Factors Affecting Marketing
Decisions
Factors Affecting Marketing Decisions
• Marketers aim to discover the needs and
wants of the consumer and communicate the
benefits of their product or service to them
• There are many different factors that go into
each decision that is made within a marketing
department
– Some factors are controllable (internal)
– Others are environmental (external)
political
price consumer place
competition
economic
Marketing
Mix:
Controllable
Factors
product
promotion
Environmental Factors:
Uncontrollable
Environmental Factors
1) PEST
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Political Regulations
Economical Factors
Social Trends
Technological Limitations/Opportunities
2) 2 C’s
– Consumers
– Competition
Political Regulations
• This is the most important influence on the
regulation of any business.
– How stable is the political environment?
– Influence the Government Policy / Law on your
business
– Government’s policy on the economy
– Environmental Protection Law
– Controls if any on Marketing Strategies
• Like Marketing / Advertising of Cigarettes,
Tobacco, Alcohol etc.
Economic Factors
• General conditions of the consumers ability to
spend money in specific areas
– Example: During a recession – more money is
spent on necessities rather than luxury
– Hamburger rather than Steak
• The Cost of the Dollar
– What is the affect of a high Canadian Dollar on
sales?
Social Trends
• Demographic Trends
• Lifestyle and Preference Trends
– Small Cars popular now
– Online
• Availability & Popularity of Media
– Are television commercials still relevant?
– Do people read internet ads?
• Trends & Fads
– Green trend vs. Interest in Vampires
Technological
Limitations/Opportunities
• Technology is increasingly a part of everyone’s
life
• Marketers must know what technology is
being used and by who
• Used for advertising, marketing research,
delivery of products, etc.
• Viral Marketing is becoming absolutely crucial
for running a business
– Websites – necessary for any business
Consumers
• Consumers were in the middle of our factors
of marketing diagram for a reason
– Every single decision a marketing team makes
should have the consumer in mind
– Always ask how it will affect them
• Some businesses think of their bottom line
rather than the consumer
– Pizza Pizza/Lowe’s
Competition
• You need to get to understand who your
competition is
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What do they sell?
Who do they serve?
What do they do well?
Why do people buy from them?
What weakness do they have?
• This can be where you position your business
• Every decision your competition makes will
impact your business
Controllable Factors
• These factors are internal decisions that affect
all decisions that happen within a marketing
department
• Described as the 4 P’s
– Price
– Product
– Place
– Promotion
Price
• Marketing is responsible for establishing the
price of their service/product
• Must consider the costs of all the inputs
(materials, labour, etc)
• Like we have mentioned before
– The price you set for a product or service directly
says something to the consumer
Product
• The marketing team is in control of everything
about the product
– The look, the feel, the design, the material, the
packaging, etc.
• For a service – the product refers to the
experience
– What will the customer receive and in what way
• Can concern complimentary or supplementary
products – and even product extensions
– Barbie
Place
• Simply refers to how & where you are going to sell the
product to the consumer
– How is the product or service going to make it from the business
to the hands of the consumer
• For a service : where are you going to locate in order to
best reach your target market
• You want to be in an area that
– your target market frequents
– Says something about your business
• Notice how car dealerships are
always on the outskirts of
town or close to a highway?
Promotion
• Communicating the benefit of your product or
service to the market
• Overall goal is to stimulate the consumer to
make a purchasing decision
• Involves activities such as:
– Sales Promotions (Buy 1 get 1 Free)
– Contests (Roll up the Rim)
– Advertising
– Public Relations
For the Remainder of the Class
• Finish your market research assignments!
• Read the assignment carefully and ensure that
everything you need is done.
• A great example of a project would have
what?
• Non-for-Profit Treasure Hunt
Marketing Research Project
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Title Page
Table of Contents
Statement of Purpose
Questionnaire Example
Results (typed or graph)
Conclusions
Recommendations