We can understand from the passage that in modern times ………… .

The average consumer would probably define marketing as
a combination of advertising and selling. There was a time
when marketing was an incidental concern for businesses.
The main emphasis was on production. Goods were
produced and made available for customers to buy, with a
minimum concern for what customers might want. What
was on the market at any one time was determined by
production managers. Most successful businesses now are
dominated by an orientation toward marketing, not toward
production. This means that firms begin by anticipating what
consumers want. They then plan their products accordingly.
It is estimated that at least half of the cost a consumer pays
for a product is accounted for by marketing expenditures.