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MARKETING MANAGEMENT
 English language
MARKETING MANAGEMENT

By

DR. LALITHA.
DR. LAKSHMI SR,
JUSTIN JAMES,
VIDYA S
MANJU MOHAN

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MARKETING MANAGEMENT

DR. LALITHA.
DR. LAKSHMI SR,
JUSTIN JAMES,
VIDYA S
MANJU MOHAN

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 PREFACE

Learning theories and concepts without knowing their practice or

application is of little use. It is one thing obtaining a degree, but quite
another to connect what you learned about a theory or concept into practice
in a real-life situation. Theories and concepts should work, and as a student,
you should know how they work. This book, Marketing Management,
addresses these issues fully. Each chapter opens with a Preview Case which
will provide you some with fundamental ideas about the practical side of
the concepts discussed therein.

Written in simple, lucid style, without diluting the conceptual qualities of

the subject, this book will be handy and useful as a textbook for both the
students and the faculty of marketing in business schools. This book can
also serve as a reference manual for the professionals in the field of
marketing as well as in other functional areas.

The book on Marketing Management helps the students to gain solid

understanding of key marketing concepts and skills, Perform situation
analysis to assess market opportunities and develop marketing strategies
(Segmentation, targeting, and positioning) to achieve company's objectives.
 MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Contents

1. Concepts of Marketing: Meaning,

Nature & Scope as the key business function in Organizations -
Evolution of marketing-Holistic Marketing Concept – Extended
Marketing Mix – Key Customer Markets: Consumer, Business,
Global, Non-profit & Government – Market Space – Meta
Markets. Concept of Value chain – Marketing Environment – 1 -42
Internal and External environment – Difference between
Marketing & sales. Introduction to Marketing Research &
Modern Marketing Information System – Concept of Big Data –
Market Strategic Planning – Elements of Marketing Plan.

2. Buyer Behaviour & Marketing Ecosystem:

Types of Consumer Buying Behaviour – Factors affecting Buyer
Behaviour -Buying Motives - Buyer Roles – Consumer Buying
Decision Process: The 5 Stage Model. Organizational Buying
Decisions – Buying Center – Tapping Global Markets. 43-81
Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning – Strategies. Competitor
Analysis – Competitive Market Strategies – Leaders,
Challengers, Followers & Nichers Customer Relationship
Management – Loyalty Programmes and Customer Lifetime
Value.

3.Creating Value: The Product

Goods & Services Continuum – Classification & Levels of
Product – Product Decisions: Product Mix and Product Lines –
Concepts. Product Life Cycle Strategies – Brand Concepts –
Marketing of Services – Extended Marketing Mix for services –
Packaging & Labelling Decisions – Warranties & Guarantees – 82-117
New Market Offering – Types of New Product – New Product
Development: Stages – New Product Success & Failure –
Diffusion of Innovation – Pricing Policies & Strategies – Factors
affecting Price Determination – Steps in Setting the Price.

4. Introduction to distribution decision

Distribution as a part of Value Delivery – Multi-channel
marketing – Channel Functions & Flows – Channel Levels –
Channel Design Decisions – Channel Management -
Introduction to Retailing & Wholesaling – Franchising –
Teleshopping – Shopping through Internet. Communicating 118-150
Value – Marketing Communication Mix – An overview of
Advertising, Sales Promotion, Personal Selling, Direct
Marketing, Public Relations – Managing Integrated Marketing
Communications.
5. Marketing Concepts
Concept, Process & Types of Marketing Control – Marketing
Audit: Concepts, Components & Types – Marketing Challenges
in Globalized Era – Marketing through Social Network & Digital 151-167
platforms – Social Marketing – Elements of Social Marketing
Plan – Green Marketing – Consumerism – Red Ocean Strategy –
Blue Ocean Strategy - Introduction to Marketing Analytics.
 Module-I -1-

Module-I
Concepts of Marketing

Concepts of Marketing: Meaning, Nature & Scope as the key business function in
Organizations - Evolution of marketing-Holistic Marketing Concept – Extended
Marketing Mix – Key Customer Markets: Consumer, Business, Global, Non-
profit & Government – Market Space – Meta Markets. Concept of Value chain –
Marketing Environment – Internal and External environment – Difference
between Marketing & sales. Introduction to Marketing Research & Modern
Marketing Information System – Concept of Big Data – Market Strategic
Planning – Elements of Marketing Plan.

Marketing is dynamic and impactful. The details differ between industries, but at its
most basic marketing is how businesses reach prospective customers and
communicate the unique benefits of a product or service. It encompasses all the
activities that companies undertake to promote, sell, and distribute that product or
service.
Your target audience must first be aware that your product or service exists before
you can hope to inspire a purchase. An essential function in any business, marketing
supports efforts to acquire, keep, and grow customers.
But marketing does not end there — ongoing engagement also helps build loyalty
and establish a long-term relationship. Effective programs and campaigns reach and
engage audiences, differentiate the company from competitors, and support larger
business objectives, such as increasing sales or expanding to a new market.
Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the
needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including
selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emphasize
in advertising; operation of advertising campaigns; attendance at trade shows and
public events; design of products and packaging attractive to buyers; defining the
terms of sale, such as price, discounts, warranty, and return policy; product
placement in media or with people believed to influence the buying habits of others;
agreements with retailers, wholesale distributors, or resellers; and attempts to
create awareness of, loyalty to, and positive feelings about a brand.
The term marketing, what is commonly known as attracting customers, incorporates
knowledge gained by studying the management of exchange relationships and is
the business process of identifying, anticipating and satisfying customers' needs and
wants.
1.1 Meaning
Marketing refers to activities a company undertakes to promote the buying or
selling of a product or service. Marketing includes advertising, selling, and
delivering products to consumers or other businesses.
Some marketing is done by affiliates on behalf of a company. Professionals who
work in a corporation's marketing and promotion departments seek to get the
attention of key potential audiences through advertising. Promotions are targeted to
certain audiences and may involve celebrity endorsements, catchy phrases or
slogans, memorable packaging or graphic designs and overall media exposure.
 Module-I -2-

• Marketing refers to all activities a company does to promote and sell

products or services to consumers.
• Marketing makes use of the "marketing mix," also known as the four
Ps—product, price, place, and promotion.
• At its core, marketing seeks to take a product or service, identify its ideal
customers, and draw the customers' attention to the product or service
available.
Marketing as a discipline involves all the actions a company undertakes to draw in
customers and maintain relationships with them. Networking with potential or past
clients is part of the work too, and may include writing thank you emails, playing
golf with prospective clients, returning calls and emails quickly, and meeting with
clients for coffee or a meal. At its most basic level, marketing seeks to match a
company's products and services to customers who want access to those products.
Matching products to customers ultimately ensures profitability.

Definition of Marketing

• Traditional Concept: The term ‘traditional marketing’ can be expressed

as the business activity through which goods and services directly move
from producers to consumers or users.

• Modern Concept: The term ‘modern marketing’ can be expressed as the

achievement of corporate goals through meeting and exceeding customer
needs better than the competition.
According to Philip Kotler, the term ‘marketing’ is a social and managerial process
by which individual groups obtain what they need and want through creating,
offering and freely exchanging product and services of value with others.

1.2 Nature of Marketing

The Nature of Marketing (or Modern marketing) may be studied under the following
points:
1. Human activity: Originally, the term marketing is a human activity under
which human needs are satisfied by human efforts. It’s a human action for
human satisfaction.
2. Consumer-oriented: A business exist to satisfy human needs, hence
business must find out what the desire of customer (or consumer) and
thereby produce goods & services as per the needs of the customer. Thus,
only those goods should be produce that satisfy consumer needs and at a
reasonable profit to the manufacturer (or producer).
3. Art as well as science: In the technological arena, marketing is the art and
science of choosing target markets and satisfying customers through
creating, delivering, and communicating superior customer value. It is a
technique of making the goods available at right time, right place, into
right hands, right quality, in the right form and at right price.
4. Exchange Process: All marketing activities revolve around commercial
exchange process. The exchange process implies transactions between
 Module-I -3-
buyer and seller. It also involves exchange of technology, exchange of
information and exchange of ideas.
5. Starts and ends with customers: Marketing is consumer oriented and it is
crucial to know what the actual demand of consumer is. This is possible
only when required information related to the goods and services is
collected from the customer. Thus, it is the starting of marketing and the
marketing end as soon as those goods and services reach into the safe
hands of the customer.
6. Creation of Utilities: Marketing creates four components of utilities viz.
time, place, possession and form. The form utility refers to the product or
service a company offers to their customers. The place utility refers to the
availability of a product or service in a location i.e. Easier for customers.
By time utility, a company can ensure that products and services are
available when customers need them. The possession utility gives
customers ownership of a product or service and enables them to derive
benefits in their own business.
7. Goal oriented: Marketing seeks to achieve benefits for both buyers and
sellers by satisfying human needs. The ultimate goal of marketing is to
generate profits through the satisfaction of the customer.
8. Guiding element of business: Modern Marketing is the heart of industrial
activity that tells what, when, how to produce. It is capable of guiding and
controlling business.
9. System of Interacting Business Activities: Marketing is the system
through which a business enterprise, institution or organization interacts
with the customers with the objective to earn profit, satisfy customers and
manage relationship. It is the performance of business activities that direct
the flow of goods and services from producer to consumer or user.
10. Marketing is a dynamic process. series of interrelated functions:
Marketing is a complex, continuous and interrelated process. It involves
continuous planning, implementation and control.
1.3 Scope/Functions of Marketing
The term scope of marketing can be understood in terms of the functions of the
marketing manager. The major purpose of marketing manager is to generate revenue
for the business by selling goods and services to the consumers. It lies in insuring
the customer needs and converting them into product or services and moving the
product and services to the final user or customer, to satisfy the wants and needs of
specific segment of customers with emphasis on profitability and ensuring the
optimum use of resources available with the organization. The marketing manager
has to perform the research functions and exchange functions. They are discussed
below:
Functions of Research
The modern marketing activities start with consumer research. It is referred with the
analysis of consumer attitudes, tastes, habits, reactions and preferences to the
company’s product so that the products may be produced according to the needs of
the consumers. The major functions of research are as follows:
 Module-I -4-
Marketing Research: The marketing research is helpful in analyzing the
customer’s behaviour, popularity of product, effectiveness of advertising, pricing
policy, etc. In other words, it is the systematic gathering, recording and analyzing of
data about problems relating to the marketing of goods and services. For making
correct and timely decisions, the marketing manager analyses all the available
opportunities, threats, strengths and weaknesses of the organization and determine
the best opportunity to be pursue for it.
Product planning and development: Under modern marketing activities, product
planning is determined before the start of actual production. It is the process in
which shape, size, colour, weight, design, packing, etc. of the product is determined
on the basis of information gathered with the help of market research. Product
development involves decisions regarding shape, size, colour, weight, design,
quality, brand, label, etc. as per the needs of the consumer, which will give
maximum satisfaction to the consumer and reasonable profit to the manufacturer.

1.4 Evolution of marketing

Marketing has changed over the centuries, decades and years. The production
centered system systematically changed into relationship era of today and over the
period; the specializations have emerged such as sales versus marketing and
advertising versus retailing. The overall evolution of marketing has given rise to the
concept of business development. Marketing has taken the modern shape after going
through various stages since last the end of 19th century. The Production oriented
practice of marketing prior to the twentieth century was conservative and hidebound
by rules-of-thumb and lack of information. Science & technology developments and
specially the development of information technology have now changed the way
people live, the way people do business and the way people sell and purchase.
Following is a short summary of the various stages of evolution of marketing.

Production Orientation Era

The prevailing attitude and approach of the production orientation era was -
“consumers favour products that are available and highly affordable” . The mantra
for marketing success was to “Improve production and distribution”. The rule was
“availability and affordability is what the customer wants”. The era was marked by
narrow product-lines; pricing system based on the costs of production and
distribution, limited research, primary aim of the packaging was to protect the
product, minimum promotion. Advertising meant, “Promoting products with a lesser
quality”.
 Module-I -5-

Product Orientation Era

The attitude changed slowly and approach shifted from production to product and
from the quantity to quality. The prevailing attitude of this period was that
consumers favour products that offer the most quality, performance and innovative
features and the mantra for marketers was ‘A good product will sell itself’, so does
not need promotion.

Sales Orientation Era

The increased competition and variety of choices / options available to customers
changed the marketing approach and now the attitude was “Consumers will buy
products only if the company promotes/ sells these products”. This era indicates rise
of advertising and the mantra for marketers was “Creative advertising and selling
will overcome consumers’ resistance and convince them to buy”.

Marketing Orientation Era

The shift from production to product and from product to customers later manifested
in the Marketing Era which focused on the “needs and wants of the customers” and
the mantra of marketers was ” ‘The consumer is king! Find a need and fill it’. The
approach is shifted to delivering satisfaction better than competitors are.

Relationship Marketing Orientation Era

This is the modern approach of marketing. Today’s marketer focuses on needs/
wants of target markets and aims at delivering superior value. The mantra of a
successful marketer is ‘Long-term relationships with customers and other partners
lead to successes

The following sentences summarize the above evolution of marketing.

Production era: ‘Cut costs. Profits will take care of themselves’.

Product era: ‘A good product will sell itself’.
Sales era: ‘Selling is laying the bait for the customer’.
Marketing era: ‘The customer is King!’.
Relationship marketing era: ‘Relationship with customers determine our firm’s
future’.

1.5 Holistic Marketing Concept

Marketing is a very diverse field. Some companies believe in just using brand
marketing, others swear by channel marketing. In fact, there are over 100 different
types of marketing. At the same time, with the marketing environment undergoing
so many changes, choosing the right approach can become quite a challenge. Due to
the high saturation rate and increased competition in the marketplace, holistic
marketing has gained popularity.
Holistic marketing refers to a marketing strategy that considers the whole of a
business and all the different marketing channels as a system. Under this strategy, a
business with different departments comes together in synergy in pursuit of a
conscious mission, great customer experience, and a positive brand image.
 Module-I -6-
The holistic marketing concept is based on the philosophy of holism, which can be
summarized with a single thought of Aristotle’s: ‘’The whole is more than the sum
of its parts’’.
A holistic marketing concept is based on the development, design, and
implementation of marketing programs, processes, and activities that recognize their
breadth and interdependencies. Holistic marketing recognizes that ‘everything
matters’ with marketing and that a broad, integrated perspective is necessary to
attain the best solution
86% of brand marketers say that building a holistic marketing approach is a top
priority, but only 29% of companies say they actually have the necessary
infrastructure to make this goal a reality. The reason this could be is that the process
of holistic marketing takes into account the considerations of stakeholders,
customers, employees, suppliers, and the community as a whole when creating and
implementing marketing strategies.

1.5.1 Main components of holistic marketing

Although strategies for implementation differ from one company to the next, every
holistic marketing approach includes four main components: relationship
marketing, integrated marketing, internal marketing, and societal marketing.

1. Relationship Marketing
The goal of relationship marketing is to build strong, long-lasting relationships
with various stakeholders and other important parties connected to the business.
Customers, employees, financing entities, suppliers, vendors, regulatory agencies,
and competitive firms are all necessary partners for a business to have and keep.
Each has a significant impact on the success or failure of the company.
Relationship marketing focuses on establishing relationships with a stakeholder,
and it also requires the retention and growth of each relationship over time.

2. Integrated Marketing
Within the integrated marketing component of a holistic strategy, businesses work
towards making marketing decisions that create value for stakeholders through a
clear, concise marketing message. All activities within integrated marketing,
including advertising, public relations, direct marketing, online communications,
and social media marketing, work in sync with one another to ensure the company's
customers and business partners have the same experience with and perception of
the company.

3. Internal Marketing
Internal marketing is aimed at catering to the specific needs of the business's own
employees. Internal marketing ensures that employees are satisfied with the work
they perform each day as well as the philosophy and direction of the organization
as a whole. Greater satisfaction among employees leads to increased customer
satisfaction over time, making internal marketing a key aspect of the holistic
approach.
In addition to working towards employee satisfaction through internal marketing,
businesses use this component of holistic marketing to achieve improved
coordination among internal departments. The objective is to reduce departmental
 Module-I -7-
conflicts across the business, which leads to greater synergy in marketing activities
presented to consumers.

4. Societal Marketing
The last component of holistic marketing is societal or socially-responsible
marketing. This component extends a company's reach beyond the customers
consuming its product or service to society in general.
Societal marketing is aimed at creating marketing initiatives that are based on
ethically sound business practices, such as environmentally-friendly production or
meaningful interaction with the surrounding community. Marketing campaigns that
are intentionally socially responsible provide another method for businesses to
build long-lasting, beneficial stakeholder and partner relationships.

1.5.2 Why is holistic marketing important

1. Effectiveness

A holistic strategy effectively sends the brand message by building a synergy. It

concentrates on the larger picture. It gives a unique brand image to the customers
that they can remember.

2. Efficiency

It becomes easier to remove or reduce repetition when all business aspects are
managed together. The business saves funds and time and becomes more efficient.
Noticing possible threats and grabbing opportunities is also a part of efficiency.

3. Consistency

Consistency is crucial to stay in the market for the long term. In a holistic strategy,
the brand is marketed to all the stakeholders. Firms also stay consistent by using
communication strategies that are unified. This helps maintain consistency .

4. Brand Building

There’s a change in the mindset of consumers’. They buy a brand and not just the
item. Holistic marketing enables the business to create a brand amongst each of its
stakeholders.

1.6 Extended Marketing Mix

The extended marketing mix (7P's) is the combination of seven elements of

marketing that aim to work together to achieve the objectives of a marketing
strategy. These 7 elements are: product; price; place; promotion; people; process and
physical.
 Module-I -8-

1.Product
This refers to what the company produces (whether it is product or service, or a
combination of both) and is developed to meet the core need of the customer – for
example, the need for transport is met with a car. The challenge is to create the right
‘bundle of benefits’ that meet this need. So what happens as customer needs change,
competitors race ahead or new opportunities arise? We have to add to the ‘bundle of
benefits’ to improve the offering, create new versions of existing products, or launch
brand new products. When improving the product offering think beyond the actual
product itself – value can be added and differentiation achieved with guarantees,
warranties, after-sales or online support, a user-friendly app or digital content like a
video that helps the user to make the most out of the product.

2.Price
This is the only revenue-generating element of the mix – all other marketing
activities represent a cost. So it’s important to get the price right to not only cover
costs but generate profit! Before setting prices, we need to research information on
what customers are willing to pay and gain an understanding of the demand for that
product/service in the market. As price is also a strong indication of the positioning
in the market against competitors (low prices=value brand), prices need to be set
with competitors in mind too.

3.Place
This is the ‘place’ where customers make a purchase. This might be in a physical
store, through an app or via a website. Some organisations have the physical space,
or online presence to take their product/service straight to the customer, whereas
others have to work with intermediaries or ‘middlemen’ with the locations, storage
and/or sales expertise to help with this distribution. The decisions to be made in this
element of the marketing mix concern which intermediaries (if any) will be involved
in the distribution chain and also the logistics behind getting the product/service to
the end customer, including storage and transportation.
 Module-I -9-

4.Promotion
So we have a fantastic product, at an appealing price, available in all the
right places, but how do customers know this? Promotion in our marketing mix is
about communicating messages to customers, whichever stage they are in the buyer
journey, to generate awareness, interest, desire or action.
We have different tools for communication with varying benefits. Advertising is
good for raising awareness and reaching new audiences, whereas personal selling
using a sales team is great for building relationships with customers and closing a
sale. The challenge? To choose the best tool for the job, and select the most effective
media to reach our audiences based on what we know about them. If your customer
is a regular on Instagram then that’s where you need to be talking to them!
This doesn’t just apply to customers. Communicate to other stakeholders too like
shareholders and the wider public to build company reputation. The same principles
apply; choose the right tools and media that fit with what you are trying to achieve.

5. People
A company’s people are at the forefront when interacting with customers, taking and
processing their enquiries, orders and complaints in person, through online chat, on
social media, or via the call centre. They interact with customers throughout their
journey and become the ‘face’ of the organisation for the customer. Their knowledge
of the company’s products and services and how to use them, their ability to access
relevant information and their everyday approach and attitude needs to be optimised.
People can be inconsistent but with the right training, empowerment and motivation
by a company, they can also represent an opportunity to differentiate an offering in a
crowded market and to build valuable relationships with customers.

6. Process
All companies want to create a smooth, efficient and customer-friendly journey –
and this can’t be achieved without the right processes behind the scenes to make that
happen. Understanding the steps of the customer journey – from making an enquiry
online to requesting information and making a purchase – helps us to consider what
processes need to be in place to ensure the customer has a positive experience. When
a customer makes an enquiry, how long will they have to wait before receiving a
response? How long do they wait between booking a meeting with the sales team to
the meeting taking place? What happens once they make an order? How do we make
sure reviews are generated after a purchase? How can we use technology to make
our processes more efficient? All of these considerations help build a positive
customer experience.

7. Physical Evidence
Physical evidence provides tangible cues of the quality of experience that a company
is offering. It can be particularly useful when a customer has not bought from the
organisation before and needs some reassurance, or is expected to pay for a service
before it is delivered. For a restaurant, physical evidence could be in the form of the
surroundings, staff uniform, menus and online reviews to indicate the experience
that could be expected. For an agency, the website itself holds valuable physical
evidence – from testimonials to case studies, as well as the contracts that companies
are given to represent the services they can expect to be delivered.
 Module-I -10-

1.6.1 Importance of Extended Marketing Mix

There are several benefits of the extended marketing mix that makes it important to
businesses;
Helps understand what your product or service can offer to your customers
Helps plan a successful product offering
Helps with planning, developing and executing effective marketing strategies
Helps businesses make use of their strengths and avoid unnecessary costs
Helps be proactive in the face of risks
Help determine whether your product or service is suitable for your customers

• Helps identify and understand the requirements of customers

• Helps learn when and how to promote your product or service to your
customers

1.7 Key Customer Markets

Traditionally, a “market” was a physical place where buyers and sellers gathered to
buy and sell goods. Economists describe a market as a collection of buyers and
sellers who transact over a particular product or product class (such as the housing
market or the grain market).
Manufacturers go to resource markets (raw material markets, labor markets, money
markets), buy resources and turn them into goods and services, and sell finished
products to intermediaries, who sell them to consumers. Consumers sell their labor
and receive money with which they pay for goods and services. The government
collects tax revenues to buy goods from resource
 Module-I -11-

manufacturer, and intermediary markets and uses these goods and services to
provide public services. Each nation’s economy, and the global economy, consists of
interacting sets of markets linked through exchange processes. Marketers view
sellers as the industry and use the term market to describe customer groups. They
talk about need markets (the diet-seeking market), product markets (the shoe
market), demographic markets (the “millennium” youth market), geographic
markets (the Chinese market), or voter markets, labor markets, and donor markets.
Second figure shows how sellers and buyers are connected by four flows. Sellers
send goods and services and communications such as ads and direct mail to the
market; in return they receive money and information such as customer attitudes and
sales data. The inner loop shows an exchange
of money for goods and services; the outer loop shows an exchange of information

KEY CUSTOMER MARKETS

Consumer Markets: Companies selling mass consumer goods and services such as
juices, cosmetics, athletic shoes, and air travel spend a great deal of time
establishing a strong brand image by developing a superior product and packaging,
 Module-I -12-
ensuring its availability, and backing it with engaging communications and reliable
service.

Business Markets: Companies selling business goods and services often face well-
informed professional buyers skilled at evaluating competitive offerings. Business
buyers buy goods to make or resell a product to others at a profit.

Business marketers must demonstrate how their products will help achieve higher
revenue or lower costs. Advertising can play a role, but the sales force, the price, and
the company’s reputation may play a greater one.

Global Markets: Companies in the global marketplace must decide which

countries to enter; how to enter each (as an exporter, licenser, joint venture partner,
contract manufacturer, or solo manufacturer); how to adapt product and service
features to each country; how to price products in different countries; and how to
design communications for different cultures. They face different requirements for
buying and disposing of property; cultural, language, legal and political differences;
and currency fluctuations. Yet, the payoff can be huge.

Non-profit and Governmental Markets: Companies selling to nonprofit

organizations with limited purchasing power such as churches, universities,
charitable organizations, and government agencies need to price carefully. Lower
selling prices affect the features and quality the seller can build into the offering.
Much government purchasing calls for bids, and buyers often focus on practical
solutions and favor the lowest bid in the absence of extenuating factors.

1.8 Market Space

A marketspace is a term coined for an information and communication-based
electronic exchange environment, and is a concept in marketing that emerged in the
mid-1990s. In such marketspaces, physical boundaries no longer interfere with
buy/sell decisions.
The market space in marketing is defined as a virtual market place in the
commercial world, where the limitations of physical boundaries are not applicable. It
is an integration of numerous areas that are considered market places
via technology or via an exchange environment that is operated by electronic
information.

1.8.1 Meaning of market space

The market space is considered a bi-directional unit as both the buyers and sellers
can buy and sell through transactions in such portals.

Notable examples of market space are micro-blogging sites, e-commerce platforms,

etc. like twitter, ebay.com, quicker.com, Myntra, Etsy, Alibaba, Amazon.com, etc.
Electronic transactions are used for the distribution of goods and services in the
marker space.
 Module-I -13-

1.8.2 Objectives of market space

The goals of market space are as follows-

• Establishing brand awareness through the market space

• Selling a product or a service in the market space
• Providing product support
• Offering customer service via the market space

1.8.3 Characteristics of market space

The characteristics of market space are as follows-

• The transactions that take place in the market space occurs via
online media or internet
• There is no face-to-face transaction as the electronic media does
not offer any such option
• An interested party can find information in the market space about
the available products and not anything about the products
• There are no actual showrooms or physical stores. These are
replaced by the internet and computers that enable the option of
buying

1.8.4 Significant components of market space

1. Buyers
The world is full of potential buyers and customers who are continuously surfing the
web world for a good bargain. The goods and services are advertised on several
platforms which are accessible via internet connection. The consumers are on the
look-out for collector’s items, entertainment, and customized items. n a market
space, the actual power rests with a customer or the buyer who can easily search for
the required item on various websites. It is easy to get a detailed description of the
relevant product and service, compare the prices at different portals, make a bid for
the item they think worthwhile and even negotiate the prices.

2. Sellers
One of the essential components of the market space is sellers. There are many
market spaces on the web, which are offering millions of products and services to
the consumer. These sellers are actively involved in huge-scale advertising to lure in
old as well as new customers. A buyer can find new offerings on an everyday basis
as the products and services are replaced at regular intervals to maintain the fresh
look of the site. Sellers are seeing the market spaces very convenient for selling their
products as they can gain exposure to the innumerable number of buyers which
would not have been possible via physical stores. Moreover, the sellers can save on
the additional costs that are part and parcel of retail outlets but do not have a bearing
on the market spaces.
 Module-I -14-
3. Intermediaries
There are numerous types of intermediaries in the market space that provides several
services on the web. The online intermediaries are adept at handling the scenarios of
online markets by offering infrastructure services, matching buyers with sellers and
vice-versa, and helping both of them to complete a transaction admirably.

4. Other business partners

Besides the intermediaries, the market space has other business partners like the
shippers who collaborate with the supply chain on the internet

5. Products
The market space is a vast ground where almost every kind of product is available at
the web platforms. Buying is a straightforward option as it is possible with the help
of a single click of the mouse. The digitalization of services and products is likely in
the market space.Most of the costs in digital products are fixed thus profits increase
once volumes start increasing and this is a huge benefit for sellers

6. Back end
An essential component of the market space is back end of the market which
includes activities related to order fulfillment, packaging, payment
processing, purchasing from suppliers, inventory management and delivery

7. Infrastructure
The infrastructure of market space includes networks, software, and hardware

8. Front end
Interaction in the market space is via a front end, and the business processes include
shopping cart, electronic catalogs, seller’s portal, payment gateway, and a search
engine

9. Support services
One of the components of market space is the support services that are available in
the web world. These include trust services and certification that ensures security to
the knowledge providers.

1.8.5 Advantages and Disadvantages of Market space

Advantages of market space
The advantages of market space are as follows-

• The market space is already an established market, and there is no

need to create demand
 Module-I -15-

• Selling on the market space is at a much faster pace because as

soon as uploading starts, the buyers start going through and
buying the products and services
• The cost of products in market space is very less compared with
the value of products in physical stores as the sites can save
additional expenses like stocking costs, maintenance of physical
stores and transportation costs
• An essential advantage of market space is that it is convenient for
the consumers as they do not have to travel from one market place
to another in search of the products they require
• A market space does not need rent nor does it require the physical
presence of the employees
• Shopping at market space is very easy with a single click of the
mouse
• As the internet is available almost everywhere, there is no such
problem as inaccessible
• A market space has an established customer support network that
offers help when required regarding the products and services and
that too around the clock 24*7
• A market space has its payment escrow services. This helps the
customer to make payments with ease without worrying about the
misuse of large transactions
• It is possible to see the acceptability of a product by going through
the reviews
• The market space has already gained the trust of its audiences and
once a product or service is uploaded it gains benefit from the
already established trust factor of the market space
• Marketspace can attract high traffic that includes millions of
customers
• Marketspace is one of the quickest ways to expand online profile
and footprint
• The seller has to pay a commission to use the market space

Disadvantages of market space

The disadvantages of market space are as follows-

• The downside of market space is that there is no possibility of

trying the product. One has to look at the specifications and
posted information and assume the suitability of the product
• In market space, a buyer will not be able to take the help of
employees who acts as a guiding force
• The market space cannot boast of any direct communication
between the buyer and the seller
 Module-I -16-

• As the customer base is shared with several sellers, the market

space losses the opportunity of upselling and cross-selling the
products
• The market space is a product-focussed market and not seller-
focussed
• There is no customer loyalty in market space because they are not
regular visitors. They are random visitors who like things and then
buys as there are several options available to them
• The competition level in the market space is anytime higher than
found in other market places
• Market spaces are known for offering various discounts and
incentives to lure in the customers. Even if the sales
volumes increase the profit margins do not appear at the same rate

1.9 Meta Markets

The combination of an intangible market such as the internet, promoting closely
related tangible or intangible products is known as a Meta market. For understanding
meta markets lets first outline two definitions.

Market Places – Markets of physical goods and products is known as Market places.
The market places has presence of companies which manufacture their own
products.

Market space – The online market space with websites such as Ebay, Amazon and
others is known as Market spaces. These sites do not have offline products. They
only sell others products online.

Meta Markets – An online website such as the Maruti suzuki website for second
hand cars which promotes the purchase of physical goods (Maruti suzuki cars) is
known as a meta market. Lets take a look at the automobile industry. Whatever
company it may be, an automobile company would involve suppliers, channels,
service providers so and so forth. Thus the meta market will bring all these buyers
and sellers online in one place for one purpose only. Rather than giving multiple
products to one customer, the meta market brings together different customers of the
same product.

It can also be said that the combination of various entities within the same industry
can be known as a meta market. The meta markets are on the rise because of the
increase in accessibility of internet on both computers as well as smart phones.
Almost every individual in urban areas have access to the computer and the internet.
There are plans being made by the Indian government to have an internet outlet in
every 2 Km of India thus making internet available to even the rural population. The
meta market helps facilitate the movement of physical goods through online
medium.
 Module-I -17-
Meta marketing is "the synthesis of all managerial, traditional, scientific, social and
historical foundations of marketing,” a term first coined by E.J.Kelly while
discussing the issue of ethics and science of marketing Thus, Meta Marketing is an
attempt to widen the horizons of marketing by covering non-profit organisations.
The best examples of Meta Marketing can be selling family planning ideas or the
idea of prohibition.

A Meta market will bring all buyers and sellers in one place for one purpose only.
Instead of giving multiple products to one customer, a Meta market brings together
different customers who need not necessarily differentiate between closely related
products. Meta market is thus, a place, where everything connected with a certain
market can be found. Let's say a car selling in a Meta market would be a website,
that sells cars but you will also find car parts there, add-ons for cars, colours for cars,
mechanic's reviews, etc. So Meta market of a certain market is a market, where you
can find everything about that market and everything about markets that are strongly
connected to that market.
Meta marketing is an approach to the study of marketing and its relationship to
every aspect of life by focussing on all social, ethical, scientific and business
experience in marketing, thus establishing a body of knowledge base on the
integration of every facet of experience with the human personality.

1.10 Concept of Value chain

A value chain is a set of activities that a firm operating in a specific industry
performs in order to deliver a valuable product to the end customer. A value chain is
a business model that describes the full range of activities needed to create a
product or service. For companies that produce goods, a value chain comprises the
steps that involve bringing a product from conception to distribution, and
everything in between such as procuring raw materials, manufacturing functions,
and marketing activities.

A company conducts a value-chain analysis by evaluating the detailed procedures

involved in each step of its business. The purpose of a value-chain analysis is to
increase production efficiency so that a company can deliver maximum value for
the least possible cost.

❖ A value chain is a step-by-step business model for transforming a product

or service from idea to reality.
❖ Value chains help increase a business's efficiency so the business can
deliver the most value for the least possible cost.
❖ The end goal of a value chain is to create a competitive advantage for a
company by increasing productivity while keeping costs reasonable.
❖ The value-chain theory analyzes a firm's five primary activities and four
support activities.
Because of ever-increasing competition for unbeatable prices, exceptional products,
and customer loyalty, companies must continually examine the value they create in
order to retain their competitive advantage. A value chain can help a company to
 Module-I -18-
discern areas of its business that are inefficient, then implement strategies that will
optimize its procedures for maximum efficiency and profitability.

1.10.1 Components of a Value Chain

In his concept of a value chain, Porter splits a business's activities into two
categories, "primary" and "support," whose sample activities we list below.
Specific activities in each category will vary according to the industry.

Primary activities

Primary activities contribute to a product or service's physical creation, sale,

maintenance and support. These activities include the following:

• Inbound operations. The internal handling and management of

resources coming from outside sources -- such as external vendors
and other supply chain sources. These outside resources flowing in
are called "inputs" and may include raw materials.

• Operations. Activities and processes that transform inputs into

"outputs" -- the product or service being sold by the business that
flow out to customers. These "outputs" are the core products that can
be sold for a higher price than the cost of materials and production to
create a profit.

• Outbound logistics. The delivery of outputs to customers. Processes

involve systems for storage, collection and distribution to customers.
This includes managing a company's internal systems and external
systems from customer organizations.

• Marketing and sales. Activities such as advertising and brand-

building, which seek to increase visibility, reach a marketing
audience and communicate why a consumer should purchase a
product or service.
 Module-I -19-

• Service. Activities such as customer service and product support,

which reinforce a long-term relationship with the customers who
have purchased a product or service.

As management issues and inefficiencies are relatively easy to identify here, well-
managed primary activities are often the source of a business's cost advantage. This
means the business can produce a product or service at a lower cost than its
competitors.

Secondary activities

The following secondary activities support the various primary activities:

• Procurement and purchasing. Finding new external vendors,

maintaining vendor relationships, and negotiating prices and other
activities related to bringing in the necessary materials and resources
used to build a product or service.

• Human resource management. The management of human capital.

This includes functions such as hiring, training, building and
maintaining an organizational culture; and maintaining positive
employee relationships.

• Technology development. Activities such as research and

development, IT management and cybersecurity that build and
maintain an organization's use of technology.

• Company infrastructure. Necessary company activities such as

legal, general management, administrative, accounting, finance,
public relations and quality assurance.

1.10.2 Benefits of value chains

The value chain framework helps organizations understand and evaluate sources of
positive and negative cost efficiency. Conducting a value chain analysis can help
businesses in the following ways:

• Support decisions for various business activities.

• Diagnose points of ineffectiveness for corrective action.

• Understand linkages and dependencies between different activities

and areas in the business. For example, issues in human resources
management and technology can permeate nearly all business
activities.
 Module-I -20-

• Optimize activities to maximize output and minimize organizational

expenses.

• Potentially create a cost advantage over competitors.

• Understand core competencies and areas of improvement.

A value chain analysis can offer important benefits; however, when emphasizing
granular process details in a value chain, it's important to still give proper attention
to an organization's broader strategy.

1.10.3 How to conduct a value chain analysis

A value chain analysis is a process that helps organizations understand points in
their value chain, as well as relationships between these different points. Conducting
a value chain analysis helps a company identify factors that create or hinder cost
efficiency in its business model. When undergoing a value chain analysis, businesses
should regard the framework as a starting point rather than a complete start-to-finish
process.

Here are some steps that companies can take to understand their value chains:

1. Break each primary and secondary activity down into sub-

activities. Organizations can then analyze each function on a more
granular level, to compare the financial return of each function to the
time, effort and cost required.
2. Look for connections between sub-activities. Often, the
inefficiency of one activity or sub-activity is linked to another. For
example, an ill-advised HR hire can create issues that permeate into
many different sub-activities. Technology and inbound operations
can also have rippling effects throughout a company's value chain.
3. Diagnose areas of improvement. Consider trends and patterns in the
different sub-activities and connections between sub-activities, and
evaluate for potential improvement opportunities in those particular
points in the value chain.

1.11 Marketing Environment

Market environment and business environment are marketing terms that refer to
factors and forces that affect a firm's ability to build and maintain
successful customer relationships. The business environment has been defined as
"the totality of physical and social factors that are taken directly into consideration
in the decision-making behaviour of individuals in the organisation."
Marketing environment is the combination of external and internal factors and forces
that affect the company’s ability to establish a relationship and serve its customers.
 Module-I -21-
The marketing environment of a business consists of an internal and an external
environment.

The internal environment is company-specific and includes owners, workers,

machines, materials etc.

The external environment is further divided into two components: micro & macro.
➢ The micro or the task environment is also specific to the business but is
external. It consists of factors engaged in producing, distributing, and
promoting the offering [1,2,3].
➢ The macro or the broad environment includes larger societal forces which
affect society as a whole. It is made up of six components: demographic,
economic, physical, technological, political-legal, and social-cultural
environment.
“A company’s marketing environment consists of the actors and forces outside of
marketing that affect marketing management ability to build and maintain successful
relationships with target customers”. – Philip Kotler
1.11.1 Components Of Marketing Environment
The marketing environment is made up of the internal and external environment of
the business. While the internal environment can be controlled, the business has less
or no control over the external environment.

Internal Environment
The internal environment of the business includes all the forces and factors inside
the organisation which affect its marketing operations. These components can be
grouped under the Five Ms of the business, which are:

• Men: The people of the organisation including both skilled and

unskilled workers.
 Module-I -22-

• Minutes: Time taken for the processes of the business to

complete.
• Machinery: Equipment required by the business to facilitate or
complete the processes.
• Materials: The factors of production or supplies required by the
business to complete the processes or production.
• Money: Money is the financial resource used to purchase
machinery, materials, , and pay the employees.
The internal environment is under the control of the marketer and can be changed
with the changing external environment. Nevertheless, the internal marketing
environment is as important for the business as the external marketing environment.
This environment includes the sales department, the marketing department, the
manufacturing unit, the human resource department, etc [4,5,6].
External Environment
The external environment constitutes factors and forces which are external to the
business and on which the marketer has little or no control. The external
environment is of two types:

• Micro marketing environment

• Macro marketing environment
Micro Environment
The micro-component of the external environment is also known as the task
environment. It comprises external forces and factors that are directly related to the
business. These include suppliers, market intermediaries, customers, partners,
competitors and the public.

• Suppliers include all the parties which provide resources needed by the
organisation [7,8,9].
• Market intermediaries include parties involved in distributing the
product or service of the organisation.
• Partners are all the separate entities like advertising agencies, market
research organisations, banking and insurance companies, transportation
companies, brokers, etc. which conduct business with the organisation.
• Customers comprise of the target group of the organisation.
• Competitors are the players in the same market who targets similar
customers as that of the organisation.
• Public is made up of any other group that has an actual or potential
interest or affects the company’s ability to serve its customers.

Macro Environment
The macro component of the marketing environment is also known as the broad
environment. It constitutes the external factors and forces which affect the industry
as a whole but don’t have a direct effect on the business. The macro-environment
can be divided into 6 parts.
 Module-I -23-
Demographic Environment
The demographic environment is made up of the people who constitute the market.
It is characterised as the factual investigation and segregation of the population
according to their size, density, location, age, gender, race, and occupation [10,11,12].

Economic Environment
The economic environment constitutes factors that influence customers’ purchasing
power and spending patterns. These factors include the GDP, GNP, interest rates,
inflation, income distribution, government funding and subsidies, and other major
economic variables [13,14,15].

Physical Environment
The physical environment includes the natural environment in which the business
operates. This includes the climatic conditions, environmental change, accessibility
to water and raw materials, natural disasters, pollution etc.

Technological Environment
The technological environment constitutes innovation, research and development in
technology, technological alternatives, innovation inducements also technological
barriers to smooth operation. Technology is one of the biggest sources of threats and
opportunities for the organisation and it is very dynamic.

Political-Legal Environment
The political & Legal environment includes laws and government’s policies
prevailing in the country. It also includes other pressure groups and agencies which
influence or limit the working of the industry and/or the business in the society.

Social-Cultural Environment
The social-cultural aspect of the macro-environment is made up of the lifestyle,
values, culture, prejudice and beliefs of the people. This differs in different regions.

1.11.2 Importance of Marketing Environment

Every business, no matter how big or small, operates within the marketing
environment. Its present and future existence, profits, image, and positioning depend
on its internal and external environment. The business environment is one of the
most dynamic aspects of the business. In order to operate and stay in the market for
long, one has to understand and analyse the marketing environment and its
components properly [16,17,18].

1.11.3 Features Of Marketing Environment

The marketing environment surrounding a business possesses the following five
features:
 Module-I -24-
1. Specific and general forces: The marketing environment is made up of both
specific and general forces. Specific forces such as customers and investors directly
affect the business’s working, while general forces like social, legal, technological,
or political factors indirectly affect the business’s working.
2. Complex: The marketing environment is a complex interaction of several
elements, factors, conditions, and forces that affect the business’s ability to establish
a relationship and serve its customers [19,20,21].
3. Dynamic: The environment surrounding a business is very dynamic as its
constituents do not remain stable and change over time. Moreover, while marketers
can control some of the marketing environment elements, several elements are out of
the marketer’s control.
4. Uncertain: Forces that rule the marketing environment are highly uncertain, and
it becomes tough for a marketer to predict market forces to develop marketing
strategies and plans [22,23,24].
5. Relative: Marketing environments are also relative in nature. A specific product
might have a good demand in the USA but not in India because of the different
marketing environments in the two countries.

1.12 Difference between Marketing & sales.

In the simplest of terms, marketing is building awareness of your organization and
brand to potential customers. Sales is turning that viewership into a profit, by
converting those potential customers into actual ones. To dive deeper into the
difference between sales and marketing, here are some key takeaways.

Meaning Of Marketing
Marketing is the process of making people interested in your product through
various strategies like pricing, packaging, positioning (creating a perception),
placement and promotion. Marketing efforts of a company may or may not focus on
generating direct sales leads, but they definitely intend to make sales easier
and increase revenues over a longer period of time [25,26,27].

Meaning Of Sales
Sales is the process of selling goods and services. It involves convincing potential
customers to buy from your company. The convincing can be through various means
such as explaining your product's benefits, offering discounts or making your
product more attractive than that of your competitors. Some common sales
generation methods include making cold calls, holding one-on-one meeting with
business leads, participating in trade fairs and promotional events and cross selling
(selling another product to an existing customer).
Sales is the starting point of a contract between a business and its customers. A
company often looks to retain its customer-base by nurturing a positive relationship
with its customers [28,29,30,31].

Sales versus marketing

• Process
The marketing process is focused on familiarizing your brand and product with new
customers or refamiliarizing it with former ones. Organizations who are coming up
 Module-I -25-
with new ways to market themselves need to clearly explain what their product or
service is, how it solves an issue for the consumer and its price points. From there,
the marketing team needs to determine who is most likely interested in this product
or service and where they can find them.
The process for sales includes creating a plan that outlines an organization's actions,
tools, resources and overall sales goals. A sales team is most interested in converting
those who have some awareness of the brand into customers to earn a profit. They
interact with customers and answer their questions to provide relevant
information about the product or service [32,33,34].

• Goals
A business's marketing goals are to promote its product, company or brand with
clear communication. The primary objective is to look at the big picture and clearly
explain how the product or service benefits the widest audience possible, generating
potential leads.
A sales team marks their goals based on quotas and volume goals. These tend to be
based on a short-term period of time, typically based around the financial quarter or
month. Goals and targets are determined by how much the business needs to sell in
order to generate enough profit to continue to be operational [35,36].

• Strategies
Marketing strategies tend to be based on gathering information about their targeted
audience to see what does and does not work. Once the marketing team knows who
they're trying to target with a certain campaign, they can test out strategies. The most
popular forms of marketing strategies include internet marketing, print marketing,
blog marketing and focus groups.
Sales strategies are based on connecting with potential customers, talking and
listening to them, then converting them into paying customers. A salesperson will
typically first contact a prospect through a phone call, at a networking event or
online. Then, depending on the scope of the product or service, they will pitch to
them in hopes of getting their sale [37,38].

• Prospects
The prospects for marketing are larger than those for sales, since they're trying to
determine a target audience and create awareness. Those in marketing want to obtain
new prospects, while the sales department wants to leverage connections with
known prospects and existing clientele.

Other differences between sales and marketing

Here are some other differences between sales and marketing:

• The sales process takes an individualistic, customer-centric, one-to-one

approach, while marketing is media-driven and targets the entire segment.
• Sales fulfill the demand, while marketing creates a new demand or fits a
product into an existing demand.
• Marketing focuses on moving the product from the company to the market
(through product launches and awareness campaigns), while sales focuses
on moving the product from the market to the customer [39,40].
 Module-I -26-

• Sales focuses on the needs of the company, while marketing focuses on

the needs of the market.
• Sales begin where marketing ends.
• Sales is relationship-driven, whereas marketing is image-driven.
• Sales requires convincing and conversational skills, while marketing
requires analytical skills.
• Sales aims at maximising profits, while marketing aims at increasing
market share and customer satisfaction.
• Marketing attracts the customers towards the product, while sales pushes
the product to the customers [41,42,43].

1.13 Introduction to Marketing Research & Modern Marketing

Information System

Marketing Research

Marketing research is a systematic process for identifying marketing opportunities

and solving marketing problems, using customer insights that come out of collecting
and analyzing marketing information. The mechanics of marketing research must be
controlled so that marketers uncover the relevant facts to answer the problem at
hand. Control over this fact-finding process is the responsibility of the marketing
research director, who must correctly design the research and carefully supervise its
execution, to ensure it yields the customer insights the organization needs.
Market research is defined as the process of evaluating the feasibility of a new
product or service, through research conducted directly with potential consumers.
This method allows organizations or businesses to discover their target market,
collect and document opinions and make informed decisions. Market research can
be conducted directly by organizations or companies or can be outsourced to
agencies which have expertise in this process. The process of market research can be
done through deploying surveys, interacting with a group of people also known
as sample, conducting interviews and other similar processes.

Three key objectives of market research

A market research project may usually have 3 different types of objectives.

1. Administrative: Help a company or business development, through

proper planning, organization, and both human and material resources
control, and thus satisfy all specific needs within the market, at the
right time.
2. Social: Satisfy customer’s specific needs through a required product or
service. The product or service should comply with the requirements
and preferences of a customer when it’s consumed.
3. Economical: Determine the economical degree of success or failure a
company can have while being new to the market, or otherwise
introducing new products or services, and thus providing certainty to
all actions to be implemented.
 Module-I -28-
One-to-one interview: As the name suggests this method involves personal
interaction in the form of an interview, where the researcher asks a series of
questions to collect information or data from the respondents. The questions are
mostly open ended questions and asked in a way to facilitate responses. This method
is heavily dependent on the ability and experience of the interviewer to ask questions
that evoke responses.

Ethnographic research: This type of in-depth research is conducted in the natural

settings of the respondents. This method requires the interviewer to adapt
himself/herself to the natural environment of the respondents which could be a city
or a remote village. Geographical constraints can be a hindering factor in conducting
this kind of research. Ethnographic research can last from a few days to a few years.

2. Secondary Market Research: Secondary research uses information that is

organized by outside source like government agencies, media, chambers of
commerce etc. This information is published in newspaper, magazines, books,
company website, free government and nongovernment agencies and so on.
Secondary source makes use of the following:

Public sources: Public sources like library are an awesome way of gathering free
information. Government libraries usually offer services free of cost and a
researcher can document available information.

Commercial sources: Commercial source although reliable are expensive. Local

newspapers, magazines, journal, television media are great commercial sources to
collect information.

Educational Institutions: Although not a very popular source of collecting

information, most universities and educational institutions are a rich source of
information as many research projects are carried out there than any business sector.

Steps for conducting Market Research

Knowing what to do in various situations that arise during the investigation will save
the researcher’s time and reduce problems. Today’s successful enterprises use
powerful market research survey software that helps them conduct comprehensive
research under a unified platform and hence provide actionable insights much faster
with fewer problems.

Following are the steps to conduct an effective market research.

Step 1: Define the Problem

Having a well-defined subject of research will help researchers when they ask
questions. These questions should be directed to solve problems and they have to be
 Module-I -29-
adapted to the project. Make sure the questions are written clearly and that the
respondents understand them. Researchers can conduct a test with a small group to
know if the questions are going to know whether the asked questions are
understandable and will they be enough to gain insightful results.

Step 2: Define the Sample

To carry out market research, researchers need a representative sample that can be
collected using one of the many sampling techniques. A representative sample is a
small number of people that reflect, as accurately as possible, a larger group.
An organization cannot waste their resources in collecting information from the
wrong population. It is important that the population represents characteristics that
matter to the researchers and that they need to investigate, are in the chosen sample.

Take into account that marketers will always be prone to fall into a bias in the
sample because there will always be people who do not answer the survey because
they are busy, or answer it incompletely, so researchers may not obtain the required
data.
Regarding the size of the sample, the larger it is, the more likely it is to be
representative of the population. A larger representative sample gives the researcher
greater certainty that the people included are the ones they need, and they can
possibly reduce bias. Therefore, if they want to avoid inaccuracy in our surveys,
they should have representative and balanced samples.
Practically all the surveys that are considered in a serious way, are based on a
scientific sampling, based on statistical and probability theories.

There are two ways to obtain a representative sample:

Probability sampling: In probability sampling, the choice of the sample will be

made at random, which guarantees that each member of the population will have the
same probability of selection and inclusion in the sample group. Researchers should
ensure that they have updated information on the population from which they will
draw the sample and survey the majority to establish representativeness.

Non-probability sampling: In a non-probability sampling, different types of people

are seeking to obtain a more balanced representative sample. Knowing the
demographic characteristics of our group will undoubtedly help to limit the profile
of the desired sample and define the variables that interest the researchers, such as
gender, age, place of residence, etc. By knowing these criteria, before obtaining the
information, researchers can have the control to create a representative sample that is
efficient for us.

When a sample is not representative, there can be a margin of error. If researchers

want to have a representative sample of 100 employees, they should choose a similar
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