SEPT analysis, aka PEST analysis stands for: "Political, Economic, Social, and Technological analysis." It describes a tool used in the analysis of the acceptance of further activities. STEP provides a certain overview of the different factors that the organizations must to take into consideration in choosing future alternatives. It is a useful for understanding the potential and direction of these alternatives.

➢    Social factors include the cultural aspects. Trends in social factors determine the demand for a particular alternative. The social/cultural bent includes many aspects such as: facts, assumptions and prejudices.

➢    Economic factors include economic cost of the alternative. These factors have major impacts on the acceptance of the alternative

➢    Political factors, or how and to what degree a government/politicians intervenes in the economy.

➢    Technological factors include state of technology; time and cost of developing new technology; potential breakthroughs; and total life cycle costs such as; R&D costs and manufacturing costs; implementation costs and disposal costs of the alternative under study. Technological shifts can affect costs, quality, and lead to innovation.

SEPT analysis can be used with other futurist’s tools, such as the Kepner Tregoe decision analysis process and SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats), and FAB (Future Alternatives Bracketing), among others