International Marketing Research
Research needs data or information for making effective marketing
strategies and eliminating major marketing mistakes. Information consists of a
variety of data ranging from general data of market assessment to specific
market information for making decisions about the product, promotion,
distribution, and price. Sometimes the data can be collected from dependable
research vendors or the researchers. But sometimes even the key executive
persons also get their shoes dirty and collect data from key customers of
far-flung areas or directly seeing the marketplace as well.
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| International Marketing Research Process. (Photo by Gerd Altmann) |
A marketer must find the true and dependable data likely within
the limits imposed by time, cost, and the present state of the art. A competent
researcher may have twin qualities: the ability to develop the most
sophisticated and adequate techniques and methods available within these
limits, and the effective communication of acumen to decision-makers in the
company. The second quality often involves senior executives directly in the
research process.
Marketing Research is usually defined as the
systematic collecting, recording, and scrutinizing of data to provide
information useful in marketing decision-making process. Although the research
procedures and methods mostly used in Columbus, Ohio, Colombo, or Sri Lanka are
the same, International Marketing Research involves two additional impediments:
First, information must be
understood across the cultural boundaries. The managers in Chicago must be able
to ‘translate’ their research questions in such a way that the customers in
Guangzhou, China, can comprehend easily. Then the answers, reports or data
summaries from China must be put in such a way that American managers can
comprehend easily. Fortunately, there are often internal staff and research
agencies that are quite skilled in these kinds of multicultural communication
tasks.
Second,
the environment of foreign markets is often different to apply
research tools. Rather than implementing new and glamorous methods of research,
the international market researchers must develop the ability for creative and
smart application of tried and tested techniques in sometimes totally odd
environments. The mechanical problems for executing foreign marketing research
often vary from country to country. Within the foreign environment, the
frequently opposing stresses on types of information needed, the limited
availability of suitable tools and techniques, and the difficulty of performing
research process create the challenges for international marketing
researchers.
Scope of Marketing Research
The only difference between foreign and domestic marketing
research is the broader scope. The research can be separated into three
types based on required information:
§ Collect comprehensive information about the country, area, and
market.
§ Collect general information about forecasting the future marketing
needs by anticipating the trends of society, economic, consumer, and the
industry within specific markets or countries.
§ Collect specific information about developing the product,
promotion strategies, distribution channels, price decisions and marketing
plans. In the domestic research process, more importance is given to the
third type i.e. collecting specific market information, because the other data
is often obtainable from secondary sources.
In fact, information is necessary for sound marketing decisions. A
country's political constancy, cultural traits, and geographical
characteristics are some of the kinds of information not ordinary gathered by
local marketing research departments but which are required for comprehensive
assessment of the international market. This broader scope of international
marketing research calls for gathering and evaluating information such as
economic, cultural, sociological, political climate, an overview of marketing
environments, summary of technological advancement and competitive situation.
Marketing Research Process
Marketing research study is always a compromise dictated by
perimeters of time, cost, and the present state of the art. The researcher must
endeavor for the most truthful and consistent information within the existing
constraints. A key to successful research is a systematic and organized
approach to the collection and appraisal of data. In market research process
these steps should be followed whether research program is conducted in New
York or New Delhi:
§ Define the research problem and develop research goals.
§ Define the basis of information to achieve the research goals.
§ Define the budgets and benefits of research exertion.
§ Gather appropriate data from secondary or primary sources or from
the both.
§ Scrutinize, and review the results.
§ Give the results to decision makers efficiently.
Multicultural Counseling
As companies become international marketers and seek to
systematize various parts of the marketing mix across several countries,
multicultural research studies become more important. A business firm is to
determine to what extent the marketing mix is suitable. Thus, market features
across various nations must be compared for similarities and differences before
developing a marketing strategy. The research problems discussed thus far have
addressed difficulties of conducting research within a culture. When engaging
in multicultural studies, many of these same issues further complicate the
difficulty of multi-cultural comparisons.
Multicultural Research includes
dealing with countries that have different languages, social structures,
behavior, economics and attitude patterns. When starting multicultural
research, it is important that these differences be taken into account. An
important point to keep in mind when designing research to be applied across
cultures is to ensure comparability and similarity of results. Different methods
may have changing consistencies in different countries. It is important that
these differences be considered in the design of a multicultural survey.
Summary
The main purpose of marketing research is providing information to
the management for better decision making either in domestic or international
marketing. In international marketing research, however, achieving that objective
presents some difficulties not encountered in domestic marketing.
The consumer behavior for giving the information to a researcher
is culturally conditioned. International market surveys must be planned
prudently to collect the desired data and at the same time not insult the
respondent's sense of privacy. Besides the cultural and managerial confines
involved in assembling information for primary data, many international markets
have scarce or untrustworthy sources of secondary information. To conduct a successful
international marketing research, following three keys are suggested
to overthrow these challenges:
§ The inclusion of natives of the foreign culture in research teams.
§ The use of various methods and triangulation.
§ The involvement of decision-makers even the top management, who
must on occasion talk directly to or directly perceive customers in
international markets.
