Teaching guide: 7Ps of the marketing mix

Analysing the marketing mix usingthe 4Ps may be enhanced by adding additional elements to it. These further elements may be particularly relevant in a service economy.

Model/theory

The traditional 4Ps are: Product, Promotion, Price, Place. The specification uses the 7Ps model which also includes People, Physical environment and Process.

Key points

The 7Ps model highlights that marketing involves a wide range of activities. The 4Ps is one structure but in some situations it may be more appropriate also to analyse other aspects of a business’s marketing activities.

The additional three Ps are:

People

In a service economy, the people who serve you, and factors such as how trained they are and how knowledgeable they are about the products, can be important considerations.

Physical environment

In a service outlet, the environment can influence your decisions to shop there as well as influence how long you stay and how much you buy.

Process

The process involved in a transaction can affect the customer experience. For example, is it easy to register with an online business? Is there an easy ordering and payment system?

When you can use this

When considering how a business might try to become more competitive students might want to analyse how improving the different elements of the mix could help.

Where it's been used

• Q3.3, A-level paper 2, SAM set 1

• Q3, AS paper 2, 2018

• Q17.1, AS paper 1, 2018

• Q3, AS paper 1, 2016

• Q8, AS paper 2, SAM set 2