Marketing

A PESTLE analysis typically covers the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental (PESTLE) structure of a country.

Explore the resources in this guide to find relevant databases and websites to support PESTLE research. This guide includes links to sources for company profiles, statistics, information on doing business in a country, and more. Each database will have unique information, and searching across multiple sources may help to find information on a variety of topics related to a country.

What is the political situation, and how can it affect the industry? These factors determine if, and to what extent, a government may influence the economy or a particular industry. Political factors include tax policies, fiscal policy, trade tariffs, energy and other policies and processes. These government activities may impact overall or industry-specific outcomes.

Economic factors include conditions of the overall economy, such as its growth or decline, inflation rate, interest rates, foreign exchange rates, economic growth patterns, and unemployment rates. These factors are determinants of the company's performance and longevity.

Socio-cultural factors consider such things as societal values, attitudes, and lifestyle choices that impact businesses. These factors also include demographics (population size, age distribution) and population analytics (population growth).

Technological factors pertain to innovations in technology that may impact the operations of the industry. These factors relate to automation, research and development, and the amount of awareness and knowledge that the market possesses. Technological factors can also include institutions or activities that impact technology and innovation, such as research and development consortia, patent and copyright laws, and government actions.

There are certain laws that affect the business environment in certain countries. Additionally, there are internal policies that companies set and maintain for themselves. These factors include compliance issues such as consumer, labour, minimum wage, health and safety, and anti-trust laws and regulations.

Environmental factors include those that are determined by, or influence, the surrounding area where the company is located and/or operates. This aspect is critical for industries such as tourism, farming, and agriculture. Environmental analysis can include factors such as climate, weather, geographical location, environmental offsets, and climate change.