Introducing Marketing

Reviewed by Babu John Mariadoss, Associate Professor, Washington State University on 6/20/17

Comprehensiveness rating: 4

The book 'Introducing Marketing' by John Burnett starts with a definition of marketing and a justification for studying marketing in the first chapter “Introducing Marketing,” whether the author introduces the traditional 4Ps schema of the marketing mix as the framework to organize the book. After discussing markets, market research, buyer behavior, external environment and global marketing, the textbook covers the 4Ps of marketing with one chapter deviated to each element of the marketing mix. While the textbook is quite comprehensive in that it covers the core concepts required for an introductory course in Marketing, it still lacks in some key chapters and topics that are generally included in contemporary textbooks for the introductory Marketing course. Specifically, the book does not include a chapter on Services, or even Services as part of the Product offering. Further, recent topics of importance such as Social Media and Digital Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility have to be included in the next edition. A separate section on Ethical considerations could also be added, although this topic has been covered in the chapter 'Understanding buyer behavior' and 'External considerations in marketing'. Some necessary topics that appear in traditional introductory textbooks were missing (e.g., SWOT analysis in 'External considerations in marketing, and Product Life Cycle in 'Introducing and managing the product'). The textbook has a nice table of contents, but it will help to add a glossary at the end of the book.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

The content and topics covered in the chapters are accurate, and the examples accompanying the concepts are fitting, although they are from firms and events prior to 2011. However, since the examples are provided for better understanding and application of concepts, the dated examples do not diminish their importance and relevance to the concepts that are explained.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 3

The latest edition of the book was in 2011; therefore, the content is not up-to-date, because certain marketing topics that came into prominence in the past 6-7 years have not been incorporated. However, these chapters, such as 'Social Media', 'Digital Communications' and 'Corporate Social Responsibility' can be added easily in the end, as they will not necessarily interfere in the presentation of the core concepts. With these changes, and with some creative addition of contemporary examples by the course instructor, this book will make still be relevant after several years. Therefore, this shortcoming does not negatively impact the book's relevance or longevity in any way; in fact, with suitable updates, it will be very easy for instructors to implement the content into their courses.

Clarity rating: 4

The concepts in the chapters have been rendered in easily readable and comprehensible prose. Each chapter starts with an interesting opening vignette and presentation of performance-based learning objectives, and the concepts are accompanied with capsule reviews presented in boxes. Clarity of understanding is further enhanced through “Integrated marketing” boxes and “Newsline” boxes. Instructors can further ensure student learning by assigning the different projects and cases available at the end of the chapters.

Consistency rating: 4

Each chapter in the textbook is presented in an internally consistent manner - the structure of each chapter comprising - opening vignettes, followed by learning objectives, the capsule review boxes, Integrated marketing boxes, Newsline boxes, end-of-chapter projects, and end-of-chapter cases - is consistently maintained in all chapters.

Modularity rating: 4

Through concise writing and omission of unnecessary fluff and frills, the chapters have been rendered to be neither too long nor short. There are few self-references, and all text is accompanied by appropriate sub-headings, which allows for easy mix and match of individual chapters with content from elsewhere.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

I was particularly impressed by the textbook's organization, structure and the logical presentation of the content. Traditional textbooks carry long chapters on Strategic Planning and Strategic Marketing Planning in the front-end, immediately after the first chapter, and before discussing Buyer Behavior; however, this book goes on to first introduce marketing, and then introduces the strategic Marketing decisions (Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning) in chapter 2, without going into a detailed discussion of Strategic Planning. After the discussions on market research and buyer behavior, the different aspects of the external environment are introduced, which provides a nice transition to global markets, and then the 4 Ps of the marketing mix. This makes for easy flow of the content, and thus, enhanced understanding of the overall process.

Interface rating: 3

There are significant interface issues - for example, clicking the chapter inks in the table of contents do not lead to the appropriate chapters. Further, the odd numbered pages carry the chapter title as headers, but they interfere readability as they are incorrectly positioned to pose as section headings. The formatting of the text could have been better, as the look and feel differs from that of traditional textbooks.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

The book has no significant grammatical errors that will interfere with readability and comprehension.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

The audience of the book is mainly North American, with specific focus on America. If students are provided that understanding and assumption, and the appreciation of the importance of culture in global markets from Chapter 6, 'Marketing in global markets,' it will not be too difficult to transfer the core concepts and apply them to any marketing context.

Overall, this book covers the core concepts of marketing for an introductory marketing class, and provides the basic content that can be complemented with material for other more recent topics, from other sources. Instructors can use the text to provide students with the basic concepts and supplement them with appropriate contemporary examples from other sources.