Society ignored or even criticized the contributions of marketing until the beginning of the 20th century. At that time, economies once marked by a scarcity of goods began to enjoy an abundance of goods. Marketing skills were needed to solve the distribution problems that resulted. Thus, it was not until the early 1900s that the importance of marketing was realized - and that marketing was accepted as a separate academic subject in schools and colleges. Today, countries that operate with market-directed economies have achieved genuine improvements in standards of living - while most command economies have collapsed or are "on the ropes." Even today, however, many people do not have a very clear understanding of marketing. No one single definition of marketing will satisfy everyone. Many people - including some students and business managers - tend to think of marketing as just "selling" or "advertising." Others see marketing as an all-inclusive social process that can solve all the world's problems. Some critics, meanwhile, seem to blame marketing for most of society's ills! Listed below are some commonly asked questions about marketing. Answer each of these questions in a way that shows your understanding of marketing. How would you respond to the criticism "Marketing just adds unnecessary costs to the price of everything we buy?" Should marketing be viewed as a set of activities performed by business and nonprofit organizations, or alternately as a social process? Why is it important to make this distinction?