Marketing Environment Long Answer Type Questions
Question 1.
Name the factors influencing consumer behaviour.
Answer:
Following are the factors influencing buying behaviour.
(a) Culture:
It consists of social values, attitudes, towards work, language, belief, art, moral, law, customs, traditions, etc., acquired by a man as a member of society. It determines a perons’s wants and behaviour, food preference clothing choice, career ambitions differ from person to person as per the social values.
(b) Social classes:
On the basis of income category the population is generally divided into upper class, middlecam, and lower class. But on the basis of caste and religion population is possible to divide in large number of groups, people within similar group tend to exhibit similar buying behaviour.
(c) The family:
Family members decides purchase needs and also puts financial strain within which the buying i§ to be done. Family influence is considered as strong influence..
(d) Reference groups:
It means a group to which a person belongs and interacts has’direct influence. A persons a member of family, friends, neighbours, etc. He is a member of religious organization, professional association and trade unions. All these groups influence in the behaviour of a ponsumer while purchasing the goods.
(e) Status symbol:
Status refers to position of a person in the society. It plays important role in buying behaviour. A person plays different role like father, son, manager, friend sportsman, etc., each of the role will influence some of his buying behaviour.
(f) Age and life cycle stage:
It is a personal factor influence on buying behaviour, people charge goods and services they buy over life times. People’s taste for food, clothes, furniture etc. are age related factors. Marketers duty is to collect correct data on demographic segmentation for production.
(g) Occupation;
It is very important factor in determining buyer behaviour demand for mixer, washing machine, fast food etc. are increased in market due to increase in number of working women in society. Marketer’s have to identify the occupation groups because it influence on goods and services bought.
(h) Income:
Income level Of people defines the needs and desire for the product. Purchase of property borrowing power saving etc., are depends income of people in the society.
(i) Life style:
Living style of people also decides his or her activities, interest and option. It helps the marketer to take decision on changing customer values.
(j) Personality:
It means distinguishing psychological characteristics that lead to relatively consistent and enduring responses to his/her own environment distinct personality will also influence his or her buying behaviour.
(k) Motivation:
Motive is a stimulated need that an individual seeks to satisfy. It is important for marketer to understand the motives that lead consumers to make purchases.
(l) Perception:
People perceive the situation differently. The way individual perceives things will depend upon many personal factors such as needs, moods, memories, values etc., The marketer must therefore make sure that a given message is correctly perceived by the consumer.
(m) Learning:
It is the process of acquiring knowledge and it is the basic factor which describes charges in an individuals behaviour arising from experience.
(n) Beliefs and attitudes:
It includes individuals feelings, beliefs, values from the emotional part of the mind etc. it develops gradually as the result of experience people have attitudes on many things religion, polities, clothes, music, food etc. There are may factors determines consumer behaviour. And these factors are useful in identifying the buyer who is interested in buying the particular product.
Question 2.
What is marketing environment? Explain different kinds of marketing environment.
Answer:
Marketing environment refer to sum total of all. The factors of forces which would influence the marketing objectives decisions and policies of the firm. It determines the success and survival of a product in the market. It includes, micro environment and macro environment, micro environment consists of controllable and partially controllable factors and macro environment consists of only uncontrollable factors.
Marketing environment also includes four layers they are –
- Organizational environment which includes company, its department, organizational structure etc.
- Marketing environment includes total number of potential and actual customers of the product.
- Macro environment: Which consists of forces that affect transactions between the firm and the markets.
- Extra environment which consists of some negligible Or irrelement factors to the organization.
Different kinds of environment:
(A) Controllable factors:
Controllable factors are possible to control by the business organization with the help of good business decision. Company can fix the quality of product, price channel of distribution and mode of transportation, according to its convenience. Therefore good understanding of marketing environment gives better chance for protable growth of the business.
(B) Partially controllable factors:
These factors are external factors. But management can understand and manage the situation according to company objectives.
(C) The uncontrollable forces:
These are external environmental factors. On which company cannot do anything to prevent it. It includes customers needs and desires, competition, economic conditions etc. There are six major environmental forces mainly considered as constraints on the growth of the organization at all level. They are –
(a) Demographic environment:
Demography means scientific study Of population and its distribution. It consists of the details about population structure, age groups, income, occupation, sex ratio, education, geographic concentration, urban and rural population etc. without knowing these information, the businessman cannot market his product successfully. Because different people need different products at particular ages, hence production has to be geared to meet the specific demand.
(b) Economic environment:
It is the second uncontrollable factor of marketing environment. Economic conditions influence the marketing organization and marketing activities directly and indirectly,, production of goods fully based on purchasing power of customers. At the same time purchasing power and willingness to spent depends on economic conditions. Marketing plans and programmes are also influenced by some other economic factors as the interest rates, money supply, price level, consumer credit etc. economic environment influence product planning, price fixing, and promotion policies.
(c) Natural environment or ecological environment:
It consists of availability of raw material, pollution, resource management etc., Disposal of chemical and nuclear waste, plastics, and other non biogradable materials cause greater public apathy. Therefore government agencies play an active role in environmental protection.
(d) Technological environment:
Technology has brought a change in the life styles and consumption patterns in the society. Therefore product development, packaging, promotion prices, and distribution systems are all influenced directly by technology.
(e) Political and legal environment:
It consists of laws and regulations, policy decision government planning, etc. marketing decisions are strongly affected by this environment. There are many rules and regulations and frequent changes in government polices directly affect business decisions.
(f) Socio and cultural environment:
It consists of people and their values, and social patterns, life style, social values, beliefs desires, etc. There forces usually influence the welfare of a business in long run. The society is always dynamic with changing social norms and values as a result of which increase in demands are created/education and technology also plays an important role in consumers expectations in the market.
Question 3.
Explain the nature and scope of marketing.
Answer:
Nature of Marketing:
(a) It is operational:
That is, Mangers must think & act a achive results. Benefits of Marketing will not emerge from a passive attitude to the exchange process Emphasizing the statement “no gains without pains.”
(b) It is Customer oriented:
That is Marketing firm is to be the keen observer, outside, focusing its attention on needs of customers. It effectiveness lies is finding solutions to the challenges posed by these demands.
(c) It is Mutuality of Benefits:
Exchange of goods & Services works & persist because it is mutual interest of both parties to continue. Both the marketers & customer benefit through supply of quality goods & services in return for profit.
(d) It is value Driven:
The culture of the Marketing firm are based on a desire to build in business through meeting the needs & responding to the market where the values aroused by firms leaders are communicated to all those involved in the firm.
(e) It is proactive to the Environment:
Marketing firm is a sub system of super system the environment. The environment is something which is external to the firm. The environmental is something which is external to the firm. The environmental form are ecology, technology legal frame work, which are to the accepted by the marketing unit where it is to be proactive & not reactive.
Scope:
Marketing is recognised as the most significant activity in our society. Marketing is all arround us. Our delivery existence, our entire economic life, our life styles are continuosly affected by a wide range of marketing activities. The food we eat, the cloths we wear, the housing that shelters us, the comforts & amneties we enjoy in our home & at work places, the health & welfare activities which give us peace of mind, all these are profoundly affected each day by the Marketing System. Marketing alone can put goods & services we want & need at our door steps & satisfy our varied & innumerable needs & wants. Our entire economic life shall be simply paralysed, if marketing system fails to shoulder its main responsibility, viz. discovering & serving the market demand.
Marketing has achived social importance because it is entrasted with the task of creating & delivery of standard of living to society. Marketing studies continuously consumer demand which is varied & dynamic. On the basis of upto – date knowledge of nature. Character & Magnitude of market demand, the firm produces wanted goods & services which are offered to consumers at fair prices through distribution channels.
Marketing is the vital connecting link between producers & consumers. It is primarily responsible to keep the wheels production & consumption constantly moving or running at their optimum speed. Optimun production & optimun consumption can secure optimun standard of living in an economy. Marketing is directly responsible to maintain the equalibrium between mass production & mass consumption. Then only we wilt have economic stability.
Idustrial revolution offered mass production in the 19th century. Marketing revolution is called upon to provide mass distribution machinery in the 20th century for effective distribution in ever-expanding markets. We have yet to evolve a smoothly operating system of physical distribution. Consumer-oriented markets can & must play an important role in mass distribution. Better marketing can raise living standards of all people in any country.
Marketing system plays a unique role is transforming the benefits of mass production in terms of rising living standards of life styles of all people through the best system of physical distribution. The No.1 problem in our economic life today is distribution. Marketers must meet this challenge to justify their existence in our Socio – economic environment. Marketing has assumed tremendous importance to solve this burning problem of mass distribution. The problem of marketing today is greater than the problem of production.
Marketers must devise a comprehensive marketing system which would deliver alt the goods we could produce or manufactured goods would rise substantially.
We live in a dynamic economy & marketing system is called upon to maintain equilbrium between supply & demand in such an economy. If the two flows viz. goods flow & the money flow balance each other. We have economic stability & naturally price stability, of course, at higher & higher level of national output, emploment & income.
This is an ideal & desirable state of national economy. Marketers are now confronted with a challenge to ensure an expanding market that will easily absorb the mounting amount of goods & services our producers & manufacturers are able to offer us under computerised & automated systems of production, if marketers assure equitable mass distribution, the nation can have steady economic growth & dynamic expansion with stability.
Economic development in developing coutries entirely depends upon effective system of production & distribution the two wheels of national economy. Levels of marketing govern the levels or production. Production & distribution are two sides of the same blade. Nothing happens in our economy until somebody markets something. Thus, marketing plays a critical role in our economic growth. In underdeveloped country marketing is the most undeveloped part of the economy. Mareting development can change the entire economic life of such as underdeveloped country without any change in its methods of production, distribution of population or of income.