Promotion
Promotion is the science of using product positioning with persuasive arguments and methods of influence to advance a product, service or idea by moving people through behaviour change stages to increase market penetration and/or frequency of use. This can be done via a mix of the following media:
"The purpose of promotion is to
generate increased profitable sales."
- Lidstone (1987)
"Selling is the process of inducing and assisting a
prospective customer to buy goods or services or to act favorably
on an idea that has commercial significance for the seller."
- Mauser (1977) quoted by Pederson, Wright, Weitz (1984)
"Promoting drugs to doctors these days is much like
selling soap to customers."
- Wall Street Journal quoted in Shaughnessy et al (1994)
Promoters may believe that they are adding value to the product and thus providing a benefit for society. For example consider the following quote:
"Contrary to Ralph Waldo Emerson's dictum, when you
invent a better mousetrap, people don't beat
a path to your doorstep. People, in general, are reluctant to
adopt new ideas and innovations. First, the must be educated
about the new product or service. Someone needs to explain how to
use it and what its benefits are. The more complex the product
is, the more information and help customers need before they
decide to purchase the product. Because salespeople are an
important source of such help, they play a vital role in
improving social welfare through the adoption of new products and
services."
- Pederson, Wright, Weitz (1984)
That view may be valid when both:
When those two conditions are not met, then promotion is unlikely to benefit society as a whole.
However when promoters believe that those two conditions are met, then they may gain the enthusiasm which comes from believing that their work is in the interests of society as a whole.
"Wheter or not anyone uses your
product will depend upon a balance of psychological factors:
inhibitions and motivations. ...
You can achieve [a] swing of position either by
increasing motivations or reducing inhibitions. ...
In general one will find that with old products it will be
necessary to destroy or reduce inhibitions. However, with new
products, concentration will be on reinforcing motivations."
- Lidstone (1987)
"In consumer goods industries such as cosmetics,
bugets for advertising run as high as 30% of total sales
income."
- Wills et al. (1980)
Lidstone J with Collier T. Marketing planning
for the pharmaceutical industry. Aldershot UK. Gower 1987
Pederson, Wright, Weitz. Selling: principles and methods. 8th
Ed Homewood, Illinois. Irwin 1984
Shaughnessy AF, Slawson DC, Bennett JH. Separating the wheat from
the chaff: identifying fallacies in pharmaceutical promotion. J
Gen Intern Med 1994;9:563-8.
Wills G et al. Introducing Marketing. London Pan Books 1980