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This textbook covers marketing fundamentals well read more
This textbook covers marketing fundamentals well
The contents in the textbook are accurate, ensuring a reliable source of information for students.
The business examples provided are relevant in the industry.
It is easy to read and clear, written in lucid, accessible prose with sufficient context for technical terminology.
The textbook maintains internal consistency in terminology and framework throughout.
Each chapter is well divided, offering smaller reading sections suitable for assignment at different points within the course.
Topics are logical and organized.
The text is free of significant interface issues.
No grammatical errors are found in the text, contributing to its clarity and professionalism.
The text is culturally sensitive and inclusive.
This textbook presents a user-friendly approach to marketing fundamentals, with well-organized chapters covering essential topics. It is a valuable resource for students and professionals alike, providing clear insights into key marketing principles.
This book does discuss a lot of fundamental concepts of marketing. However, it is missing the concepts of ethics in detail. Most importantly it does not go in depth going over the 4P's of marketing. It does do extensive work when it comes to... read more
This book does discuss a lot of fundamental concepts of marketing. However, it is missing the concepts of ethics in detail. Most importantly it does not go in depth going over the 4P's of marketing. It does do extensive work when it comes to pricing, but place, promotion, and product are not given the same attention. This book does a good job of addressing market research, and consumer behavior.
The book has a high level of accuracy. However, for an introductory book on marketing, the book does address very high level marketing concepts and neglects some fundamental principles of the marketing discipline.
Textbook was written in 2011, as a result there are quite a few changes in the way of market research and other marketing tools being used today. Though this book does highlight a lot of the basic marketing concepts, it would be necessary for a major update in order to make it fully revel and to today's marketing climate.
This textbook is very easy to read, and has very interesting marketing examples spread throughout the textbook.
This book is a high level of consistency when it comes to terminology. The marketing theories are consistent throughout the textbook.
This book is sectioned off appropriately. It is very easy to follow, and has several knowledge checks along the way.
This textbook is somewhat well organized. However some of the chapters could be rearranged in order to have the proper building blocks of marketing. For example, understanding buyer behavior which is in chapter 4, should be before marketing research which is chapter 3. One must understand buyer behavior before diving into comprehensive marketing research.
There are no navigation problems either online or in the PDF file.
The book is very well written.
The book is very mindful of cultures, genders, races, and creed.
I do feel that this book does address key concepts. However it lacks in some of the most important fundamentals of marketing. In addition, this book being 11 years old, does lack in some of the modern marketing concepts and strategies. Overall, this book is well designed to supplement intro to marketing courses when it comes to learning material.
The textbook provides a good overview of the major concepts in marketing and covers the subject appropriately. Table of contents is included, but there is no glossary in the text. There is a list of key terms at the end of each chapter, however.... read more
The textbook provides a good overview of the major concepts in marketing and covers the subject appropriately. Table of contents is included, but there is no glossary in the text. There is a list of key terms at the end of each chapter, however. Some contents are outdated. For example, the discussion of how technology impacts marketing and consumption is not up-to-date given all the technological advances and developments. Also lacking is a discussion of more current issues such as the impact of climate change on marketing, consumption, and consumer as well as societal wellbeing. Although this is an introductory textbook, I believe that students will benefit from learning more theoretical perspectives in marketing. The textbook is lacking in this respect in my opinion. Finally, the text does not provide any guidance on how to create a marketing plan, which I think is an important omission.
The content is unbiased. However, there are inaccuracies. For example, in Chapter 6, when discussing Dell's strategy in entering the market in China, the author mistakenly referred the city, Xiamen, to "Ziamen". When discussing cultural differences, the author wrote that: "In Asia, when a person bows to you, bow your head forward equal or lower than theirs." This statement is not accurate in that the described custom only exists in several countries in Asia. Additionally, I think citing "higher buyer involvement" as a distinguishing characteristic of services as compared to goods is not accurate because this depends on how involvement is defined.
Although some contents are not up-to-date, the text is arranged in such a way that updates should be relatively easy to implement.
The text is easy to understand and written with clarity.
The text is consistent in terms of terminology and writing style.
Headings are well used throughout the text and make reading easier. However, there are sections in the text that are overlong.
Topics are organized in a logical way. The structure is clear. I find the end of chapter discussion questions, project, and case application exercise very helpful.
There are no significant interface issues. Navigation flows well. However, there is some distortion of images/charts.
The text contains no grammatical errors.
The text is culturally sensitive and inclusive.
Major topics of marketing are covered. While there is discussion of strategic planning, there lacks a strategic approach to the text's contents that ties the topics together. Also, the importance of the target market as the guiding influence on... read more
Major topics of marketing are covered. While there is discussion of strategic planning, there lacks a strategic approach to the text's contents that ties the topics together. Also, the importance of the target market as the guiding influence on the development of marketing strategy is understated.
The definitions and description of the marketing topics and their supporting elements are presented clearly and accurately. In some cases, further development of the significance of the elements could be achieved.
The principles of marketing as described in the text are relevant to organization's marketing function. Quite clearly, given a 2011 publishing date, examples are dated and not illustrative of marketing in 2021.
The language and writing style are appropriate for the college level or newcomer to marketing.
The framework for the material is standard. The introduction of marketing research in the early chapters is appealing so that these concepts can be applied when investigating the topics in later chapters. The chapter on international marketing would be better positioned at the end of the text.
There is flexibility in text content. If an instructor wanted to assign sections for a base understanding and then build upon it with up-to-date references and illustrations, this would be possible.
As suggested, there is an advantage to having marketing research presented in the earlier part of the text as it is. Its concepts can then be used in projects related to the target market or marketing mix segments. As a whole, topics are introduced in a logical manner. For full understanding, positioning international marketing at the end of text once a basic understanding of the material is achieved makes more sense.
There were no interface issues apparent during my review of the text.
Overall, the text is clearly written and adheres to accepted grammatical standards. Some language attempts to be conversational and is also acceptable.
I found no instances of a cultural bias and there is an adequate variety and breadth of diverse examples.
If a professor was willing to organize a marketing class around current issues and needed a text for underlying definitions, this text would fill the need.
Although the general areas of consumer behavior, product management, pricing, promotion and distribution are covered there is not sufficient inclusion of the more current issues within each section, most noticeably the use of digital promotion and... read more
Although the general areas of consumer behavior, product management, pricing, promotion and distribution are covered there is not sufficient inclusion of the more current issues within each section, most noticeably the use of digital promotion and distribution. While there is a Table of Contents, there is no glossary.
The basic foundation of marketing is explained in straightforward terms.
Due to the publication date the case studies do not reflect more current companies and issues. While some case studies are timeless such as the marketing of the Elvis estate, younger students do no have many current case studies to reflect upon and relate to. Adding more up to date case studies should not be an issue if they are selected by subject matter and integrated into the appropriate chapter.
The text is written is easy to understand language and in very basic terms. More diagrams and pictures to support the text would be helpful.
The text is consistent in its terminology and writing style.
The method of breaking down the chapters with repetitive headings is confusing. In some cases it is difficult to understand the way information is grouped and presented. The four P's of Marketing are separated well into different chapters.
In general the flow of the book's content makes sense and is easy to follow. However, the content within each chapter does not always flow well.
Although there are no distorted images, the quality of the diagrams and images are not exceptional and do not make understanding the content easier.
No issues.
There are no insensitive issues. The book would benefit from more global examples and not just within that chapter.
This textbook is as comprehensive as other comparable textbooks in the market. It provides decent coverage to all academic and practical areas of marketing as a discipline, such as concept, different types, global marketing, marketing research,... read more
This textbook is as comprehensive as other comparable textbooks in the market. It provides decent coverage to all academic and practical areas of marketing as a discipline, such as concept, different types, global marketing, marketing research, Internet marketing, promotional tools, marketing mix and so on.
In contrast to other textbooks, the chapters in the Table of Contents are not organized under separate sections or categories but serially. Also, many of the topics that you would typically find as a separate chapter in other textbooks e.g. advertising, sales promotion, personal selling etc. are all clubbed under one chapter. That is why this textbook has only 10 instead of the typical 20-25 chapters you would find with other textbooks in the market.
I did not notice any problem with accuracy, typographical or grammatical or factual errors. To the best of my knowledge, I did not find any evidence of bias in the subject matter.
As has been rightly acknowledged by the author, unlike math or history for example, marketing will quickly gets outdated simply because it is an evolving subject. And there is no escape out of this! As such, the best that can be done is to update the text with the most current events/developments.
To the best of my knowledge, the text features an option to replace the existing case studies and projects with more recent ones, keeping the theoretical components more or less in tact. As such, in my opinion, the text book can continue to ]be relevant and useful for for considerable time to come.
I would rate this book very highly on clarity. The writing is lucid, well-flowing, and weaves in nicely with the subsequent sections or sub-sections, thereby making it pleasant to read and easy to understand.
The style is remarkably different from most other basic marketing textbooks out there in the market, which, at first pass, might seem a little out of place, but a little bit of patience and perseverance reveals that the author has attempted to make this book comprehensible even by the reader who is completely unfamiliar with the field of marketing , thanks to his lucid style.
The textbook is reasonably consistent in terminology, structure and set up. This makes easier reading, and understanding especially for readers who are new to the subject. Even though the style is free-flowing compared to other textbooks in the market, it does not create any kind of confusion or anxiety in reading through the different chapters.
With very few exceptions, the text is neatly organized into sections and sub-sections, with decent transitional sentences and context. While other textbooks have many more such sections, sub-sections, headings, sub-headings, highlights, callouts, boxes and colorful texts and diagrams on the margins or in different segments, sometimes they create a distraction, plus ubiquity breeds lack of attention. Nor should we expect such 'luxury' from a free textbook. To be sure, this textbook still delivers the major concepts in a no-nonsense manner.
The topics are presented in a logical manner. Frankly speaking, there are several ways topics can be arranged in a textbook of this level, so no structure can be touted as 'better' than others.
The text interface is clear, nor was there any navigational issue. One minor problem was noticed with the graphics on page 39: the right border of the picture was missing: but it was neither distracting nor confusing for the reader.
From what I read I didn't notice any grammar issues.
The author has taken cultural relevance into account while writing this book. The result is a polished blend of updated anecdotes, simple but comprehensive definitions of critical concepts and yet, all described in lucid style. One example, among many, is on page 136: "Ultimately, the successful marketer is the one who is best able to manipulate the controllable tools of the marketing mix within the uncontrollable environment".
Overall, this is an excellent book which covers all topics you would find in a typical textbook out there in the market, which sell for a hefty price. The two major differences are: 1. There is not so much color, graphics and jazz as you might find in other textbooks that make them appears flashy and 2. It has almost half the # chapters compared to its counterparts in the market and yet, covers all the major topics of a introductory textbook. In other words, there is no compromise in the quality. I would highly recommend my fellow instructors to adopt this textbook in their undergrad Principles of Marketing classes and give the students a break from having to break their banks!
This text provides a good introduction to marketing and covers many of the core concepts of marketing. Basic principles are described well with occasional models to support. However, the text without doubt requires an update, as there is very... read more
This text provides a good introduction to marketing and covers many of the core concepts of marketing. Basic principles are described well with occasional models to support. However, the text without doubt requires an update, as there is very limited coverage of digital marketing, which has become a core element of marketing within the last decade. Digital theory needs to be incorporated into just about every chapter of the study text and case studies need updating to reflect the increasingly digital world within which businesses and marketers operate.
This said, the text is worthy of recommendation to students to explain the core principles of marketing e.g. segmentation, market research, planning, consumer behaviour etc. I particularly like the detail on New Product Development in Chapter 7
I would like to see more marketing models introduced, such as Pestel, Porters 5 Forces, TOWS, 4Ps and 7Ps and
Ansoff. These are seen to be some of the core models/frameworks adopted by marketers, even at an introductory level.
I would also like to see a little bit about Corporate Social Responsibility and Reputation Management, to feel that a comprehensive introduction to the marketing function has been covered
I did not feel the text to be biased in any way. A good range of organisations were referenced in case studies and there did not appear to be any inaccuracies or errors
The structure of the chapters is appropriate and relevant. It would not be too onerous an update to include more about digital marketing and the occasional reference to an introductory marketing model. This, along with some updates to case studies and references, would immediately improve the relevance and longevity of the text.
The style of writing is clear and easy to understand. If anything, there is just a little too much text and a lack of diagrams/models to support the written word. More imagery would be useful for students who are visual learners, who may struggle with the predominance of the written word in this book.
Consistency was a strength of this text. The capsules, key terms, summary and questions within and at the end of each chapter provided a useful and consistent guide for the reader.
When reading the first chapter, it did at times feel like a succession of headings which did not always seem linked, culminating in a mass of small snippets of facts about marketing being thrown together, which felt somewhat overwhelming and may scare off the student reader. As chapters progressed however, the sections where much more relevant and less cluttered, providing a clearer route through the chapter.
Topics were presented in the order that I would expect for an introductory marketing text. The only exception to this is that I would like to have seen the book culminate in the development of a marketing plan, rather than having this quite early in the text.
I had no problem navigating the book and there were no disruptive features as I worked through the chapters
I did not identify any grammatical errors in the book
I did not identify any cultural insensitivity within the text. The chapter on marketing in global markets was culturally sensitive and very appropriate.
Despite its limitations, I would still recommend this text to students who wish to gain a basic grasp of the principles of marketing, with the caveat that an additional text on digital marketing would need to be read alongside. I feel that the structure of the book lends itself to a fairly straightforward update and would very much welcome this, to strengthen my recommendation to students
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... read more
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The book has no significant grammatical errors that will interfere with readability and comprehension.
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.
I felt the book was lacking in several areas: - developing customer relationships - developing successful marketing strategies - understanding social responsibility - understanding target markets - understanding sales management - understanding... read more
I felt the book was lacking in several areas:
- developing customer relationships
- developing successful marketing strategies
- understanding social responsibility
- understanding target markets
- understanding sales management
- understanding supply chain management
- understanding direct marketing
- using social media to connect with customers
- implementing interactive and multichannel marketing
I felt the book to be accurate but just a bit dated on current business/marketing lingo and graphical examples.
I feel the book needs to be updated with some current business lingo and terminology, as well as, the graphics need to be updated with current real-world examples.
I feel the clarity of the book is well-written.
I feel the order in which the topics and concepts are arranged could be better managed. The flow is OK, but does need some work.
This book would be a hard read. There are pages and pages of very long text passages, however, headings are used very well throughout the book to help break-up the monotony. .
I feel the flow could be better designed. It is not terrible, but some more topics/concepts could be added and the order of the flow could be rearranged somewhat to flow better.
The interface of the books is fine, but some of the examples/graphics need to be updated as to not confuse or bore the reader.
I did not find any grammatical errors, but some of the business terminology that is used could be updated, for example instead of using "understanding buyer behavior" using "consumer behavior" instead.
The cultural relevance was good. I did not see any real bias.
It seems as if this book was written several years ago. I did review the copyright and it says 2011.
Introducing Marketing by John Burnett addresses a gamut of topics that an instructor might want to cover including a nice introduction to market research. The text would benefit with the inclusion of an index and complete glossary in the... read more
Introducing Marketing by John Burnett addresses a gamut of topics that an instructor might want to cover including a nice introduction to market research. The text would benefit with the inclusion of an index and complete glossary in the appendices of the book. Most content areas were discussed rather thoroughly; however, due to the nature of the topic its copyright date of 2011 limiting content timeliness. Only one paragraph of the whole text mentions internet marketing as a growing product distribution channel. Social medias influence on consumer decision making and purchase behavior is not included in its discussion of these topics even though this effect is very much an area of interest to many marketers. Further, the text is deficient in its coverage and application towards marketing services and now experiences, which is required even more in today’s marketplace. The authors need to update the coverage to include the internet since it has revolutionized marketing.
Introducing Marketing by John Burnett presents rather dated references and examples that are predominantly taken from the late 90s. Therefore, the accuracy is correct but not current and is could be misleading if not taken in context. The text also seems to target the North American audience, and international readers may have a difficult time relating to the examples provided. The authors need to update the examples to improve the accuracy of topic coverage.
The greatest problem with Introducing Marketing by John Burnett has to do with its datedness. All of the examples, facts, and references are close to 20 years old. Marketing is a dynamic field rapidly changing and one that has been greatly impacted by technology. However, several chapters are very relevant to the development of an understanding of key foundation topics, which are timeless. The authors could consider including or expanding more on the subjects of corporate social responsibility or social marketing, sustainable marketing, and social media.
Introducing Marketing by John Burnett presents key concepts well and the glossary of key terms at the end of each chapter is helpful. In an effort to ease material comprehension, the authors may want to create a few more tables and figures illustrating notable topics/subjects of interest.
Introducing Marketing by John Burnett follows a consistent format outlined in the book Preface.
Introducing Marketing by John Burnett presents the material in 10 chapters in the text, each of them is broken up into sections. Such structure makes it very manageable for the instructor to use the text in a typical North American semester.
Another strength of Introducing Marketing by John Burnett is how chapters are broken up numerically and into small modules for timing class management.
The authors could consider adding a glossary and index at the end of the text. In addition, the inclusion of websites would engage students more and provide an easy way to maintain topic relevancy
The text is easy to read with little to no spelling or grammatical errors.
It appears that this text is mainly designed for North American audience and could benefit from greater diversity in its examples.
Introducing Marketing by John Burnett does a really nice job of offering a comprehensive foundation textbook that can easily be adapted to class needs. I was glad to see the authors incorporate important topics that are frequently omitted in other texts. At the same time, a few more important topics could be added as well as the integration of up-to-date examples that students will find interesting as well as integrated media (e.g., audio/video clips) and real life profiles (marketing manager) to produce a more engaging text.
This text is comprehensive; however, I would like to see a bit more in the promotions area-specifically around personal selling and digital marketing. read more
This text is comprehensive; however, I would like to see a bit more in the promotions area-specifically around personal selling and digital marketing.
I feel that this book is very accurate. I have no constructive feedback here.
I think the core principles are good; however, with the developments in digital and mobile marketing I think this area could be strengthened.
The book is very readable and organized in a very clear and methodical way.
The text is consistent with other introductory texts I have used.
The book is organized in a similar way to other introductory texts, which lends itself to predictable teaching modules.
The organization is predictable and similar to other introductory texts.
No comments.
No problems.
With the incorporation of some more modern examples as well as a more deliberate inclusion of mobile and digital marketing, I think this book would be more relevant. It feels a bit dated at this time.
Table of Contents
- 1. Introducing marketing
- 2. Understanding and approaching the market
- 3. Marketing research: an aid to decision making
- 4. Understanding buyer behavior
- 5. External considerations in marketing
- 6. Marketing in global markets
- 7. Introducing and managing the product
- 8. Communicating to mass markets
- 9. Pricing the product
- 10. Channel concepts: distributing the product
Ancillary Material
Submit ancillary resourceAbout the Book
Through good economic times and bad, marketing remains the pivotal function in any business. Determining and satisfying the needs of customers through products that have value and accessibility and whose features are clearly communicated is the general purpose of any business. It is also a fundamental definition of marketing. This text introduces students to the marketing strategies and tools that practitioners use to market their products.
About the Contributors
Author
Professor John Burnett is the author/co-author of twenty books and over 60 academic articles. He recently retired after 41 years as a professor of marketing and lives in Carlsbad, California. For the last twenty years much of his focus has been on marketing for nonprofits. The result has been numerous workshops, the creation of several marketing plans, and the book entitled, Nonprofit Marketing Best Practices. Consequently, he is particularly proud offering his book, Introducing Marketing, to the Global Text organization. He finds the possibility of millions of the worlds’ impoverished to have access to his book as being quite remarkable!