Marketers^ Attitudes Toward the Marketing Concept

HIRAM C. BARKSDALE and BILL DARDEN

so-called "marketing concept" was first introduced to the THE U.S. business scene some twenty years ago. The concept was so simple and so basic it was unarguable in principle. Variously called the marketing philosophy, total marketing, and integrated marketing, the concept soon attracted the attention of marketing executives and educators and was enthusiastically hailed as a new manifesto for American business. Although particular elements of the marketing concept can be traced to other sources, the General Electric Company is usually acknowledged as the first firm to systematically structure its operations in accordance with the precepts of the marketing philosophy.' Just after World War II, Ralph J. Cordiner, an executive with General Electric, completed a master plan for reorganizing the company. One of the basic features of this realignment was the recognition of marketing as an integrated function of business concerned with the entire process of developing and distributing products to satisfy consumer wants. Specifically, consumer wants were considered the starting point for all company plans; therefore, marketing must be introduced at the beginning rather than at the end of the production cycle, and marketing considerations should be a part of all major business decisions. This integrated, consumer-oriented concept of marketing was viewed as a fundamental business philosophy guiding and coordinating the operations of the entire organization. The marketing concept is based on two fundamental notions: First, the consumer is recognized as the focal point or pivot for all business activity; second, profitrather than sales volumeis specified as the criterion for evaluating marketing activities. The basic ideas embodied in the marketing concept were not new. Its main elements were generally understood and intuitively practiced by many successful business firms. Nevertheless, G.E.'s formulation and implementation of the concept represented a significant development. Indeed, such innovations as the elevation of marketing to the top echelons of management, the organization of the diverse marketing activities under a single executive responsible for their integration and coordination, the expansion of marketing's boundaries to include product planning, production scheduling, and finished goods inventory, and the emphasis given to marketing planning and marketing information constituted a new approach to marketing management. '"Marketing Men Take Over in GE Units," Business Week (June 24, 1950), pp. 30-36; General Electric Company Annual Report, 1952.

The marketing concept sparked the interest of business executives and marketing educators when introduced as a pioneering idea some twenty years ago. The doctrine has since influenced the thinking of businessmen and has changed the direction of marketing education. The authors report the results of a survey designed to measure current attitudes of executives and educators toward the marketing concept, its operational adequacy, and its contributions to business and to consumers.
Jovmal of Marketing. 1971), pp. 29-36. Vol. 35 (October.

29

30 The pioneering efforts of General Electric and other firms that were early adopters set a pattern that was widely accepted, sometimes with modification, by other organizations. The outpouring of publicityin trade publications, professional journals, and conference speechesindicates that the marketing concept was viewed as a powerful idea by business executives and marketing educators.2 It was felt that the concept's adoption would solidify the bridge of interest between the producer and consumer and yield important benefits for both. Scattered research reports also confirm that most larger corporations, at least, adopted the marketing concept and attempted to implement it.^ Purpose of Study The evidence suggests that the marketing concept has become the guiding philosophy for modern marketing thought and practice. From time to time, however, specific individuals have questioned whether the concept works as well in actual practice as its advocates promise.* Although the question raised in these discussions constitutes a challenge to the foundation structure of modern marketing, the discussions have been largely ignored, and the basic issue has not been explored in any detail. This article presents the results of a survey made to determine the attitudes of business executives and marketing educators toward the marketing concept, its dimensions and operational adequacy, and
2 A. A, To^eson, "The Svntch from a Sales to a Marketing Concept," in Broadening Horizons in Marketing, M. J. Dooher and Elizabeth Marting, editors (New York: American Management Association, Marketing Series, No. 96, 1956); Fred J. Borch, "The Marketing Philosophy as a Way of Business Life," in The Marketing Concept: Its Meaning to Management, Elizabeth Marting and Albert Newgarden, editors (New York: American Management Association, Marketing Series, No. 99, 1957); Henry Bund and James W. Carroll, "The Changing Role of the Marketing Function," JOURNAL OF MARKETING. Vol. 21 (January, 1957), pp. 268-325; A. R. Hahn, "The 'Marketing Concept': A Major Change in Management Thinking," Sales Management, Vol. 79 (November 10, 1957), pp. 64-75; J. B. McKitterick, "What is the Marketing Management Concept?" in The Frontiers of Marketing Thought and Science, Frank M. Bass, editor (Chicago, 111.: American Marketing Association, Winter, 1957) ; Louis A. Allen, "Integrated Marketing: Tbe Consumer Knows Best," Dun's Review and Modern Industry, Vol. 73 (January, 1959), pp. 40-41 and 56-61. 3 Hector Lazo, "Big Business Gives Big OK to Marketing Concept," Sales Management, Vol. 81 (November 21, 1958), pp. 33-35 and 86-88; Robert E. Weigand, "Changes in the Marketing Organization in Selected Industries: 1950 to 1959," in The Social Responsibilities of Marketing, William D. Stevens, editor (Chicago, 111.: American Marketing Association, Winter, 1961), pp. 475-480; Richard T. Hise, "Have Manufacturing Firms Adopted the Marketing Concept?" JOURNAL OF MARKETING, Vol. 29 (July, 1965), pp. 9-12.

Journal of Marketing, October, 1971 its contributions to American business and to the consumers that it serves. More specifically, the study develops an opinion profile of the marketing concept and its contributionsinternally to the management of marketing operations and externally to the benefits created for consumers. Methodology The data were collected in 1970 from a national sample of business executives and marketing educators. "Fortune's Directory of the 500 Largest Corporations" was used to select 404 business organizations. Of these, 199 questionnaires were personally addressed to the president of the company, and 205 were mailed to the marketing director or a top marketing executive. The sample of 198 educators was chosen randomly from the academic members listed in the Membership Roster of the American Marketing Association, after eliminating
Arthur P. Felton, "Making the Marketing Concept Work," Harvard Business Review, Vol. 37 (JulyAugust, 1959), pp. 55-65; Carl Hoffman, "The Marketing Vice President is no Panacea," in Innovation Key to Marketing Progress, Henry Gomez, editor (Chicago, 111.: American Marketing Association, 1963), pp. 13-16; Henry Bund, "Is Top Management Disillusioned with Marketing Management," in InnovationKey to Marketing Progress, Henry Gomez, editor (Chicago, 111.: American Marketing Association, 1963), pp. 17-24; Robert E. Sessions, "The Marketing Concept in Action," in The Marketing Concept in Action, Robert M. Kaplan, editor (Chicago, 111.: American Marketing Association, 1964), pp. 3-17; James E. Parks, "The Marketing Concept in Capital Goods Companies," in The Marketing Concept in Action, Robert M. Kaplan, editor (Chicago, 111.: American Marketing Association, 1964), pp. 159-177; Peter Drucker, "The Shame of Marketing," Marketing Communications, Vol. 297 (August, 1969), pp. 60-64.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS. Hiram C. Barksdale is professor and chairman of the Marketing Department at The University of Georgia. He earned his PhD at New York University. Dr. Barksdale serves on the editorial review board of the JOURNAL OF MARKETING. He is the author of Problems in Marketing Research: InBasket Simulation and a number of other books and articles. Dr. Barksdale has had extensive experience as a consultant in marketing and advertising research. Bill Darden is associate professor of marketing at The University of Georgia. He received his PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his MS from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Professor Darden's work has appeared in the JOURNAL OF MARKETING and other journals. His books include The Decision Making Game and MarJcefing Managemenf and the Decision Sciences.

Marketers' Attitudes Toward the Marketing Concept those teaching in colleges located outside of the continental limits of the United States. After one follow-up letter, 224 (or 55%) of the executives and 142 (or 72%) of the educators replied. The number of completed questionnaires totaled 335203 from executives and 132 from educators. The difference between the number of replies and the number of usable questionnaires is explained by the fact that some respondents gave a general statement but did not answer the questions. Others returned incomplete questionnaires, and still others wrote to explain why they could not supply the information requested. The questionnaire used for data collection included 29 "Likert-type" statements. Respondents were asked to score each statement along a five-point scale, ranging from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree." Following each statement, space was provided for comments, and respondents were encouraged to explain the bases for their opinions. The response to each statement is reported separately for executives and educators. In addition, the opinions of executives were analyzed by (1) company sales volume (over $1 billion. $300 million to $1 billion, and under $300 million), (2) type of product (consumer and industrial), and (3) title of respondent < top management, marketing managers, and other marketing executives). The opinions of educators were analyzed by (1) years teaching experience (under ten years and over ten years), (2) primary teaching interest (general marketing-marketing management and other marketing subjects), (3) years of business experience (under seven years and over seven years), and (4) highest degree (doctorate and others). A chi-square statistic was computed and checked for .statistical significance for all of the characteristic variables. For purposes of analysis and discussion, the 29 statements are grouped into the following four categories; (1) Concept Dimensions and Adequacy, (2) Infiuence on Management, (3) Consumer Benefits, and (4) The Marketing Concept and Consumerism. Analysis of Results Concept Dimensions and Adequacy As expected, the majority of respondents agree with the textbook definition of the marketing concept. From the comments of those who disagreed or were uncertain about the definition, lack of agreement seems to center around the dual objectives of consumer orientation and profit motivation. Several respondents contended that consumer orientation should be the only requirement in the definition, a second group stated that profits must be the first consideration and emphasized that profits must be viewed over the long run. Still other respondents disagreed with the idea that all business decisions must be consumer oriented, pointing out that some

31 decisions are based on tax considerations, government regulations, or social concerns. The responses of executives and educators, along with the totals for both groups, are reported in Table 1. Executives and educators agree almost unanimously that the marketing concept is equally valid for large and small firms. Some respondents point out that there is often greater reliance on short-run strategies in smaller companies, explaining that problems of immediate survival may preclude implementation of the concept. Others express the opinion that the marketing concept is more important for smaller firms than larger organizations. When confronted with the statement that the marketing concept is an academic idea that works better in theory than in practice, executives and educators responded with the same relative frequency over all answer categories. In their comments several educators express the view that the marketing concept has not been given an adequate trial by business firms. Although a majority of executives and educators disagree with the statement that consumer orientation is inadequate as a criterion for day-to-day marketing decisions, more than 25% of all respondents agree. The general sense of the comments on this statement can be summarized by the remark of one respondent who stated, "To be a decision criterion, consumer orientation must be set out in quantitative form." Over 57% of all respondents agree or strongly agree that there are frequent confiicts between consumer orientation and profit objectives. Many executives and educators explain that confiicts do exist in the short run, but over the long run they tend to disappear. Several executives also stress that expensive product innovations may be held back by profit considerations. More than 40% of respondents agree that profits would be the overriding consideration in the event of confiict between consumer orientation and profit objectives. On the other hand, almost 30% disagree or strongly disagree with the statement, and 27% are uncertain. This statement provoked more comments than any other. The gist of the remarks might be summarized as follows; Making a profit is a fundamental necessity, but over the long run consumer orientation and profit objectives must come into alignment. When executive responses are divided into top management, marketing managers, and other marketing executives, some interesting differences appear. In responding to statement 3, top executives express greater faith in the practical application of the marketing concept than do the marketing managers and other marketing executives. This result is in sharp contrast to what might be expected. It raises some puzzling questions about the criteria used in judging the practical application of the marketing concept, and which executive group

32
TABLE 1

Journal of Marketing, October, 1971

CONCEPT DIMENSIONS AND ADEQUACY

Level of Agreement

Statements
1. Stated simply, the marketing concept holds (1) that all business decisionsincluding marketing decisionsmust be consumer oriented, and (2) profits rather than sales should be the standard for evaluating marketing performance. 2. The basic ideas of the marketing concept are equally valid for both large and small business firms. 3. The marketing concept is an academic idea that works better in theory than in practice. 4. The notion of consumer orientation is so general and vague that it is inadequate as a decision criterion in the day-to-day management of marketing activities. 5. In actual practice, there are frequent conflicts between consumer orientation and profit objectives.' 6. In the event of conflict between consumer orientation and profit objectives, profits would be the overriding consideration.

Strongly Respondents Disagree Executives (203) .5% 3.8 Educators (132) Total (335) 1.8

Disagree 6.9% 6.8

6.9

Uncertain 4.9% 3.8

4.5

Agree 45.8% 43.2 44.8

Strongly Agree 41.9% 42.4 42.1

Executives Educators Total Executives Educators Total Executives Educators Total

.0 .0
.0

4.9 .8
3.3

3.0 3.0
3.0

55.7 43.2 50.7 16.3 18.9 17.3 24.6 23.5

24.2

36.5 53.0 43.0 1^ 3.0 2.1 1.6 4.6

2.7

19.2 16.7 18.2 9.4 9.1

9.3

58.6 51.6 55.8 62.2 56.8 64.0

4.4 9.8
6.6

12.3 6.1
9.9

Executives Educators Total Executives Educators Total

6.4 6.3
6.0

32.0 21.2 27.8 29.1 19.7 25.4

8.4 10.6
9.3

49.3 49.2 49.3 36.9 37.1

37.0

3.9 13.6
7.8

3.4 4.6
3.9

26.6 29.5
27.2

4.9 9.1
6.6

*Chi-square test indicates a significant difference at the .05 level.

is in a better position to assess its operational value. Analysis of executive response to statement 5 indicates that the majority of executives (51.3%) in consumer product companies do not believe that there are frequent conflicts between consumer orientation and profit objectives, while a majority of executives (61.8% ) in industrial product firms agree that such conflicts do arise. Although it cannot be determined from the data, this variation in opinion could reflect a difference of experience with the concept. When the response of educators is analyzed by courses taught (general marketing and specialized marketing courses), one significant difference emerges. A larger percentage of the teachers of specialized courses, in contrast to general marketing courses, disagree with the idea that there are conflicts between consumer orientation and profit objectives. Influence on Management There are several interesting trends apparent in the data presented in Table 2. Although the majority of respondents express great faith in the marketing concept and its contributions to management, there are significant differences in the response patterns of executives and educators. In

general, executives express a more positive attitude toward the adoption of the marketing concept and its influence on the organization and management of marketing activities than do the educators. The variations in response between executives and educators do not reflect a difference in kind, but one of degree. One educator summarizes the skepticism expressed by a number of his colleagues with the comment that "The marketing concept has not done anything except provide a subject for conversation." Perhaps the most interesting single feature of Table 2 is the distribution of answers to statement 7; almost one-third of all respondents are uncertain about the extent to which the marketing concept has been adopted as an operating philosophy. Surprisingly, executives are more uncertain than educators (36.5% as compared to 25.8%). One can only speculate as to why the level of uncertain response is so high for this statement. A possible explanation is the lack of any recognized criteria for judging whether a company has, in fact, adopted the marketing concept. The divergence of opinion on this statement becomes apparent when it is observed that over 61% of the educators express some level of disagreement as compared with less than 29% of the executives. One educator wryly comments, "All you have to do is observe company behavior to see they have not

Marketers' Attitudes

Toward the Marketing Concept

TABLE 2 INFLUENCE ON MANAGEMENT

SS

Level of Agreement Statements 7. The marketing concept has been adopted as an operating philosophy by most business firms in America." 8. Over the past 20 years, the marketing concept has had tremendous influence on the philosophy and thought of top management in the leading business firms of America.' 9. Executives have given considerable lip service to the marketing concept, but in general it has had little influence on the day-to-day management of marketing activities.* 10. "The marketing concept has had its greatest influencewithin the business firmon the organization and management of marketing activities." 11. The marketing concept has brought about a more logical and effective organizational arrangement of marketing activities within business firms. 12. The marketing concept has made marketing executives more profit minded and increased their involvement with company profit objectives.* 13. The marketing concept has increased the attention and effort devoted to planning and controlling marketing activities.* 14. If measured in terms of its contributions to the managenient of marketing activities within the business firm, the marketing concept has proven effective.* Strongly Respondents Disagree Executives (203) 2.0% Educators (132) 11.4 5.7 Total (335) Executives Educators Total .0 3.8
1^

Disagree 26.6% 50.0 35.8 4.4 9.8

6.6

Uncertain 36.5% 25.8 32.2 21.7 21.2 21.5

Agree 34.0% 10.6 24.8 63.5 55.3 60.3

Strongly Agree 1.0% 2.3

1.5

10.3 9.8 10.1

Executives Educators Total

8.9 8.0
6.6

60.1 43.2 53.4

11.8 27.3 17.9

16.7 21.2 18.5

2J6 6.8 3.6

Executives Educators Total Executives Educators Total Executives Educators Total Executives Educators Total Executives Educators Total

.6 1.5 .9 1.0 .8 .9 lJi 3.0 2.1 .6 .0 .3 1.0 .0

.6

17.7 10.6 14.9 5.4 7.6

6.3

11.3 20.5 14.9 11.3 15.2 12.8 8.9 25.0 15.2 8.9 11.4
6.9

63.5 52.3 59.1 71.4 59.8 66.9 70.0 43.9 59.7 75.4 65.2 71.3 76.8 64.4 71.9

6.9 15.2 10.1 10.8 16.7 13.1 12.3 6.8 10.0 18.7 19.7 19.1

7.4 21.2 12.8 1.5 3.8

2.4

2.0 7.6
4.2

15.3 22.0 17.9

4.9 6.1
5.4

*Chi-square test indicates a significant difference at the .05 level.

adopted the concept." The president of a large company remarks that it has been adopted as a stated philosophy but not as an operating practice. Analysis of the response to statement 7 becomes even more intriguing when the replies of executives are cross-classified according to level of management. Almost 50% of top executives agree that the marketing concept has been adopted as an operating philosophy, while only 32% of marketing managers express the same view. At the same time, about 40% of the marketing managers and 35% of the top executives state that they are uncertain about the extent to which the marketing concept has been adopted. Another obvious trend in the data is the high level of uncertain answers for most of the statements in Table 2. Educators appear to be more uncertain about the operational statements than executives, while the reverse is true for the con-

ceptual questions. This is the expected pattem of response, and verification is both interesting and reassuring. Consumer Benefits The majority of executives and educators agree that the adoption and implementation of the marketing concept has been an important development in American marketing. A majority of respondents also believe that the concept provides insights into the operation of the marketing system and has helped make the system more responsive to consumer wants. In addition, the response of executives and educators indicates that both groups believe that the marketing concept has been instrumental in creating specific benefits for consumers. Almost 87% of respondents agree that the marketing concept has encouraged manufacturers to

34
TABLE 3 CONSUMER BENEFITS

Journal of Marketing, October, 1971

Level of Agreement Statements 15. Since World War II, the adoption and implementation of the marketing concept has been the single most important development in American marketing. 16. From the standpoint of consumers, the marketing concept has produced relatively few benefits. 17. The marketing concept offers little, if any, insight into the overall operation of the marketing system and the benefits it provides society.* 18. The marketing concept has encouraged manufacturers to design products which fit more precisely the needs and wants of consumers. 19. The marketing concept has forced advertising and personal selling to become more informative and helpful to consumers." 20. The marketing concept has stimulated manufacturers to alter distribution channels in order to match product availability more closely with consumer shopping habits.* 21. The marketing concept has been a rnajor factor in raising the quality of service provided consumers both before and after the sales transaction.* 22. When evaluated in terms of the actual benefits created for consumers in the marketplace, the marketing concept must be judged a failure.* 23. The marketing concept has been an important factor in making the marketing system more responsive to consumers' wants.* Respondents Executives (203) Educators (132) Total (335) Executives Educators Total Executives Educators Total Executives Educators Total Executives Educators Total Executives Educators Total Strongly Disagree 2.07c 3.0
2.4

Disagree 9.9% 14.4 11.6 68.0 61.4 65.4 58.1 44.7 52.8 3.0 5.3
3.9

Uncertain 27.6% 31.1 29.0 6.9 10.6

8.4

Agree 47.3% 37.9 43.6 8.9 12.9 10.4 12.8 19.7 15.5 66.5 63.6 65.4 62.1 35.6 51.6 74.4 57.6 67.8

Strongly Agree 13.3% 13.6 13.4

J6 2.3 1.2

15.8 12.9 14.6 11.3 18.9 14.3 1.0 .8

.9

17.2 11.4 14.9 6.4 11.4

8.4

.6 5.3 2.4

23.2 18.9 21.5 11.3 6.8

9.6

1.0 3.0
1.8

11.3 26.5 17.3 3.4 7.6

5.1

14.3 28.0 19.7 8.9 21.2 13.7

.5 .8 .6

12.8 12.9 12.8

Executives Educators Total Executives Educators Total Executives Educators Total

1.0 2.8
1.5

12.3 23.5 16.7 68.0 60.6 65.1 5.9 9.1

7.2

20.7 33.3 25.7 13.3 15.9 14.3 5.9 14.4

9.3

58.1 35.6 49.3 4.9 12.1

7.8

7J 6.3
6.9

13.3 9.8 11.9 .6 2.3

1.2

.6 1.5 .9 9.9 10.6 10.1

77.8 63.6 72.2

*Chi-square test indicates a significant difference at the .05 level. design products according to the dictates of consumers. However, several executives and educators qualified their answers by remarking that the statement is true for only a limited number of progressive firms. The negative viewpoint is best expressed by the president of one of the nation's largest corporations who said. "The failure rate of new products appears too high to make this statement valid." While the marketing concept receives strong support from executives and educators with respect to its contributions to consumers, there is a tendency for executives to be more optimistic about its influence than educators. For example, more than 70% of the businessmen think that the marketing concept has caused advertising and personal selling to become more helpful to consumers, while slightly more than 409f of the educators answer in the same way. It is interesting to note that the percentage of uncertain responses is nearly twice as large for educators as for executives (28.0% as opposed to 14.3%). While 66% of business executives agree that the quality of service accompanying the sales transaction has been increased by adoption of the marketing concept, only 41% of the educators express the same opinion. Almost all comments by executives and educators express doubt that the quality of service has in fact increased. Interestingly, all but two of the top executives state that the quality of service that attends most sales transactions has probably decreased over the past few years. The data in Table 3 further reflect the tendency for educators to be more uncertain about operational

Marketers' Attitudes Toward the Marketing Concept

TABLE 4 THE MARKETING CONCEPT AND CONSUMERISM

35

Level of Agreement

Statements
24. The rise of consumerism is an expanding challenge to all concerned with marketing." 25. The spread of the marketing concept and the rise of consumerism are separate and unrelated developments." 26. The rapid rise of consumerism over the last decade is a reflection of the inadequacy of the marketing concept.* 27. If the marketing concept were properly applied by business firms, consumerism would subside. 28. Most consumers do not understand or appreciate the efforts made by manufacturers and dealers to satisfy their needs and wants. 29. For the protection of consumers, marketing activities must be more carefully regulated and controlled by government agencies.*

Strongly Respondents Disagree Executives (203) 1.5% Educators (132) .8 1.2 Total (335) Executives 5.9 Educators 21.2 Total 11.9 Executives Educators Total Executives Educators Total Executives Educators Total Executives Educators Total 10.3 15.9 12.5 5.4 6.8
6.0

Disagree
2.0% 2.3

2.1 54.2 42.4 49.6

54.2 50.0 52.5

Uncertain 4.9% 5.3 5.1 18.8 15.9 14.6

15.8

Agree 62.1% 34.8 51.3 28.6 13.6 19.7 18.7 18.2 18.5
80.5 25.0 28.4

Strongly Agree 29.6% 56.8

40.3 2.5 6.8 4.2

9.1 13.1 23.2 20.5 22.1 7.9 14.4 10.4 10.8 13.6 11.9

1.0
6.8 3.3

37.4 37.1
37.3

3.4 10.6 6.3 9.9 12.9 11.0 .5 6.8 3.0

1.5 2.3 1.8 38.9 19.7 31.3

14.8 13.6 14.3 41.4 34.1 38.5

66.0 56.8 62.4

8.4 25.8

15.2

*Chi-square test indicates a significant difference at the .05 level.

statements and the executives to be more uncertain about statements that are conceptual in nature. When educators are grouped according to years of practical business experience, there is a significant difference in the response to statement 22. More of the experienced educators (seven or more years of business experience) both strongly agree and strongly disagree with the statement than do their less-experienced colleagues. When executives are classified by consumer or industrial product companies, significant differences in response emerge for statement 16. More executives in consumer product companies express strong disagreement with the idea that ". . . the marketing concept has produced relatively few benefits," than do executives with industrial product companies (23.7% as compared to 10.6%). Most executives, nevertheless, express strong belief in the effectiveness of the marketing concept in producing benefits for consumers. The Marketing Concept and Consumerism The statements in Table 4 examine executive and educator opinions regarding the challenge of consumerism, the relations between consumerism and the marketing concept, and the need for government regulation to protect consumers' interests. Almost all respondents (91.6%) agree that consumerism will be an expanding challenge to those concerned with marketing. However, it is interest-

ing that a larger percentage of educators respond in the strongly agree categorj' than do executives (56,8% as compared to 29.6% ). This raises an intriguing question. Is it possible that educators are trying to register a sense of urgency about consumerism that executives do not express? Analysis of executive response by level of management yields a percentage distribution for top executives which is ver>' similar to that of educators. The responses of marketing managers and other marketing executives indicate that they do not react as strongly to the challenge of consumerism as do top executives and educators. Is it possible that educators and top executives are so far removed from the dynamics of the marketplace that they overemphasize the importance of consumerism? On the other hand, it may be that marketing executives are so close to the day-to-day operations of the market that they fail to recognize the significance of the consumer movement. A majority of both educators and executives disagree that the marketing concept and consumerism are unrelated phenomena. They also express their disagreement with statement 26 that the rise of consumerism is a reflection of the inadequacy of the marketing concept. This apparent inconsistency is partially reconciled, at least, by the comments supplied by respondents. Several executives and educators, apparently recognizing the inconsistency in their replies to the two statements, explain that the

36 rise of consumerism is essentially a failure in implementing the marketing concept. From the responses to statements 25 and 26. it might appear that respondents would agree that proper implementation of the marketing concept would cause consumerism to subside. However, the response to statement 27 indicates that this view is not expressed by a majority of respondents. Educator and executive comments mention politics, infiation, rising expectations, and general disenchantment as reasons for the continuation of consumerismeven with proper implementation of the concept. A majority of educators and businessmen agree that consumers do not understand or appreciate the efforts made to satisfy their wants. The most frequent comment from businessmen is, "Why should they?" Others indicated essentially the same idea by stating that poor communications exist between manufacturers and consumers. While the majority of educators agree with the executives that consumers do not understand or appreciate the efforts of manufacturers, a further breakdown of the figures reveals that it is largely the more experienced teachers of marketing who hold this view. Educators and executives do not agree on the need for government to protect consumers' interests. While a majority of executives do not believe that additional legislation is needed, almost one-third of the educators think that further government action on behalf of consumers is necessary. In response to statement 24, more than 90% of both educators and executives agree that consumerism will be an expanding challenge for marketing. Yet, over 80% of the executives do not favor additional legislation to protect the interests of consumers. Recognizing the challenge of consumerism, yet rejecting additional government legislation, one cannot help but speculate about the alternatives that businessmen will pursue in meeting this challenge. Conclusions The findings of this survey suggest that the marketing concept may be both a success and a failure. The majority of executives and educators believe that the marketing concept is a powerful and viable idea that has influenced management philosophy and thoughtat least among the larger U.S. business firms. Most respondents express the opinion that the marketing concept has contributed to the improvement of the organization and management of marketing activities. They also think that consumers have benefited in tangible ways from the adoption of the marketing concept.

Journal of Marketing, October, 1971

On the other hand, many executives and educators express definite reservations about the success actually achieved by American business firms in implementing the concept. In general, respondents cite problems of implementation, rather than inherent weaknesses of the concept, as the cause of any failure in application. Although executives and educators express general support of the marketing concept, there are significant variations in the response patterns of different classes of respondents. The major differences can be summarized as follows: Business executives express greater faith in the marketing concept than do marketing educators. Top management expresses greater optimism about the concept than do marketing executives. Executives from consumer product companies express more positive attitudes than do those from industrial product companies. Academicians with more education and those with more business experience express less confidence in the marketing concept than do those with less training and experience. Perhaps the most important implication of this study is the suggestion that the marketing concept is a philosophical idea which serves as an idealistic policy statement for management, but relatively few companies are ablefor whatever reasonsto implement the concept and make it operational on a day-to-day basis. If this appraisal is approximately correct, it constitutes a major challenge for those concerned with marketing and strongly suggests some questions that deserve further thought and research. For example, what are the problems encountered in applying the marketing concept on a day-to-day basis? What are the relations and interactions between consumer orientation and the profit criterion? What are the trade-offs, if any, between these two notions in practice? What are the criteria for determining whether the marketing concept is. in fact, being applied by an organization? After 20 years it seems reasonable that sufficient experience has been accumulated to explore these issues in rigorous ways and hopefully reduce the vagueness that generally exists in the evangelistic rhetoric that characterizes present discussions. In short, the major challenge is the development of operational definitions for the marketing concept which will allow the idea to be implemented on a day-to-day basis. As business enters an era that is becoming more complex and hostile, a time when consumers are likely to be more vocal and more demanding, this challenge will become more urgent.