10 Primary Factors that Affecting

Marketing Environment
here are many forces or factors affecting the marketing environment and strategies considerably
and hence the marketing manager should adjust and adapt to these forces/factors while
preparing his marketing plans, policies, and strategies.
If possible, efforts should also be made to take advantage of these factors.
Marketing environment scanning is a continuing process of gathering information regarding the
company’s internal and external environment, analyzing it, forecasting its trend and impact on
the operations and performance of the company.

Marketing environment refers to those factors and forces which affect a company or
business.

What are the Factors that Affect

Environment of Marketing?
These are the following:

1. Demographic Factors
Demographic factors include structure of the population, division according to sex, age
group, income group, material status, and profession, etc.

The study of demographic factors is of vital importance for marketers.

It helps to develop an understanding of prospective consumers and the market potential

of a product and facilities market segmentation.

It provides clues as regards their age, sex, income, and capacity to incur expenditure on
the satisfaction of their wants.

The demographic study provides all the requisite information about consumers which
is essential for market segmentation.
 2. Ecology of Physical Environment
In modern economics, Ecology, or the nature of the physical environment also
occupying an important place in the field of distribution and marketing under the concept
of intensive marketing.

However, it is also an uncontrollable factor in the marketing environment.

Pollution has now become the topic of the day in the field of consumption economic
systems in developed and developing countries.

Today the marketer is not only required to satisfy the needs of his consumers but also
the needs of society as a whole.

Hence, his marketing activities should be directed in such a way that it may not harm
the interests of society.

In order to maintain balance in the physical environment, it is essential that all types of

pollution should be stopped and efficient utilization of the Limited valuable resources
should be done

Proper attention should be paid to the economic and efficient utilization of energy and
physical resources.

3. Social and Cultural Environment

Our society is ever-changing. According to time, new demands are created and old
demands are extinguished.

It is essential for the marketing management that it should prepare the marketing

plans according to the changing needs of the society thereby satisfy new growing
needs.

There are three main aspects of the social environment:

1. Changes in lifestyles and social values.

2. Major social problems, such as anxiety towards growing population, need of safety in
different employments, protection to replaceable resources, marketing of products in
low-income groups and in rural sectors, etc.
3. Growing consumerism is the symbol of growing consumer dissatisfaction and their
increasing desires.
The growing Consumerism is the result of two primary factors.

First, the increasing education level of consumers, and second, scientific and Technical
progress.

The spread of education and progress made in the field of science and technology is
responsible for a rapid increase in the expectations of consumers with the result that the
consumer now is more aware of his right and satisfaction.

The social and cultural environment is also responsible for the growing importance of social
responsibility of the industry and the consumer-oriented Marketing concept.

The social and cultural concept of marketing is coexistent with consumer welfare along
with public welfare.

4. Public Policy Environment of Legal and Political

Forces
The public policy environment is also an uncontrollable factor that affects the
marketing environment.

Political and legal intervention in the field of marketing and business activities has now
become a common factor.

Monetary and fiscal policies, import and export policies and custom duties, etc. affect
the marketing system of a country.

In the case of India, price and supply regulation of products like iron, steel, cement,
and drugs, etc. has often been resorted to by the government.
The range of government legislation directed at protecting consumer interest and the
organization of the consumer’s resistance groups have affected the marketing
environment considerably, such as Monopoly and Preventive Trade Practices Act.

The managers should keep public policy in mind while preparing the manager’s plans,
policies, and strategies.

5. Scientific and Technological Environment

The scientific and technological environment also affects the marketing environment of
a country.
For example, there is a considerable change in the living style and the pattern of
consumption on account of the development of the scientific and technological
environment.

These are an absolute change in the living standards of developed and developing
countries.

The scientific and technological developments have given birth to new marketing
opportunities, such as the computer industry.

Related: What are the economic factors affecting business environment?

6. Market Competition
The existence of competition in the market is essential for building a strong market of
particularly in the case of a democratic society.

In the free market economy, it is not possible to take any marketing decision without
evaluating the existence of competition.

In such an economy, the marketing manager has no control over competitors’

activities.

However, the marketing manager should study the prevailing competitive conditions in
the market.

For this purpose, He should take into account the basis of competition, the
competitor’s viewpoint towards the consumers, the quality, and characteristics of the
competitor’s products, and their marketing strategies before preparing the marketing
plans.

7. Consumer Demand
Consumer demand is always changing and hence it is not possible to assess it
correctly.

Thus, it is also an uncontrollable marketing environment.

It affects the overall market environment.

Under the modern consumer-oriented Marketing concept, the consumer is the center of
marketing activities.

Hence, the marketing manager must study the needs, preferences, and tastes of the
products vis a vis consumers’ needs and thereby produce and market the products
accordingly.

Every business, in order to survive and grow, must serve the needs of consumers and
citizens.

8. Economic Environment
By economic environment, we mean the purchasing power along with the desire to incur
the expenditure of the consumers.

Effective demand depends on the economic environment.

It also determines the market potential of a product.

Speedy economic development leads to a rapid rise in the level of income and

employment and consequently, there is an increase in the marketing opportunities of
different products.

In this way, the economic environment affects the marketing environment of a company.

9. Corporate Resources
Corporate resources include man, material, money, management, ideas, and
information, locating research and development programs and public image, etc.

They are the constraints or limitations on the expectations of marketing opportunities.

They affect the marketing environment of a company considerably.

A company’s marketing opportunities depend on the availability of corporate resources.

There should be a happy marriage between the corporate resources and corporate
opportunities so that the company can accomplish the set goals.
10. Marketing Mix
The policies adopted by manufacturers to attain success in the market constitute the
marketing mix.

Under marketing with we include mainly product mix, distribution mix, communication

mix, and service mix.

The marketing mix is an important part of the Marketing System of the company and
thus it is a controllable factor of the marketing environment.

These controllable factors are marketing instruments or variables.

A company can achieve its marketing objectives by selecting and balancing the
marketing mix.

Marketing mix acts as a stimulus and resulting variables such as consumer satisfaction,
marketing share, return on investment, and company image responses.

A successful marketing strategy must have a marketing mix.

The study of changes in the marketing environment is of vital importance for the
marketing manager of a company. These changes can adversely affect the marketing
activities of the company.

Even the existence of the company in danger. Changes in the economic and social
environment, changes in the consumer preferences, changes in the strategies of the
competitor, changes in the technology, etc. are such environmental changes that affect
the marketing operations of the company considerably.

Hence, it is essential on the part of the marketing manager of a company to take timely
steps in meeting these environmental changes.