RESEARCH:  UNDERSTANDING THE MARKETING ENVIRONMENT
 To correctly identify opportunities and threats to their product,  marketing managers need to understand the marketing environment in which  the products operate. Using the product/service you chose in your  Discussion Board assignment, complete the following:
 Industry Research
 * Using the AIU library's First Research web resource (click on Find  Web Sources and search "First Research"), conduct secondary research on  the industry in which your product/service operates. Click here for the  research requirements and guide for this assignment.
 * From your research and what you have learned in the textbook,  identify three (3) marketing environment forces that will impact this  type of product/service. Describe each force and analyze why & how  it will impact the product/service. The marketing environment forces are  covered in Chapter 3, pages 65-89.
 * Explore strategies to overcome the threats and/or capitalize on opportunities. 
 Your paper MUST include a reference list. All research should be cited  in the body of the paper. In-text citations and corresponding references  should be included in your paper. For more information on APA, please  visit the APA Lab. The paper should be written in third person; this  means pronouns like "I", "we", and "you" are not appropriate. The use of  direct quotes is strongly discouraged.
 Your assignment should contain a cover page, an abstract page, and a  reference page in addition to the body. The body of the paper should be 3  pages in length starting with a brief one paragraph introduction and  ending with a short conclusion. The entire submission will be 6 pages in  length.