Environmental Scanning is the process of collecting information about the external marketing environment to identify and interpret potential trends

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Environmental Scanning and Environmental
Management

• Environmental Scanning is the process of
  collecting information about the external
  marketing environment to identify and interpret
  potential trends
• Environmental Management involves marketers
  efforts toward achieving organizational
  objectives by predicting and influencing the
  competitive, political-legal, economic,
  technological, and social-cultural environments.

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Ethical Issue, Legal Issue, or Neither

• Parvin Investments purchased a list of fax
  numbers within UAH and sends daily stock tips
  and solicitations.
• A salesperson tells a customer that the china she
  is looking at is the absolute best in the
  industry even though there is no data or test to
  indicate such.
• A sales manager tells her territory rep to go to
  each retail store that carries their products and
  offer the retail salesperson 100 on the side for
  every unit of the companys product sold.
• For the past five years a local furniture store
  seems to hold a going out of business or
  liquidation sale every six months, but is still
  in business.
• A local store is planning to hold a buy one get
  one free sale this coming weekend, so they go
  around the store doubling the prices on each
  item.
• An electronics company offers a rebate on a
  product, but the rebate cant be redeemed until
  thirty days after purchased, but expires sixty
  days after purchase.
• Locatecell.com will sell a complete call history
  for any cell phone number in the country.
• A research company calls to do surveys to people
  who are on the Federal do not call list

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Ethical Issue, Legal Issue, or Neither

• Legal issue You cant fax solicitations to
  businesses without a prior business relationship.
• Ethical or Neither It is sales puffery but
  this is not illegal since no specific product
  claims were made.
• Ethical This is called push money or
  spiffs. As long as the company gets the retail
  stores permission there is nothing wrong with
  it.
• Ethical issue These terms make people think
  they are getting a great deal due to the
  impending closure.
• Ethical issue Stores can charge pretty much any
  price they want and as long as the actually stick
  to the advertised policy, they are okay.
• Ethical issue Uses the rebate to attract
  business, knowing that most consumers will not be
  able to meet the specific requirements.
• Ethical issue- Not illegalyet!
• Neither legitimate research calls are not
  subject to this law.

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• Elements of the Marketing Mix Within an
  Environmental Framework

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The Competitive Environment

• Competitive Environment The interactive process
  that occurs in the marketplace among marketers of
  directly competitive products, marketers of
  products that can be substituted for one another,
  and marketers competing for the consumers
  purchasing power.
• Concerned about substitutes either direct or
  indirect

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• Types of Competition
• Directly Competitive Products
• Legoland Competes with Other Theme Parks in
  California
• Indirectly Competitive Products
• Legoland competes with other tourist attractions
  such as San Diego Zoo, Yosemite, Tijuana

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The Political-Legal Environment

• Component of the marketing environment consisting
  of laws and interpretations of laws that require
  firms to operate under competitive conditions and
  to protect consumer rights.
• See Table 3.2, pp 54-55
• FTC
• BBB

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• Government Regulation
• Protection of Competitive Environment
• Began in the late 19th century
• Aimed at to maintaining a competitive environment
  by reducing the trend toward monopolies
• Included
• Sherman Antitrust Act
• Clayton Act
• Federal Trade Commission Act

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Economic Environment

• Factors that influence consumer buying power and
  marketing strategies, including stage of the
  business cycle, inflation, unemployment, resource
  availability and income
• Stages in the Business Cycle
• Cyclical patterns consisting of the stages of
  prosperity, recession, depression, and recovery.

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Technological Environment

• Effects of new products and processes on the
  firms operation, on other business organizations,
  and society in general.
• Also viewed as a an assessment of a consumer
  groups willingness and ability to use the firms
  technology

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The Social-Cultural Environment

• The relationship between marketing and society
  and its culture
• GardenBurger is a leader in marketing meatless
  products that satisfy demands of vegetarians and
  health-conscious consumers

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• Doritos WOW!
• Frito-Lay Launches Low-Fat Snacks for
  Health-Conscious Consumers

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• Ethics in Marketing
• Ethical Problems in Marketing research
• Alleged invasions of personal privacy
• Gathering marketing information in exchange for
  money or free offers
• Ethical Problems in Product strategy
• Product quality
• Planned obsolescence
• Brand similarity
• Packaging

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• Ethics in Marketing
• Ethical Problems in Distribution strategy
• Determining the appropriate degree of control
  over a channel
• Determining whether a company should distribute
  its products in marginally profitable outlets
  that have no alternative source of supply
• Ethical Problems in Pricing
• Probably the most regulated aspect
• Most unethical pricing behavior is also illegal

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• Ethics in Marketing
• Ethical Problems in Promotional strategy
• The source of the majority of ethical questions
• Ethically questionable personal selling
• Gifts and bribes
• Questionable advertising
• Promotion of questionable features (air bags)
• Questionable WWW related promotional practices

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• The Four-Step Pyramid of Corporate Social
  Responsibility