Marketing During Periods of Shortage

The article discusses the role of marketing during periods of shortages. The author looks at the three characteristics of the shortages that appeared in industry in 1973, and the different schools of thought that came out of management's's view on the future character of the economy. He explains the two levels of product line review that are called for, which are the need to identify the less profitable product lines and the need to reallocate production and marketing budgets to the remaining products. Furthermore, he examines several other aspects of marketing such as the customer mix, the marketing mix, advertising, and marketing channels, and how periods of shortages will influence them.