Paul M. Mazur defined marketing as the “delivery of standard of living.”What do we mean by that? How Does Marketing Improve Standard Of Living? By way of illustration consider this contrast: 50 years ago in America an orange was something which even in better-income families made its appearance only once in a year, in the Christmas stocking. Today orange juice and citrus fruits generally are a daily commonplace of the American breakfast table.
Illustration could be multiplied by thousand times over. What causes changes of this type ? To be sure, there have been great technological improvements, improvements in the cultivation of oranges, improvement in the methods and equipment for refrigeration and transportation and improvements in business organization but technical improvement alone falls short of explaining changes in the standard of living. For a considerable part of the answer, we must look to the dynamic quality in marketing.
For a better understanding of how marketing becomes the delivery of the standard of living, let us have a clear grasp of ‘standard of living.’ Standard of living is the capacity of people to spend for food, shelter, clothing, education, medicine and other amenities of life. When the people can pay out adequately on food, shelter, clothing, education etc., and lead a comfortable life, it can be said that their standard of living is high. In the same way, delivery of standard of living would mean a shift or change from lesser technological achievement to advanced technology. It will refer to the next higher material satisfaction and a corresponding impact on society.
Delivery of standard of living then reminds about more and more production and distribution of goods and services to satisfy increasing and varied necessaries of life. Marketing merely does not satisfy existing demand, in a very real sense; it creates new demand by giving expression to latent desires and yearnings. It thus paves the way for new products, it gains the acceptance of innovations, and it transforms the strange and unfamiliar into the wanted and familiar. It is by this kind of combination of technological progress and dynamic marketing that the American economy has been able to present the amazing spectacle of virtually lifting itself by its own bootstraps to new and increasingly higher standards of living.
How Does Marketing Improve Standard Of Living
Now let us discuss how marketing raises the standard of living. Marketing does raise the standard of living in the following ways:
 (1) Maintaining economic stability
(2) Matching supply with demand
(3) Encouraging large scale production
(4) Employing large number of people
(5) Broadening international marketing
(6) Providing for storage facilities
(7) Creating place utilities.
 (1) Maintaining Economic Stability: Economic stability ensures a healthy and orderly economic growth. Marketing maintains a balance in the economic system by serving as a channel of ideas, letting the producers know the specific needs and preferences of customers and informing the consumers about the product. In this way, by satisfying both the producer and consumer it stabilizes the economic life of a country. The economic stability is a precondition of economic development and in economically developed country people can lead a higher standard of living.
(2) Materials Supply With Demand : As marketing men remain in close touch with the customer, they know the customer’s wants for a particular product and supply information regularly to producers to produce goods in keeping with demand. This balance between demand and supply makes the production economic and help the producers to charge a economic price for the goods from the consumers. It also assists the producers in the maximization of their profits. Thus, the easily available goods and added income enable the people to boost up their standard of living.
(3) Encouraging Large-scale Production: Marketing encourages large sales volume which, in turn, makes possible the reduction of both the manufacturing and distribution costs and prices, resulting in the attraction of a large number of consumers. The increase in the consumption of a product will surely increase its production and it will ease large-scale production. So as a gift of marketing, consumers are getting goods at lower prices which in turn help them to give an upward push to their standard of living.
(4) Employing Large Number of People : Marketing provides employment to a large number of people. Persons are employed in various marketing institutions as salesmen, agents, brokers and many people are engaged in transportations, communication and other fields. These avenues of employment have been developed as a result of marketing. Â In this way we find that marketing has made provision for good earning for people and help them to develop their standard of living.
(5) Broadening International Marketing: With the abolition of self-sustained economy, now each country produces only those goods which she can produce economically and advantageously. The development of marketing has enabled it to procure from a foreign country those goods which she cannot produce. Marketing also helps a country to export the surplus. This is how marketing is broadening the international marketing. Every country is earning foreign exchange through international marketing and spending it for the people to ensure higher standard of living.
(6) Providing For Storage Facilities: Marketing offers storage facilities as a result of which businessmen can store goods when prices are low and sell them w hen prices are higher. Warehousing system also has increased the longevity of perishable goods and facilitated the business community to earn a lot. With the discovery of these sources of income the people are in a position to maintain higher standard of living.
(7) Creating Place Utilities: Marketing creates place utilities by transporting goods from place to places. Had there been no marketing functions people of one part of the country would not be able to enjoy the goods of other parts of the country. Thus the people are in a position to increase their standard of living with these easily available goods. From the above wide discussions we can draw the conclusion that marketing activities are helping to increase the per capita income, which in turn assist the people to augment their standard of living. Over and above this, it is through marketing the people are having an abundant supply of goods at convenient locations which have made possible for them to boost up their standard of living. So, we can aptly call marketing as the “delivery of standard of living.”
