Marketing Concept VS Selling Concept. Marketing concept concentrates on the consumer’s needs and then the means are identified to meet out those needs. On the other hand, selling concept stresses on the needs of the seller and so, it is the seller who rules the market.
What is Marketing Concept?
The marketing concept holds- “achieving organizational goals depends on knowing the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions better than competitors do.
Here marketing management takes a “customer first” approach. Under the marketing concept, customer focus and value are the routes to achieving sales and profits.
The marketing concept is a customer-centered “sense and responds” philosophy. The job is not to find the right customers for your product but to find your customers’ right products.
For example:-
Restaurants and startups do follow the marketing concept. They try to understand the consumer and deliver the best product or service, which is better for the competition.
What is Selling Concept?
The selling concept holds the idea- “consumers will not buy enough of the firm’s products unless it undertakes a large-scale selling and promotion effort.”
Here the management focuses on creating sales transactions rather than on building long-term, profitable customer relationships.
For example:-
Typically the selling concept is practiced with unsought goods. Unsought goods are that buyers do not normally think of buying, such as insurance or blood donations.
Marketing Concept VS Selling Concept
Theodore Levitt of Harvard drew a perceptive contrast between the selling and marketing concepts. According to him, “selling focuses on the needs of the seller; marketing on the needs of the buyer.
Selling is preoccupied with the seller’s need to convert his product into cash; marketing with the idea of satisfying the customer’s needs utilizing the product and with the whole cluster of things associated with creating, delivering and finally consuming it.”
The marketing concept is based on four pillars: target market, customer needs, integrated marketing, and profitability. It takes an outside-inside view.
On the other hand, the selling concept takes an inside-outside perspective.
Selling concept-oriented companies start planning with the factory, focus on the company’s existing products, and undertake heavy selling and promoting to produce profitable sales.
The marketing concept starts with a well-defined market, focuses on customer needs, coordinates all the activities affecting customers, and produces profits by satisfying customers.
Difference between Selling Concept and Marketing Concept
| No. | The Selling Concept | The Marketing Concept |
| 1 | undertakes a large-scale selling and promotion effort | Undertakes activities such as; market research. |
| 2 | The Selling Concept is suitable for unsought goods—those that buyers do not normally think of buying, such as insurance or blood donations. | The Marketing Concept is suitable for almost any type of product and market. |
| 3 | Focus on the selling concept starts at the production level. | Focus on the marketing concept starts with understanding the market. |
| 4 | Any company following the selling concept undertakes a high-risk | Companies following the marketing concept must bear less risk and uncertainty. |
| 5 | The Selling Concept assumes –”customers who are coaxed into buying the product will like it. Or, if they don’t like it, they will possibly forget their disappointment and buy it again later.” | Instead of making an assumption, The marketing concept finds out what the consumer really requires and acts accordingly to them. |
| 6 | The Selling Concept makes poor assumptions. | The marketing concept works on facts gathered by its “market and customer first” approach. |
Conclusion:
However, The marketing concept and the selling concepts are two extreme concepts and different from each other.
Marketing Concept represents the major change in today’s company orientation that provides the foundation to achieve competitive advantage. This philosophy is the foundation of consultative selling.
