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 113

The old rule about buyer–seller relations—let the buyer beware—has changed

to let the seller beware.The current shift to proconsumer laws and court decisions

suggests that lawmakers are more interested in protecting consumers. This may

upset production-oriented managers. But times have changed—and managers

must adapt to this new political and legal environment. After all, it is the con-

sumers—through their government representatives—who determine the kind of

economic system they want.^25

Exhibit 4-4 Some Important U.S. Federal Regulatory Agencies

Agencies Responsibilities

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Enforces laws and develops guidelines regarding unfair business

practices

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Enforces laws and develops regulations to prevent distribution

and sale of adulterated or misbranded foods, drugs, cosmetics, and

hazardous consumer products

Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Enforces the Consumer Product Safety Act—which covers any

consumer product not assigned to other regulatory agencies

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Regulates interstate wire, radio, television, and telephone

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Develops and enforces environmental protection standards

Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA) Handles consumers’ complaints

Consumerists and the

law say “Let the seller

beware”

The Cultural and Social Environment

The cultural and social environmentaffects how and why people live and behave

as they do—which affects customer buying behavior and eventually the economic,

political, and legal environment. Many variables make up the cultural and social

environment. Some examples are the languages people speak, the type of education

they have, their religious beliefs, what type of food they eat, the style of clothing

and housing they have, and how they view work, marriage, and family. Because the

cultural and social environment has such broad effects, most people don’t stop to

think about it, or how it may be changing, or how it may differ for other people.

A marketing manager can’t afford to take the cultural and social environment

for granted. Although changes tend to come slowly, they can have far-reaching

effects. A marketing manager who sees the changes early may be able to identify

big opportunities. Further, within any broad society, different subgroups of people

may be affected by the cultural and social environment in different ways. In most

countries, the trend toward multiculturalism is making such differences even more

important to marketers. They require special attention when segmenting markets.

In fact, dealing with these differences is often one of the greatest challenges man-

agers face when planning strategies, especially for international markets.

Since we will discuss details of how the cultural and social environment relates

to buying behavior in Chapters 5 through 7, here we will just use an example to

illustrate its impact on marketing strategy planning.

The shifting roles of women in society illustrate the importance of the cultural

and social environment on marketing strategy planning. Forty years ago, most peo-

ple in the United States felt that a woman’s role was in the home—first and

foremost as a wife and mother. Women had less opportunity for higher education

and were completely shut out of many of the most interesting jobs. Obviously,

Changing women’s

roles