Identifying Opportunities in Economic and Regulatory Trends

1)    Economic Trends: Combat climate change and decrease food prices

A.    Combat climate change

B.    Decrease food prices

Regulatory Trends:

C.     Growing use of health warnings on packages

D.    Greater enforcement of age limits on social media  

2)    A. Combat climate change:  

a)     https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/climate-change/

b)    Climate change is a current issue that the world is experiencing amidst a pandemic outbreak. In the article, climate change is creating constant impacts on the environment and quality of life for humans and living organisms. Some of the impacts are rising sea levels, closures of food production, and catastrophic flooding. An opportunity for this problem exists because it is preventable if there is no human interference with the climate system, which can prevent any dangerous impacts caused by global warming. There are different treaties and pacts that have been created to combat such a crisis, such as the Paris Agreement and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

c)     The mostly prototypical customers with the opportunity are scientists and those who are working to combat the rising issues caused by climate change.

d)    This opportunity is rather difficult exploit. Climate change has been an issue that counties worldwide have been combating for decades now. However, they may not have been successful as they hoped, but they did levitate some of the causes. The climate is constantly changing characteristic in the environment; therefore, it is difficult to manage and control. But with constant persistence work by those invested in an issue as this one, the problem could possibly be solved or even hindered from expanding at the rate it is.

B. Decrease food prices

a) https://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/08/fight-food-costs.asp

b) Food prices have been rising drastically over the years. Technology is becoming more advanced, driving the economy forward in a positive direction. As a result, there have been increases in product, such as food. There are some actions that people can take to combat or even decrease food prices. For example, customers can eat at home more and put on blinders to prevent themselves from over purchasing while at the stores.

c) The prototypical customer of this opportunity will be the everyday citizen who grocery shops. The rising prices in food has a drastic effect on these customers, particularly those with kids and pets at homes.

d) The opportunity is relatively easy to exploit. Decreasing food prices is an issue that can be combatting very easily and quickly. Prices change daily, so customers are more or less apt to purchase items.

  

C. Growing use of health warnings on packages

a) https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-requires-new-health-warnings-cigarette-packages-and-advertisements

b) The FDA is trying to implement new health warnings on the packages for cigarettes. They plan on making the warnings brighter and more colorful to catch the attention of potential customers. The new warnings will help increase the public awareness of the lesser known impacts that cigarettes can cause.

c) The prototypical customer will be those who are more inclined to purchased cigarettes to feed an addiction. Hopefully, they will be persuaded not to purchase them after seeing the new warning labels.

d) The opportunity of implementing new health warnings are relatively easy to exploit. Health warnings are not a difficult process to create. They are easy to revise and put on packages that may pose as a threat to human health. However, the question whether or not they are successful may be hard to answer.

D. Greater enforcement of age limits on social media

a) https://www.netnanny.com/blog/the-importance-of-social-media-age-restrictions/

b) Social media is the new platform of communication and can be ever so controlling. An age restriction is needed to prevent younger kids from being exposed to content that is not suitable or appropriate to see. An age restriction is easy to impose on any social media. If a user does not meet the minimum age requirement, they will not be allowed to create an account. Also, they are security and sensitive settings that block such content, as well. There needs to be a way to greater enforce underage kids from signing up for accounts on social media. Perhaps, they need to require more way of verification to ensure the age of a user.

c) The prototypical customer will be kids between the age of 13-17, when they are first introduced to social media. Also, the parents of the kids will be a prototypical customer to ensure the safety of their children.

d) The opportunity is relatively easy to exploit. Implementing age restrictions on social media is not hard, but the overall effectiveness is difficult to measure. As mentioned above, the new age enforcement can be equipped with greater verification to ensure no one is underaged.

3)    A. I see combating climate change to be a potential opportunity. Climate change has been in the news recently and a worldwide problem due to increasing temperatures and rising sea levels, which can a plethora of impacts on life and society. With the new advancements in technology and science, there is a demand to tackle this problem and the chances of being successful are heightened tremendously. I always try my best to protect the environment in any way possible to ensure the safety of its inhabitants and the quality of human life. A stance against climate change can improve the health of nature and prevent any harm on living organisms.

B. Decreasing food prices is an opportunity that I can see being successful in society. Prices are constantly changing each day as customers’ demand change. Customers can take matters into their own hands to decrease the price of food. For example, customers can eat at home more, shop without the kids, and ensure they are not shopping on an empty stomach. Being a college student, a rise in food prices only puts a bigger hold on my finances and spending that are available to me. A decrease in food prices would help out families and college students, so they can save money on groceries.

C. I do believe there is an opportunity for the implementation of more health warnings on packages. In modern society, access to products, such as cigarettes and tobacco, has been made easier for children and minors. Thus, the need for new warning labels to further discourage the purchases of such products. Even though I do not smoke, I have family members and friends who do smoke and it is easy for to see the side effects of the tobacco on their physical and mental health. I believe it is important to persuade customers from not purchasing such products to prevent any health problems or tragedies, especially in underaged users.

D. Living in a modern society, social media has overtaken the world by storm. Businesses and school all operate through some form of social media. Kids at a young age are exposed to social media, which may be inappropriate to some viewers. Therefore, I do believe there is an opportunity to enforce greater age limits on social media. I have seen the effects that social media has on the mental and physical state of the younger generations. They become addicted and soon cannot leave the platform. It damages their mind, which may prevent them from achieving great grades in school and focusing on their health. Also, the content on social media may be too explicit for younger audiences to be exposed; thus, why an age limit needs to be enforced more greatly. Young kids and teens do not need to be exposed to adult-like content that social media allows access to for free after signing up for an account. Greater forms of verifications need to be implemented to ensure no one is underaged and certain content is hidden.