Migration
- Movement of people between countries or regions
- Immigration – movement of people into the country
- 1/7 of people are migrants
Urbanisation
- Movement of people from rural areas to urban areas (towns and cities)
- Degree of urbanisation: the percentage of the population living in urban areas
Key Business Implications of Demographic Change
- Rising population will increase demand for goods and services
- Impact on per capita income
- Rapid growth in urbanisation in emerging economies is linked with growth of a more affluent middle class
- Impact of net inward migration on public services—pressure on government spending
- Ageing population will provide increasing opportunities for businesses targeting older consumers
- However these changes occur slowly
- Ageing population has implications for labour supply - how will businesses source their workforce requirements
Business Responses to Demographic Change
- Close stores, open smaller
- Pricing decisions
- Establishing alliances
- New product development—throw away society, leisure, holidays
- New market development—cooking boxes
- Use of social media and online business 24/7 society
Qs
Identify and explain two examples of how social change in relation to urbanisation and migration might affect business in the UK or globally.
- Increasing urbanisation would increase the size of cities. Bigger cities means that it makes more sense for businesses to deploy more stores in urban areas, whilst closing more remote locations as there popularity would decrease
- If people are migrating to a country, they may not be adept at communicating in English which could put strain on businesses trying to hire them. Therefore, it might make sense for businesses to either offer to fund English lessons for these people, or provide accommodations for people who do not wish to use English. If the business does this, they can likely increase productivity.
Identify and explain three examples of how changes in consumer lifestyles and buying behaviour might affect business in the UK.
- If a country becomes more urbanised, then people will likely reach more affluent lifestyles. This will increase the demand for luxury products and decrease the demand for budget ones. This change could threaten pound stores, possibly encouraging them to offer some higher end items, whilst it will also likely boost more premium stores, especially those selling commodities.
- As the internet becomes an increasingly popular as a place to shop, consumers will become less likely to make purchases in stores and more likely to prefer online purchases. This will incentivize businesses to provide online shopping options, and possibly even close stores.
- In an ageing population, the demand for certain products like skateboards will likely decline. Because of this, businesses that sell products targeted at youths will likely need to diversify their offerings to provide value to older members of society, or they will need to outcompete other players in the market to hold their revenue.