Discussion Questions

1) Compare and contrast a company’s microenvironment with a company’s

macroenvironment.

A company’s microenvironment is within a company’s reach and consists of the company

itself, its suppliers, marketing intermediaries, competitors, publics and customers. There are

close relationships between those that go both ways.

In contrast, the macroenvironment is outside of a company’s reach. The forces that affect it

are demographic, economic, natural, technological, political and cultural.

2) Describe the five types of customer markets.

Consumer markets: consist of individuals and households that buy goods and services for

personal consumption.

Business markets: buy goods and services for further processing or use in their production

processes.

Reseller markets: buy goods and services to resell at a profit.

Gov. markets: consist of government agencies that buy goods and services to produce

public services or transfer the goods and services to others who need

them.

Internat. markets: consist of these buyers in other countries, including consumers,

producers, resellers, and governments.

3) Compare and contrast core beliefs/values and secondary beliefs/values.

Provide an example of each and discuss the potential impact marketers

have on each.

The core beliefs and values are passed on from parents to their children and are reinforced by

the social, cultural, and economic environment (schools, churches, business, government).

Example: In Indian businesses, the power distance is very high. A manager is expected to be

able to lead people and the employees are trained to follow orders. A manager, who has a

different approach and tries to involve employees more and ask for their opinion, might be

less successful in India than in America. This is due to cultural differences that are manifested

in the core values.

Marketers will very unlikely be able to influence or change core values – rather, they must be

sensible towards them and adjust their marketing practices. They can be beneficial, if the

marketers are able to group people into different segments and then adapt their marketing to

better-fit customers needs.

The secondary beliefs and values, on the other hand, are more open to change. Due to that,

marketers are able to shape them more easily.

Example: Before the financial crisis, Americans liked to express themselves by purchasing

luxury products they did not really need. Nowadays, people are more careful when it comes to

spending money and marketers act on this change by focusing on providing customers with

higher value in their products – often to lower prices.

4) How should marketers respond to the changing environment?

Some changes in the environment are unpredictable and uncontrollable. In that case,

marketers have to wait for the changes and then react to them. Such changes include

geographic population shifts, the economic environment, or cultural core values.

A more proactive approach is to develop strategies to actively change the environment. The

aggressive actions these firms take include hiring lobbyists to influence legislation and stage

media events to gain favorable press coverage. With the help of ads and social media they

shape public opinion. In order to keep competitors in line, they press lawsuits and file

complaints with regulators and they form contractual agreements to control their distribution

channels.

Marketing Technology – Crowdfunding1) Find another crowdfunding site and describe two projects featured on that

site.

Rocket Hub: www.rockethub.com

Projects:

Well for Orphans in Northern Uganda, Keframa College

The KEFRAMA College, a secondary school for orphans and other underprivileged children,

has currently no running water. The next well is a ½ miles walking distance and nearly 800

people have to use it – which results in long lines and frequent breakdowns oft he well.

Therefore, money is being collected to finance a new, private well for the school.

In total, this project would cost 25 million shillings ($10,000). $1680 have been raised so far.

One Spark 2014

One Spark is a five-day festival for Creators. From April 9 - 13, 2014, artists, entrepreneurs,

and innovators will showcase their ideas in a 20 square block, multi-venue gallery in

downtown Jacksonville, Florida. One Spark is about connecting people with great ideas to the

resources they need to make them a reality.

The festival provides a platform for artists, musicians, scientists, startups and other innovators

to receive the funding they need to make their projects a reality. $19096 have been raised so

far.

2) Learn more about the JOBS Act and how it impacts crowdfunding for start-

up businesses. What protections are in place for investors with regard to

crowdfrauding?

The JOBS Act provides a legal framework for crowdfunding and President Barack Obama

signed it into effect on April 5, 2012. It allows businesses to accept small contributions from

private individuals and therefore gives regular people the chance to become investors.

The main provisions are:

Businesses are not required to register their common stock with the SEC (Securities

Exchange Commission) until they have 500 unaccredited shareholders or a total of

2,000 accredited and unaccredited shareholders.

Certain types of small initial public offerings (IPO) are no longer required to register

with the SEC. Restrictions are loosened on government-registered Internet-based

“funding portals.”

Small businesses are now allowed to advertise seeking investors.

Companies can raise $50 million in share sales, up from a $5 million limit, before

being required to register with the SEC, to enable more fundraising under less

complex regulation.

Community banks are permitted to have 2,000 shareholders, up from 500.

These regulations also aim at protecting people who engage in crowdfunding from getting

tricked into spending money for causes that are not real (crowdfrauding).