(1) The production philosophy.
(2) The product philosophy.
(3) The selling philosophy.
(1) The production philosophy : The production philosophy is a manifestation of bias for the means of enlarging production so as to reduce cost and\or make products more available. Either of two situations can lead to this type of business orientation. Firstly, where the cost of production is very high, management may want to bring it down in order to enlarge the market. Secondly, where when they are shortages as a result of demand outstripping supply management concentrate on making enough products available. production oriented management is more rampant in developing economies (such as Nigeria's) where most goods and services are in short supply and unaffordable to customers. In such places, organisations and and their personnel usually show general in personality and consumers insensitivity in the performance of their activities. The attention is more focused on production. They get away with their insensitivity to customers because of lack of competition and their enjoyment of sellers market when competition sets in or goods and services being produced becomes surplus, they find it that continuing with this orientation is perilous. The assumptions held by the management of organisation which practice the production concepts are as follows : Consumers primary interest are the availability of products and low prices.
Consumers are highly price sensitive and do not pay much attention to non price differences that exist within a given product class.
The measured task of the organisation should be the continuous reduction in cost through improved production methods and improved distribution efficiency.
The assumption above are more valid in pre-industrial days and places where there is so much object poverty that consumers only evaluate criteria for the selection of goods and services to purchase is price. Where people are affluent or can afford the basic things of life, they begin to think seriously about the quality of life. In such a situation, they will be ready to pay reasonable prices for the products which meet their more personalised needs. The practice of production- oriented management usually leads to turning out of cheap but low quality goods and services. Though such products may sometimes gain popularity at the onset they are usually rejected with time when people's income improves and they decide to go for better products. People also like to show off through the type of products they buy and (sometimes) the prices they pay to obtain them this means that people usually give more consideration to the non price feature of product when deciding on what and where to buy most especially when it especially goods or the consumer required additional services.
The product philosophy :
The products philosophy is an attempt to improve on the production concept. it is usually adopted after management has practiced the production concept to no success. the practice of the production concept usually leads to the mass production of poor quality products which stockpile in warehouses. thinking that the poor quality of products is mainly responsible for their failure to attract significant patronage, management may decide to shift its emphasis to the production of high-quality products. The product philosophy or concept is therefore a managerial orientation towards the production of high quality products as a means of competition in the market. Here the management believes that consumers are more attracted too high quality products and the resources of the organisation should therefore be devoted to offering them technically perfect reliable and long lasting products. It is akin to the following Emerson's council by producing the best mouse trap.
The basic assumptions that underline the product concept are as follows ; what consumers buy is the product itself and not the solution it would provide to their problems.
What primarily appeals to consumers in a product is it quality.
Consumers actually know the differences in the in the quality and features of competing brands.
Quality is the evaluation criterion used by consumers in choosing among competing brands. Continuous product improvement should be the main tax of the organisation for attracting and retaining consumers patronage. Organisations that hold to this product's philosophy usually over stress the issue of product quality while neglecting other factors which influence product purchase. The boast of the enviable high-quality of their products. They expect the high quality of their products to speak to and attract patronage from consumers. Having built the best mousetrap, they expect the whole world to beat the bush to their doorsteps.
They forget features of a product. Thus, over-simplification of needs of consumer and task of marketing management is the main shortcoming of product philosophy. It is usually the desire to find solutions to needs or problems that make consumers to seek goods and services in the first instance.
Hardly does anyone go out in search of products just for the sake of the products themselves, as the product concept assumes. Secondly the primary interest of consumers in product is the service that they would render in the terms of solving problems not the product quality per se. Thirdly, hardly does the average consumer know the quality and feature differences among competing brands of product because all of these, consumers do not usually go for the best quality products. They usually go for the ones that come close to meeting their needs in terms of services, design, package, price, availability and economy among other factors. There are bound examples of high-quality and prestigious products that have recently been displaced by less qualitative ones in our economy. Most of the fine traditionally styled and accurate time keeping watches with prestigious names such as oris, omega and wester of yester -years have been displaced by cheap convenient, beautifully designed and lightweight electronic watches from japan and taiwan.
The selling philosophy :
As a managerial philosophy the selling concept otherwise known as the sales orientation entails hard selling of goods to consumers. Here management believes that aggressive selling efforts are required to ensure that the organization's products are sold, since consumers are perceived to be unwilling to buy. The selling effort employed by sales oriented organisation to aggressively turn their products to sales revenue are predominantly the promotional tools of sales promotion and personal selling.
The sales orientation stands is undertaken as a result of the following presuppositions : consumers normally try to resist buying the product which they consider non-essential. consumers tend to buy only those things that they are much aware of.
Consumers can be influenced to buy more through promotional means.
The organisation stars is to build an aggressive sales oriented department as a means of attracting and relating customers. The focus of selling concept is the organisation itself vis a vis how to achieve sales for its products. serious consideration is not given to whether or not the products meet the needs of the consumers. goods are therefore designed and produced in the commercial quantities before thinking about the market the tax of the sales department or sales man is the disposal of what has been produced.
emphasis is laid on the volume of sales rather than on the net profit because consumers are not expected to readily buy the organisation practicing the selling concept considers its goods as "sold and not bought" the practice of selling concept is right in the country insurance company's encyclopaedia and high cost outlay religious book companies, building and home repair contractors and savings institutions are traditional practitioners of the selling concept. This organisation deal on unsought goods which consumers do not usually feel a strong need for or go out of their way to enquire about and purchase easily. aggressive sales men are therefore employed to seek potential consumers and hard sell the products to them political organisations. example of non-business traditional petitioners of selling concept having decided on the candidates to sponsor for specific posts without the participation of voters or the electorate they go about canvassing for votes they do this by spending much time and financial resources to convince voters to accept the candidates the candidates floors are covered while their merits or virtues are exaggerated beyond measures how to ensure that the vote of the electorate are gained the government most especially the unelected military government also uses the selling concept to get its unpopular policies accepted by people. this it does through radio, television and print media companies and the sponsoring of some opinion leaders who laud the policies at rallies and other occasions. The practice of selling concept usually entails during huge marketing costs which are not justified by the reasonable profit. mouth-watering commissions have to be paid to salesman in order to motivate them to hard sell the unwanted products to consumers. Huge sales promotional budget are also needed to induce sales though the sales. volume may be high the high cost of achieving them usually swallow up much of the profit.
Sales are usually high only on the short run when the selling concept is adopted salesman have to achieve sales by all means some of them employed on ethical means to get them, the product also do not usually meet the needs of consumers well having not originated from their demand this leads to a one time business since those who wants fall prey and both would soon learn not to make the same mistake another time around. as a result of the on unorthodox and sharp practices of some salesman motivated by the selling philosophy marketing practice has acquired a bad reputation in many places sales men are regarded as profiteers, as trickers, swindlers and people who delight in making others to buy what they do not need .where due consideration is given to the needs of consumers in product development and sales marketers would be seen by as partners in progress.
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