The marketing function has been fully exploited in mulch of the developed western world. In the less developed countries the role of marketing is yet to be adequately appreciated. This is a natural consequence of the fact that in less developed countries the main problem is to create surpluses over and above the essential requirements of the consumer whereas in developed countries the problem is to create a demand for surpluses which are being produced. In the latter case marketing plays the role of balancing demand and supply at a remunerative price by generating demand and modifying production. As a less developed economy develops from a subsistence economy and begins to generate products requiring wider distribution, the marketing function is required to perform a role which was earlier nonexistent in the subsistence economy, that of balancing demand and supply. As market-oriented production expands and agricultural surpluses are generated the role of marketing itself expands.
Nov-Dec 1979, volume 4, No 3