12th Standard Commerce — Marketing and Marketing Mix Online Test

About Marketing and Marketing Mix

Medium ~45 min study

Marketing and Marketing Mix is chapter 14 of the Tamil Nadu State Board Class 12 Commerce book and opens Unit 5, Elements of Marketing. It begins with Kural 675 on weighing money, means, time, execution and place before acting, and explains that marketing is much wider than selling and has grown by evolution rather than revolution.

The lesson moves from the six stages of the evolution of marketing to the marketing concept, the definition of the American Marketing Association, objectives, importance and functions of marketing, and ends with the marketing mix, its four elements and the traditional and modern marketing mix.

This page gives the five book-back one mark questions with the printed answer key checked against the lesson, plus additional questions on every section, each with a short explanation.

What you'll learn

• List the six stages in the evolution of marketing in order.
• State the marketing concept and the definition of marketing by the American Marketing Association.
• Explain the objectives of marketing and its importance to society and to individual firms.
• Describe the seven functions of G.B. Giles and the classification of Clark and Clark.
• Distinguish standardization, grading, branding, packing and pricing.
• Explain the four elements of the marketing mix and the modern marketing mix.

Before you start

• The meaning of market and marketer from chapter 13.
• Basic ideas of production, consumption and exchange of goods.
• The role of transport and warehousing in trade.

Marketing and Marketing Mix explained

What this lesson covers

Evolution of marketing

Marketing passed through six stages: barter system, production orientation, sales orientation, marketing orientation, consumer orientation and management orientation.

Marketing concept and definition

First create a customer, then create products; love your customers, not the products; the customer is supreme or king. The American Marketing Association defines marketing as the people and activities involved in the flow of goods and services from producer to consumer.

Objectives and importance

Baker and Anshen say the end of all marketing is the satisfaction of human wants. Marketing links consumer and producer, raises living standards, national income and employment, and gives firms revenue and information for production decisions.

Functions of marketing

G.B. Giles listed seven functions. Clark and Clark grouped them into functions of exchange, functions of physical supply and facilitating functions such as financing, risk bearing, market information, standardization, grading, branding, packing and pricing.

Marketing mix

Jerome McCarthy defined the marketing mix as four sets of variables: product, price, promotion and place. The modern mix adds people, process, programme and performance.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Treating marketing as the same as selling. The lesson says marketing is much wider than selling.
• Placing sales orientation before production orientation. Production orientation comes second, after the barter system.
• Mixing up grading and standardization. Standardization fixes standards; grading classifies standardized products into classes.
• Saying warehousing creates place utility. Transport creates place utility; warehousing creates time utility.
• Listing programme as a variable of the traditional marketing mix. It belongs to the modern mix.

Test yourself on these with the practice test, then check the worked reasoning in the solved MCQs.

Frequently asked questions

What is marketing?

Marketing covers all activities connected with markets that bring about exchanges to satisfy human needs and wants. It includes the activities that move goods and services from producer to the ultimate user, and it is much wider than selling, which only puts goods into buyers' hands for a price.

What are the stages in the evolution of marketing?

The lesson gives six stages: the barter system, production orientation, sales orientation, marketing orientation, consumer orientation and management orientation. In the last stage marketing takes a managerial role and co-ordinates all business activities to plan, promote and distribute want-satisfying products.

What is the marketing concept?

Make what you can sell instead of trying to sell what you can make. First create a customer and then create products. Love your customers, not the products. The customer is supreme or king, and the customer's preferences shape your decisions.

How did Clark and Clark classify marketing functions?

They grouped them into three types: functions of exchange (buying and assembling, and selling), functions of physical supply (transportation, and storage and warehousing) and facilitating functions such as financing, risk bearing, market information, standardization, grading, branding, packing and pricing.

What is meant by grading?

Grading means classification of standardized products into certain well defined classes. It follows standardization, which fixes standards based on the intrinsic qualities of a commodity such as size, colour, taste and appearance.

Define marketing mix.

Jerome McCarthy defined the marketing mix as a pack of four sets of variables: product, price, promotion and place. In simple words it is the marketing programme a firm offers to its target consumers to earn profits by satisfying their wants.

What are the elements of the marketing mix?

Product is the main element, since without a product there is no marketing. Price is the value of the product in money. Place moves the product to consumers at the right time. Promotion conveys its features and benefits to potential consumers through media such as television, radio, newspapers and the internet.