Chapter 11

Introduction to the Environment

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Copyright 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Environment

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The Environment
All physical and social characteristics of a consumers external world Physical objects Spatial relationships Social behavior of other people Functional or perceived environment

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The Environment cont.

Can analyze the environment at two levels Macro Climate Economic conditions Political system General landscape Micro Tangible physical and social aspects of immediate surroundings
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Aspects of the Environment

Social environment All social interactions between and among people Macro social environment Culture Subculture Social class Micro social environment Face-to-face social interactions among smaller groups of people
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Aspects of the Environment

Flows of influence in the Social Environment Macro Social Environment
Culture Subculture

Micro Social Environment

Organizations

Social class

Reference groups Individual consumers

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Family

Media

Aspects of the Environment cont.

The physical environment All the nonhuman, physical aspects Spatial elements Non-spatial elements Time Weather Lighting

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Situations
A sequence of goaldirected behaviors, along with affective and cognitive responses and the various environments in which they occur Vary in complexity Many situations are common and recurring
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Situations cont.
Analyzing situations Determine the major goals that define the situation for the target market Identify the key aspects of the social and physical environments in the situation Attempt to understand consumers affect, cognitive, and behavioral responses to these environmental aspects

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Situations cont.
Situation: Buy ice cream for Cub Scouts root beer floats Goals Fulfill assignment for refreshments Make boys happy Environment Boys easy to please Ice cream has broad price range Consumer responses Affect/Cognition: hurried, not overly concerned about getting premium product Behavior: buy tub of cheap vanilla at first store visited
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Situations cont.
Situation: Buy ice cream dinner party Goals Provide nice dessert for dinner party Impress guests Environment Boss is coming to dinner Ice cream has broad price range Consumer responses Affect/Cognition: unhurried, want the best Behavior: visit different stores and find perfect Godiva chocolate premium ice cream
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Situations cont.
Generic consumer situations Information acquisition situations Shopping situations Purchase situations Consumption Disposition

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Situations cont.
Information acquisition situations The environments where consumers acquire information relevant to a problem-solving goal Important generic behaviors to information acquisition situations Information contact Communication

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Situations cont.
Shopping situations The physical, spatial, and social characteristics of places where consumers shop for products and services Physical Shopping format Merchandise Social factors Two behaviors of importance Store contact Product contact
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Situations cont.
Purchasing situations The social and physical stimuli present in the environment where the consumer makes the purchase Distinct from the shopping environment Two behaviors of importance Funds access Final transaction

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Situations cont.
Consumption situations The social and physical factors present in the environments where consumers actually use or consume the products and services

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Situations cont.
Disposition situations Highly relevant for some businesses Key behavior of interest is disposal of products

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Situations cont.
Marketing implications Identify key social and physical environmental features of the situation Understand consumers affective, cognitive, and behavioral responses to environmental factors Must not only adapt to changing environmental conditions, but must also play an important role in creating the environment

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Summary
Different aspects of environments Situations Five generic situations Social and physical aspects of the environments in situations Key behaviors of interest in situations Adapt to changing environment and help create the environment

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