In the modern business world of today, every business gets affected by factors that significantly impact their strategic marketing. These forces have been found to either decrease or increase the need for the products of a company or even entirely create new product needs. As a result of these changes, raw materials may be driven down or up, and additionally new target markets may be formed or old ones may be changed. The macro environment that surrounds an organization dominantly consist s of forces that although can provide opportunities for an organization, they can also pose threats. It is crucial for organizations to identify the factors that directly impact their business operations to understand their nature and to identify, and analyze them. Some of the critical factors that can influence the strategic marketing of an organization at the macro-environmental level include; demographic, economic, socio-cultural, technological, political, and legal.
Demographics Factors
The demographic forces in the macro environment relate to people. Demographic variables involves the density, size, gender, occupation, age and other statistics that relate to the overall population in any given context (Pavlou and Vrontis 2008, p. 291). People are the most important assets for any organization as their needs are the reason as to why various businesses exist. People are the forces that drive market development. Whether a demographic is large, diverse or small, it can offer both challenges and opportunities for an organization. During times of rapid population growth, demographic forces in the environment may change, bringing the need for company marketers to study people. When demographic forces in the environment change, markets will change, thus making organization marketers to adjust their marketing strategies (Thomas 2018, p. 3) . Some of the key demographic trends that marketers should focus on in relation to strategic marketing include.
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World Population Growth and Changing Age Structures
Recently, the population of the world is growing at a rapid rate. For instance, in 2011 the total world population was at 7 billion and is expected to reach 8 billion in the year 2030 (Tischler 2018, p. 2) . The total world population is expected to double at the end of the century (Tischler 2018, p. 2) . However, the most substantial growth in a society often occurs in regions where stability and wealth are mostly absent and is seen by the 70 per cent of growth rate that is expected in areas outside twenty of the wealthiest countries on earth in the next 40 years (Thomas 2018, p. 2) . Changes such as these require marketers who can deliver effective strategic marketing for the benefit of businesses. Moreover, changing age structure of the total world population is another critical force that influences the strategic marketing of organizations. It is expected that in the future, some nations would have a more favorable age structure compared to other countries. For instance, India is considered one of the countries in the world with the youngest population and will continue to keep this status (Pavlou and Vrontis 2008, p. 293). By the year 2020, the population with median ages in India will be at 28. However, nations in the European Union and in the United States continuously face an aging population, a factor that may result in severe reductions in dynamism (Pavlou and Vrontis 2008, p. 293).
Moreover, it can also result in challenges concerning the supply of young laborers who have to support the growing elderly population. As population changes, demand for products and services also changes. For instance, as birth rates decline and health care improves, the population average age will increase. Thus, industries that are marketing their products towards the young population will start developing products and services that appeal to the older population (Thomas 2018, p. 3) . Other firms will develop strategies that capitalize on the aging population.
Economic Factors
Economic forces in the environment are those factors that impact the purchasing power and spending patterns of consumers. For example, when an organization wants to export its goods or services to another nation, it should do so after examining how much the people in that country will be able and are willing to spend (Yam 2016, p. 7) . Strategic marketers, therefore, should take into account economic forces such as GDP real growth rate, GNI, GDP, sales tax, unemployment, disposable personal income and inflation when developing marketing strategies. Economic forces impact the strategic marketing of various businesses in that during recession periods, people will lose their jobs and worry about what next for them and will be less willing to spend their disposable incomes. Lower spending rates in the economy will mean less consumption which will, in turn, drive businesses to lower their production rates, a factor that negatively impacts the profits rates and employment (Tischler 2018, p. 3) . However, when an economy expands, people will be assured of job security and will spend more of their disposable incomes. Consumers will increase their consumption rates, and industries will raise their production rates to keep up with the rising market needs. Overall, increased production and consumption rates will result in increased profits for various industries. It is therefore paramount for industries marketers to look at the distribution of income within markets to see whether certain segments of the economy are becoming wealthier and acquiring new needs, tastes and preferences(Pavlou and Vrontis 2008, p. 294). When consumers use their disposable incomes to buy the products or services of an organization, the organization should check where it lies in the economic cycle to effectively plan its production. Additionally, economic factors such as monetary and fiscal policies influence organizational business operations through government expenditures. However no matter how the government allocates its costs, sales will be lost, and budgets will be cut for some industries, although this will pose as an opportunity for others (Thomas 2018, p. 6) .
Socio-Cultural Forces
These are the forces that affect the fundamental values, preferences and the behavior of the various individual in society. These factors are based on the fact that people are both part of the society and the cultural groups that help shape their values and beliefs concerning various aspects. Many organizations have failed in their business ventures due to their failure to understand various issues of foreign cultures around the world (Tischler 2018, p. 4) . These factors affect the ability of organizations to produce goods and services and to function within the context of society. These cultural values and beliefs that are passed down from generation to generation may change over time and affect the purchasing habits of consumers. For instance, having a family with a single parent that was once considered a taboo in various nations as of today are now considered mainstream and are increasingly growing. Changes such as these create a new set of product needs among consumers which may include preferences and taste for music, exercise, entertainment, leisure time activities and eating habits(Pavlou and Vrontis 2008, p. 296). Consequently, differences in lifestyles among various ethnic groups, for example, approaches to management have made organizations to reevaluate their concepts of quality. Since most consumers have come to value quality in products, organizations should examine their marketing and production strategies to respond to changes in consumer expectations.
Political and Legal Factors
The political and legal aspects of the environment have been found to influence business activities significantly. Various political parties affect business practices while the legal environment defines the various activities that organizations can and cannot take part in during particular times (Yam 2016, p. 34) . Factors such as legislation are increasingly becoming complex and directly affecting businesses. Industries are increasingly finding it difficult to take actions without incurring the consequences of the law, regulation or legal issues. Laws regarding, competitive practices, employee relations and consumerism significantly affect organizations practices. The estimated costs of compliances that come with these legislations have been found to exceed $100 billion annually with much of the value passed down to consumers (Thomas 2018, p. 5) . Even though organizations and consumers may not incur the cost of settlements and legal expenses may not pay for them, the potential toll that legal actions have on businesses primarily result in higher prices that are funded by consumers and increased conservative attitudes by business executives(Pavlou and Vrontis 2008, p. 297). Government interferences further affect business practices of business organizations. Factors such as infrastructure and building codes sometimes may not accommodate increased demands that are associated with particular industries which may make specific regions unsuitable for conducting businesses.
Technological Factors
When developing strategic plans, organization marketers should always keep technology in mind. The continuous change in technology impacts the demand for organizational services and products, acquisition of raw materials and production processes. Although changes in technology may create new opportunities for an organization, it may also pose threats to the survival of the organization, its products and services and the whole industry(Yam 2016, p. 67). Technology has been found to influence the buying and lifestyle patterns of consumers significantly. Development in the field of microcomputers has seen an extensive expansion of the potential customer base for businesses which has, in turn, created enormous opportunities for various industries to engage in business via the internet (Thomas 2018, p. 6) . In addition to increased use of computers in business, technology has resulted in the removal of some products from the market, factors that have led to the decline of some industries and markets.
The macro environmental forces in the business environment are trends that impact the strategic marketing of various organizations are factors that disrupt the normal business operation of multiple industries. These trends force organizations to change their usual ways of doing business to keep up with changing trends and competition. For organizations to survive in the face of these changing trends, they should be flexible and agile in their marketing processes to efficiently adapt to changes in the environment(Pavlou and Vrontis 2008, p. 305). Consequently, organizations should identify their market positions in the economy to develop and plan their marketing strategies efficiently.
Reference
Thomas, J. (2018). Macroenvironmental Forces - organization, levels, system, examples, model, company, business, competitiveness, system. Retrieved from https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Log-Mar/Macroenvironmental-Forces.html[ Accessed 13 Oct. 2018 ]
Tischler, J. (2018). Macroenvironmental Forces Affecting Marketing. Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/macroenvironmental-forces-affecting-marketing-71632.html [ Accessed 13 Oct. 2018 ]
Vrontis, D. and Pavlou, P., 2008. The external environment and its effect on strategic marketing planning: a case study for McDonald's. Journal for International Business and Entrepreneurship Development , 3 (3-4), pp.289-307.
. Yam, Y., 2016. The influence of macro and micro-environmental factors on the consumption of mobile phones and marketing strategies. pp 1-251
