Int mkt. test 33/4/14Regardless 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 Dimensionso Political structure and ideologyo National objectives- Economic Dimensionso Economic performanceo Current performance and trends- Marketing Infrastructureo Market structureo Legal and regulatory- Technology and Culture- Government RegulationMarket 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 byother 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 Environmento The Marketing Environmento The Competitiono The Product 50% chance of success within 36 months of introductiono Marketing Mixo Firm-Specific Historical DataThe 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 Guideso 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 Guideso Firm-level: Kompass, OneSource, Competitor’s websites, local and international news sourcesConsumers and the Marketing Mix- Consumer Behavioro Market segmentation by user needs, demand, and behavioro Benchmarking your products with competitors’ productso Market trends in the medium- and long-term- Marketing Mix Optionso Distribution channelso Comparative pricing strategies and tacticso Advertising and promotiono Media researcho Service quality issueso Supply chainInternational Marketing Research Problems- Costs and challenge of gathering primary datao Skilled interviewers (researchers) are required for each marketo 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 practicalo Language difference require translating and cross-translatingo Different social organizations cause different influences on buyers’ decision processeso Potential consumers vary in their willingness to participate in market researcho Potential consumers may not give their real opinion Acquiescence bias Social desirability biasDealing with Incomplete and Old Data- Analysis of Demand Patternso Substituting macro-level indicators for micro level indicators- Multiple-Factor Indexeso Using more variables and more finely grained variables- Estimation By Analogyo 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 atthe same level of development)- Regression Analysiso Developing an equation of variables to predict demand- Cluster analysiso Clustering similar countries together, sometimes by diffusion patternSecondary Data Sources- Country or Market Informationo Examples: Export.gov, World Bank, NationMaster, CIA World Factbook, OECD, GlobalEdge, World Economic Forum- Industry Informationo Examples: Export.gov, World Bank, GlobalEdge, Euromonitor, Lexis-Nexis, Factiva- Trade Statisticso Examples: U.S. International Trade Commission, USA Trade Online, U.S. International Trade Administration- Company Information- See Table 6-5 for more infoPrimary Research- Primary data is often more expensive (in time and money) than secondary data but can answer very specific questions- In-House Primary Researcho Visits to Potential Countries Set meetings with potential customers or partners Study competition Meet with industry experts and government officialso 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 officials3/18Primary 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, orservice expectations Many online survey options are available Care should be taken when translating across languages and cultureso 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 Researcho Many firms specialize in conducting international market researcho Table 6-7 list the top 25 market research firmsUSA58-63 Major MarketsHow 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-BIndustryCategoryAlso by the BenefitGeographyWhy 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 competitivePrice Class (Super premium, premium, popular,