The External Environment Social and Demographic Influence

Social and Demographic Influences Marketing strategy is heavily influenced by the consumers themselves To deal with this, marketers heavily analyze demographics and social trends Demographics is the study of a population’s charateritics Size Growth rates Age Location Gender Income

Demographics: Size and Age Gap Minder Canada’s current population is 36.29 Million. Canada’s growth rate is usually around 1.3% compares to the USA at 1% and Europe at 0.4% Canada’s current population is currently aging, in 1991 the median age was 33.5. As of 2001 the median age was 37 This trend in an aging population is largely due to baby boomers. A generation that was born between 1946-1964 This aging population has been a growing challenge to marketers as there is much less younger people to sell their products to (Currently, marketers main target is people in their 20s) Recent trends, therefore, have had marketers focusing on the older population

Location Location Canada has consistently moved from rural areas to the city over the last decades. British Columbia and Ontario far exceed the national average 51% of Urban Canadians live in four areas: Montreal, The Golden Horseshoe, Calgary/Edmonton, and the Lower Mainland Calgary currently has the fasted urbanization rate of any Canadian city Marketers focus on areas with the highest populations. It is therefore, extremely important to pay attention to cities and their growth rate

Family Formation Birth Rates Families in Canada have gone through massive changes over the years 38% of marriages now end in divorce. A rate actually down from 41% in the 80s More and more adults are waiting later to have children and preferring instead to focus on their careers The average Canadian family size is now currently 2.6, down from 2.9 in 1981 Most families now have to incomes coming in due to the cost in living increasing Gay and lesbian families have also increased which have rapidly change marketing strategies Recent studies have shown gay and lesbian families to use more personal care items such as gel (3x), face moistures (75%^), and bathing items (2^)

Spending Power and Wealth Income Slow productivity growth has caused prices in Canada to rise faster then Canadian Incomes Moreover, taxes have slowly risen which has continually shrunken the wealth of the “middle class” Meanwhile, the upper class has stayed strong and 2.7% of Canadians earn more than $100,000 annually (up from 1.7% 10 years earlier) Because of this marketers have been focusing on extremely high end products such as luxury cars and jewelry, as well as extremely discounted items and stores such as Walmart

Education The majority of new jobs in North America are heavily based on technology, it is vital therefore that Canadians get a good education Canada is the most highly educated member of the Organization for Economic and Co-Operation Development, and one of the most highly educated countries in the world Currently 20% of Working Canadians have a University degree and 21% have a College Degree Customers are now more informed and take more time choosing what they purchase Moreover Canadians are buying technology faster than almost any other country and are using the internet more and more to buy these items

Multiculturalism Canada is one of the world most diverse countries and continues to move further this way As of 2010, 18.4% of people in Canada were born in a foreign country Marketers have been very slow to react to this trend but are moving more and more towards this trend The main foreign focus group in Canada being targets now are those of Chinese Ancestry