Lecture international marketing (16th edition) chapter 8: developing a global vision through marketing research

Developing a Global Vision
through Marketing Research
Chapter 8

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Copyright © 2013 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


Learning Objectives
LO1 The importance of problem definition in

international research

LO2 The problems of availability and use of

secondary data

LO3 Sources of secondary data
LO4 Quantitative and qualitative research methods
LO5 Multicultural sampling and its problems in
less-developed countries
LO6 Using international marketing research

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International Marketing Research

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Cross-cultural communications are difficult

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Marketing research is traditionally defined as the systematic gathering, recording, and
analyzing of data to provide information useful to marketing decision making.

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International marketing research involves two additional complications:

Environments are different
Important to recognize cross-country similarities and differences
Important to recognize and overcome SRC
Research processes and methods are same whether applied in Columbus, Ohio, or
Colombo, Sri Lanka.

1.
2.

Information must be communicated across cultural boundaries.
The environments in which research tools are applied are often different in foreign markets.

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Breadth & Scope of International Marketing Research

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Foreign market research is broader in scope than domestic research
Research can be divided into three types based on information needs:

1. general information about the country, area, and/or market;
2. information necessary to forecast future marketing requirements by anticipating social, economic,
consumer, and industry trends within specific markets or countries; and
3. specific market information used to make product, promotion, distribution, and price decisions and to
develop marketing plans

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6

5

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Determine the sources of information to fulfill the research objectives.

•

Consider the costs and benefits of the research effort.

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Gather the relevant data from secondary or primary sources, or both.

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Analyze, interpret, and summarize the results.

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Effectively communicate the results to decision makers.

•

3

2

1

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The Research Process for All Countries

Define the research problem and establish research objectives.


Defining the Problem and Establishing Research
Objectives

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Begin with a definition of the research problem and the establishment of specific research
objectives.

•
•

The market researcher must be certain the problem definition is sufficiently broad to cover the whole range of
response possibilities and not be clouded by his or her SRC.
Once the problem is adequately defined and research objectives established, the researcher must determine
the availability of the information needed.

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Problems with Secondary Data

Availability

Comparability

Reliability

Validation

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Checking the Accuracy of
Secondary Data

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Secondary data from any source, including the United States, must be checked and
interpreted carefully.



The following questions should be asked to effectively judge the reliability of secondary data
sources:

1.
2.
3.
4.

Who collected the data? Would there be any reason for purposely misrepresenting the facts?
For what purposes were the data collected?
How (by what methodology) were the data collected?
Are the data internally consistent and logical in light of known data sources or market factors?

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Sources of Secondary Data:
Websites for International Marketing
1. www.stat-usa.gov (National Trade Data Bank)
2. www.ita.doc.gov

3. www.usatradeonline.gov
4. www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/
5. />6. />7. www.opic.gov
8. www.exim.gov
9. www.imf.org
10. www.wto.org
11. www.oecd.org
12. www.jetro.go.jp
13. www.euromonitor.com
14. University-based websites, e.g., www.lib.berkeley.edu/BUSI/bbg18.html
15. www.worldchambers.com
16. www.ipl.org/ref/RR/static/bus4700.html
17.
18. www.worldtrademag.com
19. MSU-CIBER- Globaledge
20. World Bank
21. IMF
22. OECD
23. U.N.
24. Syndicated data sets: A.C. Nielsen and Information Resources Inc.

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Gathering Primary Data:
Quantitative & Qualitative Research

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Begin with a definition of the research problem and the establishment of specific research

objectives.

•
•

The market researcher must be certain the problem definition is sufficiently broad to cover the whole
range of response possibilities and not be clouded by his or her SRC.
Marketing research methods can be grouped into two basic types:

•
•

qualitative
quantitative

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Problems with Qualitative Research

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Focus group interviews are difficult to conduct in
Confucian societies

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Personal referrals are needed to contact consumers
People are often hesitant to criticize new product ideas

when companies seek candid opinions.

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Problems with Primary
Research

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Ability to communicate opinions:

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context
meaning
cultural habits

Willingness to respond
Sampling in Field Surveys:

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reliability of lists
poor postal service

Problems with
Quantitative Research

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Different types of biases:

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non-response bias
courtesy bias
yea or nay saying
social desirability bias
income and gender-related
questions may be taboo

availability of data
census and socioeconomic data
SS# data
street maps
telephones
postal unit
sample size & sampling procedure

Language and comprehension

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•
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Back Translation
Parallel Translation
Decentering

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Research on the Internet:
A Growing Opportunity

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For many companies the Internet provides a new and increasingly important medium for conducting a
variety of international marketing research
There are at least seven different uses for the Internet in international research:

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Online surveys and buyer panels
Online focus groups
Web visitor tracking
Advertising measurement
Customer identification systems
E-mail marketing lists
Embedded research

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Estimating Market Demand

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Expert opinion

•
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experts are polled for their opinions about market size and growth rates.
the key in using expert opinion to help forecast demand is triangulation , that is, comparing estimates
produced by different sources.

Analogy

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assumes that demand for a product develops in much the same way in all countries, as comparable
economic development occurs in each country.

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Problems in Analyzing & Interpreting Research
Information

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Both secondary and primary data collected by the market researcher are subject to many
limitations

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Accepting information at face value in foreign markets is imprudent.
The meanings of words, the consumer’s attitude toward a product, the interviewer’s
attitude, or the interview situation can distort research findings.

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