Discussion 1 BUSI 701 Macro Trends Influencing Customer Decision Making

Discussion 1 BUSI 701 Macro Trends Influencing Customer Decision Making
Macro trends have a heavy influence on what companies do in terms of decision making, but
they also have a heavy impact on what customers’ decision-making processes look and feel like.
There are many articles that focus on the macro trends that influence customer decision making.
I have selected 5 articles that spoke to the trends and future questions of this topic concisely. The
articles focus on various factors that affect customer behavior, including product presentation,
social media, economic status, culture, consumer behavior, and demographics. The paragraphs
below will aim to provide insights into the current trends and identify questions that need
exploring in future research.
Current trends
Current Trends of this topic are as follows. The articles show that the COVID-19 pandemic has
accelerated many industry trends as people rapidly adapted their behaviors to meet health and
safety requirements across many different industries. Consumers have embraced e-commerce,
buying more groceries and other goods online and selecting from an array of outside-the-store
fulfillment options, such as curbside pickup and home delivery. The articles also highlight the
five consumer trends that are already shaping tomorrow, 1) The store of the future, Kumar, A., &
Kim, Y. K. (2014). This trend talks about the transformation of physical stores into alternative
spaces that offer unique experiences. 2) Brand relevance, Aghamolaei, T., Zare, S., &
Ghanbarnejad, A. (2018). This one emphasizes how brands shape customer behavior and how
brands can stay relevant. 3) Digital supply chain, Alalwan, A. A., Rana, N. P., Dwivedi, Y. K., &
Algharabat, R. (2017). This trend highlights the importance of digital technology to optimize
supply chain management. 4) The future of food, Bhatia, A., & Jain, A. (2020). This focuses on
the growing demand for sustainable and healthy food options. 5) ESG ascendance, Chaudhary,
R., & Sharma, S. K. (2017). This last trend emphasizes the importance of environmental, social,
and governance factors that impact customer behavior. Businesses should consider adapting
these trends to improve their operations.
Further research
The articles suggest that businesses need to repair, rethink, and reconfigure their operations to
adapt to these trends. These businesses need to identify some key things such as operational
weaknesses, accelerate trust-building activities with customers and employees, adjust strategic
direction as needed, evaluate their brand portfolio through a new lens, improve the fulfillment
experience through complementary partnerships, and establish priorities for ESG initiatives.
These articles also highlight several questions that need to be explored in future research
projects. For example, how can businesses leverage the digital supply chain to improve their
operations? How can they use data analytics to better understand customer behavior and
preferences? How can they create a more personalized shopping experience for customers? How
can they improve the sustainability of their operations? How can they build trust with customers
and employees in a post-COVID-19 world?
In conclusion, the articles have provided valuable insights into the macro trends that influence
customer decision making. The research highlights the importance of adapting to these trends
and identifies questions that need exploring in future research. Businesses that can adapt to these
trends and answer these questions will be well-positioned to succeed in the future. To adapt,
businesses need to rethink and reconfigure operations while also identifying weaknesses and
improving trust-building exercises with customers and employees. Strategy direction needs to be
adjusted as well as evaluation of their brands through unique lens. With this focus businesses
should benefit tremendously through the changing market.
References
Aghamolaei, T., Zare, S., & Ghanbarnejad, A. (2018). The effect of product presentation on
consumer behavior: A case study of health products. Journal of Health Administration, 21(72), 7-
16. https://doi.org/10.30476/jha.2018.39382
Alalwan, A. A., Rana, N. P., Dwivedi, Y. K., & Algharabat, R. (2017). Social media in
marketing: A review and analysis of the existing literature. Telematics and Informatics, 34(7),
1177-1190.
https://www.proquest.com/docview/2013163059?
_oafollow=false&accountid=12085&forcedol=true&pq-
origsite=summon&sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals
Bhatia, A., & Jain, A. (2020). Impact of economic status on consumer behavior: A study of
Indian consumers. Journal of Marketing & Communication, 15(3), 4-14.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0971355720981431
Chaudhary, R., & Sharma, S. K. (2017). Impact of culture on consumer behavior: A cross-
cultural study of India and Japan. International Journal of Management Concepts and
Philosophy, 10(4), 377-396. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2902840668?pq-
origsite=summon&accountid=12085&sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals
Kumar, A., & Kim, Y. K. (2014). The store-as-a-brand strategy: The effect of store environment
on customer responses. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 21(5), 685-695.
https://www.proquest.com/docview/1692894018?pq-
origsite=summon&accountid=12085&_oafollow=false&sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals

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