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The Global Marketing Environment: Chapter Three
The Global Marketing Environment: Chapter Three
Chapter Three
Marketing environment
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and as heads of households, can affect who makes the car buying decision, thus
creating market opportunities. These and other trends also might produce new
market opportunities because of developing needs for different types of cars.
Conversely, slow population growth, reduced incomes, and higher interest rates
would present threats to Chrysler in some car markets, because there would be
fewer people with the financial ability to purchase cars.
The second way the marketing environment produces opportunities or threats is
through direct influences on specific marketing activities. Legislation requiring
automakers to improve gas mileage is an example. The law can be viewed as a
threat, at least in the short run, because it limits the number of current models
carmakers can sell and forces them to design new models with better gas mile-
age. This adds to the cost of making a car, which can either reduce sales, if car
prices are raised to cover the additional costs, or reduce profits, if prices are not
raised. The legislation, however, might also be viewed as an opportunity to create
new markets for cars with extremely good gas mileage or those that use alterna-
tive fuels, such as the electric car. Changes in the technological environment
similarly provide opportunities to produce these high-mileage or alternative-fuel
cars.
The critical point of this discussion is that marketers need to understand the
marketing environment to be able to make good decisions. Changes in the
marketing environment may create opportunities or threats either by affecting
markets or directly influencing marketing activities. Often, short-term threats
might offer opportunities in the long run for astute marketers.
Chapter Three The Global Marketing Environment 51
‘‘Tremendous changes have taken place in Hong Kong since China implemented
its open-door policy to the outside world. Hong Kong has changed from a
manufacturing center to an international financial and professional services
center. Because land and labor costs are high, many businesses in Hong Kong
Samuel Chi-Hung Lee are knowledge-based and driven by information technology. My company utilizes
President knowledge and information to help other companies pursue opportunities in
International Marketing Consult- different Asian countries. For example, we are working with a joint venture to
ants Company Limited build a chemical plant in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.’’
Demographic Environment
The demographic environment refers to the size, dis-
tribution, and growth rate of groups of people with
different characteristics. The demographic characteris-
tics of interest to marketers relate in some way to
purchasing behavior, because people from different
countries, cultures, age groups, or household arrange-
ment often exhibit different purchasing behaviors. A
global perspective requires that marketers be familiar
with important demographic trends around the world
as well as within the United States.
GLOBAL POPULATION SIZE AND GROWTH
Population size and growth rates provide one indica-
tion of potential market opportunities. The world
population is now more than 5.3 billion, and almost
100 million people will be added each year during the
1990s. Thus, the world population is expected to
grow by 1 billion during the decade of the 1990s.
Approximately 95 percent of that growth will take
place in developing countries in Asia, Africa, and
The markets for many products and services are global. This Latin America.2 Population in the developed countries
ad for the IBM Thinkpad in Poland uses an appeal that can be
used in any part of the world: ‘‘Your office can be wherever
will grow at a much slower rate. For example, the US
you want it to be.’’ population grew by approximately 1 percent per year
during the 1980s, a low rate expected to persist
throughout the 1990s.
There is a tremendous disparity in population size and growth rates across
countries, as shown in Exhibit 3.3. China currently has the largest population,
followed by India, with the US a distant third. The rapid growth of the Indian
population is expected to make it the world’s most populous nation by the year
2100. Other countries with large and growing populations are the developing
nations of Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria.
Chapter Three The Global Marketing Environment 53
Russia
152,300
Pakistan China
275,100 1,546,300
Japan
Nigeria 125,800
246,000
Indonesia
United States
278,200
334,700
India
1,379,600
Bangladesh
Brazil 211,200
205,300
The world population situation can be summarized as follows. About every two
seconds, nine babies are born and three people die, for a net increase of three
people each second. This leads to a growth rate of 10,600 people per hour,
254,000 per day, 1.8 million per week, 7.7 million per month, and 93 million per
year. Of this annual increase, developing countries will have 87 million new
people, and developed countries, 6 million. Annual growth will increase to 94
million by the year 2000; by 2020 it will be 98 million, with 98 percent occurring
in developing countries.3
These world population statistics make it clear that marketers cannot rely on
population growth in developed countries alone for general increases in market
size. The largest growth markets, measured by population size, are in the
developing countries. Yet, lower income levels in developing countries may limit
the actual market size for many products. Thus, marketers will have to look hard
to find attractive growth markets in developed and developing countries.
GLOBAL DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS AND TRENDS Overall
world and country population statistics are important, but most marketers target
subgroups within these large populations. Trends in population subgroups are
therefore typically the most useful to marketers.
An important trend in many countries is growth of the urban population.
Current and projected populations for the world’s largest cities are presented in
Exhibit 3.4. In general, the largest cities and the highest city growth rates are in
developing countries such as Mexico, Brazil, and India; however, growth in urban
population is evident in many developed countries. For example, in 1900 the US
population was 39.6 percent urban and 60.4 percent rural; in 1990 the figures
were 75.2 percent urban and 24.8 percent rural.4 This means the largest and
fastest-growing markets for many products are located in the urban areas of most
countries.
However, there has also been some growth in the rural population in the US
since 1990. US rural areas have seen a 5.1 percent population increase in the past
five years, the fastest rural growth rate in more than two decades. Much of this
growth is from retirees, those seeking specific types of recreation, and those
54 The Global Marketing Environment Chapter Three
wanting a more peaceful life. Some families are moving to rural areas; but in many
Thinking of these households, at least one parent commutes to work in a big city or
Critically telecommutes. Retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Kmart are responding to this
The increasing popu-
growth by opening stores in these rural areas.5
lation of rural America Another interesting trend is the aging of the population in many countries.
offers marketing op- Current and projected median ages for selected countries are presented in Exhibit
portunities to many 3.5. The aging of the population is especially evident in Italy, Japan, Britain, and
companies. Assume the US. Notice, however, the relatively young populations in the developing
that you have been countries, such as Nigeria, Mexico, Brazil, and China.
hired by a wealthy en- Age distribution trends in the US are presented in more detail in Exhibit 3.6.
trepreneur to identify a The largest percentage of growth is occurring in the 45 – 64 and 65+ age brackets,
new business that with slight to moderate decreases in all younger age categories. These trends have
could be developed to important implications for marketers; older consumers have different needs and
take advantage of this
purchasing habits than younger consumers. Marketers are responding to different
increasing rural popu-
lation.
age markets in a number of ways. For instance,
• Describe the busi- • Financial institutions have increased marketing efforts to attract mature Ameri-
ness that you cans. Mutual fund giants, T. Rowe Price and Vanguard, offer software
would recommend. programs to help older consumers plan for retirement. Merrill Lynch hired a
• Discuss why you gerontologist to understand mature consumers better and to develop products
think this business to suit their goals.6
would be success- • ESPN developed the Alternative Sports Olympics to appeal to consumers aged
ful in rural America.
18 to 29. Also called The Extreme Games, the program featured sports that
• What basic market- would attract the so-called Generation X (bungee jumping, street luging, sky
ing strategy would surfing, and barefoot water ski jumping) and was sponsored by companies
you suggest for this
trying to target those young consumers (Taco Bell, Mountain Dew, Nike, AT&T,
business?
and Pontiac). More than 130,00 spectators saw the games live and 11.1 million
watched on television. ESPN has made this an annual sports competition.7
• Sega of America spends a great amount of time trying to understand teens. The
company’s advertising agency visits the homes of 150 teens and goes shopping
with them at the malls. This information helps Sega introduce new video games
successfully.8
Yet another relevant demographic trend is the declining number of household
units consisting of the ‘‘typical’’ family: married couples with children living at
home. Only 26 percent of US households fall in this category, down from 31
percent in 1980. People living with nonrelatives is the fastest-growing household
type, up 46 percent during the 1980s.9 In addition, 23 million Americans live by
themselves. This is an increase of 91 percent for women and 156 percent for men
during the 1980s.10 The needs and purchasing behaviors of different household
arrangements represent important trends affecting marketers.
Chapter Three The Global Marketing Environment 55
Whose population
is aging fastest?
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Percent of population
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Populations in developed countries are aging, while those in developing countries are much younger. These different demographic
trends represent challenging marketing opportunities for many firms.
Cultural Environment
The cultural environment refers to factors and trends related to how people live
and behave. Cultural factors, including the values, ideas, attitudes, beliefs, and
activities of specific population subgroups, greatly affect consumers’ purchasing
behavior. Thus, marketers must understand important cultural characteristics and
trends in different markets.
CULTURAL DIVERSITY Cultural differences are important in both interna-
tional and domestic markets. A cultural group’s characteristics affect the types of
products it desires and how it purchases and uses those products. Different
cultural groups in international markets
often require marketers to develop strate-
gies specifically for them.
Campbell’s Soup has had some successes
and some failures in doing this. The suc-
cesses include hearty vegetable and fat-free
soups in Australia, duck-gizzard soup in
Hong Kong, and the Godiva Chocolatier
line in Japan. But the company has had
some failures due to lack of understanding
cultural differences in some markets. Ger-
man consumers did not like Campbell’s
canned condensed soup. They prefer dry
soups in envelopes. Polish consumers did
not like Campbell’s prepared soups, since
they would rather cook soup at home.11
The portrait used as the Betty Crocker brand symbol has changed several
Much of the population growth in the
times over the past 75 years in order to more accurately reflect the US is and will be accounted for by different
changing American woman. cultural groups. The majority US popula-
Chapter Three The Global Marketing Environment 57
tion is expected to grow by about 3 percent between 1990 and 2000. Compare this
to the 14 to 52 percent growth rates of different ethnic groups. A large portion of
this population growth is accounted for by African-Americans, Asian-Americans,
and Hispanic-Americans.12 However, significant growth is also expected from
other cultural groups: Arabs, Russians, Eastern Europeans, and Caribbeans.13
These different cultural groups retain many of their habits, attitudes, interests,
and behaviors even though they are proud to be Americans. The US is not a
melting pot; it’s a mosaic of unique people with a variety of cultures. Successful
marketers understand the delicate balance between important cultural differences
and similarities that unite different cultures.14 For example, the Arab-American
sector consists of a diverse group of people from 22 different countries, with the
largest subgroups being Egyptians, Syrians, Lebanese, Palestinians, and Iraqis.
Although these subgroups differ in various ways, there is also a cohesiveness
among them due to their common Arab heritage.15
This cultural complexity provides marketers with a continual challenge. Take
the cosmetics industry as an example. Maybelline introduced its Shades of You
cosmetics line to appeal women of color in 1991 and captured 41 percent of the
$55 million ethnic cosmetics market by 1992. In 1993, Revlon and Cover Girl
entered the ethnic market. These companies found out, however, that a large
portion of their sales were to white women, even though marketing efforts were
targeted to specific cultural groups. The companies now offer a wide variety of
cosmetic shades, but present them together in stores and advertise in general-
market women’s magazines.16
Contrast that with the situation of Susan Yee. She and her five sisters were
constantly frustrated by the lack of cosmetic products that would highlight the
yellow undertones of their complexions. Susan decided to remedy the situation by
establishing Zhen, a line of cosmetics targeted to Asian women. Zhen, pronounced
‘‘jen,’’ means genuine in Chinese. Zhen products are sold through a 12 -page
catalog and at some Nordstrom branches. Her typical customer is a working
Asian-American woman between the ages of 20 and 40.17
These examples in the cosmetics industry illustrate the importance of understand-
ing the diversity among and within different cultural markets. There are typically
opportunities to market products across some cultural groups and to also target
specific cultural groups. Sometimes, products from one culture can appeal to
consumers in another culture. Princess Asie Acansey of Ghana capitalized on such
an opportunity when she formed Advanced Business Connections (ABC). She was
disturbed about the imagery of Africa as typically presented in the US and decided to
do something about it. ABC infuses African culture into the American teddy bear. The
teddy bears represent African royalty and follow African royal customs. The first
teddy bear was the king’s protocol officer, Kwesi-Bear, then King Tutu Bear, followed
by Queen Abena. Most of ABC’s marketing has been on the QVC home shopping
network. The products have been well received beyond the African-American mar-
ket in the US, illustrating the potential from mixing different cultures.18
Exhibit 3.7 American customer satisfaction quarterly index: Quarterly history for
manufacturing/nondurables sectors (0 – 100 scale)
1994 % change
Sector Industry (Baseline) 1995 1996 1995 to 1996
Manufacturing/nondurables sector 81.6 81.2 79 −2.7
Apparel/athletic shoes 79 79 77 −2.5
Apparel/sportswear 82 81 78 −3.7
Beverages/beer 83 81 79 −2.5
Beverages/soft drinks 86 86 86 0.0
Food processing 84 84 83 −1.2
Gasoline 78 80 77 −3.8
Personal care and cleaning products 84 84 80 −4.8
Publishing/newspapers 72 68 69 1.5
Tobacco/cigarettes 81 82 77 −6.1
These indexes are most valuable for evaluating customer satisfaction within a
particular country. When more nations establish indexes that follow similar
development approaches, it will be possible to compare customer satisfaction
across countries. An example of the American Customer Satisfaction Index for the
manufacturing/nondurables sector is presented in Exhibit 3.7.26
Legislation
Organizations must deal with laws at the international, federal, state, and local
levels. US laws directly affecting marketing typically fall into two categories: those
promoting competition among firms and those protecting consumers and society.
Exhibit 3.8 presents examples of each type.
Laws promoting competition focus on outlawing practices that give a few firms
unfair competitive advantages over others. The specific impact of these laws
Chapter Three The Global Marketing Environment 63
depends on court rulings that may change over time or differ at the state and
national levels. An interesting example is in the area of pricing. A federal court
ruled that American Airlines was not guilty of trying to drive weaker competitors
out of business when it slashed fares in 1992. In contrast, a state court in Arkansas
found Wal-Mart guilty of predatory pricing by selling pharmacy products below
cost to drive out competitors.32 These examples illustrate the complexity of the
political/legal environment.
Consumer protection laws generally indicate what firms must do to give
consumers the information they need to make sound purchasing decisions or to
ensure that the products they buy are safe. For example, the Fair Packaging and
Labeling Act requires packages to be labeled honestly; the Child Protection Act
regulates the amount of advertising that can appear on children’s television
programs.
Laws typically affect marketing activities by indicating what can or cannot be
done. Until recently, Germany had a law that forced most retail stores to close at
6:30 PM on weekdays and 2 PM on Saturdays, and it did not allow commercial
baking on Sunday. This restricted the operations of retailers. A new law expanded
allowable shopping hours to 8 PM on weekdays and 4 PM on Saturdays; it also
allowed bakeries to sell fresh bread on Sunday mornings. Other stores must
remain closed on Sunday.33
Some laws are directed at providing marketing opportunities. Syria, for ex-
ample, in trying to open its economy to the private sector and foreign investment,
passed a law that exempts investors in approved projects from taxes for five to
nine years, waives customs duties on certain imports, and removes regulations that
made it difficult to do business in Syria. Known as No. 10, it has contributed to a
7 to 8 percent growth in the Syrian economy.34
Being Entrepreneurial
Summary
1. Understand the nature of the marketing envi- 4. See how the political/legal environment offers
ronment and why it is important to marketers. opportunities and threats to marketers. The
The marketing environment consists of all factors political/legal environment, encompassing factors re-
external to an organization that can affect its market- lated to governmental activities and laws and regula-
ing activities. Elements of the marketing environment tions, directly affects marketing activities. Laws and
are largely uncontrollable, although marketers have regulations normally present constraints within which
influence over some factors. Environmental factors marketers must operate. These laws and regulations
can affect the size and growth rate of markets and can are closely related to current political trends. Some
influence marketing activities. Thus, changes in the marketers, however, can identify market opportunities
marketing environment offer opportunities and threats arising from these laws and regulations.
to marketers. Identifying and responding effectively 5. Appreciate the importance of the technologi-
to these opportunities and threats is a major chal- cal environment to marketers. The technologi-
lenge. cal environment includes factors and trends related to
2. Describe the major components of the social innovations that affect the development of new prod-
environment and how trends in the social en- ucts or improving marketing practice. Technological
vironment affect marketing. The social environ- advances are happening so rapidly that marketers
ment comprises all factors and trends related to must constantly monitor the technological environ-
groups of people, including their number, characteris- ment to keep abreast of latest developments.
tics, behavior, and growth projections. Its major 6. Understand differences in the competitive en-
components are the demographic and cultural envi- vironment. The competitive environment consists
ronments. The demographic environment refers to the of all the organizations that attempt to serve the same
size, distribution, and growth rate of people with customers. Brand competitors compete directly by
different characteristics. The cultural environment re- offering the same type of product to the same market.
fers to factors and trends related to how people live Product competitors compete more indirectly by of-
and behave. Demographic factors typically relate to fering different types of products to satisfy the same
the number of people in different markets, whereas basic need.
cultural factors generally influence the needs of these
7. Know how changes in the institutional envi-
markets.
ronment affect marketers. The institutional envi-
3. Understand how the economic environment ronment consists of all the organizations involved in
affects marketing. The economic environment in- marketing products and services. These include mar-
cludes factors and trends related to the production of keting research firms, advertising agencies, wholesal-
goods and services and the relationships between ers, and retailers. As the characteristics of these and
this production and income levels. The economic other institutions change, so will the marketing strat-
environment affects the purchasing power of consum- egies necessary to serve different customers and to
ers, which is an important determinant of the size of a compete effectively in different industries.
market.
5. Look at Earning Customer Loyalty: Longer life- 8. Refer to Being Entrepreneurial: Setting up shop
times, more customer value. How does the social in Japan. What are some other opportunities or
and technological environment relate to the market- threats entrepreneurs face in Japan?
ing of Gateway computers? 9. How are the social and economic environments
6. How do political changes affect regulations and interrelated?
regulatory agencies? 10. How can new technologies be used to help market-
7. What are the most important social trends facing ers scan and monitor the marketing environment?
marketers in the 1990s?
teams in eight cities. The Western Conference includes Estimates are that initial attendance will average about
the Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento 4,000 per game. This is obviously well below the many
Kings, and Utah Jazz. The Eastern Conference teams are thousands of fans that attend most NBA games. As sug-
the Charlotte Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston gested by Brian Donlon, vice president of new media
Rockets, and New York Knicks. The season begins after and public affairs for Lifetime Television: ‘‘This is a slow
the NBA playoffs in June and concludes with a champi- build. While there has been an explosion in the interest in
onship game on August 30. women’s sports, we are looking at this as something we
The WNBA is working hard to make the new league a are in for the long haul.’’
success. It will advertise during the NBA’s regular season
and playoff games. NBC, ESPN, and Lifetime Television Questions
will each show one game each week. Four inaugural 1. What trends in the marketing environment represent
sponsors have been secured: Lee Jeans, Champion, opportunities for the WNBA?
Anheuser-Busch, and Spalding Sports Worldwide. Other
2. What trends in the marketing environment represent
sponsors will be added in the future. The sponsorship
threats to the WNBA?
package includes advertising during televised games and
in WNBA print media, signage in each arena, player ap- 3. Why would companies such as Lee Jeans,
pearances, and exclusive rights to the WNBA logo. Each Champion, Anheuser-Busch, and Spalding Sports
company will develop its own marketing campaign Worldwide want to be sponsors of the WNBA?
around the sponsorship package. 4. What is your assessment of the marketing strategy
Even with all of this marketing effort, everyone ex- for the WNBA? What ideas do you have to improve
pects it to take time to get the WNBA firmly established. the marketing strategy?
SOURCES: Margaret Littman, ‘‘Sponsors take to the court with new Women’s NBA,’’ Marketing News, March 3, 1997, 1 and 6; and Gigi Barnett and
Skip Rozin, ‘‘A Lot of Leagues of their Own,’’ Business Week, March 3, 1997, 54 – 56.