Explain the following term/concept.

1) Market
Ans: The term market is derived from the Latin word ‘Mercatus’, which means ‘to trade’, ‘to trade merchandise’ or ‘a place where the business is transacted’. In simple words market is the place where two or more parties are involved in buying and selling. These two parties involved in the transactions are called buyers and sellers. The transaction of buying and selling takes place with the exchange of money.

2) Place Concept of Market
Ans: The term market is commonly understood as the place where the transaction of buying and selling of goods and services takes place in exchange for money or money’s worth. It is the place where buyers, sellers, and other intermediaries come together and exchange goods or services.In the olden days, place played an important role in defining the market. But in the age of information technology, the term ‘market’ has a wider meaning than just a place.

3) Commodity Concept of Market
Ans: In the commodity concept of the market, the emphasis is given on ‘buying and selling of goods or services’. In this concept, the process of buying and selling of goods or services is important and not the place of exchange. In this process, buyer and seller as well as the commodity exchanged among them play an important role.

4) Digital Concept of Market
Ans: The emergence of Information Technology gave birth to the new concept of the market called Space or Digital Concept.The communication media like telephone, mobile, computer, Internet, etc. have made direct contact between customer and seller.Digital Market can be defined as a “Market which uses Information Technology for buying and selling of the products or services and facilitate communication of quality, features, price, and terms of exchange among them”

5) Product
Ans: Product refers to the goods or services that are offered to the customers for sale and are capable of satisfying the need of the customer. The product can be intangible or tangible, as it can be in the form of services or goods. The business needs to decide the right type of product through extensive market research. The success of the business depends on the impact of the product in the minds of the customer.

6) Price
Ans: The price of the product is basically the amount that a customer pays for the product. Price plays an important role in creating demand for the product. The business needs to take the utmost care to decide the price of the product. The cost of the product and willingness of the customer to pay for the product plays an important role in pricing the product. The too-high prices may affect the demand for the product and pricing too low may affect the profitability of the business. While deciding the prices, the value and utility of the product to its customers are to be considered.

7) Promotion
Ans: Promotion is a tool of marketing communication that helps to publicize the product to the customer. It helps to convey product features to the potential buyer and inducing them to buy it.The promotion mix includes tools such as advertising, direct marketing, sales promotion, personal selling, etc. A combination of promotional strategies depends on budget, the message business wants to communicate, and the target market.

8) Marketing Mix
Ans: Marketing Mix is the combination of different marketing variables that the firm blends and controls to achieve the desired result from the target market. In simple words, the marketing mix is putting the right product, at the right time, at the right price in the right place. It is one of the important tools of marketing. The 4P’s of the marketing mix was introduced by E. Jerome McCarthy in 1960. It was further extended by Booms & Bitner in 1981 by adding 3 new elements to the 4P’s Principle.

9) Packaging
Ans: Packaging means designing the package for the product. It helps to avoid breakage, damage, and destruction of the product.Packing material includes bottles, containers, plastic bags, tin, wooden boxes, jute bags, bubble bags, packing foam, etc.

10) Labeling
Ans: A label is a slip which is found on the product and provides all the information regarding the product and its producer. The slip-on which all this information is provides is called a label and its process is called labeling. Packaging and labeling not only provide protection to the product but also act as an effective tool for marketing.