Marketers must be continuously looking for events in the marketplace that might affect their offerings. These changes in the marketplace might be opportunities to capitalize on or threats that must be managed. The process of continually gathering information on and interpreting the trends found in the external environment is called environmental scanning.

Performing an Environmental Scan of Today's 

MarketplaceMarketers must be continuously looking for events in the marketplace that might affect their offerings. These changes in the marketplace might be opportunities to capitalize on or threats that must be managed. The process of continually gathering information on and interpreting the trends found in the external environment is called environmental scanning.

Firms conducting environmental scanning are likely to discover many changes in the external marketplace. For example, are more consumers avoiding foods that contain trans fats? Is there new technology in development that will allow computers to use all five senses to create intelligent data collection and personalized predictive capabilities? Environmental forces typically arise from five sources: social, economic, technological, competitive, or regulatory.