Syllabus: Cambridge - IGCSE Business Studies
Module: 3.1 Marketing Competition and the Customer
Lesson: 3.1.2 Market Changes
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Introduction
This article is aligned with the Cambridge IGCSE Business Studies syllabus, specifically Unit 3.1.2: Market Changes, within the broader topic of Marketing: Competition and the Customer. Understanding market dynamics equips students to recognise how businesses must adapt to consumer needs, competitor actions, and technological change—an essential part of commercial awareness and workplace readiness.
This unit underpins a wide range of real-world business decisions and is highly relevant for curriculum delivery, careers education, and Gatsby Benchmark 4, which mandates linking curriculum learning to careers.
Key Concepts
According to the Cambridge IGCSE specification, students must understand how and why markets change, and the impact of these changes on businesses. Key syllabus-aligned concepts include:
Changes in consumer spending patterns and incomes
Increased competition due to globalisation
Impact of new technologies on products and production methods
How businesses respond to market changes through:
Developing new products
Adjusting pricing strategies
Entering or exiting markets
Investing in innovation or automation
Students are expected to apply these ideas to case scenarios and demonstrate critical thinking on how businesses adapt to external pressures.
Real-World Relevance
Market change is not theoretical. Businesses continually adjust in response to real conditions. For example:
Retail Evolution: The collapse of Wilko in the UK showed how failure to adapt to online retail and discount competitors can be fatal. In contrast, Aldi and Lidl thrived by meeting changing price sensitivities and consumer preferences.
Tech Shifts: Streaming services like Netflix disrupted traditional TV by identifying a market gap, while Blockbuster failed to pivot, leading to its decline.
Fast Fashion: Zara leads in adapting to changing consumer tastes through rapid supply chain innovation, staying ahead of competitors in a volatile market.
Case studies like these show students how market changes impact strategic decisions, encouraging transferable thinking beyond exams.
How It’s Assessed
Students are assessed through various question types that test knowledge, application, analysis, and evaluation:
Knowledge & understanding: Define and describe market changes (e.g. “State two reasons why markets change”).
Application: Apply changes to specific contexts (e.g. “Explain how a new competitor could affect a small bakery”).
Analysis: Explore business responses (e.g. “Analyse how a business might respond to falling incomes”).
Evaluation: Judgement-based responses (e.g. “Do you think investing in new technology is the best way to respond to market changes?”).
Command words such as identify, explain, analyse, and evaluate are central to IGCSE Business Studies. Teachers should emphasise progression from simple identification to analytical depth.
Enterprise Skills Integration
Understanding market change supports several commercial capabilities, especially:
Problem-Solving: Students consider how a business reacts when demand falls or competitors enter.
Decision-Making: Learners evaluate different strategic options and justify the best response.
Strategic Thinking: Scenarios encourage students to weigh risks, predict market behaviour, and plan responses.
These link directly to our thematic priorities of Decision-Making & Problem-Solving and Commercial Awareness.
Skills Hub Futures activities like “Customer Focus” and “Innovation Thinking” reinforce these concepts with real business case tools and workplace application.
Careers Links
This unit provides clear links to Gatsby Benchmark 4, “Linking curriculum learning to careers”:
Marketing Roles: Brand manager, marketing analyst, digital strategist
Product Development: UX designer, innovation lead
Business Strategy: Management consultant, business analyst
Through programmes like Skills Hub Futures, students explore these roles through employer-set challenges and workplace-relevant tasks.
Real business simulations also support Gatsby Benchmarks 5 and 6 by enabling encounters with employers and simulated workplace experience.
Teaching Notes
Top Teaching Tips:
Use local examples: Bring relevance to the topic by identifying how local businesses have responded to market shifts.
Scenario-building: Create role-play situations where students act as managers responding to sudden market changes (e.g. new competition, tech disruption).
Link to assessments: Train students on command words by having them rewrite case study questions into different levels of Bloom’s taxonomy.
Common Pitfalls:
Students often generalise “market change” without specifying what changed and how a business might adapt.
Many learners confuse competition with market change—reinforce that increased competition is one of many possible changes.
Extension Activities:
Business Simulation: Use Skills Hub’s “Market Dynamics Challenge” to allow students to simulate pricing and product decisions in a shifting market.
Data Tasks: Give students real-world market research or spending trend data and ask them to identify implications for businesses.
Cross-Curricular Link: Pair with ICT or Computer Science to explore how tech innovation drives market change.
