Are the four P's of international marketing of equal importance to all firms? What factors might cause some to be more or less important than others?

Abstract

The term "Marketing Mix" became popular when Neil H. Borden published his article "The concept of the Marketing Mix", in 1964. Today, this expression is one of the most employed in international marketing. The Marketing Mix is also called "The Four P's".
According to Kotler and Dubois, the Four P's are the tools which permit a firm to achieve theirs objectives of the target-market. The Fours P's are Product, Price, Place and Promotion. The concept of "Marketing Mix" is easier to understand if we compare it with a cake. All the cakes are composed with flour, eggs, sugar and milk. We can modify the result obtained changing the quantity of each element. More sugar lead to a cake more sweetened. It's the same for the Marketing Mix: the offer to a customer can be modified by changing the content of the Four P's. For example, to have an image of quality, we have to concentrate efforts on the communication (Promotion). As a result, this will reduce the importance according to the price by the customer.