Marketing

     


         is a widely used term to describe the communication between a company and the consumer audience that aims to increase the value of the company or its merchandise or, at its simplest, raises the profile of the company and its products in the public mind. The purpose of marketing is to induce behavioral change in the receptive audience. The American Marketing Association most recently defined Marketing as "the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large."

The techniques used in marketing include choosing target markets through market analysis and market segmentation, as well as understanding methods of influence on the consumer behavior.

From a societal point of view, marketing provides the link between a society's material requirements and its economic patterns of response. This way marketing satisfies these needs and wants through the development of exchange processes and the building of long-term relationships.

In the case of nonprofit organization marketing, the aim is to deliver a message about the organization's services to the applicable audience. Governments often employ marketing to communicate messages with a social purpose, such as a public health or safety message, to citizens.