案例分析题There are eight traditional functions of marketing：  （ 1 ）Buying： A marketer focuses on buyers’ needs and desires in order to decide what products to make available. Understanding buyers’ behavior is of great importance.  （ 2 ）Selling： Marketers usually view selling as a persuasive activity that is completed through promotion. Selling includes personal selling， advertising， and other selling methods. It is probably the function of marketing that we most often see in our daily life.  （ 3 ）Transporting： Transporting is physically moving the product from the seller to the buyer. Marketers focus on transporting costs and services.  （ 4 ）Storing： Like transporting， storing is an aspect of the physical distribution of products. Storing includes warehousing activities. Warehouses hold products for long periods sometimes in order to create time utility.  （ 5 ）Grading： Grading involves sorting products according to size and quality. This makes buying and selling easier because it reduces the need for inspection and sampling.  （ 6 ）Financing： For many products， such as automobiles， fridges， and new homes， the purchase is facilitated when the marketer provides credit that makes the purchasing of the product possible.  （ 7 ）Marketing research： Through research， marketers may find out the need for new products and services. By gathering information on a regular basis， they can better plan， carry out and control marketing activities.  （ 8 ）Risk taking： It involves bearing the uncertainties that are part of the marketing process. Most marketing decisions result in either success or failure that is associated with risk. Both transporting and storing are the aspects of the physical distribution of products.