Macro environment

What is the macro marketing environment?
The macro marketing environment takes into account all factors that can influence an organisation, but are outside of their control. There are six major macro marketing environment forces to deal with (PESTLE):

P- political,
E- economic,
S- socio-cultural,
T- technological,
L- legal and,
E- environmental.
The political environment includes all laws, government agencies and lobbying groups that influence or restrict individuals or organisations. The economic environment consists of all factors-such as salary levels, credit trends and pricing patterns that affect consumer spending habits and purchasing power. The socio-cultural environment includes institutions and other forces that affect the basic values, behaviours, and preferences of the society-all of which have an effect on consumer marketing decisions. The technological environment consists of those forces that affect the technology with which can create new products, new markets and new marketing opportunities.

The legal environment also affects an organisation – even though a company cannot directly influence any laws – lobbying or becoming part of a trade organisation is widely accepted in helping to ‘shape’ particular legal decisions. Marketing environments are continuously changing and businesses operating in such turbulent environments need to be flexible. Globalisation and lower barriers to entry now mean that there is an even greater threat of substitute products and new entrants to market. Even though the marketer has no direct control over the macro external environment, a greater understanding and awareness of these changing market conditions can be achieved through external analysis. External analysis will help identify future events, uncover possible threats and realise potential opportunities. Key steps in environmental analysis of the macro marketing environment;

1. Audit of environmental influences
2. Assessment of the nature of the environment
3. Identification of the key environmental forces
4. Identification of the competitive position
5. Identification of the principal opportunities and threats (SWOT)
6. Strategic position as a result