Survival and growth are implicit goals of every behavior system, including most particularly those that operate in the market place. The functionalist approach to competition emphasizes rivalry within and among behavior systems in the search for differential advantage. Negotiation is a major topic in the present view, accounting for what may be called the vertical relationships of behavior systems as compared to the horizontal relationships constituting competition. The treatment of consumer motivation takes the household as the fundamental unit and considers aspects of its structure and functions which determine the course of consumer buying. The discussion of exchange describes four aspects of sorting which produce economies in matching supply and demand.
Price is discussed in terms of the uses and limitations of marginal analysis.
The possibilities of creative marketing in stimulating demand are considered with respect to such processes as product innovation and advertising. The market transaction is analyzed to show how it has been modified to increase marketing efficiency. Two general comments may be useful to the student in relating marketing theory to economic theory. Economics starts with certain assumptions as to market organization, while marketing starts further back with attempts to organize the market and to establish the processes of orderly marketing which economics takes for granted. Marketing as well as economics is concerned about efficiency.