Discussion Questions
1) Compare and contrast a company’s microenvironment with a company’s
macroenvironment.
A company’s microenvironment is within a company’s reach and consists of the company
itself, its suppliers, marketing intermediaries, competitors, publics and customers. There are
close relationships between those that go both ways.
In contrast, the macroenvironment is outside of a company’s reach. The forces that affect it
are demographic, economic, natural, technological, political and cultural.
2) Describe the five types of customer markets.
Consumer markets:
consist of individuals and households that buy goods and services for
personal consumption.
Business markets:
buy goods and services for further processing or use in their production
processes.
Reseller markets:
buy goods and services to resell at a profit.
Gov. markets:
consist of government agencies that buy goods and services to produce
public services or transfer the goods and services to others who need
them.
Internat. markets:
consist of these buyers in other countries, including consumers,
producers, resellers, and governments.
3) Compare and contrast core beliefs/values and secondary beliefs/values.
Provide an example of each and discuss the potential impact marketers
have on each.
The core beliefs and values are passed on from parents to their children and are reinforced by
the social, cultural, and economic environment (schools, churches, business, government).
Example: In Indian businesses, the power distance is very high. A manager is expected to be
able to lead people and the employees are trained to follow orders. A manager, who has a
different approach and tries to involve employees more and ask for their opinion, might be
less successful in India than in America. This is due to cultural differences that are manifested
in the core values.
Marketers will very unlikely be able to influence or change core values – rather, they must be
sensible towards them and adjust their marketing practices. They can be beneficial, if the
marketers are able to group people into different segments and then adapt their marketing to
better-fit customers needs.
The secondary beliefs and values, on the other hand, are more open to change. Due to that,
marketers are able to shape them more easily.
Example: Before the financial crisis, Americans liked to express themselves by purchasing
luxury products they did not really need. Nowadays, people are more careful when it comes to
spending money and marketers act on this change by focusing on providing customers with
higher value in their products – often to lower prices.
4) How should marketers respond to the changing environment?
Some changes in the environment are unpredictable and uncontrollable. In that case,
marketers have to wait for the changes and then react to them. Such changes include
geographic population shifts, the economic environment, or cultural core values.
A more proactive approach is to develop strategies to actively change the environment. The
aggressive actions these firms take include hiring lobbyists to influence legislation and stage
media events to gain favorable press coverage. With the help of ads and social media they
shape public opinion. In order to keep competitors in line, they press lawsuits and file
complaints with regulators and they form contractual agreements to control their distribution
channels.
Marketing Technology – Crowdfunding
1) Find another crowdfunding site and describe two projects featured on that
site.
Rocket Hub: www.rockethub.com
Projects:
Well for Orphans in Northern Uganda, Keframa College
The KEFRAMA College, a secondary school for orphans and other underprivileged children,
has currently no running water. The next well is a ½ miles walking distance and nearly 800
people have to use it – which results in long lines and frequent breakdowns oft he well.
Therefore, money is being collected to finance a new, private well for the school.
In total, this project would cost 25 million shillings ($10,000). $1680 have been raised so far.
One Spark 2014
One Spark is a five-day festival for Creators. From April 9 - 13, 2014, artists, entrepreneurs,
and innovators will showcase their ideas in a 20 square block, multi-venue gallery in
downtown Jacksonville, Florida. One Spark is about connecting people with great ideas to the
resources they need to make them a reality.
The festival provides a platform for artists, musicians, scientists, startups and other innovators
to receive the funding they need to make their projects a reality. $19096 have been raised so
far.
2) Learn more about the JOBS Act and how it impacts crowdfunding for
start-up businesses. What protections are in place for investors with
regard to crowdfrauding?
The JOBS Act provides a legal framework for crowdfunding and President Barack Obama
signed it into effect on April 5, 2012. It allows businesses to accept small contributions from
private individuals and therefore gives regular people the chance to become investors.
The main provisions are:

Businesses are not required to register their common stock with the SEC (Securities
Exchange Commission) until they have 500 unaccredited shareholders or a total of
2,000 accredited and unaccredited shareholders.

Certain types of small initial public offerings (IPO) are no longer required to register
with the SEC. Restrictions are loosened on government-registered Internet-based
“funding portals.”

Small businesses are now allowed to advertise seeking investors.

Companies can raise $50 million in share sales, up from a $5 million limit, before
being required to register with the SEC, to enable more fundraising under less
complex regulation.

Community banks are permitted to have 2,000 shareholders, up from 500.
These regulations also aim at protecting people who engage in crowdfunding from getting
tricked into spending money for causes that are not real (crowdfrauding).