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Critically discuss the view that “Marketing is getting people to buy things they don’t need, with money they don’t have, to impress people they don’t know”. Marketing as both a process and a philosophy has developed as society has developed. When man first realised the benefits of trade, markets were both local and relatively independent. The relationship between producer and consumer was direct and personal. The Industrial Revolution lead to changes in production and consumption. Mechanisation, mass production, and labour specialisation lead to dramatic increases in production, and with it, a need for distribution. The relationship between producer and consumer had become relatively indirect. Since the first production surplus, marketing has been based on the principle of exchange – interested parties exchanging something of value. In 1776, when Adam Smith said, “Consumption is the sole end and purpose of production” he was describing what in recent times has become known as the marketing concept (McDonald & Keegan, 1997, pg. 1). In marketing terms, the consumer can be defined as any individual, group of individuals or organization. The role of the consumer is expanded to include the categories of payer, user and