Question

Features of consumerism in marketing management

Answer 1

Consumerism is defined as social force designed to protect consumer interests in the market place by organising consumer pressures on business. Consumerism challenges the very basis of the marketing concept. According to P.F. Druckers, consumerism challenges four important premises of the marketing concept.

(i) It is assumed that consumers know their needs.

(ii) It is assumed that business really cares about those needs and knows exactly how to find about them.

(iii) It is assumed that business does provide useful information that precisely matches product to needs.

(iv) It is presumed that product and services really fulfill customer expectations as well as business promises.

Consumerism is a protest of consumers against unfair business practices and business industries. It aims to eliminate those unfair marketing practices e.g. misbranding, spurious products, unsafe products, adulteration, fictitious pricing, planned obsolescence, deceptive packaging, false and misleading advertisements, defective warranties, hoarding, profiteering, black-marketing, short weights and measures etc.