Marketing: Consumer Needs and Wants
Not what you're looking for?
Does marketing reflect the needs and wants of consumers or does marketing shape consumer needs and wants?
Purchase this Solution
Solution Summary
This solution discusses marketing's role in shaping consumer needs and wants in 636 words with references.
Solution Preview
Now, we'll do the concept that marketing, in fact, reflects the demands of consumers. In this case, demand is a form of economic democracy where aggregated preferences are quickly translated to producers and have their symbolic form expressed in prices.
Here's a more academic piece dealing with consumer-driven demand for agricultural products:
http://www.farmfoundation.org/projects/documents/ConsumerDemand.pdf
One issue here is that increasing information on the nutrition, the nature of pesticides and genetic engineering are forcing firms to alter how they raise animals and keep pests off crops. Here, they are clearly saying that consumer education is driving reforms in the agricultural sector worldwide. Since income is growing worldwide (or so they say), this also means that consumers have more discretion and freedom in how and what they buy in terms of food.
The authors state:
"In high-income countries, consumers do not change their shopping habits when income and prices are relatively stable. ...
Purchase this Solution
Free BrainMass Quizzes
Economic Issues and Concepts
This quiz provides a review of the basic microeconomic concepts. Students can test their understanding of major economic issues.
Economics, Basic Concepts, Demand-Supply-Equilibrium
The quiz tests the basic concepts of demand, supply, and equilibrium in a free market.
Basics of Economics
Quiz will help you to review some basics of microeconomics and macroeconomics which are often not understood.
Elementary Microeconomics
This quiz reviews the basic concept of supply and demand analysis.
Pricing Strategies
Discussion about various pricing techniques of profit-seeking firms.