Sample Exam Paper Questions - Essay Example

Worthington and Britton (2009, p.6) define the macro environment as “those . factors .which affect a wide variety of businesses and which can emanate not only from local and national sources but also from international and supranational developments”. There are many variants, including different factors, but the framework to be used for this analysis is the STEEPLE framework, representing the Socio-cultural, Technological, Economic, Environmental, Political, Legal and Ethical factors that affect business and over which business has no control.

A macro-environmental analysis is contained within the following diagram: Figure One: Macro-Environmental Analysis for UniQlo Expansion into the UK Consumer Behaviour The British retail culture is based around a consumption model that focuses on products and the image that such products convey when seen in conjunction with the consumer. Hoyer and MacInnis (2010) identify several components that make up the consumer’s culture: diversity, social class and household influences, psychographics (including values, personality and lifestyles, and social influences.

They link these to the psychological core which includes motivation ability and opportunity; exposure, attention and perception; knowing and understanding; attitude formation and change; and memory and retrieval. This feeds into the process of making decisions (following a logical decision making process of problem recognition and information search, judgment and decision making and post-decision processes. The final element of the consumer’s culture is evidenced through the adoption of, resistance to and diffusion of innovations, symbolic consumer behaviour and ethics and the dark side of consumer behaviour.

For the UK consumer where luxury fashion is control, diversity is affected by income levels and the need for luxury goods as part of their lifestyle. With the current austerity programme being implemented within the country, only those with a substantial income who will not be affected by such things as an increase in taxes, or a reduction of income, or both, will be able to indulge in luxury goods. The consumer market for UniQlo is therefore limited by levels of income, rather than by other indicators of diversity, such as race or religion.

Social class and household influences will again be determined to a great extent by available income, whether generated by working or as income from investments. UniQlo will need to target the upper middle classes and above, who need luxury fashion items for social occasions or for their work appearance. Values in the UK appear to be undergoing substantial changes, including a more selfish outlook that sees those without work, for example, as scroungers rather than individuals who have simply lost their jobs through no fault of their own.

The same applies to those who are homeless or disabled. The focus for personalities is, as mentioned previously, the consumption of goods that convey a particular image that works for the consumer. Lifestyles will be changing for the majority of the UK population as taxes increase for those earning up to six figures per annum, and benefits reduce for those who are out of work, disabled and/or homeless. Social influences are also changing, as more people begin to object to the austerity programme and the effects of that programme begin to take effect.

There is the possibility of riots as the electorate become disenchanted with a coalition