The impact of environmental scanning on marketing strategy can be illustrated with reference to videotext technology. Videotex technology—the merging of computer and communications technologies—delivers information directly to the consumer. In relation to bargain holidays and / or package holidays, the consumer may instantly view desired textual and visual information from on-line databases on television screens or other video receivers by pushing the appropriate buttons or typing the proper commands. Possibilities for business and personal use of videotex are as endless as the imagination.
Consumers are already utilizing videotex for shopping, travel, personal protection, financial transactions, and entertainment, in greater privacy and autonomy than ever before. With the mechanism for getting things done most efficiently and cost effectively, marketing strategists have begun to explore the implications of videotex on marketing decisions. Videotex will alter the demand for certain kinds of goods and services and the ways in which consumers interact with marketing activities.