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The marketing concept holds “that the key to achieving
organizational goals consists in determining the needs and wants of target
markets and delivering the desired satisfaction more effectively and
efficiently than your competitors”. It may be argued that this concept is
better suited to niche marketing than mass marketing, as an approach to
present-day fragmented markets, because niche marketing functions much closer
to the customer.
Niche marketing has recently become a trend as a result of severe competition
in mature markets. Standardized mass production and trying to sell the same
product to masses of consumers seems to become less profitable in these mature markets.
Most managers were taught that mass production and mass marketing were the most
advanced and efficient methods to produce and market products.
In today’s competitive world there still is a strategic debate about the desirability
of mass marketing, focusing on standardization, or niche marketing, focusing on
customization or tailored products for niche markets.
Although there can be benefits to mass marketing it may be argued that niche
marketing is more equipped to deal with the existing and rapid changing
minimarkets. Three arguments in favor of the mass marketing strategy are
Economic advantages can be gained through economies of scale and experience
curve effects.
Strategic price mechanism
Competitive- if the economic and strategic argument has been achieved, the
company can be competitive, through offering the “best” product at the “best”
possible price. In mass-marketing, a company attempts to reach buyers with one
product with one marketing mix. An economic argument in favor of niche marketing
is “greater profits”. This implies that the nichers achieve high margin while
the mass marketers achieve high volumes.
More
information at: http://www.made-from-india.com/article/Niche -Marketing-and-Mass-Marketing-A-comparison-1134.html