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That leads to another problem, particularly In the fields of Industrial and service marketing. The four As of the marketing concept seems to be orientated towards consumer goods and therefore it might fit well. But in industrial marketing, where the focus is on buyer-seller relationships and not products, the four As are not enough because of TTS lack of personal contacts (Webster, 1984 cited in Raffia and Aimed, 1995: 4). Industrial Marketing requires more coordination between buyer and seller due to its product and buying process complexity (Webster, 1984 cited in Raffia and Aimed, 1 995: 4).
Another sector, where the four As reaches Its limits, Is the growing service intangibility. Furthermore it is difficult to compare quality of related services and to set the right price. Thus, the four As appear inadequate and need to be modified for services and also extended (Booms & Bitter, 1981, cited in Raffia and Aimed, 1995:6) 3. The seven As of service marketing Booms and Bitter (1981) developed a new framework, the seven As mix, by adding three elements to the traditional four AS: participants, physical evidence and processes (Raffia and Aimed, 1995).
Participants in the Booms and Bitter (1981) framework are all people who are involved in the consumption of a service. The staff for example, plays a major role to guarantee quality and gives a service additional value. Physical evidence covers the environment in which the service is delivered (Raffia and Aimed, 1995). It is important that services are made tangible for customers to determine the quality. Process is important to ensure that the consumer understands getting a service (Raffia and Aimed, 1995).
However, critics could argue that the additional three As are not necessary and could be assimilated into the four As of the marketing mix concept. But in fact it is essential to separate them from the basic four AS, to highlight their importance (Bitter, 1990, cited in Raffle and Aimed, 1995: 7). Table 1 shows the strengths and weaknesses of the two frameworks, according to a survey by Raffle and Aimed (1995). Strengths More comprehensive More refined Broader perspective
Simplicity and ease of understanding Easy to memorize Good pedagogic tool, especially for introductory marketing Weaknesses More complicated Extra elements can be incorporated in ups Controllability of the three new elements Too simple, not broad enough Service Relationship marketing Table 1: Strengths and weaknesses of the ups and ups (Raffia and Aimed, 1995: 13) modified by David Borders The figure shows that the seven As provide some advantages to the four As and it is a good extension that should kept in mind. The results of the survey by Raffle and Aimed (1995) suggest that there might be a deed for change towards the seven As framework.
In any case, it is important that the internally coherent and each company will have to develop their individual marketing mix that creates competitive edge (Braising and Appetite, 2006). Conclusion The four As simplifies the complexity of marketing and has become influential in both theory and practice. However, it is important to remember that the marketing mix is a model and cannot include everything. The marketing mix should not be seen as a fix. Today, in a changing world, the marketing mix has to be flexible and up to date.
A many that is too much product focused and ignore customer needs, will get left behind by competitors. Nevertheless, in service marketing, the four As of the marketing concept reach its limits. The seven As framework of Booms and Bitter (1981) provide an appropriate extension to them. Finally, regardless of what the critics think about the four As framework, there is one thing that marketing can never be: Perfect. References Borden, N. , 1964. “The Marketing Concept”, Journal of Advertising Research, 4(2), up. 2-7 Braising, F. And Appetite, S. , 2006. Principles of Marketing. 4th Edition.