Theodore Levitt’s article (Gallo, 2016)

 Theodore Levitt’s article (Gallo, 2016)

Every business strives to understand its customers and satisfy their needs. Business executives are particularly concerned about customers’ perceptions and thoughts about their products. One of the fundamental concepts of marketing that promote the inherent desire of businesses to channel all their activities and strategies towards the consumer is the marketing concept (Patsiaouras, 2019). The marketing concept refers to the belief or philosophy that businesses must assess consumers’ needs first before deciding the most appropriate approach to satisfy those needs. Needs are essential requirements for survival. The marketing concept emphasizes the need to identify the target market and understand the needs of consumers in that market (Homburg, Jozić, & Kuehnl, 2017). On the other hand, marketing myopia refers to an inward-looking, short-sighted approach to marketing. It focuses on a company’s desire to fulfill immediate needs and not looking at marketing from consumers. This approach was first mentioned in Theodore Levitt’s article (Gallo, 2016). The marketing concept and marketing myopia have distinct bases, goals, and outcomes.

The marketing concept is anchored in need to create products based on the changing needs of consumers, satisfy those needs better than the competition, and earn a profit. A business is more concerned about delivering value than making profits. It develops products and designs marketing models that satisfy the needs of consumers (Patsiaouras, 2019). Profit-making is one of the very last objectives of the business. Marketing myopia is based on the aspiration to achieve immediate or short-term goals. For instance, a company can decide to focus on a narrow vision, such as selling products and earning profits. The company could be less concerned about the prospect of losing customers because of a deliberate failure to develop products or services that meet their needs (Gallo, 2016). As a result, the company might miss the opportunity to grow and deliver customer-oriented products.

The other relationship between the marketing concept and marketing myopia is that they both have goals. Customer satisfaction is the primary goal of the marketing concept. Companies that practice the marketing concept focus more on building long-term relationships with their customers (Homburg, Jozić, & Kuehnl, 2017). The goal of marketing myopia is to give more importance to short-term desires and aspirations. For instance, companies that align their operations with marketing myopia do not build long-lasting relationships with customers. They do not change despite the dynamic nature of the consumer environment (Gallo, 2016). Nokia, for example, lost a substantial amount of market share to IOS and android because it did not respond to the overtly dynamic consumer environment. Such companies may predict growth without carrying out proper research.

The last relationship is that each concept has resulted in distinct outcomes. For instance, companies that espouse the marketing concept achieve stronger relationships with customers in the end (Homburg, Jozić, & Kuehnl, 2017). Customer satisfaction contributes mainly to the robust and steady bond between these companies and consumers. Marketing myopia also leads to the attainment of immediate goals (Gallo, 2016). For instance, a company that focuses on selling as many products as possible may accomplish that short-term goal without necessarily building permanent relationships with customers.

In conclusion, the marketing concept continues to inspire the short-and long-term goals of businesses. Companies prioritize activities that are geared towards understanding and meeting the continually changing needs, wants, and expectations of consumers. Market research and product development are essential strategies that market-oriented companies have continuously used to figure out the needs of customers and determine the required improvements. Marketing myopia reflects the potential risks if companies focus on immediate goals such as sales and profits, instead of assessing consumers’ needs. These companies overlook the need to gain a competitive edge by delivering value and building solid relationships with customers.