Page 100 - Foundations of Marketing

The Marketing Environment, Social Responsibility, and Ethics | Chapter 3 67

The effects of technology relate to such characteristics as dynamics, reach, and the self-
sustaining nature of technological progress. The dynamics of technology involve the constant
change that often challenges the structures of social institutions, including social relation-
ships, the legal system, religion, education, business, and leisure. Reach refers to the broad
nature of technology as it moves through society. Consider the impact of cellular and wire-
less telephones. The ability to call from almost any location has many benefits but also has
negative side effects, including increases in traffic accidents, increased noise pollution, and
27
fears about potential health risks. The self-sustaining nature of technology relates to the
fact that technology acts as a catalyst to spur even faster development. As new innovations
are introduced, they stimulate the need for more advancements to facilitate further develop-
ment. Apple, for instance, advances the capabilities of each new model of its iPhone and iPad.
Research in Motion, on the other hand, failed to update technology for its BlackBerry as fast
as Apple did for its products, losing market share as a result. Technology initiates a change
process that creates new opportunities for new technologies in every industry segment or per-
sonal life experience that it touches. At some point there is even a multiplier effect that causes
28
still greater demand for more change to improve performance. It is important for firms to
determine when a technology is changing an industry and define the strategic influence of the
new technology. For example, wireless devices in use today include radios, cell phones, laptop
computers, TVs, pagers, and car keys. To remain competitive, companies must keep up with
and adapt to these technological advances. Through a procedure known as technology assess-
ment, managers try to foresee the effects of new products and processes on their firms’ opera-
tions, on other business organizations, and on society in general. With information obtained
through a technology assessment, management tries to estimate whether benefits of adopting
a specific technology outweigh costs to the firm and to society at large. The degree to which a
business is technologically based also influences its managers’ response to technology.

Sociocultural Forces
sociocultural forces The
Sociocultural forces are the influences in a society and its culture(s) that bring about changes
influences in a society and its
in attitudes, beliefs, norms, customs, and lifestyles. Profoundly affecting how people live, culture(s) that change people’s
these forces help to determine what, where, how, and when people buy products. Like the attitudes, beliefs, norms,
other environmental forces, sociocultural forces present marketers with both challenges and customs, and lifestyles
opportunities.
Changes in a population’s demo-
graphic characteristics—age, gender,
race, ethnicity, marital and parental Percentage of One-Person Households
status, income, and education—have throughout the Decades
a significant bearing on relationships
and individual behavior. These shifts 30%
lead to changes in how people live 25% 27%
and ultimately in their consumption of 25%
products such as food, clothing, hous-
ing, transportation, communication, 20%
recreation, education, and health ser- Snapshot
vices. We look at a few of the changes 15% 13%
in demographics and diversity that are
affecting marketing activities. 10% 8%
One demographic change affecting 5%
the marketplace is the increasing pro-
portion of older consumers. According 0%
to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the 1940 1960 2000 2010
number of people age 65 and older is Year
expected to more than double by the
29
year 2050, reaching 88.5 million. Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Copyright 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.