Market Environment and Research

Your research resources should include the REI organization’s Web site, but you are also expected to use information about REI that has been gathered by organizations that are devoted to marketing research. These organizations are referred to as secondary sources. A short list of secondary sources is provided for you in the REI Case Study – Research Guide. Use these sites to get your research started. You are encouraged to explore further secondary sources.

For this assessment:

  • Conduct your research on REI, focusing on the following topics: 
    • How does the current U.S. economy affect REI retail operations?
    • How does the current global economy affect REI retail operations?
    • What types of legal and regulatory forces affect REI in the U.S.?
    • What types of social and culture trends affect REI?
    • What types of technology changes affect REI?
  • Based on your research, develop an organizational profile for REI’s marketing environment, analyzing the key environmental factors of the U.S. economy, global economy, legal and regulatory environment, socio-cultural forces, and technological forces.
  • Identify three or more of the secondary sources of information available for conducting market research on REI. Develop a short analysis of the value of these secondary sources, specifically in gathering information on REI. How might these secondary sources be used to develop an integrated marketing plan? How valuable would their information be in developing a marketing plan that would contribute to the company’s economic success?