Transcript THE MARKETING ENVIRONMENT

THE MARKETING ENVIRONMENT
Main influences on the marketing
environment
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Political
Economic
Social
Technological
Competitive Environment
Categorising Consumers
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It is important to recognise that the
marketing function will categorise
their customers as they recognise
that different people are influenced
in different ways
Businesses will use a variety of
means of categorising or
segmenting their market
Methods of Categorising Consumers/
Segmenting the Market
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Age
Gender
Market Segmentation
is the term used to
Income
describe the ways in
which business divide
Religion
their markets into
broad categories
Ethnic Grouping
Social Class
Geography/Location
The way the Marketing Function
examines the market will influence
its decision on
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Pricing
Product development
Placing
Promotional strategies
Benefits of Segmenting the Market
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Provides consumers with the exact
product they want
Specific groups of consumers can be
targeted with appropriate products
A range of differentiated products to
meet their needs
4Ps will be balanced to reflect
demands eg suitable price,
appropriate channel of distribution
Benefits of Segmenting the Market
continued
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In tune with their group of
consumers which allows them to
respond to changes in their needs
more effectively
Specialisation may be encouraged
The firm may identify a gap in the
market and develop a product to ‘fill
the gap’
How does the Categorisation of
Consumers affect Buying and Selling?
Segmenting the market will allow
business to take advantage of any
opportunities and prepare for any
threats.
Age
If you have an ageing population
you will provide more goods for
older people
Gender
If the population is unbalanced
and there are more eg females
this will influence business
Income
The amount of money available
to spend (disposable income) is
extremely important to the
marketing function of business
Religion
Some religions demand
specialised goods eg Kosher
foods
Ethnic
Grouping
Some ethnic groups have
demands for different types
of products
Eg specialist hair gels for
Afro-Caribbean groups
Social Class Consumers are often split into
6 socio-economic divisions:
A = upper or middle
B = middle
C1= lower middle
C2 = skilled worker
D = working
E = subsistence
These classifications are often
used not to reflect income
levels but buying habits
Geography/Location
Income
Different
geographical areas
have different needs
and wants eg those
in rural areas spend
more of their income
on travel …
The changes in the
make-up of
households has
significantly altered
buying habits.
Target Markets
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Undifferentiated Marketing
Differentiated Marketing
Niche Marketing
Undifferentiated Marketing
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Is where the product appeals to
most consumers
there is no need to target particular
segments of the market
The product/service is sold to the
entire market
As a result they do not spend much
money on advertising
Benefit from high volume sales and
economies of scale
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Eg Milk – it
appeals to all
ages, genders,
income levels
Differentiated Marketing
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Is where businesses offer a range of
products to different groups within
the market
The product is altered to suit the
consumers
Differentiated marketing makes use
of market segmentation to adapt
the product, price etc to suit the
consumers they are targeting
Example
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Kellogg’s – sell a range of cereals that are
aimed at different segments of the market
Niche Marketing
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Is where a business makes use of
market segmentation to target a
very small specialist market.
The Niche market is one that takes
advantage of the areas that big
business has ignored – they are
targeting a gap in the market
Eg cookery holidays
Problems of Niche Marketing
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Possible threat of competition as the
bigger competitors realise there is a
business opportunity
Changing tastes of the consumer