Basic Marketing: A Global Managerial Approach

Perreault−McCarthy: Basic
Marketing: A
Global−Managerial
Approach, 14/e

4. Evaluating Opportunities
   in the Changing Marketing
   Environment

Text © The McGraw−Hill

Companies, 2002

Evaluating Opportunities in the Changing Marketing Environment 107

in the flush of excitement that comes from a new idea or R&D discovery. That makes

it more important than ever for marketing thinking to guide the production process—

starting at the beginning with decisions about what customers will really value and

where development efforts should be focused.

Marketers must also help their firms decide what technological developments are

ethically acceptable. For example, many firms use a system to identify incoming

callers. Before the phone is even answered the computer shows who is calling and

detailed information—ranging from what purchases the customer has made in the

past to the income level of people who live in the caller’s zip code area. This can

be a powerful marketing tool, but many people feel that it’s an invasion of privacy.

Similarly, many firms track information about who “hits” the company web page

and what website they came from. The firm can then sell this information to who-

ever wants to use it to send promotional e-mail. Yet uninvited e-mail is just another

form of invasion of privacy.

With the growing concern about environmental pollution and the quality of

life, some attractive technological developments may be rejected because of their

long-run effects on the environment. Aseptic drink boxes, for example, are con-

venient but difficult to recycle. In a case like this, what’s good for the firm and

some customers may not be good for the cultural and social environment or

acceptable in the political and legal environment. Being close to the market

should give marketers a better feel for current trends and help firms avoid serious

mistakes.^17

RealMedia promotes the

multimedia capabilities of its

website products to marketing

managers because it knows that

its technological innovations will

result in new market opportunities

for other firms only if marketing

managers see the possibilities.

Technology and ethical

issues

The Political Environment

The attitudes and reactions of people, social critics, and governments all affect

the political environment. Consumers in the same country usually share a com-

mon political environment, but the political environment can also have a

dramatic effect on opportunities at a local or international level. Some business

managers have become very successful by studying the political environment and