Marketing Environment

Content

1. Explanation of market environment   

Marketing Environment

Marketing environment relates to both internal and external factors that affect an organisation’s ability to develop and maintain successful transactions and relationships with its target customers. Businesses do not operate in a vacuum; hence, the decision is made in line and response to changes in an organization’s internal(micro) and external ( macro) environments.

Classification of Marketing Environment.

Basically, the marketing environment can be grouped or classified into two groups:

I. Micro Environment: This connotes of an organisation’s own influence, objectives and resources. Objectives provide direction for marketing decisions. It is made up of an organisation’s immediate customers, competitors, clients, the consumer. They can also be regarded as the stakeholders, shareholders, staff, staff relations and families of an organisation.

ii. Macro Environment: This relates to a set of broad influences such as culture, demographic, economic, political, legal, technology, social.

Performance Objectives

Students should be able to explain:

       1. Factors affecting the market environment     

Content

1. Factors affecting the market environment

Factors Affecting Market Environment

i. Socio-cultural factor: This factor includes the economic political, legal and technological forces. This connotes that people and their socio-cultural customs and belief are fundamentally and basically what shape and determine the economy, political-legal system and technology. These factors affect how and why people live and behave as they do. These factors are important because it has an impact on customer buying behaviour.

ii. Technology factor: This connotes how the technological inventions, technical equipment and skills affect the way an economy’s resources are converted to output. Technology is the word of (Hill and Sullivan 1996) is a driving force for change in society and can be significant to the marketer for a number of reasons: it can create better ways of satisfying existing needs it can identify latent needs and enable new customers to be renewed. It alters the pattern of demand and changes the nature of competition in an industry and it can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of marketing activities.

iii. Economic factor: People’s existence has no meaning to the environment they live if they do not have money and willing to spend it. Marketing programmes are affected by economic growth, interest rates, supply and demand for money, price inflation and availability of credit, that is, economic factor influences the ability and willingness of individuals and organisations to perform transactions with a view to acquiring goods and services they need, want and desires.

iv. Political and Legal factors: Legislations, laws, economic policies made at all levels exercise a great influence on the marketing activities of an organisation than any other indices. The following among other is the possible area of political and legal influences:

a) provision of information and purchase of goods.

b) legislation specifically related to marketing.

c) government relationship with individual industries.

d) broad social legislation and accompanying policies set by regulatory agencies.

Equally, the reactions, attitudes and behaviours of people, social critics, public opinion makers, government etc. among others affect the political environment. Consumers in the same society usually hold a common and similar political environment which can also have an effect (negative and positive) at local, national and international level.

v. Economic factor: According to Kotler (1980), ecological forces cover trends in the supply and cost of natural resources and energy problems of environment, deterioration and pollution control. This natural environment according to Kotler and Armstrong (1987) consists natural resources that are needed as inputs by marketers or that are affected by marketing activities. The trends which ecological factor covers include: a shortage of raw materials, increased cost of energy, increased levels of pollution and government intervention in natural resources management.

vi. Demographic factor: Markets are constituted by people who have money to spend and are willing to spend it. It refers to the statistical study of human population and its distribution characteristics. Its relevance to marketing is that it affects the production decision of what to produce, where to produce, when and how to produce and for whom to produce.

What Market Do

The term market consists of all potential customers sharing a particular need or want who might be willing and able to engage in exchange to satisfy the need and want. It comprises or composed people or institutions with sufficient purchasing power authority, and willingness to buy. The target market for a product is the specific or particular segment/group of customers most likely to procure and patronize a specific product.

Actions Before Marketing

Business organisation before the identification of the needs and wants of the customer which is the core of marketing do perform and embark on certain activities in preparation for business operations. The greatest assets of any business organisation are the staffs, the reason is that of all the resources: men, material, money, machine, method, men which constitute the employees are the only one who manipulates the other variables.

 For the purpose of this study, the business operational actions before marketing would be examined under the following matters:

i. Mobilisation of workforce

This connotes recruitment or employment of competent and relevant workforce who are capable enough to discharge their roles and responsibilities efficiently and effectively. Business organisations recruit employees through several methods and procedures such as using advertisements to communicate the vacancy, shortlisting of interested applicants for an interview (oral and written), the offer of provisional job before conversion of such to full staff/permanent employment. It can also be through casual labour. Mobilization of the workforce could also be described as equipping employed staff with necessary training programmes that would enable them to understand the mission and vision among other things than organization stands for i.e why they are in business

Test : Marketing SSS1 First Term Final Assessment

Top of Form

1. . Consumers can be classified into different categories depending on their needs and wants?

True

False

2. . ____________ holds that “organisation or business establishment should determine the needs, wants and interests of target markets and deliver the desired satisfaction more effectively, efficiently than competitors in a way that maintains or improves the consumer and the society’s wellbeing?

Keit(1960)

Hasket(1976)

Baker(1974)

Kotler (1993)

3. The Societal marketing concept is believed to be the newest and latest marketing concept?

True

False

4. Profit orientation is a term used to describe a business that operates under the primary objective of making money?

True

False

5. The main aim of the organisation/service provider is to further research with a view to holding and retaining their customer’s patronage/interest. This is not one of Marketing concepts’ assumptions?

True

False

6. __________ is describing consumers in a market having different demographic characteristics such as age, gender, income, religion, education, and occupation

demographic segmentation

geographical segmentation

market segmentation

psychological segmentation

7. __________ makes it easier for marketers to personalize their marketing campaigns?

demographic segmentation

geographical segmentation

market segmentation

psychological segmentation

8. _________ is the method of segmentation that uses consumer behaviour aspects for dividing the market?

demographic segmentation

geographical segmentation

market segmentation

behavioural segmentation

9. Depending on their area of location, consumers are often found to have differences in their consumption behaviour. This is said to be____?

demographic segmentation

geographical segmentation

market segmentation

psychological segmentation

10. Depending on their area of location, consumers are often found to have differences in their consumption behaviour. This is said to be____?

demographic segmentation

geographical segmentation

market segmentation

psychological segmentation

11. ____________ gives information about consumers’ lifestyle factors that adds richness to the demographic information?

demographic segmentation

geographical segmentation

market segmentation

psychological segmentation

12. ____________ says the term product covers physical goods, service and a variety of other items that can satisfy human requirements?

Kotler(1994)

Hasket(1976)

Baker(1974)

Kotler (1993)

13. Circle 1 of product life circle is the decline stage?

True

False

14. . The following are consumer product except?

emergency product

impulse product

speciality product

groove product

15. . ____________ are products that consumers procure without any planning or search effort?

emergency product

impulse product

speciality product

unsought product

16. __________ are unknown product/accidental products which consumers do not prepare to purchase but only come across to fulfil one of the reasons for holding money (speculative motive).?

emergency product

impulse product

speciality product

unsought product

17. . ___________ relates to all marketing efforts made to convince potential customers that the ‘right’ product is available at the ‘right’ place and at the ‘right’ price through publicity?

Marketing mix

product

price

promotion

18. _________ is a popular phenomenon in the principle of marketing management?

Marketing mix

Marketing product

Marketing price

Marketing place

19. . ________ is otherwise refers to as distribution, time/possession utilities and there are conditions that enable consumers and business users to have products available for use when and where they want them?

Marketing mix

product

price

place

20. ________ connotes a broad concept that encompasses the satisfaction of all consumer needs in relation to a good, service or idea?

Marketing mix

product

price

place

21. _________ is anything that is used to facilitate exchange and of all the four p’s?

Marketing mix

product

price

place

22. ___________ connotes of an organisation’s own influence, objectives and resources?

Marketing environment

Micro environment

Macro environment

Mixed environment

23. Marketing environment can be grouped into _______?

2 groups

3 groups

4 groups

5 groups

24. _________ relates to both internal and the external factors that affect an organisation’s ability to develop and maintain successful transactions and relationships with its target customers?

Marketing environment

Microenvironment

Macro-environment

Mixed environment

25. Micro and Macro environment are the group of marketing environment?

True

False

26. _________ relates to a set of broad influences such as culture, demographic, economic, political, legal, technology, social?

Marketing environment

Micro environment

Macro environment

Mixed environment

27. . ________ refers to the statistical study of human population and its distribution characteristics?

Economic factor

Political and legal factor

Demographic factor

Technology factor

28. ___________ factor includes the economic political, legal and technological forces?

Economic factor

Political and legal factor

Demographic factor

Socio-Cultural factor

29. Legislations, laws, economic policies made at all levels exercise a great influence on the marketing activities of an organisation than any other indices. This is said to be?

Economic factor

Political and legal factor

Demographic factor

Technology factor

30. __________ is the ecological forces that cover trends in the supply and cost of natural resources and energy problems of environment, deterioration and pollution control?

Economic factor

Political and legal factor

Demographic factor

Technology factor

31. ________ connotes how the technological inventions, technical equipment and skills affect the way an economy’s resources are converted to output?

Economic factor

Political and legal factor

Demographic factor

Technology factor

32. Business organisation before the identification of the needs and wants of the customer which is the core of marketing do perform and embark on certain activities in preparation for business operations?

Yes

No

33. Mobilization of the work force could also be described as equipping employed staff with necessary training programmes that would enable them to understand the mission and vision among other things than organization stands for i.e why they are in business?

True

False

34. The term market consists of all potential customers sharing a particular need or want who might be willing and able to engage in exchange to satisfy the need and need?

True

False

35. Mobilization can also be through casual labour?

True

False

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