Article Critique: Theodore Levitt

Article Critique
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Question 1: Theodore Levitt
Theodore Levitt is an American economist who was born in 1925 and died in 2006. Levitt was born in Germany before his parents relocated to the United States in 1935. Additionally, Levitt became a serviceman in the Second World War, after which he acquired a high school diploma through a correspondence course. After service in the military, Levitt committed to an academic career and obtained a bachelor’s degree in Antioch College and a Ph.D. from Ohio State University. Moreover, Levitt helped develop marketing into its modern form, and he became a resident professor at Harvard (Business Thinkers, 2012). His paper, “Marketing Myopia,” helped in establishing Levitt as a doyen of marketing.
Question 2: What does Levitt criticize?
Levitt criticizes John Kenneth Galbraith’s opinion regarding advertising. According to Galbraith, the main objective of advertising is to create markets where the products created using technology can be sold. As the productive ability of a community increases through the help of modern technology, then it is used as a practical approach for creating the demand needed for the produced goods. This is considered as the artificial creation of wants. On the other side, Levitt determined advertising as an approach for meeting the wants that are already existing in a consumer.
Question 3: Marketing myopia
Ideally, Levitt suffers from marketing myopia when he fails to recognize ways through which the marketing he supports selling of consumption as a primary source of human meaning. It is important to note that although Levitt challenges Galbraith’s claim that the primary goal of advertising, he asserts that advertising help in telling the target individual about what they want in a given product.
Question 4: Levitt’s definition of marketing
Levitt views marketing as the process through which the marketer or seller focused not on promoting a given commodity but finds and meets the needs of the potential customer. In this case, it can be argued that the success of the marketing approach used is determined based on how the wants of the consumer are given the first priority. For instance, when marketing washing machines, the marketer would be required to ignore the features of the gadget (Grant, 1999). Instead, one would be keen on informing the target buyers about how the washing machine would help in reducing household burdens and save time for other activities such as spending more time with family.
Question 5: Dependence effect
According to Galbraith, the dependence effect is examined as the process of creating wants artificially. Galbraith maintains that in an opulent and wealthy society, advertising is considered as an effective approach for creating a market for the various products that are produced with the help of the available technologies (Grant, 1999). Additionally, since the production has increased, then demand should be generated for those goods. For example, example, technology has made it possible for companies to produce better and expensive smartphones; this requires companies to create artificial wants that did not exist previously so that phone enthusiasts can buy the new phone.
Question 6: The Affluent Society
Galbraith’s book was published to evaluate the United States’ consumer economy after the Second World War. The book faulted the existing structures of an economy, which was aimed at increasing production and also facilitate the consumption of produced goods. Galbraith suggested that the economy of the country focused on buying luxury products would facilitate economic inequality where the private sector would become rich at the expense of other citizens (Lumen, 2020). The proposed that the main focus should be on expanding the class of individuals who can find work and not a needless increase in production.
Question 7: Main idea in “The Affluent Society”
Galbraith’s central idea asserts that the production model of the country is flawed. It is essential to note that by the end of World War II, the growth model emphasized production was considered irrelevant. However, it is essential to comprehend that an economic approach has succeeded in lifting many people out of poverty and meeting their needs (Galbraith, 1984). However, since the people were affluent and all their urgent needs had been fulfilled, it was pointless and aimless to keep on increasing the production of products that were unnecessary. Ordinarily, such an economic paradigm would have undesirable implications among the citizens. Galbraith claims that this economic model would support make many people who work hard unhappy because it would facilitate inequality and would also increase the income gap between the poor and rich in America.
Instead, Galbraith maintains that a class of employees is present in an affluent society where the workers are presented with enjoyable employment opportunities where people enjoy their work more than the value they get. In this case, Galbraith explains that expanding the class of people who can access jobs and perform the work that they enjoy is more critical that facilitating pointless production rates. It is essential to comprehend that in this case, Galbraith suggests prioritizing critical issues such as the provision of quality education that can make it possible for people to acquire the skills required to work in their preferred jobs (Galbraith, 1984). Additionally, if every person in the country requires only basic necessities such as food and shelter, which have already been satisfied, the economy is based on a framework that encourages ever-increasing sales. Then what is being produced and sold does not matter as long as the intended customers continue buying. Most importantly, in order to facilitate sales, then wants have to be created to get the market for the produced products.
Moreover, Galbraith further criticizes the over-emphasis on a model of economic growth that is founded on high production rates indicating that it is a significant hurdle that must be resolved. He maintains that overemphasizing production makes the citizens overlook other essential values of the economy, such as job satisfaction. It is, however, necessary to comprehend that although Galbraith’s ideas and opinions were perceived well by the members of the public. The views presented in the book received high criticism from economists who maintained that the arguments presented were not supported by evidence and that they were against the conventional ideas.
Question 8: Hoover Corporation
To identify the consumers’ preferences in washing machines, Hoover applied the classical Levittine approach, where the company carried out extensiv...