International Marketing (mid ex)
bbq65b20a06
ipptchap008_1.pptxDeveloping a Global Vision through Marketing Research
Chapter 8
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2013 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
International Marketing Research
Cross-cultural communications are difficult
Environments are different
Important to recognize cross-country similarities and differences
Important to recognize and overcome SRC (Self Reference Criterion) SRC is an unconscious reference to one's own cultural values, experiences, and knowledge as a basis for decisions.
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It is important to pay attention to differences and similarities in cultures and consumption by conducting marketing research. Many multinationals have committed blunders due to the lack of meticulous marketing research as well as the presence of SRC when operating in a foreign market. An example would be that of Sears in Brazil when they failed to adjust the shelf heights to fit the shorter height of the average Brazilian. Marketing research and in turn information obtained from it are critical in developing successful marketing strategies. Information needs range from the general data required to assess market opportunities to specific market information for decisions about product, promotion, distribution, and price. Information can be gathered from a variety of sources ranging from consumers to suppliers to competitors.
Research:
It is important to pay attention to differences and similarities in cultures and consumption by conducting marketing research. Many multinationals have committed blunders due to the lack of meticulous marketing research as well as the presence of SRC when operating in a foreign market. An example would be that of Sears in Brazil when they failed to adjust the shelf heights to fit the shorter height of the average Brazilian. Marketing research and in turn information obtained from it are critical in developing successful marketing strategies. Information needs range from the general data required to assess market opportunities to specific market information for decisions about product, promotion, distribution, and price. Information can be gathered from a variety of sources ranging from consumers to suppliers to competitors.
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Research processes and methods are same whether applied in Columbus, Ohio, or Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Marketing research is traditionally defined as the systematic gathering, recording, and analyzing of data to provide information useful to marketing decision making.
International Marketing Research
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International marketing has some additional complexities such as communicating information across cultures. For example, the headquarters in the U.S has to convey the results of a research project to the Brazilian subsidiary and the Brazilian subsidiary has to translate that into meaningful information that they can put to use. This could be vice versa as well, the U.S using information collected in the Brazilian subsidiary. Many marketing research firms are able to provide services such as cross-cultural translations. The other complexity with international marketing research is that environments in which research is conducted may vary. Tried and tested methods may not be meaningful or apply in a foreign culture.
International marketing has some additional complexities such as communicating information across cultures. For example, the headquarters in the U.S has to convey the results of a research project to the Brazilian subsidiary and the Brazilian subsidiary has to translate that into meaningful information that they can put to use. This could be vice versa as well, the U.S using information collected in the Brazilian subsidiary. Many marketing research firms are able to provide services such as cross-cultural translations. The other complexity with international marketing research is that environments in which research is conducted may vary. Tried and tested methods may not be meaningful or apply in a foreign culture.
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International Marketing Research
International marketing research involves two additional complications:
Information must be communicated across cultural boundaries.
The environments in which research tools are applied are often different in foreign markets.
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Breadth & Scope of International Marketing Research
Foreign market research is broader in scope than domestic research
Research can be divided into three types based on information needs:
general information about the country, area, and/or market;
information necessary to forecast future marketing requirements by anticipating social, economic, consumer, and industry trends within specific markets or countries; and
specific market information used to make product, promotion, distribution, and price decisions and to develop marketing plans
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In domestic operations, mostly emphasis is placed gathering specific market information, because the other data are usually available from secondary sources. In an international setting, a country’s political stability, cultural attributes, and geographical characteristics are some of the kinds of information not ordinarily gathered for the purpose of domestic marketing research. See the example of Unisys Corporation and the steps it uses to gather information.
The Research Process for All Countries
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Define the research problem and establish research objectives.
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Determine the sources of information to fulfill the research objectives.
Consider the costs and benefits of the research effort.
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Gather the relevant data from secondary or primary sources, or both.
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Analyze, interpret, and summarize the results.
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Effectively communicate the results to decision makers.
Defining the Problem and Establishing Research Objectives
Begin with a definition of the research problem and the establishment of specific research objectives.
The market researcher must be certain the problem definition is sufficiently broad to cover the whole range of response possibilities and not be clouded by his or her SRC.
Once the problem is adequately defined and research objectives established, the researcher must determine the availability of the information needed.
An example of this would be Disney when they established their first European location in Paris failed to take into account that flights from Germany to Florida were cheaper than getting to Paris and that didn’t make the opening of Disney Paris attractive to many Europeans.
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This is the first and most crucial step in the research process as it is the backbone of the entire research. Errors could be made because of overlooking local culture or due to one’s own Self Reference Criterion (SRC). An example of this would be Disney when they established their first European location in Paris failed to take into account that flights from Germany to Florida were cheaper than getting to Paris and that didn’t make the opening of Disney Paris attractive to many Europeans.
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Problems with Secondary Data
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Availability of Data The United States is by far the country with the largest quantity of data available. The data available on and in Japan is a close second, and several European countries do a good job of collecting and reporting data. Sometimes, the quality of data collected in these other countries may be better than that collected in the U.S. Another problem with the availability of data is the lack of language skills in the country that a firm is operating in. For example in Japan, one needs to know Japanese to access the available data.
Reliability of Data Data may be available but not reliable. Data reported may be biased depending on who reported it, for example government reported data may be biased in population or economic statistics. Less developed countries tend to be overly optimistic and unreliable in reporting relevant economic data about their countries. Th e European Union (EU) tax policies can affect the accuracy of reported data also. Production statistics are frequently inaccurate because these countries collect taxes on domestic sales.
Comparability of Data Comparability of available data is the third problem for companies. In the U.S. data is readily available through a variety of sources and is usually current. In other countries, especially less developed ones, data can be old and outdated and is not updated frequently enough. Either things may be changing too rapidly for these countries to document (lack of currency) or there is a lack of historical data (they only started documenting recently).
Validating Secondary Data Checking the consistency of one set of secondary data with other data of known validity is an effective and oft en-used way of judging validity. For example, a researcher might check the sale of baby products with the number of women of childbearing age and birthrates, or the number of patient beds in hospitals with the sale of related hospital equipment.
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Availability
Reliability
Comparability
Validation
Checking the Accuracy of Secondary Data
Secondary data from any source, including the United States, must be checked and interpreted carefully.
The following questions should be asked to effectively judge the reliability of secondary data sources:
Who collected the data? Would there be any reason for purposely misrepresenting the facts?
For what purposes were the data collected?
How (by what methodology) were the data collected?
Are the data internally consistent and logical in light of known data sources or market factors?
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http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/
Sources of Secondary Data: Websites for International Marketing
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University-based websites, e.g., http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/BUSI/
www.ipl.org/ref/RR/static/bus4700.html
Sources of Secondary Data: Websites for International Marketing
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http://www.wtcaonline.com/cms_wtca /
MSU-CIBER- Globaledge
World Bank
IMF
OECD
U.N.
Syndicated data sets: A.C. Nielsen and Information Resources Inc.
Sources of Secondary Data: Websites for International Marketing
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Problems with Qualitative Research
Focus group interviews are difficult to conduct in Confucian societies – i.e. social & ethical philosophy (mostly in Chinese culture)
Personal referrals are needed to contact consumers
People are often hesitant to criticize new product ideas when companies seek candid opinions.
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Problems with Primary Research
Sampling in Field Surveys:
reliability of lists
poor postal service
availability of data
census and socioeconomic data
SS# data
street maps
telephones
postal unit
sample size & sampling procedure
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There are many issues related to sampling and field surveys as listed on the slide, mostly relates to infrastructure and availability of data that we take for granted exists in all countries. Many times, there are no street addresses available in countries. In India for example, it is typical to state in your address that your house is located “Opposite to the State bank of India.”
Language is an impediment and surveys need to be translated into the local language. For translation, one of two methods can be used, parallel translation or back translation, the questionnaire is simultaneously developed in English and the local language and parallel translated until they are equivalent or it is done English to the local language and then back to English until the surveys sound alike and are meaningful. The third alternative is decentering which is a hybrid of parallel and back translation. It is a successive process of translation and retranslation of a questionnaire, each time by a different translator. Even Spanish can be different depending on which region of the world, the word for juice is “zumo” in Spain and “jugo” in Mexico. On my first visit to Portugal I prepared by learning basic Portuguese phrases, only to find out that I had learned Brazilian Portuguese (which is what is available in the U.S.) and no one could understand me.
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Marketing researchers in India have to consider the problems of language diversity. Here the primary 13 languages (besides English) are listed on a
20-rupee bill.
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Problems with Quantitative Research
Different types of biases:
One may encounter many problems with quantitative research. A number of biases come into play such as not wanting to respond, being courteous to the interviewer and hence not providing a candid response, some cultures tend to say “Yea” or “Nay” to questions regardless of whether they understand the question, responses to some questions that relate to social class or residential area may involve social desirability bias. And, some questions related to income, gender or taxes may be taboo.
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One may encounter many problems with quantitative research. A number of biases come into play such as not wanting to respond, being courteous to the interviewer and hence not providing a candid response, some cultures tend to say “Yea” or “Nay” to questions regardless of whether they understand the question, responses to some questions that relate to social class or residential area may involve social desirability bias. And, some questions related to income, gender or taxes may be taboo.
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Research on the Internet: A Growing Opportunity
For many companies the Internet provides a new and increasingly important medium for conducting a variety of international marketing research
There are at least seven different uses for the Internet in international research:
Online surveys and buyer panels
Online focus groups
Web visitor tracking
Advertising measurement
Customer identification systems
E-mail marketing lists
Embedded research
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International Internet use is growing almost twice as fast as American use. A variety of methods that were not available a few years ago can be used now in international marketing research due to the availability of technology and the penetration of the internet.
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The END.
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