2. The 7P’s of Contemporary Marketing
Traditionally, the pillars of marketing were known as 4Ps which stands for Product, Price, Place and Promotion. However, as the customers are becoming more sophisticated, three further ‘Ps’ were added mainly for service industries namely People, Process and Physical Environment. Nowadays, these considerations are known as 7P’s of marketing and sometimes called as the marketing mix (Lovelock, 2011). x Product elements – Service products consist of core and supplementary (value-added) elements. x Place and time – Service distribution through physical and non-physical channels. x Price and other user outlays –Generation of incomes and profits with consideration of other customer costs. x Promotion and education – Provide information, persuade customers and teach customers to become effective through the service process. x Process – The operation of inputs and outputs from marketers/sellers to customers. x Physical environment – Design service scape (physical appearance) and provide tangible evidence of service performance. x People – Interactions between customers and contact personnel which can affect their satisfaction.