Chapter 3 The Facebook nation will soon have almost 1 billion members which is Environmental scanning larger than the populations of all but 2 countries in the world except China and India events occurring outside the organization to identify and interpret potential trends refers to continually acquiring information on o Environmental scanning trends come from social economic technological competitive and regulatory forces o A firm conducting an environmental scan of the o The purpose of environmental scanning is to identify and interpret trends in the marketplace that affect the marketing activities of the firm marketplace might uncover key trends such as the growth of social networks the increasing economic impact of Asia the expanding availability of mobile apps the growing importance of customer generated content as a competitive advantage and the growth of online privacy regulation Social Trend Example Consumer purchase decisions are becoming more values based and focused on improving the world Economic Trend Example The U S Japan China and the E U countries will increase investments in sustainable living infrastructure Technological trend example New smartphone apps such as mobile location promotion quick response QR codes and mobile payments will become increasingly more available Competitive Trend example Microbusiness impact will increase through peer to peer websites Regulatory trend example Health consciousness will lead to more public and private smoke free area laws o Ex The Lemon Tree is a high fashion boutique selling top of the line women s clothing and accessories The keys to its success include knowing customers changing tastes and providing something different from other retailers In addition because of the high value of the merchandise The Lemon Tree s management is exploring the use of computerized inventory controls and sales order processing From this description one can infer that the LEAST IMPORTANT environmental force to The Lemon Tree at this particular time would be regulatory issues o Ex As the director of marketing for Littleton Hospital you must conduct an environmental scan to help create a five year marketing plan for the hospital Which of the following environmental trends should you consider to be the MOST IMPORTANT The number of Social Forces population people in the geographic area who are 65 years or older will increase by 23 percent during the next five years o Ex One of the world s largest publishers was totally unprepared for recent increases in the demand for digital books During 2011 the sale of e books exceeded the sales of traditional printed paperback books for the first time If the publisher had it would have been more prepared for this shift in demand tracked as part of its ongoing environmental scanning activities the sales of e books sold by other publishers as well as e book readers sold by Amazon com Kindle and Barnes and Noble Nook o Ex Over a period of several decades coffee consumption declined from 75 of the adult population in 1962 to 49 in 2004 Then it increased to 56 in 2010 A firm with a good marketing orientation would have explored the reasons behind these changes in coffee consumption trends the demographic characteristics and the culture of the o Changes in the demographic characteristics and culture of the population social forces can have a dramatic impact on marketing strategy o Ex Which of the following would be identified as a social force in an environmental scan an increase in Asian immigration o Ex MySpace com is a social network that is targeted primarily to people under the age of 25 years old In 2005 when MySpace was the leading social network News Corp owner of The Wall Street Journal and Fox News bought the firm for 580 million Since then its membership has declined precipitously due to changing consumer preferences As a result News Corp sold MySpace to a group of investors for a paltry 38 million in mid 2011 This is an example of how social forces impact the marketing environment o Ex An important social trend is the continued concern for health and well being in the United States This is most likely evidenced by First Lady Michelle Obama s Let s Move initiative to eliminate childhood obesity o Ex Publishers were surprised by the dramatic success of the book Fifty Shades of Grey and believe that it will likely generate a fresh cycle of female targeted romances packaged for the mainstream reader This is an example of a n social force impacting the marketing environment Social forces include all aspects of culture including values ideas and attitudes that are learned and shared among the members of the group Culture influences consumer buying patterns as is the case with the publishing industry the description of a population according to selected characteristics such as age gender ethnicity income and occupation Demographics o Ex More magazine is a publication designed to appeal to women aged 40 and over Demand for such magazines is an example of how changing demographic characteristics impact the marketing environment The question refers to women aged 40 and over which is a demographic characteristic o Ex The most recent estimate indicates that the population of the world today is about 6 9 billion people o By 2050 the world s population is expected to be 9 5 billion people Population Explosion describes the change in the growth of the world s population o The population explosion is occurring primarily in developing countries in Africa Asia and Latin America o The number of people 60 years of age and older is expected to more than triple and reach 2 billion by 2050 o The relative size of countries such as India and China will mean they represent huge markets for many product categories significant implications to global marketers Baby Boomers the generation of children born betweem 1946 and 1964 o They are currently retiring at a rate of 10 000 every 24 hours and will be 65 or older by 2030 Generation X Baby Bust the generation of children born between 1965 and 1976 o The number of children born each year was declining o 15 of the population o Self reliant supportive of racial and ethnic diversity and better educated than previous generations o The largest segment of business travelers Generation Y Echo Boomers Baby Boomlet between 1977 and 1994 the generation of children born o Period of increasing births because resulted of baby boomer s children o Exerts influence on music sports computers