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... nal circumstances create significant variations to national trends. For example, a factor that has persistently troubled the UK economy performance is the high level of unemployment. In her book Rosemarie Stefano (Success in Marketing, 1993) wrote that the level of domestic unemployment has decreased the effective demand for many luxury consumer goods, which, in turn, has adversely affected the demand for the industrial machinery required to produce such goods. In some regions, the local economy particularly the retail and other service sectors, has been devastated by the bright of persistent, long-term unemployment.
Other domestic economic variables are the rate of inflation and the level of domestic interest rates (i. e. the cost of borrowing capital). Admittedly, these can be significantly influenced by world economic factors.
High levels of inflation, and the high levels of interest rates often used by the UK Treasury to combat inflation, affect the potential return from new investments and can inhibit the adoption and diffusion of new technologies. Governments of every persuasion attempt to encourage economic growth through various policy measures. Tax concessions, government grants, employment subsidies and capital depreciation allowances are but some of the measures that have been used in the past. International economic developments have longer-term significance which are sometimes more difficult to evaluate.
Changing growth rates in other national economies affect exports and imports, which in turn influence national and local economies. Another economic development, which has had a significant effect on individual UK enterprises, is Britains joining the European Union (EU), which is basically a customs union. This implies that all tariffs between member states on all goods and services be abolished and that a uniform tariff be adopted for all goods and services imported into the customs union area from non-member countries. The intention of the EU was to create a completely free market within the community. This market of 320 million people will give UK firms the kind of advantages that the USA already enjoys. Economists and businessmen as one of the most existing opportunities ever presented to British industry herald the creation of a single European market The points I have narrated above all demonstrate the importance to marketing firms of continually monitoring the economic environment at both the domestic and world levels.
The complex interaction of economic forces and the political responses made by individual governments in an attempt to influence and manage their natural economies can have dramatic effects on individual firms business operations. TECHNOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT The technological environment is perhaps the most dramatic force now shaping our destiny. Technology has released such wonders as penicillin, organ transplants and computers. It has also released such horrors as nerve gas and the nuclear bomb.
Our attitude towards technology depends on whether we are more impressed with its wonders or its blunders. Every new technology is a force for 'creative destruction'; i. e. it replaces an older technology.
When old industries fought or ignored new technologies, their businesses declined. New technology creates new markets and opportunities. New technology creates major long-run consequences that are not always foreseeable. Advances in technology affect Marketing decisions in a number of ways.
The creation of new opportunities for products and services is the most obvious impact of technological change. Advances in electronic and computer technology have generated large numbers of new products, from business computers and communication devices, such as the mobile phones and fax machine, to domestic application in video games, music centres and microwave ovens. Each successful new product presents opportunities for additions and refinements to add to the proliferation, e. g.
computer games have been a recent growth market for companies such as Nintendo in the United States. Their success has created marketing opportunities for the development of new products. Our consumption patterns and life styles evolve as a result of technological changes. There have been many recent examples. Developments in transportation systems have changed our purchasing habits as the spread of car ownership enabled convenient shopping further from home, culminating in the need for one stop, out of town shopping centres. New technology in the kitchen, from microwaves to mixers, has reduced meal preparation times allowing our eating habits to fit in with busy life styles and creating the need for a whole new range of food products.
The impact of technological change on marketing activities can also be seen at the retail level. Electronic point of sale (EPOS) data capture is now being increasingly used by the larger retail multiples. The so-called laser check reads a bar code on the product being purchased and stores information, which is used to analyse sales and re-order stock, as well as giving customers a printed readout of what they have purchased and the price charged. Such a system obviates the tedious task of making every item with the retail price and the need for the checkout person to key the price of each item into the till machine. Manufactures of fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs), particularly packaged grocery products have been forced to respond to these technological innovations by incorporating bar codes on their product labels or packaging, (David stokes (2 nd edition) The examples given above illustrates how changes in the technological environment can affect the products and services that firms produce and the way in which firms carry out their business operations. Technological change, like all other factors in the Micro environment, poses both threats and opportunities to the marketing.
ED Lazoska from the university of Washington wrote about his thoughts about Technology In spite of some of the negatives Technology, I'm actually a big proponent of technology. I guess you could say I'm more turned on by its wonders and advantages than I am turned off by its blunders and shortcomings. For example, I firmly believe that advances in technology will have a profound effect on assertive devices for persons with disabilities. Although some of my peers scoff at my predictions, there will be a time when technology will allow the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the lame to walk as well as, or better than, persons who are not physically challenged.
However, as an observer of human behaviour, I have to ask, "If technology is so wonderful, why are things like rotary-dial telephones, hand-rolled cigars, and organic foods back in vogue?" If you " ve ever tasted fish that you just pulled out of a clear mountain lake and cooked on a wood fire, you know why the breaded and frozen kind just doesn't measure up. In spite of all our technology, we can't make food in a factory that tastes as wonderful as it does when it's cooked outdoors. Clearly, technology is a both boon and bane. But I'm willing to adapt to it, because I've seen what happens to those that try to fight it! The Demographic Environment It is of major interest to marketers because it involves people, and people make up markets. Demography is the study of human populations in terms of their size, density, location, age, gender, race, occupation, income, education, and other statistics.
The world's population is growing rapidly. Today's population of approximately 6 billion is expected to exceed 7. 5 billion by 2025. Obviously, this has a major effect on the entire business environment, and does not necessarily mean increased market opportunities (if spending power does not accompany the population growth). The large, diverse world population poses opportunities and threats, so marketers keep track of demographic trends both at home and abroad. Population size and growth The size of the total population of a country reflects the relationship between the birth rate (number of births per 1000 of the population in a given year) and the death rate (the number of deaths per 1 1000 of the population in a given year). The birth rate in Britain has declined steadily since the peak baby boom years following the Second World War.
A number of factors have contributed towards the falling birth rate - changing social altitudes towards large families (linked to rising standards of living), the widespread availability of contraception and legalization of abortion, together with the increasing proportion of married women following a career. Geographical distribution An understanding of the geographical distribution of the population is vital for marketing planning. Once the areas of highest population density are known, marketers can then establish where the greatest concentration of buyers is likely to be found. In the UK, these areas tend to be found south and east of line extending between River Tees and River Exe, including the southeast and west Midlands regions.
High population densities also exist around the major conurbations...
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Research essay sample on Advances In Technology Goods And Services
