International Marketing Research Process

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Chapter 3

• International Marketing Research Process

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• Questions in IMR
• Why should research be done?
• What research should be done?
• What are the firms long term goals on
• globalization?
• Is it worth doing the research?

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• Questions in IMR (contd)
• What information is needed?
• How to obtain the necessary information?
• How should the research study be
• designed?
• How can the data be analyzed and
• interpreted?

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• Research Purpose
• The first step in the research process is to
  decide why
• the research should be done - The
  Research Purpose.
• Problems or objectives to be studied
• - Which problems or opportunities are
  anticipated?
• - What is the scope of the problems and the
  possible
• reasons?

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Research Purpose (Contd.)

• Decision alternatives to be evaluated
• What are the alternatives being studied?
• What are the criteria for choosing among
• alternatives?
• What is the timing or importance of the
  decision?
• Users of research results
• Who are the decision-makers?
• Are there any covert purposes?

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• Problem or Opportunity Analysis
• Entry into a new market. Eg McDonalds setting
  up
• franchise in China
• Drop in sales in foreign territory
• Competition weaning away market share
• Decision Alternatives
• What are the alternatives being considered?
• What are the possible actions that can be taken?
• Research Users
• Who are the decision makers and what do they
  
• expect of the research project?

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• Information Requirement
• Research objective
• A research objective is a statement, in as
  precise a terminology as possible, of what
  information is needed.
• Research question
• - A research question asks what specific
  information is needed to achieve the purpose of
  the research. Eg PG determining diaper demand
  in India
• - Answers to specific product pricing and
  positioning questions

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Information Requirement (contd)

• Research question
• Researchers face the problem of Self Reference
  Criterion- A tendency to allow ones own values
  and beliefs to bias ones opinion of situations
  in foreign markets.
• Example Apple Computers in Japan

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• Unit of Analysis
• Basic unit considered in Statistical Analysis
• Clear idea of the unit of analysis, both
  at macro and micro
• levels.
• Micro-level - firms
• - customers
• - specific segments
• Macro-level - cities
• - countries

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Definitions of Urban, by Country
Country Argentina Bermuda Canada Congo Denmark Ger
many India Kenya Kuwait Nigeria Norway Singapore U
SA
Definition of Urban Localities of 400 or more
inhabitants Entire Country Areas with 1,000 or
more inhabitants Localities of 5,000 or more
inhabitants Localities of 200 or more
inhabitants Localities of 2,000 or more
inhabitants Localities of 7,000 or more
inhabitants Agglomerations of at leas 2,000
inhabitants Localities of 10,000 or more
inhabitants Localities of 20,000 or more
inhabitants Localities of 200 or more
inhabitants Entire Country Urbanized areas or
places of 2,500 or more inhabitants
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• Data Availability
• Secondary data- Some of the sources include
  banks, trade
• journals,consultants, chambers of commerce,
  etc.
• Used for initial investigation or initial
  estimation
• of potential demand
• May be outdated or inaccurate

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Primary Data

• Primary data are data originated by the
  researcher for the specific purpose of
  addressing the research problem
• Primary data has to be collected in order to
  proceed with the research process

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Types of Equivalences
EQUIVALENCE
CONSTRUCT
SAMPLING
MEASUREMENT
Are we studying the same phenomena in countries
X, Y, and Z?
Are the phenomena in countries X, Y, and Z
measure in the same way?
Are the samples used in countries X, Y, and Z
equivalent?
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Issues in Primary Data Collection One of the
issues that need to be dealt with in IMR is the
equivalence of data. The three types of
equivalence are Construct equivalence Are we
studying the same phenomenon in countries x, y,
and z? Measurement equivalence Are the
phenomenon in countries x, y, and z measured the
same way? Sampling equivalence Are the samples
used in countries x, y, and z equivalent?
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• Research Design
• The choice of research approach depends on the
  nature of the research. They can be classified
  into
• Exploratory research Is used when one is
  seeking insights into the general nature of the
  problem, the possible decision alternatives and
  relevant variables that need to be considered.
• Descriptive research The purpose of
  descriptive research is to provide an accurate
  snapshot of some aspect of the market
  environment.
• Causal research When it is necessary to go
  beyond inferring that two or more variables are
  related and the researcher has to show that one
  variable causes or determines the values of other
  variables this approach is used.

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• Qualitative Methods
• Observational Methods Based on watching how
  respondents behave.
• Projective Techniques Require respondents to
  perform a specific task like word association,
  sentence completion etc.
• Surveys
• Mail interviews
• Telephone interviews
• Personal interviews

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• Scales Used in Questionnaire Design
• Scaling is the process of creating a continuum on
  which the objects are located according to the
  amount of the measured characteristic they
  posses.
• Nominal scale The only property is identity and
  any comparisons of numbers is meaningless. Eg
  Marital status of respondents
• Ordinal scale Categories are ranked and
  arranged in order with regard to some common
  variable. Eg Finishing order of a horse race
• .

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Scales Used in Questionnaire Design (contd)

• Interval scale the numbers used to rank the
  objects also represent equal increments of the
  attribute being measured. Eg Willingness to buy
  scale with 10 categories labeled from 1 to 10.
• Ratio scale It is an interval scale with a
  meaningful zero point. It is the only scale that
  permits comparisons of absolute magnitude. Eg
  Weight, market share and dollars in saving account

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Sampling

• Steps in sampling
• Determine the level at which the sampling is to
  be conducted.
• Decide sampling frame
• Types of sampling
• Probability sampling
• Non-probability sampling
• Will be discussed in detail in Chapter 12

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• Data Analysis
• Steps in Data Analysis
• Preparing the data- Data needs to be coded and
  edited and the researcher should ensure the
  quality and reliability of the data.
• Analyzing the dataCan be done using two
  techniques
• - Univariate techniques Eg Cross tabulation,
  T-tests and analysis of variance
• - Multivariate techniquesEg Covariance,
  regression analysis, discriminant analysis,
  conjoint analysis, cluster analysis, factor
  analysis and multidimensional scaling.

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Presenting the Results

• It is a very important step because
  researchers convey the
• results of the survey to the
  decisions-makers of the firm
• commissioning the survey.
• Presentation can be written or oral depending
  on client
• preferences.