Twenty Years, the Traditional Funeral in America Featured "Rapid Removal

Multiple Choice

Twenty years, the traditional funeral in America featured "rapid removal of the corpse to a funeral parlor, embalming, institutionalized 'viewing,' and disposal by burial." Today the traditional funeral ritual does not exist. Several changes have and are occurring that makes the job of the funeral director much more difficult. People are wanting more personalized funerals with caskets in school colors and personal items buried with deceased. Traditional funeral homes and casket suppliers are having to rethink their marketing plans because cremations now account for one in four American funerals. In addition, discount casket stores often sell their wares at half the average $2,176 price of funeral homes-and still make a profit. Cemeteries are expanding into flowers, ceremonies and other services that once were the exclusive available through funeral homes. Funeral management is certainly not a " growth" industry since deaths in America are projected to increase by only 21, 000 a year for the next 10 years.
-Since most Asians have different burial customs than we do in the United States, it is imperative that funeral directors track the rapid growth of minority markets in this country in order to remain profitable. The tracking of the growth of minorities is an example of a(n) _____ force in the macroenvironment of funeral homes.

A) technology
B) economic
C) political and legal
D) competitive
E) demographic