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Environmental Factors and Marketing Decisions Essay

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Environmental Factors and Marketing Decisions

Will a successful marketing plan in one country work in another country? This is unlikely to occur due to many different cultural, political, economic, technological, and competitive environments. Marketing mixes require adjustments to meet local conditions and companies that understand these environmental factors can create advantages when positioning their products or services. Wal-Mart is a global organization and uses market research to understand the market environments before making marketing decisions.
Introduction
Wal-Mart operates over 6,100 stores worldwide, employs 1.8 million associates, and operates in 15 different countries (Annual Report, 2006, p. 12). Lee Scott, …show more content…

The economic environment includes issues surrounding the purchasing power of consumers to satisfy their wants and needs (Bearden et al, 2003, p. 33). The political/legal environment includes issues related to government activities and specific laws and regulations that affect marketing practices (Bearden et al, 2003, p. 34). The technological environment encompasses factors and trends related to innovations that affect new product development and how marketing activities are performed (Bearden et al, 2003, p. 37). The competitive environment surrounds all organizations that attempt to serve similar customers with brands or products (Bearden et al, 2003, p. 38).
Cultural diversity is an important part of the social environment and companies must adjust their product "P" in the marketing mix. For instance, McDonalds includes items that reflect local tastes, including the Maharaja Mac (made of mutton) in India, the Tatsuta Burger in Japan, the McPork Burger with Thai Basil in Thailand, and the McTempeh Burger (made from fermented soybeans) in Indonesia (Armstrong-Kotler, 2005, p. 528). McDonald's successfully changed the product "P" by not selling hamburgers to cultures that do not eat them. As Wal-Mart enters new regions, it must determine the proper marketing mixes to meet the wants and needs of potential consumers.
Technology

Technology allows Wal-Mart to monitor the marketing environment and identify trends in specific areas and develops appropriate

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