ABSTRACT
In developing countries, the ‘more glamorous’ fields such as production, finance, human resources and the traditional arts and science professions are highlighted, while marketing is treated with neglect, if not disdain. Yet marketing holds a key position in these countries. Although marketing generally lags behind in most areas of economic life, it is the most effective stimulus of economic development, especially in its ability to develop entrepreneurs and managers speedily. Moreover, it provides what is the greatest need of a developing country: a systematic discipline in a vital domain of economic activity, a discipline which is based on generalized theoretical concepts and which can thus be taught as well as learned. In this chapter the discussion focuses on the needs and wants that people have, which society, as a consumer of marketing, hopes that marketers will supply effectively in response to changes taking place in the marketplace.
