Marketing [antikvár]

Preface As the 21st century approaches, the world of marketing is entering a new and exciting era that was unimaginable only a short time ago. Electronic shopping, digizines, virtual organizations, e-cash, interactive television, and the information superhighway are just a few indications of the many new changes marketing instructors, managers, and students are likely to face in the near future. We are eager to utilize the active learning approach of Marketing to facilitate preparation for this extraordinary marketplace. In addition, we appreciate the opportunity to share our enthusiasm with you and we welcome you to your introduction to the field of marketing. The Fifth Edition of Marketing is the result of a product development process designed to focus on customer needs, and a commitment to provide exceptional customer value. We have retained the strengths of previous editions and added new dimensions to reflect changes in the business environment and in student and instiTictor interests. For example, users of previous editions frequentiy tell us that Marketing provides: • An easy-to-read, high-involvement, interactive approach to the study of marketing. • Comprehensive and integrated coverage of traditional and contemporary marketing and business topics. • Up-to-date and relevant examples, cases, and exercises. • Many extended examples involving people making marketing decisions that students can easily relate to text concepts. • A rigorous pedagogical framework and a useful decision-making orientation. • A package of support materials to accommodate a wide range of teaching styles and formats. These attributes remain as the foundation of our product offering, while changes in topic emphasis, the order of chapters, the number of cases, and the overall length of the book are the result of our efforts at continuous quality and coverage improvement. We are gratified by the success of Marketing. The innovative pedagogical approach we developed and introduced with the first edition in 1986, and improved in subsequent editions, has helped over 350,000 students and 2,100 instructors study and teach one of the most dynamic and challenging areas of our global economic system. We have focused on creating customer value by providing exceptional knowledge, understanding, skills, decision-making tools, and support materials. This edition of Marketing provides you with the best revision of what we believe is the best marketing textbook available today. We hope you agree! New Features in This Edition The feedback we received through our formal marketing research efforts has led to several changes in the organization of this edition: • Global marketing topics previously covered in two chapters have been consolidated into Chapter 5, Global Marketing and Worid Trade, and integrated throughout the text. This change reflects a truly global view of marketing and the extensive implications of world trade on all aspects of marketing practice.