ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the nature of marketing and the marketing process, as well as on the ways in which marketing is capable of being applied within health care organizations. The marketing process consists of four stages: analysis, planning, evaluation and implementation and feedback and control. Although a marketing programme needs to reflect, or at least take account of, the expectations of various stakeholder groups, the primary focus is on how best to develop a truly patient or customer-oriented hospital. The appearance and decoration will project a clear image, the staff will be friendly, and the food and drinks will have been selected to meet the demands and expectations of the customers, who will be made to feel comfortable in these surroundings. To create a successful restaurant, every aspect will have been planned well in advance, reflecting the owners' and managers' beliefs about what their customers will want.
