As we began planning this, the 14 t , edition of Marketing, we asked ourselves: How can a textbook best meet the needs of its market? We started out by defining the market as consisting of two related groups, each with a quite different role;

• One group is students, who would learn about marketing from the book. Many of these students are taking their first course in marketing at the college level. Some, but not all of these students have practical marketing experience in part-time or full-time jobs. They actually buy the book.
• The other group is made up of professors who choose what text their students will read in a marketing course. The professors don't actually purchase the book, but they are the decision-makers. Their choice of a text influences how well their students learn and, therefore, how successful the professors are in teaching the course.

Considering students first, we examined research as well as feedback on previous editions of Marketing from our students and others. For the professors, we looked at where our book had been used and we sought the views of adopters and non-adopters. In brief, here's what we learned and what served as the guiding principles as we prepared this edition:

• Students tell us they definitely want a book that is readable – one that explains concepts clearly, holds their interest, and is up-to-date and relevant. They desire a book that helps them learn but also makes studying for tests efficient and effective. Most would also like a book to be as concise as possible. Finally, they want a text that is affordable.
• Professors want the same things, and more. They recognize this will be the only marketing course that many students take but that it will be the foundation for a marketing major and possibly a marketing career for other students. Thus instructors want a full array of marketing topics covered so that both types of students can appreciate the role of marketing. In addition, they want the organization of the topics in the text and the support materials to contribute to efficient and effective teaching.

We also obtained perspectives from the business world, both directly through conversations with executives and indirectly by examining periodicals and trade journals. From these sources, we identified the people, organizations, and topics that are having the greatest impact on business and marketing today as well as those predicted to play a major role in the near future. What we discerned can be placed into four categories: technology, internationalization, the physical environment, and ethical and socially responsible behavior. As you will see as you read the book, these topics take many forms in marketing. A brief preview will indicate some of the ways we incorporated these topics in the 14 th edition of Marketing.

Technological advances affect business in many ways, such as how people and organizations communicate. The rise, and now prevalence, of cellular phones, communication satellites, and the Internet have dramatic impacts on business. In fact, they have even given new meaning to existing words such as spam, cookies, and files, and added new words to our vocabulary such as instant messaging, goggling, bloggers, and podcasting.

Another very significant ongoing trend is the internationalization of business. Increasingly, corporations are thinking and acting globally in selecting suppliers and seeking customers. Looking to the future, Western firms are jockeying for position in China and India , while China looks for markets in the west and Indian firms benefit from outsourcing by many Western firms. (Of course, many more countries than China and India are key parties to the internationalization trend.) Trading alliances such as the European Union look for expansion opportunities even as the members try to settle their differences.

Then there are two areas that are gaining greater prominence. The physical environment, reflected in topics such as global warming, air and water quality, and waste disposal, influence marketing with regards to the use of natural resources, the proliferation of products, and the efficiency of how products are distributed. There also is greater interest in ethical and socially responsible behavior. Concerns in this area include health and nutrition, product safety, advertising claims, brand protection, and understandable pricing. Reports of unethical conduct, success stories of firms that make ethical choices, and the increasing use of codes of conduct indicate the growing sensitivity to fostering an ethical and socially responsible dimension in decisions.

Finally, but certainly not last in our content considerations for this edition, we recognized that ample consideration should be given to the fundamental concepts, strategies, and techniques that serve as the cornerstones of marketing programs. As you read this book, you will learn how and why organizations serve only a portion a market, how they select the groups they choose to serve, where the information comes from for making these decisions, and the approaches to strategic decision making.

It is our belief that marketing can and should be applied to every exchange situation. As a result, it is relevant to everyone, regardless of whether a person plans on a career in business, for the government, or in a nonprofit organization. Our response to this belief and the inputs provided by students, professors, and the business community was to develop a package that will help prepare students for a challenging, dynamic, and exciting future. The features that make this possible are described next.

Overview of this Edition

In every new edition of Marketing, we make changes to produce a structure we believe is effective as well as student- and instructor-friendly. We seek to do that by:

• Organizing the topics around seven themes that logically build from fundamental concepts, strategies, and techniques through the major tasks associated with marketing to the strategic role of marketing in an organization.
• Bringing attention to the global nature of marketing by dedicating Chapter 3 to this important topic, integrating global examples throughout the book, and providing “A Global Perspective” box in almost every chapter.
• Emphasizing the similarities as well as the differences between consumer and business marketing by means of back-to-back coverage in Chapters 4 and 5.
• Combining demand forecasting with its logical antecedents – segmentation, targeting, and positioning – in Chapter 6.
• Covering marketing research in Chapter 7, after students have been exposed to consumer and business markets and segmentation.
• Making services marketing, Chapter 11, part of the product section of the book.
• Combining wholesaling and physical distribution in one chapter.
• Integrating planning, implementation, and evaluation in Chapters 20 and 21 to provide a broad strategic context after students have a grasp of what marketing entails.
• Carrying four themes throughout the book – global marketing, ethical challenges, the marketer as decision maker, and the impact of technology on marketing – with separate boxes interspersed throughout the chapters. These vignettes are intended to both inform students about noteworthy topics and issues and stimulate critical thinking on their part.
• Concluding the book with a chapter that examines the growing role that technology has – and surely will continue to have – in marketing.

Other Noteworthy Features

The changes in the 14 th edition and previous editions have a singular purpose, namely to make the book an even better learning tool for students. Among the noteworthy changes are:

• Over time, the text has been shortened without reducing the number of topics covered.
• The Internet's role is properly reflected throughout the book with examples, Web addresses, and boxes.
• The chapter-opening and part-ending cases, within-chapter boxes, and Interactive Marketing Exercises at the end of each chapter are useful instruments for stimulating active learning through projects, classroom discussions, and debates.
• Two appendices, which can be found on the website for the text, deal with marketing math and career planning and job search. These appendices contain practical material that can be integrated into the course by instructors or used independently by students.

Chapter-Related Cases

Each chapter begins with a contemporary case that sets the stage for the upcoming material. At the conclusion of the chapter, the case is revisited and more specific information is presented about marketing-related activities associated with the organization or product that is the subject of the case. By addressing the questions following the “More about . . .” part of the case at the end of the chapter, students discover how they can apply what they have learned in the chapter to an actual marketing situation.

Some of the organizations and products that are highlighted in the cases are highly recognizable whereas others are relatively unknown or somewhat unusual. However, we have made a special effort to select cases that students will not only find interesting but also can learn from. We have been asked, “Aren't you concerned that some of the facts in a case may become dated or firms or products may be gone by the time the case is covered in class?” Our answer is an emphatic “No.” Students should be encouraged to do some research on any case they examine and focus on the concepts, strategies, and techniques highlighted in the case. Students can learn from failures as well as successes.

Chapter-opening cases involving relatively well-known organizations and products that have significant marketing opportunities and challenges include:

• Trader Joe's
• Song Airlines
• Boeing
• Dunkin' Donuts
• Cadillac
• IKEA
• Nike
• Starbucks
• Walgreens

Another group of cases address situations in which technology, including the

Internet, is an important issue. This group of cases includes:

• iTunes
• Kodak
• Toys “R” Us
• NetFlix
• Amazon
• Priceline.com

Still others deal with less familiar products and situations that have substantial marketing implications. Among these cases are:

• W.W. Grainger
• ZipCar
• Imaginatik
• USDA Food Pyramid
• CDW Corporation
• Zara
• Bose

Most of the chapter-opening cases are new to this edition. Any cases carried over from the 13th edition have been thoroughly updated.

Part-Ending Cases

Each of the seven parts of the text ends with two cases. All of these cases involve real organizations and products. Rather than being comprehensive, we have focused each case on the subject matter covered in that particular part of the text in order to avoid overwhelming students with the complexity of many business problems. Included among the part-ending cases are:

• Google
• Dell
• Target
• Gap Inc.
• Hummer
• McDonald's
• Walt Disney Co.
• Southwest Airlines
• Blackberry

Cases we have developed that focus on competitive rivalries have been well received by both students and instructors, so we have retained this feature. Part-ending cases that illustrate the competitive battles between or among companies are:

• Sirius versus XM Radio
• UPS versus FedEx versus DHL
• Coca-Cola Co. versus PepsiCo
• Costco versus Sam's Club
• Nintendo versus Sony versus Microsoft in video games

Learning Aids

Given the accelerated pace of business today and the dynamic nature of marketing, we anticipate important developments related to the part-ending cases. Therefore, we will put news about major breaking developments related to the cases on the website for the 14th edition. This form of updating will keep the cases timely and interesting over the life of the edition. Students should go to the website to obtain this additional information about the organizations and products covered in the cases.

Students need to be informed about and, in turn, recognize the significance of the evolving context in which marketing is performed. We have selected three dimensions – globalization, information technology, and ethics – for special attention. Besides examples throughout the book, we have prepared boxes titled “A Global Perspective,” “Marketing in the Information Economy,” and “An Ethical Dilemma?” to help students understand how these important dimensions affect marketing and, more broadly, business and society.

To place students in a more active role as they learn about marketing, we have incorporated “You Make the Decision” boxes throughout the text. After actual situations faced by marketers are described briefly, students are asked how they would deal with the particular challenge or opportunity.

Each chapter concludes with three learning aids in addition to the “More about . . .” part of the chapter-opening case:

• A list of Key Terms and Concepts that provides reinforcement of important vocabulary from the chapter.
• A set of Questions and Problems that stresses the application of the text material rather than memorizing or defining terms.
• Several Interactive Marketing Exercises , which require students to interact with customers and/or marketers outside the classroom. In carrying out these assignments, students will observe marketing situations, gather information firsthand, and/or utilize valuable secondary sources. The objective of these exercises is to give students a better sense of how marketing is actually carried out.

Teaching and Learning Supplements

In addition to the Marketing text, which serves as the primary learning instrument, several supplements facilitate the teaching and learning process. These supplements include:

• An Instructor's Resource CD-ROM, contains all the resources for classroom support. On the CD-ROM, one will find the Instructor's Manual that includes additional lecture material, commentaries on the chapter-opening and part-ending cases, suggested answers to the chapter-ending Questions and Problems, and discussion material for two categories of boxes, “An Ethical Dilemma?” and “You Make the Decision.” We've also prepared a Test Bank of over 2,500 objective questions, coded to indicate the type (definition, concept, application) and text location. Instructors will also find a complete set of PowerPoint ® slides for each chapter.
• A Video Program featuring cases of real-world companies, incorporating concepts, strategies, and techniques from every chapter.
• Our Online Learning Center allows instructor access to the Instructor's Manual and Power-Point materials as well as part-ending case commentaries, video segment notes, and links to professional resources. A link to McGraw-Hill's PageOut enables professors to create a course-specific website. For students, the two appendices, “Marketing Math” and “Careers and Marketing” can be found at this website in addition to helpful study tools such as self-assessing quizzes and flashcards.
• A Student CD-ROM features an interactive online business case from SmartSims. The case focuses on a hypothetical company, Music2Go. This interactive simulation provides students with the opportunity and the incentive to develop strategies and make decisions related to marketing and production in a realistic, interesting business setting.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to many people, including our teachers both in the classroom and from the world of marketing, our students, past and present colleagues, and business executives who have shared their insights and experiences with us. Although too numerous to identify by name, we wish to thank all of these people who have contributed to our professional endeavors, including this text.

Special thanks are extended to Therese Basham for preparing drafts of the part-ending cases. A number of students who assisted with research and other tasks also deserve our thanks: Steve Duran, Tim Kelly, and Merritt Noble.

Several individuals have contributed significantly to the preparation of the supplements and learning aids, and we thank them for doing so. Dr. Tom Adams, one of our long-time collaborators, prepared the Instructor's Manual. Two other valuable partners, Professors Betty and Tom Pritchett of Kennesaw State University developed the extensive Test Bank. Joanne Butler prepared the PowerPoint presentation materials.

We'd also like to recognize those professors who helped shape previous editions of Marketing . We want to acknowledge them by name and indicate their affiliation at the time of their involvement with our text: Bruce L. Conners, Kaskaskia College; Carol Bienstock, Valdosta State University; Charles Prohaska, Central Connecticut State University; Craig A. Hollingshead, Marshall University; Craig A. Kelley, California State University—Sacramento; Darryl W. Miller, Washburn University; Denise M. Johnson, University of Louisville; Ed Timmerman, University of Tennessee; Irving Mason, Herkimer County Community College; Jack L. Taylor, Portland State University; Jennifer Friestad, Anoka Ramsey Community College; John Phillips, University of San Francisco; Joyce H. Wood, Northern Virginia Community College; Justin Peart, Florida International University; Keith B. Murray, Bryant College; Kenneth Laird, Southern Connecticut State University; Larry Crowson, Florida Institute of Technology; Louise Smith, Towson State College; Madeline Johnson, University of Houston; Mark Mitchell, University of South Carolina—Spartanburg; Mary Lou Lockerby, College of De Page; Michael J. Swenson, Brigham Young University; Mort Ettiner, Salem State College; Robert E. Thompson, Indiana State University; Robert G. Roe, University of Wyoming; Ronald J. Adams, University of North Florida; Roy Cabaniss, Western Kentucky University; Sharon Wagner, Missouri Western State College; Stephen Goodwin, Illinois State University; Steven Engel, University of Colorado—Boulder; Thomas J. Adams, Sacramento City College; and Timothy L. Wilson, Clarion University.

We are also very grateful to the staff at McGraw-Hill/Irwin, whose talents, efforts, and patience helped to assure that this text was published. The team of professionals includes: Joanne Butler, development editor; Laura Griffin, project manager; Mike Hruby and Ira Roberts, photo research; Barrett Koger, sponsoring editor; Dan Silverburg, marketing manager, Rose Hepburn, production supervisor; Mary Kazak, designer; and Ben Curless, media producer. The individual and collective efforts of the editorial, design, and production departments at McGraw-Hill/Irwin have been vital in making this textbook an effective and attractive teaching and learning resource. We are very grateful for their assistance.

Michael J. Etzel

Bruce J. Walker

William J. Stanton