Marketing finds out what buyers need and offers it at a price, in a place, and with a message. Production is how the good is made. Marketing is how it reaches a buyer.
The idea
The marketing mix is four decisions that have to fit together. Product is what you offer, including its quality, its features and its packaging. Price is what the buyer pays. Set it too high and buyers walk away. Set it too low and the business may not cover its costs. Place is how the good reaches the buyer: the shop, the market, the wholesaler, or delivery. Promotion is the message that tells people the product exists and why they might want it. Advertising speaks to many people at once. Personal selling is a conversation with one buyer. Sales promotion is a short push, such as a sample or a discount for a period. Publicity is attention the business did not pay for as an advertisement.
Market research is how the firm learns what buyers want before it guesses. It can ask people, watch what they already buy, or test a small batch. A decision that skips research is a guess, and a marker will not call a guess research. Do not use the word product when the question asked about production. Production turns inputs into goods or services. Marketing starts from the buyer. A full answer on the mix names the element and says what the firm in the question should do with it. A bare list of the four names leaves the application mark behind.
The Business Management tips guide shows how to tie product, price, place and promotion to the firm in the question. WASSCE Business Management tips
What earns the marks
Product, price, place and promotion are four marks only when each one is tied to a meaning or to the firm in the question. Advertising is one form of promotion, not the whole of marketing. Market research comes before the mix is fixed, not after the goods are unsold. If the question gives a case, use the product and the buyers in that case. A general paragraph that could fit any firm has missed the application.
Practice questions
These are practice questions in the style of the paper, with a model answer and a mark scheme. They are not a promise of what your paper will ask.
1Question 1
4 marks
Explain the four elements of the marketing mix. (4 marks)
Model answer
Product is what the business offers the buyer. Price is what the buyer pays. Place is how the product reaches the buyer. Promotion is the message that tells people about the product and persuades them to consider it.
Mark scheme
Product described as the good or service offered1 mark
Price described as what the buyer pays1 mark
Place described as distribution or how the product reaches the buyer1 mark
Promotion described as communication that informs or persuades1 mark
2Question 2
4 marks
Distinguish between advertising and personal selling. (4 marks)
Model answer
Advertising sends one message to many people at once, for example on radio or a poster. Personal selling is a salesperson talking to one buyer, who can ask questions and answer them.
Mark scheme
Advertising addresses many people, or uses a mass medium2 marks
Personal selling is a direct conversation with a buyer2 marks
3Question 3
2 marks
Give two reasons why a firm should do market research before it produces a new good. (2 marks)
Model answer
It learns whether buyers want the good, and it learns what they are willing to pay, so the firm does not produce something that will not sell.
Mark scheme
To find out what buyers want, or whether a market exists1 mark
A second reason, such as price, packaging, or avoiding unsold stock1 mark
Practise Business Management with Anna
More questions on this topic are inside glearn, marked as you answer, with the reason written out. The first ones need no account.
Product, price, place and promotion. Product is what you offer. Price is what the buyer pays. Place is how it reaches the buyer. Promotion is the message. Listing the four words, with no meaning and no link to the firm, does not finish the answer.
Is advertising the same as marketing?+
No. Advertising is one way of promoting a product. Marketing is the wider work: finding out what buyers need, and deciding the product, the price, the place and the promotion together. All WASSCE Business Management past questions