While the basic tenets of consumer marketing are equally applicable to industrial marketing, the composition of the industrial market is uniquely different, as are the forces that affect industrial demand. Industrial marketing managers must react differently to changing markets, develop products to meet those changes, and mar­ket them in uniquely specialized ways to sophisticated customers while maintaining corporate objectives and profits. Thus, industrial marketers face many unique mar­keting situations not normally encountered in the consumer market. The intent of this chapter, then, is to introduce you to

1. The difference between consumer and industrial marketing management.

2. The basic composition of the industrial market.

3. The economic factors that influence the demand for industrial goods and services.

4. How the reseller's market parallels the industrial market.

5. The importance of the industrial marketing concept in developing marketing strategy.

Since the Industrial Revolution, the industrial market has been the backbone of the high standard of living enjoyed by consumers in the United States. It is dy­namic and challenging, accounting for well over half of our economic activity. Interestingly though, while more than half of our business school graduates are em­ployed in this arena, less than 2 percent have been exposed to industrial marketing courses during their college educations,

While the principles, knowledge, and practice of marketing cut across all in­dustries, to market effectively in the industrial market we must understand indus­trial marketing problems.³ The industrial market, while similar in many respects to the consumer market, functions differently and, therefore, merits separate study.

Abhishek sharma

ibsar , mumbai