CHAPTER 3

Q1: What is the marketing environment?

A: The external and internal factors that affect a company’s ability to build and maintain successful relationships with customers.

Q2: What are the two components of the marketing environment?

A:

1. Microenvironment – Actors close to the company.

2. Macroenvironment – Larger societal forces that affect the microenvironment.

Q3: What elements make up the microenvironment?

A:

• The company

• Suppliers

• Marketing intermediaries

• Customer markets

• Competitors

• Publics

Q4: What are marketing intermediaries?

A: Firms that help the company promote, sell, and distribute its goods (e.g., resellers, logistics, agencies).

Q5: What are the five types of customer markets?

A:

1. Consumer markets

2. Business markets

3. Reseller markets

4. Government markets

5. International markets

Q6: What are publics in marketing?

A: Groups with actual or potential interest or impact on the organization’s ability to achieve its objectives (e.g., media, government, financial).

Q7: What are the six major forces in the macroenvironment?

A:

1. Demographic

2. Economic

3. Natural

4. Technological

5. Political/Social

6. Cultural

Q8: What is demography?

A: The study of human populations in terms of size, density, location, age, gender, occupation, and other statistics.

Q9: What are key demographic trends in Canada?

A:

• Aging population

• More diverse households

• Ethnic and cultural diversity

• Gen Z and millennial digital natives

Q10: What does the economic environment influence?

A: Consumer purchasing power and spending patterns (e.g., income levels, inflation, interest rates).

Q11: What trend has shaped Canadian consumer behavior?

A: A “value-conscious,” back-to-basics buying mindset.

Q12: What is the natural environment in marketing?

A: Natural resources needed as inputs or affected by marketing activities.

Q13: What are current trends in the natural environment?

A:

• Shortages of raw materials

• Increased pollution

• Government regulation

• Rise of environmental sustainability

Q14: Why is the technological environment important?

A: It’s the most dramatic force shaping marketing — drives innovation and disruption.

Q15: What are concerns tied to tech in marketing?

A:

• Consumer privacy

• Data security

• Ethical use of AI and automation

Q16: What does the political/social environment include?

A: Laws, government agencies, and pressure groups influencing or limiting marketing actions.

Q17: What are key Canadian laws affecting marketers?

A:

• Competition Act

• PIPEDA (Privacy law)

• Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act

Q18: What is cause-related marketing?

A: Marketing that ties a brand to a social issue or charitable cause (e.g., TOMS Shoes' buy-one-give-one model).

Q19: What is the cultural environment?

A: Institutions and forces that affect a society’s basic values, perceptions, and preferences.

Q20: What’s the difference between core and secondary beliefs?

A:

• Core beliefs: Persistent and passed down (e.g., freedom, family).

• Secondary beliefs: More open to change (e.g., views on marriage or work).

Q21: What are some current cultural trends?

A:

• Individualism

• Mindfulness and wellness

• Inclusivity and diversity

• Purpose-driven brands

Q22: What are two ways marketers respond to environmental change?

A:

1. Reactive – Adapt only when needed

2. Proactive – Actively shape the environment (e.g., lobbying, innovation)

Q23: What is environmental scanning?

A: The process of collecting info about external forces to identify trends and threats early.