Marketing Environment

# The Micro & Macro marketing environment. (Syllabus item)
Ans:- Marketing environment consists of the actors & forces outside marketing that affect marketing ability to develop & maintain successful transactions with its target customer. The marketing environment is made up two environmental conditions. They are –
1. Micro-environment
2. Macro-environment

1. Micro-environment: - The macro-environment consists of the actors that are related closely to the company that affect its ability to serve its consumers- the company, suppliers, intermediaries, customer, competitors & publics.
• Company: - Functional areas such as top management, finance & marketing etc.
• Suppliers: - Provide the resources needed by company to produce its goods & services.
• Marketing intermediaries: - Help the company to promote, sell & distribute its goods to find buyers such as physical distribution firms, marketing service agencies & financial intermediaries.
• Customers: - The Company needs to study five types of customer market closely. Such as; consumer market, industrial market, reseller market, Govt. market & international market.
• Competitors: - Those who serve a target market with similar products & service.
• Public: - The Company’s marketing environment also includes various public. A public is any group that has an actual or potential interest in or impact on an organization’s ability to achieve its objectives. We can identify seven types of public: - financial, media, Govt., citizen-action, local, general, internal publics.
2. Macro-environment: - The macro-environment consists of the large societal forces that affect the macro-environment demographic, economic, natural, technological, political & cultural forces.

* Demographic: - The study of human, population in terms of size, density, location, age, gender, occupation & other statistics. Key demographic trends of Bangladesh.
* Changing age structure * Geographic shifts in population
* Changing family structure * Increased education.
* Economic: - Factors that affect consumer buying power & spending patterns. Key terms – A) Subsistence Vs industrial economy B) Changes of income C) Changing consumer spending pattern.

• Natural: - Natural resources that are needed as inputs by marketers or that are affected by marketing activities. Shortages of raw materials, increased cost of energy, increased pollution, and increased Govt. intervention affected natural environment.
• Technological: - Forces that create new technological product & market opportunities. It perhaps the most force now shaping our destiny.
• Political: - The political environment consists of laws, Govt. agencies, & pressure groups that influence or limit various organizations & individuals in a given society. Increasing legislation; regulations are to protect companies, consumers & society, changing Govt. agency enforcement, federal trade commission, the food & drug administration etc.
• Cultural: - The cultural environment is made up of institutions & other forces that affect a society basic values, perceptions, preferences & behaviors. Persistence of cultural values shift in secondary cultural values, core beliefs, and secondary beliefs affected it.

# Identify the major trends in the firm’s natural & technological environment.
Ans: - The natural environment shows the three major trends – Shortage of certain raw materials, higher pollution levels & More Govt. intervention in natural resources mgt. Environment concern, create marketing opportunities for alter companies. The market should watch for four major trends in the technological environment - the rapid pace of tech. change, high R & D budgets, the concentration by companies on minor product improvements, & increased Govt. regulation companies that fail to keep up with technological change will miss out on new product & marketing opportunities.

# How changes in the demographic environment affect marketing decisions?
Ans: - Demography is the study of the characteristics of human populations. Today’s demographic environment shows a changing age structure, shifting family profits, geographic population shift, a better-educated & more collar population, & increasing diversity.

# Discuss how companies can react to the marketing environment.
Ans: - Companies can passively accept the marketing environment as an uncontrollable element to which they must adapt, avoiding threats & taking advantage of opportunities as they can take a proactive stance working to change the environment rather than simply reacting to it. Whenever possible, companies should try to be proactive rather than reactive.