1.INTRODUCTION
The economic competition across the world is becoming fiercer and the market environment is full of challenges for business firms. To deal with the new environment, traditional marketing conceptions and practices are not fully efficient and a new marketing concept should prevail, that is human marketing concept. This article discusses the definition and elements of human marketing conception and how to integrate the elements of human marketing. This article is arranged as such: the second part analyses a key element of human marketing, affinity, and with a glance at relative basic theories; the third part is about marketing integration; the last part is devoted to important measures to enforce human marketing.
2.Affinity: key element in human marketing
Human marketing is a kind of sale behavior surrounding human element. It refers that through marketing integrated enterprises create strong human atmosphere, emphasize virtuous communication and human solicitude between enterprises and between enterprise and consumers and strengthen the affinity between them so as to realize effective marketing.
Human marketing mainly consists of marketing integrated, human atmosphere, virtuous communication, human solicitude and affinity. Among them, marketing integrated is the premise of human marketing. Human atmosphere, virtuous communication and human solicitude are important measures in human marketing. Affinity and effective are anticipation and purpose in human marketing. Accordingly, affinity is the key element in human marketing.
2.1 Theory basis of affinity
Kennagi, the famous socialist, indicates that 85 percent of successful transaction is due to interpersonal relationships. While in the social communication, there are totally two types of relationships: commodity exchange and interpersonal communication. Therefore, interpersonal attraction (strong affinity) can effectively lead the transform from interpersonal communication to commodity exchange. In international communication, people expect to establish strategic partner relationship reciprocally. It is also expected to establish new partner relationship between enterprises and between enterprise and consumers, which is the historical mission.
Philip Kotler, famous marketing management expert, indicated in the special report on the 2000 annual meeting hold by commercial union in the south of America that global economy is developing irresistibly in the direction of integration of global markets, digitalization of enterprises survival and internationalization of commercial competition. New economy taking consumers’ demands as the core develops rapidly, for example, Internet, knowledge economy and high-tech. The development of new economy needs new marketing measures to meet the demands of market development. Marketing should recognize customers’ demand, fix the target market in which certain organization can provide the best service and then design proper products, service and plans to meet the demands of these markets. The purpose is to satisfy customers and gain profits by establishing value relationship with key customers. The marketing measures in new century must meet the demands of modern market economy whose core is customers’ needs.
Though new economy marketing is aimed at business achievement, new economy itself develops depending on the support of customer groups and emphasizes much more customer life value and shareholders’ interest. In marketing, new economy pays attention to human basis and tries to originate brand, to retain and develop customer resources through practical action. New economy needs enterprises to have the standards of customers’ satisfaction and customers retaining rate, and meanwhile can fulfil the promises to customers.
2.2 Affinity’s reflection in marketing
Affinity should reflect in all aspects of enterprise marketing.
Outside, affinity is the environment of enterprise marketing, that is, uncontrollable factor in enterprises. Therefore, this kind of affinity can be named macro-affinity. The macro-affinity mainly reflects a kind of close and customer relationship between enterprise and governments in each level, responsible departments, function departments (industry and commerce, tax, urban management, environmental protection, etc.) and auxiliary departments (bank, security, etc.).
Inside, affinity is the marketing mix in enterprises, that is, controllable factor in enterprises. Therefore, this kind of affinity can be named micro-affinity. Taking marketing integrated (4P) as an example, its affinity mainly reflects the following aspects:
① Product affinity – product’s name with affinity, product function and effectiveness with human solicitude, convenient package, product’s appearance and style reflecting consumers’ personalities, entirely attentive and satisfactory services, thorough tracing consumption, etc.
②Price affinity – fix prices that can satisfy the needs of consumers (the price meeting consumers’ benefit, psychographics and product effectiveness), realize the maximum customer alienation value on the best cut-in spot, etc.
③Channel affinity – choose the most convenient distribution channel, create the most satisfactory purchasing and consuming environment, including the most convenient commodity selection, no-disturb shopping, rest and entertainment in shopping or consumption, etc.
④Sales promotion affinity – avoid sermonic, deceitful, and equivocal information transmittal, intensify affinity and communication, treat consumers sincerely and give consumers the concrete benefit.
3.Marketing integrated: premise of human marketing
Marketing integrated, as a systemic project in enterprises, involves each side of enterprises behavior, including dynamic integration accepted by actual theory in marketing conception, marketing strategy and marketing organization. At the same time, the author thinks that it shall also include replacement of enterprise’s assets and re-establishment of enterprise image. Marketing integrated emphasizes that enterprises should in the direction of marketing target integrate systemically and dynamically all kinds of marketing integrated elements and make all elements adapt to marketing outside environment and combine enterprises and outside environment so as to ensure enterprises to realize the anticipative marketing target rapidly and efficiently.
To the enterprise marketing integrated, the key problem is to solve the combination between enterprises and outside, that is to say, to create “peaceful coexistence” between enterprises and competitors and highly satisfy consumers. The whole problem is that success and persistent retaining in transaction depends on valuation between the two parties of chess game (transaction). The cut-in spot is the respective benefit between the two parties of chess game (transaction), that is, dissonance benefit. In order to realize the satisfaction from consumers and the combination between enterprises and competitors, finding accurately the cut-in spot is the most important thing. Philip Kotler raised the concept of “customer alienation value” in his works. Customer alienation value is the balance between whole value and whole cost gained by customers in consumption. In the theory, whether customers’ satisfaction can be improved lies on the realization of maximum customer alienation value. There are two methods to get the maximum customer alienation value: increase minuend (customer value) and decrease subtrahend (customer cost). The former needs to pay cost of increasing investment, while the latter needs to pay “soft” extend value such as service besides increasing investment. In actual operation, it does not benefit enterprises’ survival and development to blindly reach the maximum customer alienation value. Scientifically, enterprises should take effective measures to achieve the increase of “relative customer value” and the decrease of “relative customer cost”. Here, we initiate modern enterprises to ameliorate management, to establish perfect service-profit chain and to realize the target of “consumer satisfaction” through “soft ” extend value.
4.Human solicitude: important measure in human marketing
Developing human marketing must do the marketing mix. The author thinks that human marketing consists of human marketing milieu, human marketing product, human marketing cost, human marketing runway, and human marketing communication, MPCRC for short. In human marketing mix, the important measure is human solicitude.
4.1 Creation of human marketing atmosphere
In order to effectively do human marketing, the atmosphere of human solicitude must be created. It mainly reflects in the following aspects:
①Inside, enterprises should penetrate a kind of enterprise conception of “close like a family” in the whole staff, and form a staff force with great “affinity”.
②Enterprises should form a pattern of “fair competition, mutual benefit” between them and competitors. With the generalization and popularization of human marketing, competition between enterprises will be replaced by a new trend. We might as well call this trend as “soft competition”. In this trend, the relationship between competitors is a real cooperative relationship. Competitive objects are all kinds of superiorities and conditions that are possessed mutually and represent respective dissonance benefit. Competitive contents are sharing resources, mutually complementing superiorities and seeking satisfactory cooperative project.
③Enterprises should form a real harmonious transaction between them and consumers. Thus enterprises need to provide customer-oriented service, to carry out a project of consumer satisfaction, to establish a system of retaining consumers and to form a mechanism of retaining consumers.
4.2 Product development of human marketing
Human marketing product, also named human product, can reflect human solicitude on use value and value as well. It contains not only the consideration and solicitude to each consumer but also care and solicitude to the whole human. Human product contains green products in green marketing, but it is more practical and more widely used than green products.
4.2.1 Whole image of human product
We can say that human product is also a kind of whole product. Its three levels are respectively: product core – reflecting the maximum function and effectiveness of human solicitude, product form –tangible product and intangible product as well can concern and care consumers, and product extend value – care to consumers can last till the end of the whole consumption. The three mentioned levels are included in any element of product because they are also three symbols that can be used to test product’s human characters and whole image.
4.2.2 Mix of human product
The mix of human product is the same as general product on the whole. The difference is that the mix of human product emphasizes human basis no matter on scope, depth or density. It seeks product’s maximum function and effectiveness and meets the maximum differentiated demands of customers.
4.2.3 Development of human product
Product in new economy condition is a kind of product that pays attention to human solicitude. Meanwhile, this product is different from conventional product, which is defined by Philip Kotler. Though he didn’t point out and emphasize human solicitude, its contents contain the idea of human marketing. According to his definition, it’s better to regard new economy product as product than as mix of conventional product and brand. On the condition of new economy, enterprises more and more pay attention to shift value from tangible assets to intangible assets. Frequent enterprise extension, comparing with conventional economy, pays more attention to use and control intangible assets and its value. Take DELL Corporation as an example, the selling computers can be assembled according to the demand of each customer, which gets high individuation, and meantime their prices are relative low. IBM provides customers some schemes to solve problems. IBM accepts all kinds of customers’ consultation and has a set of process to solve customers’ problems rising in using products at any moment. All these show that on the condition of new economy enterprises should be more concerned about customers when they develop new products, and that applicability and practicability of products will be the most important standard to evaluate products. In author’s opinion, this product conception is human product conception.
4.3 Choose of human marketing path
The human marketing path can be classified as three categories: fixed path, floating path and intangible path. Fixed path refers to product distribution path, that is, conventional distribution channel that has fixed location. Floating path means that product distribution depends on floating population instead of fixed location, that is, conventional salesmanship channel (sale promotion). Intangible path refers that product distribution depends on intangible line (mostly network), which is the most modern distribution channel. The former two marketing paths have the same definitions as conventional paths, but have differences in signification, that is to say, two paths in new economy emphasize much more the affinity between two parties of transaction – harmony and cooperation with great human solicitude. For example, fixed path includes conventional fixed location and convenient automatic vending machines (service machines) as well. In the salesmanship channel, responsibility of marketing personnel has changed. In order to meet demands of customers in new economy, marketing personnel not only is transmitters of product information, but also must have ability to solve problems and provide customers schemes to solve problems because they must bring extra value to customers. The most important function of marketing personnel in new economy is to provide customers all-round service. The more important thing is that new economy will push intangible path to be the best path of enterprise product distribution because in Internet only one Website (shops online) can match any product in technique avoiding wasting talking words. Network in new economy can complete task in low costs.
4.4 Operation of human marketing communication
As mentioned, human marketing communication is an effective communication and a communication with affinity at the same time. All sale promotion should be a mutual, sincere and two-way communication instead of a simple information transmittal. Then, how to do human marketing communication? The following are methods: Fund for popularization is used in direct popularizing behavior instead of recapitulative advertising and originate brand in new way, which will bring customers more direct benefit; establish a strategic partner relationship with employees, customers, suppliers and distributors and take effective measures to realize cooperation between them; develop electronic business and electronic transaction, set up database to do customer relationship management (CRM), and concern about customer life value, customer value management, customer benefit and customer income rate.
REFERENCES
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