepts of marketing for the effective implementation of marketing management.

1. Essay on Market:

A market refers to a place where a business is carried out, or where actual buying and selling of products take place. The term market does not necessarily denote any physical/geographical meeting place for buyers and sellers. The market can be virtual in nature where buying and selling take place through the Internet. The term market is used in various contexts.

Sometimes, a market represents the nature of the product, such as cloth market, automobiles market, and steel market. The place where the goods are traded in bulk is called wholesale market and where the goods are traded in small quantities is called retail market.

A market can be divided into four types, according to the kind and use of the products:

1. Consumer Markets:

It includes the markets that sell the products for personal consumption. Examples of products sold in consumer markets are soft drinks, toothpaste, and food items.

2. Business Markets:

It includes the organizations that buy the products from other organizations to reproduce or resell them to earn profits.

3. Global Markets:

It includes the organizations that sell goods and services in the global market. Examples of global organizations are KFC, McDonald’s, Reebok, and Nike.

4. Non-Profit and Government Markets:

It includes organizations that are indulged in social services, such as selling goods to charitable organizations and governmental agencies at low prices.

2. Essay on Needs and Wants:

Needs and wants refer to an individual’s basic requirements, such as food, clothing, and shelter. According to Kotler, “Human need is a state of felt deprivation of some basic satisfaction.” Wants arise when the basic needs are satisfied. According to Kotler, “Wants are desires for specific satisfiers of these deeper needs.”

The difference between need and wants is given below:

Need:

Role of Marketer:

i. Need is pre-existing in nature.

ii. A marketer identifies the needs of the customer.

Examples:

i. Hunger

ii. Transport

Want:

Role of Marketer:

i. Want for a product is created by marketing.

ii. A marketer influences wants and creates them by producing products.

Examples:

i. McDonald’s burger

ii. Maruti car

Following points briefly explain the five types of needs:

a. Stated Needs:

It involves the needs that a customer conveys to a marketer. If a customer states that he/she needs a car then it is a stated need.

b. Real Needs:

It includes the actual needs of the customer, such as buying a less expensive and low maintenance car.

c. Unstated Needs:

It involves a need that a customer does not tell a marketer. These needs are also called latent needs. A marketer tries to identify and uncover these needs. An example can be expecting a good service from a car dealer.

d. Delight Needs:

It involves expectations of the customer from a marketer, such as expecting a gift from a car dealer in the form of car accessories.

e. Secret Needs:

It includes the esteem needs of a customer in a society. These needs help a customer to gain a status in the society. For example, customers want to flaunt their new car among friends and relatives.

3. Essay on Exchange:

Exchange is the act of obtaining a desired product from someone by giving something of value in return. The major function of marketing is to create an environment for exchange. An exchange takes place when customers have needs and wants, while the organizations have products to fulfill those needs and wants. According to Philip Kotler, the prime condition for the exchange to take place is the existence of at least two parties.

Other necessary conditions for exchange are as follows:

i. Each party should have something that interests the other party or might be of value to the other party.

ii. Each party should have a desire to deal with the other party.

iii. Each party must be in a position to communicate and deliver the product.

iv. Each party must have the right to accept or reject any offer.

Marketing involves an exchange transaction between the buyer and seller. Earlier, when the barter system was prevalent, one good was exchanged for another. However, now-a-days, money facilitates the exchange of goods and services.

4. Essay on Value:

The concept of value in marketing relates to the quality of a product. Value can be defined as a ratio between what customers get and what they give in return. In other words, it is the difference between the benefits derived from a product and costs of acquiring a product.

The general formula to derive the value of a product is expressed as follows:

Value = Benefits/ Price

Or

Value = Quality received/Expectations

Or

Value = Benefits – Costs

Figure-5 diagrammatically represents the relationship between product value and customer satisfaction:

The value of a product differs from one customer to another. The larger the gap between benefits and costs, the more satisfied a customer is; however, if the costs exceed the benefits, the customer gets dissatisfied and disappointed.

Figure-5 shows the positive relation between product value and customer satisfaction. Thus, the product value and customer satisfaction are positively linked with each other. Marketers with the help of marketing strategies enhance the value of their products to gain customers’ loyalty.

5. Essay on Demand:

Demand means a want for specific products supported by an ability to pay. Marketers can market products only if there is a demand for their products.

According to Kotler, there are eight types of demands in the market, which are discussed as follows:

i. Negative Demand:

It involves a disliking for the product by a customer. The task of the marketer is to analyze the reason for disliking the product and plan the strategies to make the product demand positive. For example, the demand for air travel becomes negative when the ticket prices increase. If the marketer offers, the low-priced tickets then the problem of negative demand can be solved.

ii. Non-Existent Demand:

It implies no demand for a product by the customer. The task of the marketer is to make customers aware about the benefits of the product and stimulate them to buy the product. For example, the demand of burglar alarm would be non-existence in areas, which are not prone to criminal activities. A marketer can stimulate the demand for alarms by spreading awareness about security and safety needs among customers.

iii. Latent Demand:

It implies a demand for a product by a customer that is not satisfied by an existing product. The marketer aims to identify the unsatisfied demand and develops the products according to the demand. For example, the demand for the low-calorie ice cream is a latent demand.

iv. Declining Demand:

It refers to a falling/decreasing demand for a product. The task of the marketer is to re­market the product creatively to increase its demand. For example, changing the advertisement of a product to attract customers.

v. Irregular Demand:

It refers to the demand that varies according to seasons or festive occasions. A customer’s demand for a product may vary on a seasonal, weekly, monthly, or daily basis. The marketer should aim at altering the demand on a frequent basis by changing the price and promotional strategy of the product. For example, it is only during Diwali festival that the demand for chocolates increases.

Therefore, Cadbury uses various strategies to increase the demand of chocolates on a regular basis. Their advertisements with various punch lines, such as kuch meetha ho jaaye, pappu pass ho gaya, and mitha hai khana aaj pehli tarrekh hai, try to maintain the mood of eating Cadbury chocolates on every small event.

vi. Full Demand:

It refers to a situation when the demand for a product equates its supply. This may be known as the desired level of demand by a marketer. The main aim of the marketer is to maintain the desired level of demand. For example, in case of full demand of a product, the marketer tries to maintain the demand by offering discount on the product’s price.

vii. Overfull Demand:

It implies a situation where a demand for a product exceeds the supply of a product. In this case, the marketer aims to de-market the product on a temporary or permanent basis. De-marketing implies discouraging customers from buying the product.

viii. Unwholesome Demand:

It implies a demand for a product that has undesirable social consequences. In such a case, the task of a marketer is to destroy the demand by price hiking, fear messaging, or reduced supply of the product. For example, destroying the demand of cigarettes by writing messages on the packet that state cigarette is injurious to health.

However, this is not an effort by marketers, but by a third party, such as government, which thinks about public’s welfare and tries to phase out the demand for a socially undesirable product.