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Marketing environment is that which is external to the marketing management function, largely uncontrollable, potentially relevant to marketing decision making and changing or constraining in nature. The marketing environment is more important to management today than ever before, this is both because the rate of environmental change has increased and because there are more types of important environmental changes. The rate of environmental change should be remembered that all of the development experienced by humankind has occurred within a mere moment of history.
New types of environmental change have come to the forefront, economic factors go to the core business activity and historically they have always been important to marketing management. The word Environment is associated with our physical environment such as air quality, water pollution, solid waste disposal and natural resource conservation. An organization operates within an external environment that it generally cannot control. At the same time, marketing and non-marketing resources exist within the organization that generally can be controlled by its executives.
The external marketing environment consists of social, demographic, economic, technological, political and legal, and competitive variables. Marketers generally cannot control the elements of the external environment. Instead, they must understand how the external environment is changing and the impact of that change on the target market. Then marketing managers can create a marketing mix to effectively meet the needs of target customers. Within the external environment, social factors are perhaps the most difficult for marketers to anticipate. Several major social trends are currently shaping marketing strategies.
First, people of all ages have a broader range of interests, defying traditional consumer profiles. Second, changing gender roles are bringing more women into the workforce and increasing the number of men who shop. Third, a greater number of dual-career families have created demand for time-saving goods and services. The social or cultural forces refers to the structure and dynamics of individuals and groups and their behavior, believes, thought patterns and lifestyles, ironsides and many of this trends goes a long way to affect your marketing operations.
Demographic trends Today, several basic demographic patterns are influencing marketing mixes. Because the population is growing at a slower rate, marketers can no longer rely on profits from generally expanding markets. Marketers are also faced with increasingly experienced consumers among the younger generations such as teens and teens. And because the population is also growing older, marketers are offering more products that appeal to middle-aged and elderly markets. Demography refers to study of people, such as their age, sex, marital status, occupation, family size.
Though, demography is uncontrollable because you cannot control the sex, age, marital status in your external environment, but accurate forecast of it goes a long way to enabling you as a marketer forecast future trend and consumptions of your product. Economic conditions The 2007-2013 recessions has drastically reduced the spending power of many people. During a time of inflation, marketers generally attempt to maintain level pricing to avoid losing customer brand loyalty.
During times of recession, many marketers maintain or reduce prices to counter the effects of decreased demand; they also concentrate on increasing production efficiency and improving customer service. The economic environment is a significant force that affects the marketing activities of Just about any organization. A marketing program is affected especially by economic factors as the current and anticipated stage of the business cycle, as well as inflation and interest rates. Inflation – a rise in prices of goods and services represents inflation. When prices rise at a faster rate than personal incomes, consumer buying power declines.
Inflation rates affect government policies, consumer psychology and also marketing programs. Interest rates – when interest rates are high, for instance, consumers tend not to make long-term purchases such as housing. Some marketers offer below-market interest rates as a promotional device to increase business. Monitoring new technology is essential to keeping up with competitors in today’s marketing environment. The United States excels in basic research and, in recent ears, has dramatically improved its track record in applied research. Innovation is increasingly becoming a global process.
Without innovation, the companies can’t compete in global markets. Technology post much challenges to marketers, it affects the kind of product that you as a marketer can offer, For instance, technology have changed products like typewriting machines into a more proficient computer systems. We cannot stop the advancement of technology, but we can learn to adapt to it changes. All marketing activities are subject to state and federal laws and the rulings of ejaculatory agencies. Marketers are responsible for remaining aware of and abiding by such regulations. Many laws, including privacy laws, have been passed to protect the consumer as well.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Food and Drug Administration are the three federal agencies most involved in regulating marketing activities. The government policies refers to the laws and legality that guilds the land, they go a long way to affect your business operations as a marketer. For instance, government restriction on the importation of particular product might hinder the marketers playing in that particular field. Competition Competition refers to the numbers of similar competitive product brands’ marketers in your industry, their size and market capitalizations.
As a marketer might not have direct influence on them, but it’s important that you monitor their activities, and then design effective strategies using your controllable variables. Competitor’s actions affect the ability of the business to make profits, because competitors will continually seek to gain an advantage over each other, by differentiating their product and revive, and by seeking to provide better value for money. Three types of competition:- Brand competition – comes from marketers of directly similar products. Example credit cards.
Substitute products – satisfy the same need. Example growing numbers of homeowners have been choosing wood flooring instead of carpeting, causing carpet sales to stagnate. Every company – a rival for the customer’s limited buying power. Hence, skilful marketer constantly monitors all aspects of competitors marketing activities, their products, pricing, distribution systems and promotional programs. CONCLUSION The element of the marketing environment involves factors that for the most part are beyond the control of the company.
Thus the company adapt to these factors. It is important to observe how the environment changes so that a firm can adapt its strategies appropriately. The environmental system is the natural system in which life takes place. Increasingly businesses have become aware of the relationship between their economic activity for example making goods and services for profits and the effect that this has on the environmental system. The external environment f marketing is comprises of those uncontrollable forces outside of your organization.
These forces that can influence your business are uncontrollable because you do not have any control over them, but yet, you can respond and adapt to their treats and influences with your controllable mix element from your internal environment. However, it should be noted that while an external environmental force affect one business. It may create an opportunity to another business. So as a marketer need be on look out to forecasting possible changes in external environment and also to sign effective strategies on how to adapt the business to it.