Identify and discuss reasons why firms become so infatuated with pricing.

There is no other component of the marketing program that firms become more infatuated with than pricing. There are at least four reasons for the attention given to pricing. First, the revenue equation is pretty simple: Revenue equals the price times quantity sold. There are only two ways for a firm to grow revenue: increase prices or increase the volume of product sold. Rarely can a firm do both simultaneously. Although there are literally hundreds of ways to increase profit by controlling costs and operating expenses, the revenue side has only two variables-one being price and the other being heavily influenced by price. A second reason that firms become enamored with pricing is that it is the easiest of all marketing variables to change. Although changing the product and its distribution or promotion can take months or even years, changes in pricing can be executed immediately in real time. Likewise, product, distribution, or promotion changes can also be quite expensive, especially if research and development (R&D) or production must be rescheduled. Conversely, changing prices is a very low-cost option. The third reason for the importance of pricing is that firms take considerable pains to discover and anticipate the pricing strategies and tactics of other firms. Salespeople learn to read a competitor's price sheet upside down at a buyer's desk. Retailers send "secret shoppers" into competitors' stores to learn what they charge for the same merchandise. In this age of e-commerce, tracking what competitors charge for their goods and services has become so daunting that an entire price-tracking industry has emerged. Finally, pricing is given a great deal of attention because it is considered to be one of the few ways to differentiate a product in commoditized and mature markets. When customers see all competing products as offering the same features and benefits, their buying decisions are primarily driven by price.