Int mkt test 3 3 4 14 Regardless of its use in export marketing a number of conceptual methodological and organizational issues that impede data collection and conduct of research have been identified These include the following The complexity of research design due to operation in a multicountry multicultural and multilinguistic environment The lack of secondary data available for many countries and product markets The high costs of collecting primary data particularly in developing countries The problems associated with coordinating research and data collection in different countries The difficulties of establishing the comparability and equivalence construct measure and sampling of data and research conducted in different contexts The intrafunctional character of many export marketing decisions The economies of export marketing decisions The Global Marketing Environment Political Dimensions o Political structure and ideology o National objectives Economic Dimensions o Economic performance o Current performance and trends Marketing Infrastructure o Market structure o Legal and regulatory Technology and Culture Government Regulation Market Segmentation While thinking about international opportunities in terms of countries is natural international market opportunities are often less defined by political borders countries and better defined by other methods of grouping such a o Geographic City e g Shanghai Region e g Western India collection of countries e g the EU o Psychographic Behaviors play sports or values environmentally friendly o Behavioralistic Brand loyalty or early adopters Who exactly are your customers Global Marketing Research Categories The international marketing manager needs to gather data on six categories of information o The Firm s Corporate Environment o The Marketing Environment o The Competition o The Product 50 chance of success within 36 months of introduction o Marketing Mix o Firm Specific Historical Data The Competitive Landscape Strength of domestic competitors in the market Strength of foreign competitors in that market Data can be found at the country industry and firm levels o Country level World Economic Forum s Global Competitiveness Report U S Department of Commerce Country Commercial Guides o Industry level NAICS U S CPA EU or harmonized tariff codes provide a means of getting aggregated industry product data U S Department of Commerce Country Commercial Guides o Firm level Kompass OneSource Competitor s websites local and international news sources Consumers and the Marketing Mix Consumer Behavior o Market segmentation by user needs demand and behavior o Benchmarking your products with competitors products o Market trends in the medium and long term Marketing Mix Options o Distribution channels o Comparative pricing strategies and tactics o Advertising and promotion o Media research o Service quality issues o Supply chain International Marketing Research Problems Costs and challenge of gathering primary data o Skilled interviewers researchers are required for each market o Challenges of ensuring that the same construct or idea is being communicated to different cultures equivalence o Telephone mail and internet surveys are often not practical o Language difference require translating and cross translating o Different social organizations cause different influences on buyers decision processes o Potential consumers vary in their willingness to participate in market research o Potential consumers may not give their real opinion Acquiescence bias Social desirability bias Dealing with Incomplete and Old Data Analysis of Demand Patterns o Substituting macro level indicators for micro level indicators Multiple Factor Indexes o Using more variables and more finely grained variables Estimation By Analogy o Cross section comparison using a ratio from other countries to apply it to a country with missing data o Time series approach using data from a country that has similar level of consumption at the same level of development Regression Analysis o Developing an equation of variables to predict demand Cluster analysis o Clustering similar countries together sometimes by diffusion pattern Secondary Data Sources Country or Market Information o Examples Export gov World Bank NationMaster CIA World Factbook OECD GlobalEdge World Economic Forum Industry Information o Examples Export gov World Bank GlobalEdge Euromonitor Lexis Nexis Factiva Trade Statistics o Examples U S International Trade Commission USA Trade Online U S International Trade Administration Company Information See Table 6 5 for more info Primary Research 3 18 Primary data is often more expensive in time and money than secondary data but can answer very specific questions In House Primary Research o Visits to Potential Countries Set meetings with potential customers or partners Study competition Meet with industry experts and government officials o Trade Shows Even shows in the domestic market have large international components Meet potential customers or partners Study competition Meet with industry experts and government officials Primary Research In House Primary Research cont spend the money go to a specialist agency get good data o Surveys Survey potential international buyers about brand preferences buying habits or service expectations Many online survey options are available Care should be taken when translating across languages and cultures o Focus Groups Compared to surveys focus groups are faster and cheaper Group size 8 12 Care should be taken when translating across languages and cultures Outside Marketing Research o Many firms specialize in conducting international market research o Table 6 7 list the top 25 market research firms USA 58 63 Major Markets How do we define a market Target Market Profile Defining by Socio demographics age gender marital status etc the Hofstead indexes basically the USER we are targeting and can be used for B 2 C and B 2 B Industry Category Price Class Super premium premium popular economy Use Pack Size Packaging Container Also by the Benefit Geography Why Foreign Market Selection is Critical Developing a strategy for a foreign market and making necessary adaptations can be resource intensive These steps are of little use if targeted to a market that has poor demand that is too risky or in which the firm is not competitive Developing a list of top foreign markets and ranking those opportunities is a key yet sometimes neglected task However foreign