How does environmental scanning guide marketing decisions?

"Marketers utilize the tools of marketing strategy to develop new products and sell them in the marketplace. But marketers cannot create products in isolation. Marketers must understand and consider all aspects of the external environment in order to create marketing programs (plans) that will be successful in the current market and in future markets. Thus, many organizations assemble a team of specialists to continually collect and evaluate environmental information, a process called environmental scanning. The goal in gathering the environmental data is to identify current and future market opportunities and threats. Computer manufacturers understand the importance of environmental scanning to monitor rapidly changing consumer interests. Since the invention of the personal computer (PC), computer technicians and other enthusiasts have taken two things for granted: processor speeds will grow exponentially, and PCs will become indistinguishable from televisions. The result of this will be “convergence,” which means that the digital industry (manufacturers of computers, smartphones, and other mobile devices) will merge together with entertainment (such as television, radio, streaming video, and the internet). This convergence is already creating great opportunities for new products—watches that have both computers and cell phones in them, cell phones used to download videos not available except by independent entertainment producers (who are not affiliated with traditional media) such as Amazon and Google. One clear winner in this new world so far is Apple, which has leveraged its computer platform to make it easy and fashionable for consumers to become experts in the digital age. Apple has capitalized on this through the development of iTunes, the iPhone and iPads, and the iWatch. Apple sells almost as many iPads per quarter as it does Macintosh computers, and it certainly sells a massive number of iPhones. Microsoft wants in on this business badly, but Hewlett-Packard decided to shift its loyalty to Apple, so Microsoft doesn’t have much leverage just now. The other company to watch over the next few years is Samsung, which has doubled its efforts to make its consumer electronics offerings strong competition to Apple products. Finally, the device-free streaming services such as Amazon Music, Pandora, and Spotify have provided competition to Apple while restoring profitability to the music industry. In general, six categories of environmental data shape most marketing decisions: Cultural/social forces: Includes such factors as the buying behaviors of specific cultures and subcultures, the values of potential customers, the changing roles of families, and other societal trends such as employees working from home and flexible work hours. Demographic forces: Includes such factors as changes in the ages of potential customers (e.g., baby boomers, millennials), birth and death rates, and locations of various groups of people. Economic forces: Includes such factors as changing incomes, unemployment levels, inflation, and recession. Technological forces: Includes such factors as advances in telecommunications and computer technology. Political and legal forces: Includes such factors as changes in laws, regulatory agency activities, and political movements. Competitive forces: Includes such factors as new and shifting competition from domestic and foreign-based firms."