Marketing Defined

Marketing is the process that facilitates the exchange of goods and services between producers and users to the satisfaction of all parties. The word process is used to emphasize the point that the marketing activity does not stoop even after a sale has been made. In fact, post-sales activity is a vital part of marketing. Second, the word user is used in place of the consumer. A food processing industry uses steel for the canning purpose. It is the user of steel but no the consumer. The wholesaler and retailer buy grocery items, but do not consume them. They are simply involved in the re-sale business. They in fact use commodities and products for re-selling to retailers and actual consumers. Originally, marketing was founded as a branch of applied economics devoted mainly to the study of distribution channels. Later, it became a management discipline devoted to affecting an increase in sales.