Developing a Global Vision through

Marketing Research

MANJAPPA K R
REG. NO. 18MBA017
KOUSALI INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, DHARWAD.
 Introduction
One of the most striking developments of recent decades has been
the globalization of business. The growth of world trade requires
more information about foreign markets and companies which
expand into new and unknown markets must possess the
information about the demand and conditions of these markets.

Companies invade not only into such developed markets as Europe,

US and Japan, but also into the unstable but growing markets of
Latin America, the politically uncertain markets of the Middle East
and Russia, and the rapidly changing markets of South East Asia and
the emerging African markets
• The development of new communication and information
technologies change the lifestyle, consumption behavior and
purchasing patterns of different nations. All this indicates that the
marketing research in global environment has become essential.
Marketing Research in a Global
Environment
• Marketing research practices and techniques have become truly
global. For example, the world’s largest research firm, Nielsen, is
headquartered in the U.S. but derives almost two-thirds of its revenue
from outside the U.S. It is standardizing much of the data it routinely
collects in 27 different countries.
• International marketing managers make the same basic types of
decisions as do those who operate in only one country. Of course, they
make these decisions in a more complicated environment. As with
marketing decisions, the basic function of marketing research and the
research process does not differ between domestic and multinational
research. However, the process is complicated almost exponentially as
more and more countries are involved in the same decision.
The main factors which influence the
marketing research in different countries are
1. Cultural differences. Culture refers to widely shared norms or
patterns of behavior of a large group of people. It is the values,
attitudes, beliefs, artifacts and other meaningful symbols represented
in the pattern of life adopted by people that help them interpret,
evaluate and communicate as members of society.

A company which works on the international market is in need of cross

cultural awareness. Cross cultural differences (language, non-verbal
communication, different norms and values) may cause cross cultural
blunders. There are examples of cultural blunders in the marketing mix.
• Product. When a soft drink was launched in Arab countries, it has a
label with six-pointed stars. The sales were very low as the stars were
associated with Israel.
• Place. A company wanted to enter the Spanish market with two-liter
drinks bottles and failed. Soon they found out that Spaniards prefer
small door fridges and they could not put large bottles into them.
• Promotion. Pepsico came to Taiwan with the ad ‘Come Alive with
Pepsi’. They could not imagine that is it translated ‘Pepsi will bring
your relatives back from the dead’ into Chinese.
2. Racial Differences. This refers to the differences in physical features
of people in different countries. For example, types of hair cut and
cosmetic products differ greatly in various countries.

3. Climatic Differences. These are the meteorological conditions such

as temperature range or degree of rain. For example, Bosch-Siemens
adapted their washing machines to the markets they sell. In
Scandinavia, where there are very few sunny days, they sell washing
machines with a minimum spin cycle of 1,000 rpm and a maximum of
1,600 rpm, whereas in Italy and Spain a spin cycle of 500 rpm is
enough.
4. Economic Differences. Economic development of various countries is
different and when a company introduces a new product it adapts it to
that new market. There are factors which show the level of economic
development
• Buying power and revenue of the market. In developed countries with
higher income of revenue people prefer complicated product with
advanced functions, while in poor countries simple product are
preferable.
• The infrastructure of the market. Such elements of the infrastructure
of the country as transport, communication system and others
influence the product. When Suzuki entering the Indian market the
suspension was reinforced as the state of roads in India is very poor.
5. Religious Differences. Religion affects the product greatly and makes
companies adapt their product to religious norms. If a company exports
grocery products to Islamic countries it must have a special certificate
indicating that the animal was slaughtered according to ‘Halal’
methods.
6. Historical Differences. Historical differences affect the consumer
behavior. For instance, Scotch whiskey is considered fashionable in Italy
and not very trendy in Scotland.
7. Language Differences. The correct translation and language
adaptation is very important. For example, when Proctor & Gamble
entered the Polish markets it translated properly its labels but failed.
Later they found out that imperfect language must have been used in
order to show that the company fits in.
The Nature of International
Secondary Data
• Secondary data for international marketing decisions are subject to
some disadvantages. Unfortunately, many of the disadvantages are
multiplied when the data involve more countries.
• An additional problem is that most secondary data are available only in
the host country’s language. Thus, multi-country searches require
utilizing specializing firms or maintaining a multilingual staff.
• Data availability, recency, accessibility, and accuracy vary widely from
country to country. Until recently, there were few commercial databases
in Japan because of the difficulty of using Japanese characters on
computers. Now the problem is resolved. The Japanese government
prepares many potentially useful reports, but even Japanese firms
seldom use them because they are poorly organized and indexed.
Internal Sources of International
Secondary Data
• The internal sources of data for international decisions can be
classified into four broad categories – accounting records, sales force
reports, miscellaneous records and internal experts.
• However, utilizing international internal data can be difficult. Different
accounting systems, decentralized (often on a country basis)
management and information systems, sales forces organized by
country or region, and so forth.
External Sources of International
Secondary Data
a) Databases:
Both ABI (Abstract Business Information)/Inform, which contains
150-word abstracts of articles published in about 1,300 business
publications worldwide, and Predicasts, which provides 11 on-line
databases, have significant international content in their
bibliographic databases.
A major advantage of these abstracts is that they are all in English.
 B) Foreign Government Sources
• All developed countries provide census-type data on their
populations. However, the frequency of data collection and the type
and amount of data collected vary widely from country to country.
Germany went 17 years be­tween its last two censuses, and Holland
has not conducted a census in 20 years. The U.S. collects income data
in its census and marketers make extensive use of it.
C) International Political Organizations
• Three major international political organizations provide significant
amounts of data relevant to international marketing activities. The
United Nations and its related organization, the United Nation’s
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, provide hundreds of
publications dealing with the population, economic, and social
conditions of over 200 countries.
Survey Methods of International
Marketing Research
1. Personal interviews are considered to be the most popular method of
data collection in international marketing research. However, there are
several constraints for the usage of this technique. In the Middle East
countries personal interviews are treated with great suspicion.
• Moreover, the personnel for the survey should be male and they may
conduct interviews with housewives only when their husbands are at
home. In Latin American countries, where tax protest movement is being
developed, the interviews are thought to be tax inspectors.

2. Mall intercept surveys may be used in the United States, Canada and the
European countries. As far as the developing countries are concerned they
are not common.
3. Telephone interviews in India telephone penetration is only 1 per
cent and telephone surveys reduce the survey coverage greatly. But
even in such developed countries as Great Britain telephone
penetration comprises only 80 per cent. That is why a lot of marketers
are very skeptical about telephone surveys and nowadays there is a
great reduction in their application.

4. Mailing surveys In some countries people consider the mailing

surveys to be the invasion into their private life and the effectiveness of
these surveys is reduced. In such countries as Brazil, where only 30 per
cent of mail is delivered, mailing surveys can not be used as well.
5. Electronic surveys become more popular in the United States and
Europe and they are used for the products which require technological
literacy such as computers and computer software

Conclusion
International marketing research is the systematic design, collection,
recording, analysis, interpretation, and reporting of information relating
to a particular marketing decision facing a company operating
internationally. The international marketing research process has some
peculiarities such as the national differences between countries arising
out of political, legal, economic, social and cultural differences and, the
comparability of research results due to these differences.