Chapter 4 Analyzing the Marketing Environment o Competitive Intelligence CI firms use this to collect and synthesize information about their position with respect to their rivals Enables companies to anticipate changes in the marketplace rather than merely react to them o Macroenvironmental factors culture demographics social issues technological advances economic situation and political regulatory environment or CDSTEP o Culture shared meanings beliefs morals values and customs of a group of people o Demographics indicated the characteristics of human populations and segment especially those used to identify consumer markets o Generational cohort a group of people of the same generation has similar purchase behaviors because they have shared experiences and are in the same stage of life o Seniors America s fastest growing group Time to shop and money to spend o Baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964 Individualistic Leisure time is a high priority Think they will always be able to take care of themselves Obsession with maintaining youth o Generation X born between 1965 and 1976 41 million Americans Latchkey children both parents worked 50 have divorced parents o Generation Y more than three times the size of generation X Emphasis on balancing work and life o Tweens technology driven o Metrosexuals males having female habits like getting manicures and liking to shop o Echo boomers those in their teens and early 10s who are avid shoppers for products o Green marketing strategic effort by firms to supply customers with environmentally that make them feel cool friendly merchandise o Technological advances accelerated greatly during the past few dcades improving the value of both products and services o Alpha moms tech savvy family centric working mothers o Economic situation affects the way consumers buy merchandise and spend money o Inflation the persistent increase in the prices of goods and services o Foreign currency fluctuations foreign product prices vary o Interest rates represent the cost of borrowing money o Political regulatory environment comprises political parties government organization and legislation and laws Organizations must fully understand and comply with any legislation regarding fair competition consumer protection or industry specific regulation
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