1. International Marketing Research:
Practices and Challenges

2. International Marketing Research
• International marketing
managers need to
constantly monitor the
different forces affecting
their international
operations
• International marketing
research is especially
complex

3. International Marketing Research
International marketing research is the systematic
design, collection, recording, analysis, interpretation,
and reporting of information pertinent to a particular
marketing decision facing a company operating
internationally.

4. Research of Industry, Market
Characteristics, and Trends
• Acquisition analyses
• Diversification analyses
• Market-share analyses
• Export research

5. International Buyer Behavior
Research
• Brand preferences
• Brand attitudes
• Brands awareness
studies
• Purchase behavior
studies
• Consumer segmentation
studies

6. International Product Research
• Concept development
and testing studies
• Brand name generation
and testing
• Product testing #1
• Competitive product studies
• Packaging design studies
• Test marketing

7. International Distribution Research
• Import/export analyses
• Channel performance and coverage
• Plant/warehouse location studies

8. International Promotion Research
• Studies of premiums, coupons, and deals
• Advertising effectiveness research
• Local media research
• Studies pertaining to personal selling activities
 Sales Force Compensation
 Quota
 Territory

9. International Pricing Research
• Studies projecting demand
• Currency and counter trade studies
• Studies of inflation rates and pricing
• Studies of negotiation tactics

10. The International Marketing Research
Process
• STEP 1 Define the international research problem
and agree on the research objectives
 Exploratory Research
 Descriptive Research
 Causal Research
• STEP 2 Set specific objectives

11. The International Marketing Research
Process, continued
• STEP 3 Develop the International Research Plan
• STEP 4 Define Information Sources
 Secondary Data
- Researchers must determine if the information is available, and,
if so, how reliable it is
- Internal data is useful only if company has collected similar info
from relevant respondents in a country with similar environment

12. Secondary Data Constraints
• Conceptual Equivalence
 Concepts have different meanings in different cultural
environments
• Functional Equivalence
 Products themselves may be used for different purposes in
different country environments

13. Secondary Data Constraints,
continued
• Availability, Reliability, and Validity
 Accuracy of secondary data can be questionable: Published
statistics may be unreliable
 Sources of reliable data:
- World Bank
- United Nations Development Program
- Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD)
- Euromonitor

14. Primary Data
• Information collected for a specific purpose, to
address the problem at hand.
 The costs of collecting primary data in foreign markets
are likely to be much higher given the lack of an
appropriate marketing research infrastructure

15. Primary Data Research Approaches
• Qualitative research has been particularly useful
as a first step in studying international marketing
phenomena.
 Focus Groups
 Observation
• Constraints: Responses can be affected by culture,
individuals may act differently if they know they are
being observed.

16. Primary Data Research
Approaches, continued
• Quantitative research are more structured, involving
either descriptive research approaches, such as
survey research, or causal research approaches,
such as experiments.
 Content Analysis
 Survey Research
 Experimental Research
• Constraints: Respondent factors, infrastructure factors

17. Data Collection
• STEP 5 Design Data Collection Instrument
 Emic instruments measure phenomena specific to each
culture.
 Etic instruments measure the same phenomenon in
different cultures.
• Constraints: Translation; Instrument Reliability;
Reluctance to answer certain questions

18. Data Collection, continued
• STEP 6 Decide on the Sampling Plan
 Sample Unit
 Sample Size
 Sampling Procedure
• STEP 7 Collect, Analyze, and Interpret Data

19. Decision Support Systems
for Global Marketing
• A coordinated collection of data, systems, tools, and
techniques, complemented by supporting software
and hardware designed for the gathering and
interpretation of business and environmental data