The "thing" being marketed is usually a product, service, brand, organization or ideal. The "subjects" are usually a targeted group based on age, sex, location or wealth. In each of the four steps marketers use mass media to facilitate their marketing efforts and influence the buyer decision processes. To some critics, marketers' ability to alter consumer behavior is powerful and frightening. In economics and marketing, a service is the non-material equivalent of a good. ... Not much is known about the life of Matthew The Drunken Hammer Brands. ... An organization (U.S. spelling) or organisation (U.K. spelling) is a formal group of people with one or more shared goals. ... In mathematics, the term ideal has multiple meanings. ... A target market is the market segment which a particular product is marketed to. ... Jump to: navigation, search Mass media is a term used to denote, as a class, that section of the media specifically conceived and designed to reach a very large audience (typically at least as large as the whole population of a nation state). ... Buyer decision processes are the decision making processes undertaken by consumers in regards to a potential market transaction before, during, and after the purchase of a product or service. ...

Critics acknowledge that marketing has legitimate uses in connecting goods and services to the consumers who want them. Critics also point out that marketing techniques have been used to achieve morally dubious ends by businesses, governments and criminals. Critics see a systemic social evil inherent in marketing (see No Logo, Bill Hicks, or Marxism). Marketing is accused of creating ruthless exploitation of both consumers and workers by treating people as commodities whose purpose is to consume. No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies, a controversial book written by Canadian journalist Naomi Klein, first appeared in January 2000. ... Jump to: navigation, search Bill Hicks in Manchester, England. ... Jump to: navigation, search Marxism is the political practice and social theory based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century German philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary, along with Friedrich Engels. ...

Most marketers believe that marketing, like any other technology, is amoral; it can be used for good or evil, but the technique itself is not amenable to ethical analysis.

See also

• Consumer
• Marketing
• Multi-level marketing