Introduction :

Marketing Management before formulating marketing mix

must take a look at the environment in which enterprises

will to operating in future. It is well known that

environment affects the business planning. The more a

business understands its environment, better chance it has

for profitable growth. Environment represent a complex of

shipts in the structure of society and economy, in the state

of technology, in the customer demand in the market place

and in the requirement of Govt. The knowledge of changing

of environmental force will on able the enterprises to tune

its plan correctly change in the marketing environment.

Gathering information / Marketing information

System

The Marketing environment is changing at an acceleration

rate, the need for real time market information is great than

at any time in the past.

The shifts are from local to national to global marketing,

from buyers needs to buyer wants from price to non price

competition. As companies expand their geographical

market coverage, there Managers need more information

more quickly. As incomes improve buyers become more

selective in their choice of goods. To predict buyer’s

responses to different features, style and other attributes,

1

sellers must turn to marketing research. As Seller’s

increase their use of branding product differentiation,

advertising and sales promotion they require information on

the effectiveness of these marketing tools.

2

Scanning the Environment.

Successful companies take an outside view of their

business. They recognize that the marketing environment is

constantly presenting new opportunities and treats and they

understand the importance of continuously monitoring and

adapting to that environment.

One company that has constantly reinvested one of its

brands to keep up with the changing marketing

environment is Mattel with its Barbie doll.

The major responsibility for identifying significant market

place changes falls to the company’s marketer’s more than

any other group in the company. They must be trend

trackers and opportunity seekers. Although every manager

in an organization needs to observer the outside

environment, marketers have two advantages. They have

disciplined methods – Marketing intelligence and Marketing

Research for collecting information about the marketing

environment.

They spend more time with customers and more time

watching competitors.

Marketing Environment

External Macro environment

3

The following external forces have considerable influence

on any organizations marketing opportunities and activities.

Therefore they are macro environmental forces.

4

A change in any one of them can cause changes in one or

more of the others. Hence they are inter related. One thing

they all have in common is that they are dynamic forces that

are subject to change and at an increasing rate.

Demographics : Refer to the characteristic of populations

including such factors as size , distribution and growth

because people constitute markets, demographics are of

special interest to marketing executives.

Economic conditions: People alone do not make a

market. They must have money to spend and be willing to

psend it. Hence the economic environment is a significant t

force that affects the marketing activities of just about any

organization. A Mareketing program is affected especially

by such economic factors as the current and anticipated

stage the business cycle as well as inflation and interest

rates.

5

Economic condition

TechnologySocial & Cultural forces

CompetitionDemographics

Political and Legal forces

Company Marketing Program

Stages of Business Cycle

The tradition business cycle goes through four stages

Prosperity

Recession

Depression

Recovery

which return full cycle to Prosperity

Prosperity: Is the period of economic growth. During this

stage organization tend to expand their marketing

programmers as they add new products and enter new

markets.

Recession : is a period of retrenchment ( cut down, reduce

in expenses) for customers and business. We tighten our

economic belts.

Recovery : is the period when the economy is moving from

recession to prosperity. The marketers challenge is to

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Prosperity

RecessionInflation

Recovery

determine who quickly prosperity will return and to what

level.

Inflation: The rice in prices of the goods and services

represent inflation. When the price rises at a faster than

personal incomes , customer buying power declines.

Interest Rate: are another external economic factor that

influences marketing programmers. When interest rates are

high customers tend not to make long term purchase such

as housing. Marketers some time offer below market

interest rates a s a Promotion device to increase business.

Competition: A company’s competitive environment is a

major influence on its marketing programmers.

A firm faces mainly three type of competition

External micro environment

Three additional environmental forces are external to

an organization and affect is marketing activities. These are

the firm’s market suppliers and marketing intermediaries.

They represent microenvironmental forces for a company

dealing effect with them is critical to business success.

Recognizing that many companies are using customer

relationship management software to keep a track of their

customers buying activities and to communicate better with

them

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Firm, markets, suppliers and marketing intermediaries

represent micro-environmental forces for a company.

Te arrow reflect the inter relationship of product, payments,

information and influence between the company and its

external environment.

INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING RESEARCH

What is Marketing Research?

Marketing Research involves “the gathering, processing,

analysis, storage & dissemination of information in a very

systematic way to market goods and services and to

improve decision making.”

Learning more about consumers and dealers and about

marketing mix generally is the heart of marketing research.

Marketing management has to rely more heavily on

marketing research as a managerial tool in solving any

problem in the field of marketing.

“Marketing Research can also be defined as the

systematic gathering, recording and analysing of data about

problems connected with the market place, i.e. problems

relating to product, price, promotion and distribution of the

4 P’s of the marketing mix.

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Suppliers Marketing Intermediates

Market Intermediates

The MarketCompany Marketing Program

The research may be limited to a specific problem or

deals with a very comprehensive topic covering all the

manifolds facets of the market, providing the basis for

making decisions.

While conducting Marketing Research, the emphasis is

on:

OBJECTIVITY , i.e. determining the facts as they are

instead of individual hunches on what the facts are ought to

be. Ex: Those in the business think that they know

everything whereas, professionals check and ensure that

information is authentic and original and reliable.

COMPLETENESS, i.e., the availability of total data.

RELIABILITY depends on the manner in which

research is conducted.

OBJECTIVES OF MARKETING RESEARCH

1. Marketing research is used in the formulation of all

marketing plans, policies, programmes and procedures.

2. It is employed for evaluation of these plans, policies,

etc when they are brought into practise.

3. It is used in reducing and minimising all marketing

costs, particularly, selling, advertising, promotion and

distribution costs.

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4. Programmes of marketing research incidentally

provide insurance cover for the survival and growth of the

business in a dynamic economy.

5. Marketing management through marketing research

can bring about the sale of right product (brand or package)

through right channels to right customers at right places by

evolving right plans, policies and programmes with the help

of right personnel.

6. The main objective of marketing research is to enable

manufactures to make goods acceptable and saleable and to

see that they reach the market more easily, quickly, cheaply

and profitably without sacrificing customer interest.

7. Marketing research finds out for the manufacturer

where are his customers, what they want, when they want

it, and where and how much they are willing to pay for it.

8. It enables producers, merchants, distributers and

advertisers to avoid mistakes either in manufacturing or in

marketing. To that extent it can minimize business failures

and maximise profits.

9. Marketing research is responsible to provide good

information. Managers bases their decisions on information,

not on data. Good information is timely, up to date,

accurate, adequate, relevant, reliable, economical and

above all understandable, acceptable and usable by

managers in decision making process.

10

10. Ever expanding markets require numerous middlemen

between producer and consumer. The widening of

communication gap is the chief single factor for increasing

importance of marketing research to fill up the

communication gap between the consumer and the

producer.

MARKETING RESEARCH PROCEDURE

1. Define the objective/s.

2. Conduct situational analysis.

3. Conduct informal investigation.

4. Plan and conduct formal investigation.

5. Analyze data and report results.

6. Conduct follow-up.

7. End project and report results.

SCOPE OF MARKETING RESEARCH

The scope of marketing research is very vast. Whether it

is the government, travel agency, airlines, business firms

and even non-profit organization, all can benefit from

market research.

Each ought to study consumer behaviour, consumer

demands and attitudes. Moreover, they have to understand

11

the competition, the characteristics of the market,

promotion campaigns, impacts, etc.

Every organization can do the market research separately

themselves or a group may do the research jointly for the

benefit of the members of the group.

Every organization may do the research for information

on how the competition is performing, to understand its

own performance and possible ways to improve. Thus

information may relate to pricing, relationship with

distributors and facilities provided (to end users and

intermediaries.)

Marketing Environment :

Company’s marketing environment is made up of sectors

and forces outside the firm’s marketing function. Those

forces affect the ability of marketing management to

develop and maintain a successful relationship with the

firms target audience.

There are two types of environment :

1. Micro Environment

2. Macro Environment

The Micro Environment consist of marketer and his

(1) Supplier

(2) Distributor

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(3) Competitors

(4) Consumer

The Macro Environment consists of

1. Economic environment

2. Demographic environment

3. Socio-economic environment

4. Technological environment

5. Political environment

6. Legal environment

1. Economic Environment :

Economic environment is the most significant among

marketing environment. The very survival of business

depends on economic environment. Markets require people

who have purchasing power. The purchasing power

depends on

a. Current income

b. Prices

c. Savings

d. Debt

e. Credit available

If the price of new materials, labor and utilities like

electricity are showing inflating trends, the firm may have

no choice but to pass on the hike to the consumer in the

form of increased prices. If the firm is a monopolist or

13

oligopolist, then it might not face much consumer

resistance. But if the firm is in competitive situation then it

will face stiff resistance from the customer resulting in

customer shifting to another firm.

2) Demographic Environment :

Demographic environment explains the pattern and changes

in the society based on

a) Age

b) Sex

c) Education Background

d) Marital Status

e) Family size

f) Religion

Demographic environment is useful for marketing decision,

such as segmentation and strategies. Demography provides

quantitative as well as qualitative aspect of the population.

It also helps in doing behavioral analysis. E.g. Pepsi

promised to be the drink for the youngsters generation.

Today most urban women are found working Result is the

need for quick recipe and fast food.

3. Socio-Economic Environment :

Social environment of a nation determines the value system

of the society, which in turn affects the marketing of the

products. For example : social factors such as caste,

custom, convention influence the demand for goods and

services.

14

One of the most significant social changes is the large

number of women entering the job market. This situation

has created demand for a wide range of product and

services necessitated by their absence from the home.

There is a lot of change in quality of life styles and people

are willing to have many durable consumer goods like

fridge, T.V., Oven, Geyser, frills etc. Life style have changes.

4. Technological environment :

Technological environment provides both opportunities and

threats. Its impact is direct as well as indirect. Technology

has released wonders such as unclear bombs, it has also

15

Consumer Culture

Consumer BehaviorPatternLife Style

Marketing Activities

Impact on FirmsMarketing Decisions

released such mixed blessings such as automobile and video

games.

Every new technology is a creative destruction. E.g.

Transistors hurt the vacuum tube industry. Xerox hurt

carbon paper business. Television hurt new papers. Instead

of moving with the new technology old industries fought or

ignored them, and these business declined.

5. Political Environment :

Marketing decisions are strongly affected by development in

the political environment. A marketer has to operate his

business in given political environment and his operation

are affected in greater or less degree by government

programme at different levels. Change in political climate

lead to changes in government policies. Political change

may take place in following forms :

a* Stable government leading to very few policy changes

b Frequent changes in government leading to frequent

changes in policies.

6. Legal Environment :

Marketing decisions are strongly affected by laws

pertaining to competition, price, advertising etc. It is

necessary for a marketer to understand the legal

environment of the country and the jurisdiction of its courts.

Some of the act which a marketer should know :

16

a. SEBI Act, 1992

b. Factories Act 1948

c. MRTP Act 1956

d. Environmental Protection Act, 1986

e. Taxation like corporate tax, excise, sales tax,

customs

Micro Environment :

The Micro Environment of organization consist of these

elements which are controllable by the management.

1. Competitor :

Demand for a firm’s product / services is also affected by

the nature and industry of competition in an industry. While

analyzing the competition, the firm should extends its

competitive analysis to include substitutes also, besides

scanning direct competitors. The objective of such analysis

is to predict each competitors response to changes in the

firms strategy and industry conditions.

Framework for Competitors Analysis :

Current & Current &

Satisfaction withMotivators Future goals Future strategy

current level of performance

17

2. Supplier :

The supplier to a firm can also alter its competitive position

and marketing capabilities. These are raw material

suppliers, energy suppliers, suppliers of labor and capital.

The relationship between suppliers and firm is based on the

extent to which each of them dependent on the other.

Broadly, the bargaining power of the buyer firm increased

in the following circumstances :

1. The buyer firm is monopoly or in an oligopoly

position and buys large volumes.

2. The products a buyer firm purchases

represents a significant fraction of buyer’s cost

or purchase.

3. The buyers firm can easily switch its vendors.

4. The buyer firm earns low profits and hence has

a pressure to lower its purchasing costs.

3. Consumers :

A marketers should know the following about the

consumers :

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COMPETITORS

1. Who buys the product?

2. Why do they buy?

3. What are they looking for in the way of features and prices?

4. What are their images of different brands?

5. What do they think about competitors product?

6. Is the customer price sensitive?

7. What value does the customer think by buying our product?

8. Are there any substitution products?

19

4. Competitors :

What are the competitive scenario in the Indian Marketing

Environment :

Marketing is customer focused. It is not enough if a

company studies its consumers. A must also study its

competitors. E.g.: Coke considers Pepsi as its competitor in

India. Onida knows the BPL and Philips are its competitors

in the T.V. market. Similarly Times of India knows that

Indian Express and Statesman are its competitors. We

should know 3 types of competitors levels based on product

benefits.

a. Firm competition

b. Industry competition

c. Brand competition.

Limitations of the Marketing Research :

In spite of the rapid growth of marketing research, many

companies still fail to use it sufficiently or correctly, for

several reasons :

A narrow consumption of marketing research : Many

managers see marketing research as a fact-finding

operation. They expect the researcher to design a

questionnaire, choose a sample, conduct interviews, and

report results, often without a careful definition of the

problem or of the decision alternatives facing management.

20

Uneven caliber of marketing researchers : Some

managers view marketing research as little more than a

clerical activity and reward it as such. Less competent

marketing researchers are hired, and their weak training

and deficient creatively lead to unimpressive results.

Late and occasionally erroneous findings by marketing

research : Managers want quick results that are accurate

and conclusive. Vet good marketing research takes time and

money.

Personality and presentational differences :

Differences between the styles of line managers and

marketing researchers often get in the way of productive

relationships.

Application of Marketing Research

Marketing Research covers :

Market Research

Sales Research

Product Research

Advertising & Promotion Research

Research on Sale : methods & policies

Distribution research including the dealers research

Marketing Research may seek information on :

21

Market - Its size spread, growth in terms of volume and

revenue share of competition, segment wise.

Consumer - his profiles, habits, needs, preferences,

expectations, perception, both quantitatively &

qualitatively.

Products - To know differentials among competing

products in same position, price sensitively, packaging

servicing, acceptability of features.

Promotion - Sales, effectiveness of communication, reach

of media reaction to promotion strategies, effectiveness of

sales force.

Distribution - Facilities available for stocking,

merchandising outlets shelf space usages, retailer loyalties.

Performance - Monitoring and Evaluation.

Marketing Research is interested in 5 vital areas of

marketing (1) Market (2) Product (3) Price (4)

Promotion (5) Distribution

Marketing research can be useful at 4 stages :

In the problems solving process in any branch of

marketing :

1) To identify and define the problems including

causes.

2) To suggest reasonable and profitable alternative

causes of action.

22

3) To determine most desirable alternative causes of

action and to ensure optimum use of resources.

4) To test the feasibility of particularly alternative

causes of action decided upon by management.

INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING RESEARCH

What is Marketing Research?

Ans: - Marketing Research involves “the gathering,

processing, analysis, storage & dissemination of information

in a very systematic way to market goods and services and

to improve decision making.”

Learning more about consumers and dealers and about

marketing mix generally is the heart of marketing research.

Marketing management has to rely more heavily on

marketing research as a managerial tool in solving any

problem in the field of marketing.

“Marketing Research can also be defined as the

systematic gathering, recording and analysing of data about

problems connected with the market place, i.e. problems

relating to product, price, promotion and distribution of the

4 P’s of the marketing mix.

The research may be limited to a specific problem or

deals with a very comprehensive topic covering all the

23

manifolds facets of the market, providing the basis for

making decisions.

While conducting Marketing Research, the emphasis is

on:

OBJECTIVITY , i.e. determining the facts as they are instead

of individual hunches on what the facts are ought to be. Ex:

Those in the business think that they know everything

whereas, professionals check and ensure that information is

authentic and original and reliable.

COMPLETENESS, i.e., the availability of total data.

RELIABILITY depends on the manner in which research is

conducted.

OBJECTIVES OF MARKETING RESEARCH

Marketing research is used in the formulation of all

marketing plans, policies, programmes and procedures.

It is employed for evaluation of these plans, policies, etc

when they are brought into practise.

It is used in reducing and minimising all marketing costs,

particularly, selling, advertising, promotion and

distribution costs.

Programmes of marketing research incidentally provide

insurance cover for the survival and growth of the

business in a dynamic economy.

24

Marketing management through marketing research can

bring about the sale of right product (brand or package)

through right channels to right customers at right places

by evolving right plans, policies and programmes with

the help of right personnel.

The main objective of marketing research is to enable

manufactures to make goods acceptable and saleable

and to see that they reach the market more easily,

quickly, cheaply and profitably without sacrificing

customer interest.

Marketing research finds out for the manufacturer

where are his customers, what they want, when they

want it, and where and how much they are willing to pay

for it.

It enables producers, merchants, distributers and

advertisers to avoid mistakes either in manufacturing or

in marketing. To that extent it can minimize business

failures and maximise profits.

Marketing research is responsible to provide good

information. Managers bases their decisions on

information, not on data. Good information is timely, up

to date, accurate, adequate, relevant, reliable,

economical and above all understandable, acceptable

and usable by managers in decision making process.

25

Ever expanding markets require numerous middlemen

between producer and consumer. The widening of

communication gap is the chief single factor for

increasing importance of marketing research to fill up

the communication gap between the consumer and the

producer.

26

MARKETING RESEARCH PROCEDURE

Define the objective/s.

Conduct situational analysis.

Conduct informal investigation.

Plan and conduct formal investigation.

Analyze data and report results.

Conduct follow-up.

End project and report results.

27

SCOPE OF MARKETING RESEARCH

The scope of marketing research is very vast. Whether it

is the government, travel agency, airlines, business

firms and even non-profit organization, all can benefit

from market research.

Each ought to study consumer behaviour, consumer

demands and attitudes. Moreover, they have to

understand the competition, the characteristics of the

market, promotion campaigns, impacts, etc.

Every organization can do the market research

separately themselves or a group may do the research

jointly for the benefit of the members of the group.

Every organization may do the research for information

on how the competition is performing, to understand its

own performance and possible ways to improve. Thus

information may relate to pricing, relationship with

distributors and facilities provided (to end users

and intermediaries.)

28

ASSISGMENT ON

MARKETING MANAGEMENT

TOPIC :

MARKETING ENVIRONMENT

Submitted to :

KRISHNA PRASAD. C.R.

MBA Faculty

Dr. AIT College

Submitted By :

CHITRA V.C.

BIJOY B.

DEVARAJ S.

DINESH KUMAR S.

DIVYA

GEETHA

GURURAJ

BHYRALINGEGOWDA

29