There are two approaches organizations can follow while responding to the environmental forces of marketing forces. These are popularly known as reactive marketing and proactive marketing:
1. Reactive Marketing
The reactive marketing views marketing environmental forces as totally uncontrollable and difficult to predict. This is a passive approach, under which, the organization tries to adjust its marketing mix and program according to the changes in the environment. The adjustments take place only after changes occur in the environment. The organization analyses the environmental changes and finds suitable way to avoid the threat and utilize the new opportunities in the market. In essence, they wait for the environment to change and react only after the change takes place.
2. Proactive Marketing
Organizations that adopt the environmental management perspective follows proactive marketing. Proactive marketing believes that although many of the environmental forces such as demography, economy, culture and natural factors are not controllable, the environmental forces such as politics, law and technology can be influenced by correct and calculated moves. Proactive marketing uses political, psychological, economic and public relations skills ti influence the environmental forces to the organization's benefits. The technique of political lobbying, financing political parties and elections, using publicity to shape public opinion and many others are used by organizations to bring the environmental forces to their favor.
