International Marketing Research

1
International Marketing Research

• Aim To examine the tasks involved and techniques
  used in international marketing research and to
  develop a coherent and sequential approach to
  the collection, analysis and use of data in
  respect of international markets.

2
International Marketing Research (cont.)

• What is Marketing Research?

3
International Marketing Research (cont.)

• Marketing Research is the systematic gathering,
  recording and analysing of data to provide
  information useful in marketing decision making.
• (Cateora)

4
International Marketing Research (cont.)

• Marketing research tools and techniques used in
  domestic and international marketing are the
  same.
• Method of application may change with the
  environment.
• Operational problems of carrying out market
  research are likely to vary from country to
  country.

5
International Marketing Research (cont.)

• What kind of issues might a company address
  through export market research?

6
International Marketing Research (cont.)

• Major issues
• In which foreign markets can company products be
  sold profitably?
• Which countries offer the best prospects?
• What sales volume and margin can be expected in
  each market?

7
Major issues (cont.)

• Does the foreign market require any modification
  of the product?
• What distribution channels and arrangements
  should be employed in selling to a particular
  market?
• How sensitive is the market demand to product
  price?
• What should the landed/retail price be?
• What performance criteria should be used to
  monitor company activity in each foreign market?

8
The International Marketing Research Process

• Problem Formulation
• Translation of management problem into research
  problem
• Establishing research objectives
• Research Method and Design
• Sources of information

9
The International Marketing Research Process
(cont.)

• Data Collection
• Secondary sources
• Primary sources
• In-house
• Outside suppliers
• Analysis and Interpretation

10
The International Marketing Research Process
(cont.)

• Reporting/Presentation of Results
• Results
• Conclusions
• Recommendations

11
Problem Areas in International Marketing Research

• Where would you anticipate problems in
  international marketing research?

12
Problem Areas in International Marketing Research
(cont.)

• Problem Formulation
• Ideas of total problem initially often vague
• Unfamiliar environment can impede problem
  definition
• Problem definition needs to be sufficiently broad
  to allow for wide range of possible responses
• Self-reference criterion

13
Problem Areas in International Marketing Research
(cont.)

• Secondary Data
• Availability
• Reliability
• Comparability
• Validating secondary data
• Origin
• Purpose
• Methodology
• Time

14
Problem Areas in International Marketing Research
(cont.)

• Primary Data
• Cost
• Response rate
• ability
• willingness
• Infrastructural constraints
• methods of communication
• lack of census data
• Language

15
Problem Areas in International Marketing Research
(cont.)

• Analysis and Interpretation
• Cultural understanding
• social customs
• business customs
• current trends and attitudes
• linguistic and cultural fluency
• Critical and creative thinking
• assessment by inference (related products, size
  of related markets etc.)

16
Problem Areas in International Marketing Research
(cont.)

• Important
• Relevance
• Timeliness
• Comparability
• Trends NOT Snapshots
• Clarity
• Accuracy
• Honesty

17
Problem Areas in International Marketing Research
(cont.)

• Important
• Ingenuity and Resourcefulness
• Beware local/personal sensitivities
• watch language and terminology

18
International Marketing Research (cont.)

• Summary
• Definition
• International Marketing Research Process
• Problem Formulation
• Research Method and Design
• Data Collection
• Analysis and Interpretation
• Reporting/Presentation of Results
• Problem areas
• as above

19
Further Reading

• Hart, S. (1999) The impact of marketing
  research activity on SME export performance
  Evidence from the UK, Journal of Small Business
  Management, 37 (2) 63-76.
• Leonidou, L. C. (1999) Types and sources of
  export information Insights from small
  business, International Small Business Journal,
  17 (5) 30-49