Factors affecting our Social Environment Social environment includes cultural norms and values. All of these factors are able to affect our attitudes, our opinions and our interests, thereby directly impacting product sales and services by businesses and revenues earned.We as people are shaped by these factors and our behaviour, even our attitudes towards what we buy, are all affected by these. Of the various environments stated above, the social and cultural environment has the greatest impact on the policies and performance of all business firms. This environment poses a serious challenge to the business, and the business managers while formulating business strategies and policies should give due weight to this pivotal factor.Social environment is concerned with the environment of society as a whole — of which every one involved. Social factors affecting business include buying habits, education level, and religion. Sociological factors establish the culture of work, labor mobility, work groups etc, hence, business operation of an enterprise. The social environment consists of the sum total of a society’s beliefs, customs, practices, and behaviors. 1. social classes and their influence on the society, 2. average disposable income level, 3. wealth of people, 4. economic inequalities, 5. level of education, 6. access to education (free, paid), 7. level and access to health-care, 8. health consciousness in society (smoking, drinking, drug use, safe driving, etc. These factors include cost structure, customs and conventions, cultural heritage, peoples’ view towards wealth and income and scientific methods, seniority respect, mobility of labor (Shaikh 2010). As social attitudes, beliefs and values change, so does … Political, economic and religious institutions constitute an important part of the social milieu and often decide how the environmental resources will be utilized by … Here is a good example. Every society constructs its own social environment. When you talk about the social aspects, you focus on the societal forces. Two examples of the impact these factors have on leading companies.
Like other forces in the external environment, social factors change continually. Here is an explanation of the factors that make up the external and internal social factors affecting business, and how they affect them. The country’s social environment affects the functioning of the business since it determines the value system of the society. Businesses can’t control external factors but must respond to them. Some of the customs, beliefs, practices, and behaviors are similar across cultures… Social and Cultural Environment: The social factors that affect a firm include the values, attitudes, beliefs, opinions and life-styles of persons in the firm’s external environment, as developed from demographic, cultural, religions, educational and ethnic conditioning. So, these could be family, friends, neighbours, colleagues and even the media. These political, economic, social, technological, environmental and competitive factors are represented by the acronym PESTEC. Social Environment Definition. A business also creates a social environment consisting of its own organizational values, norms, customs and practices.