Marketing Environment and Consumer Behaviour
What this domain tests
This domain examines the forces outside and inside the firm that shape marketing decisions, and the psychological and social process by which consumers buy. Expect questions that ask you to classify a factor and then explain a marketer's response.
Core rules and concepts
- The microenvironment includes the company itself, suppliers, marketing intermediaries, customers, competitors, and publics.
- The macroenvironment includes demographic, economic, natural, technological, political-legal, and socio-cultural forces.
- Environmental scanning and SWOT help a firm spot opportunities and threats before they become crises.
- Consumer behaviour is influenced by cultural, social, personal, and psychological factors; reference groups and family roles matter.
- The buyer decision process runs through need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post-purchase behaviour. Cognitive dissonance can appear after purchase.
Worked example
Fuel prices rise and city consumers become more health-conscious. An electric scooter brand reads the economic and socio-cultural forces, then advertises lower running cost and offers home charging surveys. The reasoning: the macro trend changed the evaluation criteria, so the marketer shifted the message from style to savings and convenience. A firm that only cut price would miss the health and convenience motives.
Traps that cost marks
Do not put competitors or suppliers in the macroenvironment. Do not describe consumer behaviour as purely rational. Do not stop at purchase; post-purchase satisfaction, repeat buying, and dissonance are examinable. Do not confuse a reference group with a family buying role.