Evolution of competitiveness content as an applied format of marketing concept implementation

Melnyk Serhii
PhD in Economics, Doctoral Student of Economics, Marketing and Business Administration Department, State University of Infrastructure and Technologies, Ukraine, e-mail: smelnuk@gmail.com, ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5812-0758

Cite this article:

Melnyk, S. (2024). Evolution of competitiveness content as an applied format of marketing concept implementation [Evoliutsiia zmistu konkurentospromozhnosti yak prykladnoho formatu realizatsii kontseptsii marketynhu], Socio-economic research bulletin, Vìsnik socìal’no-ekonomìčnih doslìdžen’ (ISSN 2313-4569), Odessa National Economic University, Odessa, No. 3-4 (90-91), pp. 159-174.

Abstract

The study establishes that the concept of competitiveness, extensively utilized in academic and pedagogical literature, lacks a universally accepted definition, which has led to the proliferation of synonymous terms with inherently contradictory interpretations. The research investigates the evolution of the theoretical understanding of competitiveness, offering a comprehensive analysis of its defining features from the perspectives of resource efficiency, cost optimization, consumer needs satisfaction, and the struggle for economic resources. The conceptual essence of enterprise competitiveness is elucidated, with a particular focus on its central attribute  the object of competition, identified as the funds allocated by consumers for purchasing products intended to fulfill their needs. Competitiveness is presented as an economic category integral to forming the theoretical foundation of market competition and as an applied evaluative characteristic of an enterpriseʼs competitive capabilities and market position It has been proven that the generalizing feature of competitiveness as an economic category and applied evaluative characteristic of market entities is its marketing nature. The necessity of clarifying the traditional conceptual basis of marketing as a system of views on the organization of business activities aimed at satisfying consumer needs to generate profit has been determined. This is due to the inherent contradiction between the goal of satisfying consumer needs and the requirement to generate profit under competitive conditions. It is proposed to redefine the marketing objective as satisfying consumer demand rather than needs, enabling a balance between the level of need satisfaction and the required profitability of enterprise activities. The application of tools to achieve such a balance is justified based on managing the structural determinants of the competitiveness complex  marketing results, potential, and functionality, reflecting the cycle of formation and realization of market entity competitiveness. The study indicates that the dynamic relationship between the marketing result  the volume of products sold  and potential  financial reserves for sales stimulation aligned with the enterpriseʼs marketing goals at a specific development stage  is ensured by adjusting the parameters of the marketing functionality employed, which includes a set of sales stimulation measures. A proposal has been made to supplement the traditional marketing categories, such as need, demand, product, service, consumer value, and exchange, with marketing outcome, potential, and functionality. These serve as indicators of the stages of the applied implementation of the marketing concept and function as evaluative categories for assessing the process of meeting consumer needs. To quantitatively measure the level of competitiveness, it is proposed to use the relative value of the volume of sold products, which reflects the outcome of the competition between enterprises for the key object of competition – consumersʼ purchasing funds.

Keywords

competition; competition object; competitiveness; need; demand; marketing result; potential; functionality.

JEL classification: D410; L110; M300; DOI:https://doi.org/10.33987/vsed.3-4(90-91).2024.159-174

UD classification: 339.13.017:658.8:339.137.2

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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