Trends

Essay text:

Demographic/Generational ? Rapid aging population and changing family structure ? Generation Y coming through as a dominate buying force ? Exposure to technology happening earlier in life Geographical Trends ? Cities are spreading and therefore travel time to and from work is increasing ? Increase in air travel has allowed people to visit and relocate to other countries ? The threat of terrorism has resulted in borders becoming tighter and visa's/immigration becoming more secure Social Trends ? Growing trend of online social networks and the demise of the local community group ? Equality between men and women has increased pressure on females to be able to have a career and look after a family ? Change in family dynamics has seen the modern family unit move away from a traditional family structure of two parents and two children ? There is a growing trend for lower and middle class consumers to aspire to and purchase luxury products previously considered only for the upper class ? The life cycle in the 21st century has slowed down due to the extended life expectancy allowing people to put off marriage and children to later in life Economic and Work trends ? Rise in purchasing power in the last decade has allowed for more disposable income, this is the result of Australia's improvement in trade agreements with other countries ? The current value of the Australian dollar has resulted in imported goods becoming cheaper and the ability to buy products from overseas more likely ? In 2005-2006 there was a distinct increase in disposable income and as a result this increased the consumer consumption nationally ? Housing affordability has decreased and first home buyers are more likely to continue to rent or return to their family home to save money ? International working relationships are increasing as borders are broken down through technology Politics and Legal ? Federal election at the end of the year could affect sales through nervous customers ? Copyright laws are increasing being acted on ? Piracy is an ongoing issue that is being addressed ? Import and export laws are changing depending on Australia's political aliances Technical Advances ? The ability for smaller technology devices (eg the old brick mobile now can be as small as your hand) ? The result of recent development has seen technology devices capable of multiple functions (eg mobile phone with MP3, Video and Photo roles) ? Color resolution, video talk, m4a wav files, WFI, Bluetooth and blue ray are all advances that are being integrated into everyday devices ? Development of technology has deemphasised the need for physical social networks Micro environment - issues specific to organization ? Small share of market ? Some criticism of how product operates and its aesthetics Macro environment ? issues from the industry ? Ipod lead player in Australia