<P> Scholars have identified specific instances of marketing practices in England and Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries . As trade between countries or regions grew, companies required information on which to base business decisions . Individuals and companies carried out formal and informal research on trade conditions . In 1380, Johann Fugger travelled from Augsburg to Graben in order to gather information on the international textile industry . He exchanged detailed letters on trade conditions in relevant areas . In the early 1700s British industrial houses were demanding information, that could be used for business decisions . During this period, Daniel Defoe, a London merchant, published information on trade and economic resources of England and Scotland . Defoe was a prolific publisher and among his many publications are titles devoted to trade including; Trade of Britain Stated, 1707; Trade of Scotland with France, 1713 and The Trade to India Critically and Calmly Considered, 1720; all books that were highly popular with merchants and business houses of the period . While such activities might now be recognised as marketing research, at that time they were known as' commercial research' or' commercial intelligence' and not seen as part of the repertoire of activities that make up contemporary marketing practice . </P> <P> In a major review of consumer society, McKendrick, Brewer and Plumb found extensive evidence of eighteenth century English entrepreneurs using' modern' marketing techniques, including product differentiation, sales promotion and loss leader pricing . English industrialists, Josiah Wedgewood and Matthew Boulton, are often portrayed as pioneers of modern mass marketing methods . Wedgewood was known to have used marketing techniques such as direct mail, travelling salesmen and catalogues in the eighteenth century . Wedgewood also carried out serious investigations into the fixed and variable costs of production and recognised that increased production would lead to lower unit costs . He also inferred that selling at lower prices would lead to higher demand and recognised the value of achieving scale economies in production . By cutting costs and lowering prices, Wedgewood was able to generate higher overall profits . Similarly, one of Wedgewood's contemporaries, Matthew Boulton, pioneered early mass production techniques and product differentiation at his Soho Manufactory in the 1760s . He also practiced planned obsolescence and understood the importance of' celebrity marketing' - that is supplying the nobility, often at prices below cost and of obtaining royal patronage, for the sake of the publicity and cudos generated . </P> <P> Fullerton argues that the practice of market segmentation emerged well before marketers used the notion formally . Certain strands of evidence suggest that simple examples of market segmentation were evident prior to the 1880s . The business historian, Richard S. Tedlow, argues that any attempt to segment markets prior to 1880 was highly fragmented since the economy was characterised by small, regional suppliers who mostly sold goods on a local or regional basis . When retail shops began to appear from the 15th century, retailers needed to separate the "riff raff" from wealthier customers . Outside the major metropolitan cities, few stores could afford to serve one type of clientele exclusively . However, gradually retail shops introduced innovations that would allow them to separate wealthier customers from the lower classes and peasants . One technique was to have a window opening out onto the street from which customers could be served . This allowed the sale of goods to the common people, without encouraging them to come inside . Another solution, that came into vogue from the late sixteenth century was to invite favoured customers into a back - room of the store, where goods were permanently on display . Yet another technique that emerged around the same time was to hold a showcase of goods in the shopkeeper's private home for the benefit of wealthier clients . Samuel Pepys, for example, writing in 1660, describes being invited to the home of a retailer to view a wooden jack . The eighteenth century English entrepreneurs, Josiah Wedgewood and Matthew Boulton, both staged expansive showcases of their wares in their private residences or in rented halls . Evidence of early marketing segmentation has also been noted across Europe . A study of the German book trade found examples of both product differentiation and market segmentation in the 1820s . </P> <P> Until the nineteenth century, Western economies were characterised by small regional suppliers who sold goods on a local or regional basis . However, as transportation systems improved from the mid nineteenth century, the economy became more unified allowing companies to distribute standardised, branded goods a national level . This gave rise to a much broader mass marketing mindset . Manufacturers tended to insist on strict standardisation in order to achieve scale economies with a view to keeping production costs down and also to achieving market penetration in the early stages of a product's life cycle . The Model T Ford was an example of a product being manufactured at a price that was affordable for the burgeoning middle classes . </P>

The trends that gave rise to strategic selling included