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Question

The term 'marketing myopia' was coined by:

The correct answer is

Theodore Levitt

Marketing Myopia Explained

The term 'marketing myopia' refers to a short-sighted approach to marketing where businesses focus too much on their products or services and not enough on the underlying customer needs they fulfill.

This term was famously coined by Theodore Levitt in his influential 1960 Harvard Business Review article of the same name. Levitt argued that companies often define their business too narrowly, leading them to miss crucial market changes and potential growth opportunities.

Core Idea of Marketing Myopia

Levitt's central argument is that businesses should define themselves by the customer wants they satisfy, not by the products they sell. For example, a railroad company might go bankrupt not because people stopped traveling, but because they failed to see themselves as being in the transportation business (serving customer needs) and instead focused narrowly on the railroad business (a specific product).

Key Points from Levitt's Theory:

  • Focus on Customer Needs: Businesses thrive when they understand and cater to the evolving needs and desires of their customers.
  • Broad Business Definition: Defining your business broadly (e.g., "entertainment" instead of "movie theatre") allows for adaptation and innovation.
  • Innovation and Adaptation: Myopic companies resist change and fail to innovate, eventually becoming obsolete.
  • Growth Industries: Levitt believed that industries grow because they are fundamentally responsive to changing customer demands.

Understanding the Options

  • Theodore Levitt: Correct. He introduced and popularized the concept of 'marketing myopia'.
  • Philip Kotler: A renowned marketing author and theorist, often called the "father of modern marketing," but did not coin the term 'marketing myopia'.
  • Gary Armstrong: Co-author with Kotler on several popular marketing textbooks, but not the originator of this specific term.
  • Peter Drucker: A highly influential management consultant and author, known for concepts like "management by objectives," but not associated with coining 'marketing myopia'.

Therefore, the individual credited with coining the term 'marketing myopia' is Theodore Levitt.

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Important Questions from Marketing: Concept and approaches

  1. Arrange the following stages in the marketing process of an enterprise:

    A. Marketing Mix

    B. Marketing program implementation

    C. Marketing planning

    D. Market research

    E. Control and evaluation of marketing programs

    Choose thecorrectanswer from the options given below:

  2. Statement (I): The mindset which is commonly associated with a long-ago era when the demand for goods generally exceeded the supply, and the primary focus in business was to effectively produce medium quantities of products; finding the customers was viewed as a relatively major function.
    Statement (II) : The firms with product orientation typically focus on the quality and quantity of offerings while assuming that customers will seek out and buy reasonably priced well-made products.

    From the above statements indicate the correct code of being statements correct or incorrect The statements relate to concepts of marketing.

  3. After concept testing, a firm would engage in which of the following stage in developing and marketing a new product?

  4. The ability to change human needs into wants is called

  5. _______ believes that the consumers will favour those products that offer the best quality, performance and features and therefore the organisation should devote its energy to making continuous product improvements.

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