I. Economic Factors in the Marketing Environment:
Focuses on analyzing factors such as changes in consumer incomes, changes in patterns of consumer expenditures, and changes in consumer savings and credit.
(i) Changes in consumer income.
Disposable personal income is that portion of personal income that is available for personal consumption and savings after deduction of various taxes paid by individual consumers and non-commercial expenditures given to the government.
Discretionary personal income is that portion of personal income that remains after disposable personal income is subtracted from the fixed expenditures that consumers use to purchase the necessities of life, such as rent, insurance premiums, installment payments, and mortgages.
(ii) Changes in consumer spending patterns.
1. As household income increases, the share of household expenditure on food purchases as a proportion of household income (i.e., Engel's coefficient) decreases.
2. As household income increases, the share of household income spent by households on residential construction and home operations remains roughly the same (expenditures on fuel, lighting, refrigeration, etc. fall as a share of household income).
3. As household income increases, the share of household income spent by households on other things (e.g., clothing, transportation, recreation, health care, education) and savings rises.
Two, the impact of economic factors on the marketing activities of enterprises
1. The economic environment factors that directly affect the marketing activities
The market is not only made up of population, these people must also have a certain level of purchasing power. And a certain level of purchasing power is the formation of the market and affect the size of the determinants of its size, it is also the direct economic environment affecting the marketing activities of enterprises. Mainly include:
(1) changes in the level of consumer income
Consumer income, refers to the individual consumer from a variety of sources of all income, including the individual consumer's wages, pensions, dividends, rents, gifts and other income. The purchasing power of a consumer comes from the consumer's income, but the consumer does not use all of his or her income to purchase goods or services; purchasing power is only a part of income. Therefore, when studying consumer income, the following points should be noted:
①Gross national product. It is an important indicator of a country's economic strength and purchasing power. From the growth rate of GNP, one can understand the status and speed of a country's economic development. Generally speaking, the marketing of industrial goods is related to this indicator, while the marketing of consumer goods has little to do with it. The faster the GNP grows, the greater the demand and purchasing power for industrial goods, and vice versa.
②National income per capita. This is the ratio of total national income divided by total population. This indicator broadly reflects the level of living standards of a country's people, but also to a certain extent to determine the composition of demand for goods. Generally speaking, an increase in per capita income leads to greater demand and purchasing power for consumer goods, and vice versa. According to the statistics of the last 40 years, a country's per capita national income reaches 5,000 U.S. dollars, motor vehicles can be popularized, of which small cars account for about half of them, and the rest are motorcycles and other types of vehicles.
3 Personal disposable income. This is the balance of personal income after deducting taxes and non-tax burdens, it is the part of personal income that can be used for consumer spending or saving, it constitutes the real purchasing power.
4 Personal Disposable Income. This is the portion of personal disposable income that remains after subtracting expenses indispensable to the survival of individuals and families (such as rent, utilities, food, fuel, clothing and other expenses). This part of the income is the most active factor in the change of consumer demand, but also enterprises to carry out marketing activities to consider the main object. Because this part of the income is mainly used to meet the basic needs of people outside the expenditure, generally used to buy high-end consumer durables, travel, savings, etc., it is the main factors affecting the sales of non-essential goods and services.
⑤Household income. Many products are based on the family as the basic consumption unit, such as refrigerators, range hoods, air conditioners and so on. Therefore, the level of household income affects the market demand for many products. Generally speaking, high family income, the demand for consumer goods is large, the purchasing power is also large; on the contrary, the demand is small, the purchasing power is also small. It is important to note that when analyzing consumer income, marketers should also distinguish between "monetary income" and "real income". Only "real income" affects "real purchasing power". Because real income and money income are not exactly the same, due to inflation, unemployment, taxes and other factors, sometimes money income increases, while real income may fall. Real income is a reflection of real purchasing power after deducting price changes.
(2) Changes in Consumer Expenditure Patterns and Consumption Structure
With changes in consumer income, consumer expenditure patterns change accordingly, which in turn changes the consumption structure of a country or region. The Engel coefficient is often used by some Western economists to reflect this change. The Engel coefficient shows that, under certain conditions, when the personal income of a household increases, the portion of that income spent on food grows slower than that spent on education, health care, enjoyment, etc. The more the portion of that income spent on food grows, the more the portion of that income spent on food grows. The larger the share of food expenditure in total consumption, the higher the Engel's coefficient and the lower the standard of living; conversely, the smaller the share of food expenditure, the smaller the Engel's coefficient and the higher the standard of living.
This pattern of consumption expenditure is not only related to consumers' income, but also influenced by the following two factors: ① The stage of family life cycle. According to the survey, young families without children tend to spend more of their income on consumer durables such as refrigerators, televisions, furniture, and furnishings, while families with children spend more on their children's recreation and education and less on household consumer goods. When the children grow up and live independently, the family income and expenditure budget will change again, and the portion spent on health care, traveling, and savings will increase. ② The impact of the location of the family. For example, compared with consumers living in rural areas and urban areas, the former spend less on transportation and more on housing, while the latter spend more on food, clothing, transportation and entertainment.
The Engel's coefficient is an important parameter for measuring the level of living standard of a country, region, city and family. According to the National Bureau of Statistics survey data in 1995, according to the average level of national residents, China's "Engel coefficient" is about 54%. It is predicted that by the year 2000, the "Engel coefficient" for urban residents will reach 45%, and that for rural residents will reach about 50%. By 2010, it will reach 35% and 40% respectively. According to the United Nations standard for classifying affluence, countries with an Engel coefficient of 60% or more are considered to be starving; those with an Engel coefficient of 50% to 60% are considered to be well-to-do; those with an Engel coefficient of 40% to 50% are considered to be well-off; and those with an Engel coefficient of less than 40% are considered to be well-to-do. According to this standard, China has entered the late stage of subsistence, and by 2000, it can reach the well-off stage, while by 2010, it can enter the ranks of middle-income countries.
Consumption structure refers to the composition of various means of consumption (including labor) consumed by people in the process of consumption, i.e., the proportional relationship of various consumption expenditures to total expenditures. Optimized consumption structure is the objective basis of optimized industrial structure and product structure, and is also the basic foothold for enterprises to carry out marketing activities. Since the Second World War, the consumption structure of the developed countries in the West has undergone great changes: ① Engel's coefficient has dropped significantly, and now most of them are below 20%; ② the proportion of clothing consumption has been reduced, ranging from 20% to 30%; ③ the proportion of residential consumption expenditures has increased; ④ the proportion of consumption expenditures on labor has risen; and ⑤ consumption expenditures accounted for an increase in the proportion of GNP and national income. As for our country's situation, the consumption structure is not yet reasonable. For a long time, due to the government's welfare policy in housing, medical care, transportation, etc., thus causing the abnormal development of the consumption structure, and determining the expenditure pattern of our residents to be dominated by food, clothing and other necessities of life. With the development of China's socialist market economy and the deepening of the state's reforms in housing, medical care and other systems, people's consumption patterns and consumption structure will undergo obvious changes. Enterprises should pay attention to these changes, in particular, they should grasp the expenditure pattern and consumption structure in the target market to be entered, and deliver marketable products and services to meet the changing needs of consumers.
(3) Changes in consumer savings and credit
Consumers' purchasing power is also directly affected by savings and credit.
Consumers can not spend all of their personal income, there is always a part of the various forms of savings, which is a delayed, potential purchasing power. Consumer savings generally have two forms: first, bank deposits, increase the amount of existing bank deposits; second, the purchase of securities. When income is certain, the more savings, the smaller the actual consumption, but the greater the potential consumption; conversely, the less savings, the greater the actual consumption, but the smaller the potential consumption. Business marketers should have a comprehensive understanding of consumer savings, especially to understand the differences in the purpose of consumer savings. Different savings purpose often affects the potential demand, consumption pattern, consumption content, consumption development direction. This requires business marketers in the investigation, understanding the motivation and purpose of savings based on the development of different marketing strategies to provide consumers with effective products and services.
China's residents have a tradition of thrift and frugality, and have long developed the habit of saving. In recent years, China's residents savings and savings growth rate are larger. According to the survey, the residents of the purpose of saving is mainly used to provide for their children and marriage and funeral, but from the development trend, for the purchase of housing and large items of savings accounted for the proportion of the overall savings will gradually increase. China's residents to increase savings, obviously will make the realization of the value of the enterprise's current products is more difficult, but on the other hand, the enterprise can mobilize the potential needs of consumers, you can develop new target markets. For example, in 1979, Japanese television manufacturers found that, although the Chinese have little discretionary income, the Chinese have a savings habit and a large population. So they decided to develop the Chinese black-and-white TV market, which soon became a success. At that time, although a Western European TV manufacturer also came to China to investigate, but thought that China's per capita income is too low, the market potential is not great, and the result is that the timing is missed.
Consumer credit, which is widely available in Western countries, also has a great impact on purchasing power. The so-called consumer credit is that consumers first obtain the right to use goods on credit and then return the loan on schedule in order to buy goods. This is in fact the consumer draws down future income in advance and consumes in advance. Consumer credit prevalent in Western countries mainly includes: ① short-term credit sales; ② purchase of residential installments; ③ purchase of expensive consumer goods installments; ④ credit card credit and other categories. Credit consumption allows people to buy more goods than their real purchasing power, thus creating more jobs, more income and more demand; at the same time, consumer credit is also a kind of economic lever, which can regulate the contradiction between accumulation and consumption, supply and demand. When market supply exceeds demand, consumer credit can be issued to stimulate demand; when market supply exceeds demand, credit must be contracted to appropriately suppress and reduce demand. Consumer credit invests funds in industries in need of development, stimulates the production of these industries, and drives the development of related industries and products. China's current stage of credit consumption is also mainly public **** utilities to provide service credit, such as water, electricity, gas payment, other aspects, such as education, residential construction and some merchants credit card consumption is gradually emerging.
2. Indirectly affect the marketing activities of the economic environment
In addition to the above factors directly affect the marketing activities of enterprises, there are a number of economic environment factors also have more or less impact on the marketing activities of enterprises.
(1) The level of economic development
The marketing activities of an enterprise are subject to the constraints of the overall level of economic development of a country or region. Different stages of economic development, different incomes of the population, the customer's demand for products is not the same, which will affect the enterprise's marketing to a certain extent. For example, in terms of the consumer market, areas with a relatively high level of economic development, in terms of marketing, emphasizing product style, performance and features, quality competition more than price competition. In areas with low levels of economic development, the focus is more on product functionality and practicality, and the price factor is more important than product quality. In terms of producer market, regions with high level of economic development focus on investing in advanced, sophisticated, highly automated and high-performance production equipment that can save labor. In the low level of economic development in the region, most of the machinery and equipment are some less investment but consume more labor, simple and easy to operate, more backward equipment. Therefore, for different levels of economic development of the region, enterprises should take different marketing strategies.
American scholar Ralston according to his "stages of economic growth" theory, the economic development of the world's countries are summarized into five types: traditional economic society; economic take-off before the preparatory stage; economic take-off stage; towards economic maturity stage; (amount of consumption stage.) The first three stages of the country known as the first three countries. Any country belonging to the first three stages is called a developing country, while countries in the last two stages are called developed countries. Countries at different stages of development differ in their marketing strategies. Taking distribution channels as an example, foreign scholars believe that: the higher the stage of economic development of the country, the more complex and extensive its distribution routes; the status of import agents with the economic development and decline; manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers are gradually independent of the functions, no longer by the members of a distribution route alone; the wholesaler's other functions to increase, only the financial function declined; the number of small stores declined, the average size of the store is increasing; the retailer's markup rises. As the stage of economic development rises, control of the distribution route gradually moves from the traditional power players to the middlemen, then to the manufacturers, and finally the big retailers rise to control the distribution route.
China is currently in the preparatory stage before the economic take-off, with the establishment of the socialist market economic system, to the beginning of the next century, China's economy will enter the take-off stage. By that time, the market scale will be further enlarged; the investment opportunities of enterprises will be increased; the market exchange will become the fundamental activity of enterprises; the information competition will become the focus of market competition. Therefore, enterprises should pay attention to the changes in the market at the stage of economic take-off, seize the opportunity and take the initiative to meet the challenges of the market.
(2) economic system
There are many kinds of economic system in the world, there are planned economic system, there are market economic system, there are planned-market economic system, there are market-planned economic system, and so on. Different economic systems have different constraints and influences on enterprise marketing activities. For example, in the planned economy, the enterprise is the administrative organs of the appendage, no production and management autonomy, enterprise production, supply and marketing are unified by the national plan arrangements, enterprise production, production, how much, how to sell, are not the enterprise's own thing. In this economic system, enterprises can not independently carry out production and management activities, therefore, can not talk about marketing activities. In the market economic system, all the activities of enterprises are market-centered, the market is the realization of its value of the place, so enterprises must pay special attention to marketing activities, through marketing, to achieve their own interests. At this stage, China is in the transition period from planned economy system to socialist market economy system, two systems coexist, two mechanisms coexist, the market situation is very complex. On the one hand, through the reform, enterprises are gradually getting rid of the status of administrative appendages, with a certain degree of autonomy in production and operation, began to really go to the market and market as the goal to carry out their own marketing activities; on the other hand, the enterprise business mechanism has not been completely transformed, the government's direct intervention is still a serious presence, the production and operation of enterprises is still subject to strong control, and thus the enterprise's marketing activities to a certain extent constrained. On the other hand, the enterprise management mechanism has not been completely transformed, direct government intervention still exists seriously, and the production and operation activities of enterprises are still subject to strong control, thus the marketing activities of enterprises are restricted to a certain extent. In addition, the market development is not perfect, the market order is chaotic, industry monopoly and local protectionism prevails, is not conducive to enterprises to carry out marketing activities. Therefore, enterprises should try their best to adapt to this "two-track" situation and pay attention to the choice of different marketing strategies. For example, you can use the "big marketing" strategy to break the regional blockade, through horizontal integration into each other's markets, so as to develop their own markets.
(3) regional and industry development
China's regional economic development is very unbalanced, and gradually formed in the east, central, western three major zones and the east high west low development pattern. At the same time in different provinces and cities in various regions, but also shows the development trend of multi-polarization. This unbalanced regional economic development, the enterprise's investment direction, target market and marketing strategy development will bring great impact.
There are also differences in the development of our industries and sectors. In the coming period, China will focus on the development of basic industries such as agriculture, raw materials and energy. The development of these industries will certainly drive the corresponding development of commerce, transportation, communications, finance and other industries and sectors, but also to bring a series of marketing impact. Therefore, on the one hand, enterprises should deal with the relationship with the relevant departments to strengthen ties; on the other hand, according to the development of the industry or sector closely linked to the enterprise, the development of practical marketing measures.
(4) Degree of urbanization
The degree of urbanization refers to the percentage of the urban population in the total population of the country, which is one of the important characteristics of the economic activities of a country or region. Urbanization is one of the environmental factors that affect marketing. This is because there exists some degree of economic and cultural differences between urban and rural residents, which in turn leads to different consumer behavior. For example, at present, most of China's rural residents still consume with a high degree of self-sufficiency, while urban residents satisfy their needs mainly through monetary exchange. In addition, urban residents are generally more educated, more open-minded, easy to accept new things, while the rural areas are relatively closed, the farmers' consumerism is more conservative, so some of the new products, new technologies are often first accepted by the city. Enterprises in the development of marketing activities, we must pay full attention to these consumer behavior of urban and rural differences, and accordingly adjust the marketing strategy.