Marketing Report: Consumer Needs, Wants and Marketing Strategies

This report examines the influence of marketing on consumer behavior, specifically focusing on the debate of whether marketing reflects existing consumer needs or shapes them. The report argues that marketing often creates and defines consumer desires, using examples like the promotion of body image issues and the purchase of unnecessary items. The author references Ivanov & Webster (2017) to support the idea that marketing designs consumer needs, contrasting this with the purchase of essential items like toothpaste. The report concludes that marketing stimulates consumer wants and encourages the purchase of items that consumers may not have initially desired, thereby increasing product demand and helping companies compete in the market. The report uses examples of Samsung products to reinforce the argument.

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Running Head: MARKETING
Marketing
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MARKETING
Does marketing reflect the needs and wants of consumers or shapes consumer's needs?
Introduction
Marketing is described as fulfilling consumers' needs and desires. It is said to
generate the desires and needs that were absent in the market. Sellers encourage customers to
use money rather than spending it on commodities and facilities that they don't require. For
instance, women are into body image issues since the advertising messages focus on the
product being sold that have pictures of lovely ladies who are thin. This information gives a
connection between slenderness, achievements, and fame which makes young ladies struggle
to live to man-made typecast. Also ends up in poor eating habits. Taking an example of a
person selling sandals to a destabilized youth who buys them to raise their esteem, the youth
spends a lot of money buying an expensive thing that they really don't need (Lantos, 2015).
Marketing shapes consumers need.
According to Ivanov & Webster, (2017) marketing outlines, the customer's
necessities and desires since things that customers require are essential, they can purchase
even though there was no advertisement of the products. For instance toothbrush, Soap, toilet
paper and others. Even if there were distinct types of the items, buyers would purchase them
with no selling strategy used. When customers view an item on sale they don't want it before
the advertisement is seen.
After advertisement the buyer obtains the item, hence establishing the unwanted
requirement. For example, when a Samsung tablet came I didn't want a new phone, but on the
advertisement of the phone, I desired to have it although I never needed it. Because most of
my friends and colleagues had Samsung tablet I purchased one to be like them. Hence
marketing designs necessities and desires of customers instead of fulfilling the consumers
wants.

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MARKETING
Conclusion
The advertisement makes customers recognize their wants and arouses the market. It
should inspire the consumer's wants and encourage customers to think that the unwanted is
what they need, thus the company can increase their product demand and endure the
competition by advertising.
References
Ivanov, S. H., & Webster, C. (2017). The robot as a consumer: a research agenda.
Lantos, G. P. (2015). Consumer behavior in action: Real-life applications for marketing
managers. Routledge.