By
Elisante Ole Gabriel (Tanzania)
Chartered Marketer egabriel@edenconsult.net
, www.olegabriel.com
+255-784-455-499
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INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
RESEARCH
• a study conducted to assist decision-making in more than one country
• research that crosses national borders and involves respondents and researchers from different countries and cultures
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Challenges
• overlooking cross-cultural market behaviour
• employing standardized research methodologies across the international markets
• using English as a standard language for market communication
• inappropriate sample selection
• misinterpretation of cross-country data
• failure to use locals to conduct field surveys
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Cross-cultural marketing behaviour and research
The collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category from the other
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Comparison of cross-cultural behaviour
Power distance
• the degree of inequality among the people that are viewed equitably
Individualism vs. collectivism
• the tendency of people to look after themselves and their immediate family’s interests alone
Masculinity vs. femininity
• masculine societies, the dominant values emphasize work goals such as earnings, advancement, and success
• feminine society are achievement of personal goals such as quality of life, care for others, and friendly atmosphere
Uncertainty avoidance
• lack of tolerance of ambiguity and the need for formal rules
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Comparison of cross-cultural behaviour
Cultural context
The context of a culture has crucial implications in communicating and interpreting verbal and non-verbal messages
Cultural homogeneity
• homophilous culture: countries where people share the same beliefs, language, and religion
• heterophilous culture: countries that have a fair amount of differentiation in language, beliefs, and religion
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Process
Problem dentification
Decide Research
Methodology
Workout Information
Requirement
Identify Sources of Information
(Both Primary and Secondary)
Prepare Research
Design
Collect Primary Information
Analyse Information
Evaluation and Interpretation
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International marketing research and marketing decisions
Marketing mix decision
• product policy
Type of research
• focus groups and qualitative research to generate ideas for new product
• survey research to evaluate new product ideas
• concept tasting, test marketing
• product benefit and attitude research
• product formulation and feature testing
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International marketing research
(contd)
Marketing mix decision
Pricing distribution
Type of research
• pricing sensitivity studies
Marketing mix decision
Distribution
Type of research
• survey of shopping patterns and behaviour
• consumer attitudes toward different store types
• survey of distributor attitudes and policies
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International marketing research
(contd)
Marketing mix decision
Advertising
Type of research
• advertising pre-testing
Marketing mix decision
Advertising post-testing, recall scores
Type of research
• surveys of media habits
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International marketing research
(contd)
Marketing mix decision
• Sales Promotion
Type of research
• surveys of response to alternative types of promotion
Marketing mix decision
Sales force
Type of research
• tests of alternative sales presentations
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Emic vs. Etic dilemma
EMIC
Holds that attitudes, interests, and behaviour are unique to a culture and best understood in their own terms, and emphasizes studying the research problem in each country’s specific context
ETIC
Emphasizes identifying and assessing universal attitudinal and behavioural concepts and developing
‘pan-cultural’ measures
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Researching Global Markets
Marketing Research: Building The Knowledge Base
• Breadth and scope of international marketing research.
•Greater uncertainties in global markets.
• Marketing research defined :
“Marketing Research is the function which links the consumers and customers to the organization through information; information used to identify and define marketing problems; generate, refine and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve our understanding of marketing as a process”
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Role of Marketing Research
• Reduction of uncertainty and facilities management decision making
Information for :

Planning (Market entry strategies)

Problem Solving

Control
Nature of Marketing Research

Applied research

Cost-benefits assessment

Dynamic environment and need for frequent updates
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Stages in the Research Process
Formulate Problem
Determine Research Design
Determine Data Collective Method
Design Data Collection Forms
Design Sample and Collect Data
Analyze and Interpret the Data
Prepare the Research Report
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Type of Data Needed for International Marketing Research
• Secondary data

Internal

External

Published

Commercial
Advantages and Disadvantages of Secondary Data
• Availability
• Reliability
• Compatibility of data
• Validation of secondary data
• Outdated
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Gathering Primary Data
• Types of primary data

Socioeconomic / demographic data

Attitudes / Options

Awareness / knowledge

Intentions

Motivations

Behaviors
• Qualitative (V.S) Quantitative
• Surveys (V.S) Observations
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Survey Research
• Personal interviews
• Mail Surveys
• Telephone interviews
• Mall intercept interviews
• Internet : new opportunity for data collection
Observation
• Human
• Mechanical Devices
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Development of Survey Instrument
• Structured (V.S) Unstructured
• Disguised (V.S) Undisguised
Qualitative Research
• Disguised and Unstructured

Word Association

Sentence Completion

Story Telling
• Focus Groups
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Sample Design and Issues
• Non probability samples (Finding not generalizable)
• Probability samples

Types of probability samples

Issues related to probability samples

Lack of sampling frame

Outdated sampling frame (Street and Telephone directories)

Validation of random samples
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Data analysis and inferences
• Univariate Data Analysis
• Bivariate Data Analysis
• Multivariate Data Analysis
• Choice of Data Analysis Techniques

Non-parametric (V.S) Parametric methods
• Statistical Software Packages for Data Analysis
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
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Estimating Market Demand
• Expert opinion
• Delphi method
• Analogy
• Use of quantitative techniques
• Income elasticity
Assessment of Country Attractiveness
• Market potential / size
• Business climate
• Political stability / risk
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The Research Report
• Written Report

Communication with the reader

Accuracy and completeness
• Form of Report

Title page

Table of contents

Executive summary

Introduction / problem statement

Methodology

Findings

Conclusions and recommendations

Appendix
• Oral Report

Use of powerpoint and graphics
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• Doing research internationally is more challenging than Local
• IM research is extremely important, hence the lifeblood of the International Business
• Not all problems are solved using the same solution hence a need of various research approaches. AND..
• International Companies ought to invest and value of research Internationally.
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