Medical Marketing

Author: Chief Editor: Ge Guangming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-01-01
Features:
Abstract This book is based on the actual needs of the teaching subjects in secondary medical and pharmaceutical schools, connects with the practical situation of China's medical and pharmaceutical industry, and systematically elaborates the basic theories and practices of medical and pharmaceutical marketing on the basis of absorbing and learning research achievements from domestic and international marketing. Its main content includes market analysis, macro environment of medical and pharmaceutical marketing, market segmentation and target market, medical and pharmaceutical market research and forecasting, medical and pharmaceutical marketing strategy, product strategy, pricing strategy, channel strategy, promotion strategy, etc. This book can be used as a teaching material for secondary medical and pharmaceutical schools, as well as a training manual for medical and pharmaceutical workers, self-study materials, and a reference book for medical and pharmaceutical marketing personnel.
Excerpt: During this period, different views and research methods of various schools successively emerged, gradually forming the concept and theoretical system of marketing. In the United States, various academic research organizations were established and continuously developed, playing a role in promoting the development of marketing. For example, in 1937, the American Marketing Association (AMA) was established, and dozens of branches were set up across the country. Marketing research clubs were organized in dozens of universities, magazines were published, research results were exchanged, and personnel training was organized. All these greatly promoted the combination of marketing theory and practice. However, during this period, the research scope of marketing was still limited to the field of commodity circulation, still focusing only on the study of product promotion techniques, advertising techniques, and organizational strategies beneficial to product promotion.
III. The Stage of Transformation
After World War II to the late 1960s, the research content of marketing underwent fundamental changes. It broke through the field of circulation and expanded to the social reproduction process, achieving a transformation from traditional marketing to modern marketing. Some of its basic concept changes were referred to by the West as the "marketing revolution" and were compared with the "industrial revolution" of capitalism. In the early 1950s, the United States was the first to end the post-war recovery period, and the economy began to grow rapidly. The continuous impact of the new technology revolution, the shift of a large number of military industries to civilian use, and the unprecedented increase in the level of social productivity. The rapid development of the economy led to major changes in market conditions. On one hand, the quantity of social products increased dramatically, and the variety of products was constantly renewed, forming a comprehensive buyer's market. On the other hand, some developed countries in the West drew lessons from the 1930s' major crisis and implemented the so-called "high wage, high welfare, high consumption" and "shorter working hours" policies to stimulate people's purchasing power, causing major changes in the quantity and quality of market demand. Under such circumstances, seller competition became unprecedentedly fierce, making the original marketing theories and methods unable to adapt to the needs of the real economy. The new market conditions put forward new challenges to marketing, prompting profound changes in marketing. As a result, major breakthroughs occurred in marketing theory, and modern marketing concepts as well as a set of modern business strategies and methods emerged. The fundamental change in marketing theory lies in: traditional marketing theory believed that the task of marketing was to stimulate consumer demand for products; modern marketing theory holds that the task of marketing is not only to stimulate demand but also to influence the level, timing, and composition of demand, with the essence of marketing management being to promote demand. Marketing activities are implemented not only in the field of circulation but also not limited to it. True marketing starts from the market, extends to the production field, and reaches the consumption field, with the aim of promoting economic development.
IV. The Stage of Innovation
Since the 1970s, marketing has increasingly combined with applied sciences such as consumer economics, management science, psychology, sociology, and statistics, developing into a new comprehensive economic management discipline and gradually spreading around the world. During this period, a series of new marketing books emerged and received widespread attention and application. After the 1980s, due to the rapid changes in the socio-economic environment, many new marketing theories also emerged. For example, under the acceleration of global economic integration, the concept of "global marketing" was proposed to help businesses open broader world markets; in the context of fierce market competition, increasing government intervention, and escalating trade protectionism, the concept of "aggressive marketing" was proposed; with the advent of the "service economy" era, the idea of implementing the concept of serving customers in all economic activities of the enterprise was proposed to help businesses establish a good image, attract new customers, and retain old customers; and in today's world where the green wave is sweeping the globe and environmental awareness is deepening, the concept of "green marketing" was proposed. All these new ideas and concepts undoubtedly broaden our horizons and show us the arrival of another new era in marketing.
The Research Object and Methods of Marketing
I. The Research Object of Marketing
Every discipline has its own unique research object, which is related to the development direction and basic content of the discipline. Marketing is an applied science based on the theories of economics, behavioral science, and modern management. Therefore, the research object of marketing should be marketing activities and their laws, that is, studying how enterprises, starting from meeting consumer needs, organize their overall marketing activities in a planned manner, and through marketing activities, transfer products or services from producers to users to achieve the marketing goals of the enterprise. When understanding the research object of marketing, we must pay attention to:
(1) Marketing is not the science of studying the market. Since marketing is the study of marketing activities, it is naturally closely related to the market. Marketing is a product of a highly developed market economy, and a market economy is an economic form that operates through market regulation. Under this system, almost all economic issues are related to the market. However, marketing cannot be equated with the entire market.
(2) Marketing has two major branches: macro marketing and micro marketing. Macro marketing studies an economic activity process, its purpose being to achieve a balance between social production and social demand, meeting social needs, and achieving social goals; while micro marketing studies an enterprise's economic activity process, its purpose being to meet customer needs and achieve enterprise goals. Typical marketing generally studies micro marketing. Based on the examination of the research object of marketing, we can see the characteristics of this discipline:
(1) Holistic Marketing is not a static discipline, its content changes and expands with practice. It has extended from the field of circulation to the fields of production and consumption. That is, enterprises must first conduct market research and product design in the entire production and operation process, then produce products that meet market demand, and finally strengthen after-sales service. Therefore, the research field of marketing has expanded to the entire process of social reproduction.
(2) Comprehensive Marketing is a comprehensive marginal discipline. It is based on the theoretical foundation of economics and absorbs and learns the theories and research methods of behavioral science, sociology, psychology, and information science. It fully utilizes the research achievements of various disciplines to analyze the marketing environment, consumer psychology, and consumer behavior. For example: to study the impact of individual psychology, tendencies, desires, and needs on purchase behavior, marketing must rely on many psychological knowledge, such as motivation and cognition theories, to analyze consumer behavior.
(3) Practical Marketing is a highly practical applied discipline. It originates from practice and guides practice. Marketing effectively guides enterprises to adapt to the ever-changing target market. It focuses on how enterprises, under the conditions of a buyer's market, can identify, analyze, evaluate, select, and utilize market opportunities in a fierce and changing environment, meet customer needs, improve enterprise economic efficiency, and achieve long-term survival and development.