Social critics have maintained that marketing leads people to buy products they do not want and do not need. However, the failure rate of new products that are heavily marketed is reportedly as high as 80 percent. How can these two seemingly opposite views of marketing be reconciled?
A) Consumers are highly influenced by marketing, but some products simply fail anyway.
B) Purchase is a function of marketing, but business failure is unrelated to marketing.
C) The social critics are simply wrong. People are not influenced by marketing.
D) Marketing does have an influence on consumers, but marketers simply do not know enough about people to manipulate them any way they please.
E) Products that fail are generally products that will satisfy a want, but not a need.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Marketing influences consumers, but marketers lack complete understanding of consumer behavior to ensure success.

Social Critics Have Maintained That Marketing Leads People to Buy