Given the scarcity of time and/or money to have products repaired or to buy new ones, consumers look for offerings that endure. Time has become the scarce resource as the result of the prevalence of dual income-earning households. Convenience is a critical source of differential advantage, particularly in foods and services. In addition, youth are making or influencing more household purchasing decisions than ever before. Moreover, as the population ages, time pressures become more widespread and acute. Consumers are going to need innovative and, in some cases, almost customized solutions. With time generally scarcer than money, offerings that ease time pressures will garner higher margins. For example, today’s average consumer, more often than not a woman, takes just 21 minutes to do her shopping from the moment she slams her car door in a supermarket parking lot to the moment she climbs back in with her purchases. In that time, she buys an average of 18 items, out of 30,000 to 40,000 choices. She has less time to browse; it is down 25% from five years ago. She isn’t even bothering to check prices. She wants the same product, at the same prices, in the same row, week after week. Under such a scenario it does not make sense for P&G to make 55 price changes a day across 110 brands, offering 440 promotions a year, tinkering with package size, color and contents. To keep up with time, after 159 years P&G changed the name of its sales department to Customer Business Development, and let consumers drive supply than to force-feed retailers by making them buy more products than they can sell. To implement this concept involved everything from truck schedules to helping clean retailers’ shelves of accumulated grime. It has prompted the tight-lipped company to share its consumer research with retailers. Gone are 27 types of promotions. All in all, P&G hopes to save $1.35 billion by the turn of the century.

Quality. Given the standards set by the influx of imported products, American consumers have developed a new set of expectations regarding quality; hence, they assign high priorities to those offerings that provide optimal price/quality. We are witnessing a move toward the adoption of a greater price/quality orientation in mass markets. There will continue to be a strong general desire for authenticity and lasting quality. Consumers will require fewer and more durable products rather than more ephemeral, novelty products. Heightened consumer expectations will translate into trying a manufacturer once. If the value, the quality, or the intrinsic characteristics that the consumer demands are not found, the consumer will not return to that manufacturer.

Health. A large and growing segment of the American population has become increasingly preoccupied with health. Health concerns are a function of both an aging population and changing predispositions. America is hungry for health and is impatient for its achievement. Industry experts are predicting that nutritional tags, such as “low in fat,” will probably be the newest food fad to sweep the United States. There is some consensus that a diet rich in soluble fiber and low in fat and a lifestyle that includes plenty of regular exercise reduce cholesterol. As an aging population strives to maintain its youth and vitality, alcohol and tobacco consumption and other unhealthy dietary habits will continue to decline. In short, American consumers have become highly health conscious. The impact of this trend will not only be felt in the grocery store but in the travel and hospitality sectors of the economy, as well as in an array of services that contribute to lifelong wellness.

Environment. Perhaps the 1990s became the “earth decade.” A growing number of Americans consider themselves “environmentalists.” Outdoor activities, such as rock-climbing expeditions and whitewater rafting, are superseding more vicarious, passive ways of spending time. This heightened appreciation of the outdoors is being translated in choice criteria in the marketplace. Hence, more and more marketers are pressured into adopting “green” strategies; that is, offering products and services that are beneficial to the environment.

Home. In a more domesticated society, the many technological innovations of recent years are making staying at home more fun. Some of the most beneficial advances of this home-centered decade are in the design and construction of houses that resemble self-contained entertainment/educational activity centers. The recent slump in the housing market has rebounded, and opportunities for marketers to provide creative, more personalized, high-value offerings in home furnishings are evolving.

Personal Finance. Most experts on consumer behavior expect that in the new century, people will be more frugal than they were in the past. The slow-andsteady consumer approach spawned by an attitude for upscale products that may outstrip finances makes every purchase especially important. We are witnessing several important consumer finance trends. First, consumers continue to seek out the best price/value before buying and accordingly place downward pressure on seller profit margins. Second, American consumers may have the income to spend freely, but recent economic difficulties nonetheless have caused them to remain cautious. Finally, quality is insisted upon, and a competitive premium price is willingly paid for performance and durability.

Diversity of Lifestyles. The predominance of diverse lifestyles is reflected by the significant increase in the number and the stature of women in the labor market. The increased presence of women in the labor force has dramatically influenced how men and women relate to one another and the personal and professional roles assumed by each. With 70 percent of women holding jobs outside the home, millions of men are doing chores their fathers would never have dreamed of. For example, men bought 25 percent of the groceries in the United States in 1991, up from 17 percent five years earlier. There has also been a dramatic change in racial integration and improved race relations. The United States has also witnessed the development of openly gay and lesbian lifestyles as well as an increase in the number of unmarried, cohabitating relationships. Significant changes in attitudes toward work and careers have also resulted in a new sense of independence and individuality. Accordingly, there has been an upsurge in the number of people who are self-employed. Experts hold that this pattern of social diversity will likely continue into the future. Social diversity creates opportunities for marketers to develop personalized offerings that allow individuals to derive satisfaction in the pursuit of different living alternatives. In conclusion, American consumers will continue to search for basic values and will experience heightened ethical awareness. Consumers will still care about what things cost, but they will value only things that will endure family, community, earth, faith. Information on social trends may be derived from published sources. The impact of social trends on a particular business can be studied in-house or with the help of outside consultants. Anumber of consulting firms specialize in studying social trends.

Let us examine the strategic impact of two of the value shifts mentioned above: orientation toward time and concern for health. Consider the retail industry. Little is being done to support consumers in their quest to reduce shopping stress, although stress is a major consumer concern. Fast service has been the basis for growth for a number of well-known firms, among them American Express, McDonald’s, and Federal Express; however, only a small but significant number of businesses have recognized and responded to the consumer’s lack of free time for shopping and service transactions:

• Dayton-Hudson has moved away from a maze-like floor design to a center aisle design, making it easier for customers to find their way through the store. At Childworld, toys are coordinated in learning centers so that buyers can examine and play with products. Management feels that this arrangement enables buyers to shop more quickly.

• A new firm, Shopper’s Express, is assisting large chains such as A&P and Safeway by taking telephone orders and delivering merchandise.

• Rather than forcing the consumer to sit at home for an entire day awaiting a service call, GE, for years, has been making specific service appointments.

• Sears now offers six-day-a-week and evening repair service. In addition, in specifying when a repair person will arrive, Sears assigns a two-hour window.

• Montgomery Ward authorizes 7,700 sales clerks to approve sales checks and handle merchandise returns on their own, eliminating the time needed to get a floor manager’s approval.

• Burger King uses television monitors that enable drive-up customers to see the waiter and the order.

• A&P, Shop Rite, and Publix are experimenting with automated grocery checkout systems that reduce waiting time in checkout lines.

• Wegman’s, a supermarket chain in Rochester, New York, has a computer available for entering deli orders so that the customer does not have to wait to be served.

The customer simply enters the order and picks it up on the way out of the store. More and more companies need to focus on developing shopping support systems and environments that help customers move through the buying process quickly. For firms that pride themselves for providing customers with a leisurely shopping environment, this will be a radical departure. Firms accepting this challenge will be able to support and stay closer to their customers through such changes. In addition, firms that help customers reduce shopping time will be able to differentiate themselves from competitors more easily. For health reasons, salads and fish are replacing the traditional American dinner of meat and potatoes. Vegetarianism is on the rise. According to Time, about 8 million Americans call themselves vegetarians. Increasing varieties of decaffeinated coffee and tea and substitutes for sugar and salt are crowding supermarket shelves. Shoppers are reading the small print to check for artificial ingredients in foods and beverages that they once bought without a thought. Smoking is finally declining. Manufacturers and retailers of natural foods are building a healthy “health industry.” Even products that do not easily accommodate healthier choices are being redeveloped in response to consumer concerns. For example, Dunkin Donuts has yanked the egg yolks from all but four of its 52 varieties to make its donuts cholesterol-free. Fast food firms McDonald’s Corporation and Hardee’s Food Systems, for example have introduced low-fat foods into their menus. The nation’s dramatic new awareness of health is prompting these changes. The desire to feel better, look younger, and live longer exerts a powerful influence on what people put into their bodies. This strong force is now moving against a well-entrenched habit that affects millions and dates back to biblical times the consumption of too much alcohol. Health substitutes for alcoholic beverages, labeled “dealcoholized” beverages, are now being offered to American consumers

. For some time, gourmet food shops have stocked champagne-like bottles of carbonated grape juice and cans containing a not-fully-brewed mixture of water, malt, corn, yeast, and hops. Except for their packaging, these alcohol-free imitations failed to resemble wine and beer, especially in the crucial area of taste. New dealcoholized beverages, however, are fully fermented, or brewed, before their alcohol is separated out either by pressure or heat to below an unnoticeable 0.5 percent, the federal maximum before classifying a drink as alcoholic. The taste and body of the new beverages match that of their former alcoholized selves. This 0.5 percent level is so low that a drinker would need to consume 24 glasses of dealcoholized wine or 8 cans of dealcoholized beer to obtain the amount of alcohol in one 4-ounce glass of regular wine or one 12-ounce can of regular beer. Thus, the drinker avoids not only intoxication but also worthless calories. A regular glass of wine or beer has about 150 calories, while their dealcoholized copies contain about 40 to 60 calories, respectively. And their prices are the same. Introduced in Europe about five years ago, dealcoholized wines are slowly making headway in the United States.

Regulatory Environment

Government influence on business appears to be increasing. It is estimated that businesses spend, on the average, twice as much time fulfilling government requirements today as they did 10 years ago. Consider the case of Frito-Lay, which has long been America’s leading salty snack company. In recent years, the PepsiCo Subsidiary, whose offerings include Lay’s Potato Chips and Rold Gold Pretzels, has boosted its industry market share from 38% to 55%. Because of this stellar performance, the Justice Department suspects that something must be rancid at Frito-Lay. The Justice Department is said to be looking hard at Frito-Lay’s use of shelf allowances, a common retailing practice in which manufacturers pay stores up to $100,000 a foot for desirable shelf space. Among other things, investigators want to know if Frito-Lay has been purchasing more space than it needs in order to muscle out competitors. Since 1990, Frito-Lay has beaten a number of competitors. Anheuser-Busch sold its Eagle Snack division to Frito-Lay in 1996 after persistently losing money since they entered the field in 1979. Another wellknown casualty was Borden, whose market share declined from 12% to 5%. Dozens of independent regional snack companies have folded in recent years. Frito-Lay makes no bones about it and asks, Is it really a crime to be better than everyone else? Interestingly, government in recent years has changed its emphasis from regulating specific industries to focusing on problem areas of national interest, including environmental cleanup, elimination of job discrimination, establishment of safe working conditions, and reduction of product hazards. A number of steps have been taken toward deregulation of various industries. This shift in focus in the regulatory environment deeply affects the internal operations of business. To win or even survive in the competitive, free-for-all environment that follows deregulation, companies in once-regulated industries must make some hard choices. Astute management can avoid some of the trauma by developing an explicit strategy to operate in a deregulated environment well in advance of the event, rethinking relationships with customers, considering new roles to play in the market, and realigning their organizations accordingly. To study the impact of the regulatory environment, that is, of laws already on the books and of pending legislation, legal assistance is required. Small firms may seek legal assistance on an ad hoc basis. Large firms may maintain offices in Washington staffed by people with legal backgrounds who are well versed in the company’s business, who know important government agencies from the point of view of their companies, who maintain a close liaison with them, and who pass on relevant information to planners in different departments of their companies.