You have been hired as a marketing director for terraineous, a hiking apparel and footwear company. your most urgent problem is that sales of its newest product, a hiking boot, are failing to meet projections. in analyzing the situation, you learn that the company is falling short in customer service; no one has been designated to answer buyers' questions about how to clean and care for the boot. when you meet with the ceo, you want to pinpoint exactly which variable of the marketing mix is at the root of this problem. what should you tell her?

The answer is: People variable

Explanation:

In a traditional 4 Ps marketing mix (price, product, place & promotion), customer services is not dealt with appropriately. A more modern approach, called the 7 Ps of Service Marketing adds the process, people and physical evidence variables.

People variable refers to the task individuals perform to support the product. They include service providers, customer service, marketers, etc.

This more modern approach (proposed in 1981) is mostly used for selling services, but has gained importance with more modern and technical products.