Exchange is the Focus of Marketing

The basis for marketing is exchange, a way to satisfy a want.Exchange is to give or receive something of value for another thing. value is the worth of a product, usually in money. "Something of value" exchanged by the marketer can be an idea, good, or service and is not limited to physical objects. Marketers, as well as many businesspeople, use the term product to encompass anything that can be offered to a market that might satisfy a need or want. This could include persons, places, organizations, and activities, as well as ideas, goods, and services. Or as Charls Revsonwas reported to say, "In the factory we make cosmetics. In the store we sell hope."

The customer is the individual or organization that actually makes the exchange or purchase. The consumer is the person or organization that actually uses or consumes the product. Even though customer and consumer are differentiated, he or she can be one and the same person. Existing or potential customers can be considered a market. A market is a group of customers who have the need, the ability, and the authority to purchase a specific product. Thus, buyers constitute a market.

Natural separations exist between exchange parties. Buyers and sellers might be separated by geographical location, lack of information, and timing in production versus demand. Five different forms of separation between potential exchange parties include spatial, temporal, perceptual, ownership, and value. Marketers bridge these separations by performing the functions of exchange (buying and selling), logistics (transporting and storing), and facilitating (financing, risk taking, providing information, standardizing/grading).

Marketing creates and provides utility (usefulness or value) for the consumer. Utility is the attribute in an item that makes it capable of satisfying wants. Form utility is the physical change that makes a product more valuable. Strictly speaking, this is a function of production but marketing plays a vital role in directing the ultimate shape, size, quality, and design of products. Place utility makes a product accessible to potential customers where they want it. Time utility makes a product available when they want it. Possession utility is created when ownership is transferred to the buyer.