Different phases of evolution of marketing can be studied as follows:
1. Self-sufficient Stage
There were very limited human needs or wants in the initial stage of human civilization. People could fulfill their needs themselves. They used to fulfill the needs according to the time by hunting, keeping cattle and farming. As they could meet all their needs producing necessary goods by themselves, they were self-dependent and self-satisfied. There was neither necessity of exchange or business for human life nor evolution of marketing.
2. Barter System Stage
Due to development of economic life, human needs and wants went on gradually increasing with the development of human civilization. As a result, the stage of self-dependence ended. The people became unable to supply their daily needs by themselves. There came a situation that certain person could achieve expertise in particular work or field. Certain persons began to be specialist in specific field. People developed practice of exchanging goods to fulfill their needs. In this stage, people used to search proper person for exchanging necessary goods with the goods they would save; they would determine the terms and conditions through mutual negotiation an d exchange their goods to meet their needs. This can be taken as the early stage of marketing or business.
3. Local Market Stage
In the beginning of barter exchange of goods, people had to walk from door to door seeking necessary goods for exchange. In this way, the people living in one place began to have contact with the people living in another place. They began to identify needs and get knowledge about new goods. They began to produce more goods to get benefit from the division of work and specialization. They began to seek an alternative to get rid of the trouble of door-to-door walking to exchange necessary goods. As a result, they began to use certain place for exchange of goods. Such place was named as 'market'. In this way, local markets began to exist under barter system. The practice of exchanging necessary goods started.
4. Money Economy Stage
Even though certain places were developed as markets for exchanging goods, people's needs and wants went increasing. There began to arise problems and difficulties in barter system. Lack of double coincidence of needs, lack of common measure of exchange, lack of store of value, difficulty in transferring value of goods, impossibility in division of goods etc. made barter system impractical. As a result, money was invented. In the beginning, commodity were used as the medium of exchange and as the money for the measurement of the value of goods. Later on, metal coins and paper notes were introduced. People got more motivated to production of goods due to division of labor, specialization, local markets and introduction of money. As production began to increase, a class of intermediaries or middlemen earning profit by buying and selling goods emerged. The middlemen started the activities of marketing and exchange such as seeking customers, seeking markets, receiving purchase orders and selling goods accordingly. Such profit earning business, buying products from producers and selling to customers, gradually became popular.
The increase in population and economic activities affected development of marketing. Various means of transportation and communication developed in different places of the countries. Big towns were established in such places. As a result of industrial revolution if 18th century, big manufacturing industries and business companies began to be established. Massive quantity of goods began to be produced using automatic machines, specialization, division of labor and standardization. Different channels of distribution began to be used to delivery goods to the doors of the customers. In order to get success in increasing competition, wants and needs of the customers began to be identified. Branding and packaging of product began. Transport, warehouse, financial institutions, insurance companies etc. developed to help in production and distribution of goods. Collection of market related information, market research etc. also became parts of marketing.
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6. International Economy Stage (Current Stage)
Marketing did not remain limited within local markets and towns of any country. Nowadays, the world itself has become a big market. As not any country is self-dependent, different countries established economic relationship to fulfill one other's needs. Economic development got international level. International trade developed to sell products of a country to different countries of the world. Now, several international level industries, as multinational companies, are operating in different countries. Some countries are found to have produced goods focusing their attention on international markets rather than their national markets. Now, importing raw materials from underdeveloped countries and providing finished products to them has become the main mission of developed countries. Transportation, warehouse management, insurance companies, banks and other financial companies have played an important role in facilitating international trade.
