This document outlines the process and challenges of international marketing research. It describes the various types of research conducted, including industry analyses, buyer behavior studies, product testing, and pricing studies. The key steps in the international marketing research process are defined as: 1) identifying the research problem and objectives, 2) setting specific objectives, 3) developing a research plan, 4) defining information sources, 5) designing data collection instruments, 6) deciding on sampling, and 7) collecting, analyzing and interpreting data. Challenges include issues of conceptual and functional equivalence of data across cultures, availability and reliability of secondary data, and the higher costs of primary data collection in foreign markets. Decision support systems can help with sales forecasting and point of

1. International Marketing Research
System:
Process, Practices and Challenges

2. Objectives
 Define international marketing research and
provide a description of its immense scope; offer
examples of each type of research conducted in
international marketing
 Describe the steps involved in the international
marketing research process while addressing, for
each step, the international constraints involved
 Introduce the concept of decision support
systems for international marketing

3. International Marketing Research
International marketing research is the systematic
design, collection, recording, analysis,
interpretation, and reporting of information
pertinent to a particular marketing decision facing a
company operating internationally.

4. Research of Industry, Market
Characteristics, and Trends
 Acquisition analyses
 Diversification
analyses
 Market-share analyses
 Export research

5. International Buyer Behavior
Research
 Brand preferences
 Brand attitudes
 Brands awareness
studies
 Purchase behavior
studies
 Consumer
segmentation studies

6. International Product Research
 Concept development
and testing studies
 Brand name generation
and testing
 Product testing
 Competitive product
studies
 Packaging design studies
 Test marketing
#1

7. International Distribution
Research
 Import/export analyses
 Channel performance and coverage
 Plant/warehouse location studies

8. International Promotion Research
 Studies of premiums, coupons, and deals
 Advertising effectiveness research
 Local media research
 Studies pertaining to personal selling activities
 Sales Force Compensation
 Quota
 Territory

9. International Pricing Research
 Studies projecting demand
 Currency and counter trade studies
 Studies of inflation rates and pricing
 Studies of negotiation tactics

10. The International Marketing
Research Process
 STEP 1 Define the international research
problem and agree on the research objectives
 Exploratory Research
 Descriptive Research
 Causal Research
 STEP 2 Set specific objectives

11. The International Marketing
Research Process, continued
 STEP 3 Develop the International Research Plan
 STEP 4 Define Information Sources
 Secondary Data
 Researchers must determine if the information is available,
and, if so, how reliable it is
 Internal data is useful only if company has collected similar
info from relevant respondents in a country with similar
environment

12. Secondary Data Constraints
 Conceptual Equivalence
 Concepts have different meanings in different
cultural environments
 Functional Equivalence
 Products themselves may be used for different
purposes in different country environments

13. Secondary Data Constraints,
continued
 Availability, Reliability, and Validity
 Accuracy of secondary data can be questionable:
Published statistics may be unreliable
 Sources of reliable data:
- World Bank
- United Nations Development Program
- Organization of Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD)
- Euromonitor

14. Primary Data
 Information collected for a specific purpose, to
address the problem at hand.
 The costs of collecting primary data in foreign
markets are likely to be much higher given the
lack of an appropriate marketing research
infrastructure

15. Primary Data Research
Approaches
 Qualitative research has been particularly useful
as a first step in studying international marketing
phenomena.
 Focus Groups
 Observation
 Constraints: Responses can be affected by
culture, individuals may act differently if they
know they are being observed.

16. Primary Data Research
Approaches, continued
 Quantitative research are more structured,
involving either descriptive research approaches,
such as survey research, or causal research
approaches, such as experiments.
 Content Analysis
 Survey Research
 Experimental Research
 Constraints: Respondent factors, infrastructure
factors

17. Data Collection
 STEP 5 Design Data Collection Instrument
 Emic instruments measure phenomena specific to
each culture.
 Etic instruments measure the same phenomenon
in different cultures.
 Constraints: Translation; Instrument Reliability;
Reluctance to answer certain questions

18. Data Collection, continued
 STEP 6 Decide on the Sampling Plan
 Sample Unit
 Sample Size
 Sampling Procedure
 STEP 7 Collect, Analyze, and Interpret Data

19. Decision Support Systems
for Global Marketing
 A coordinated collection of data, systems, tools,
and techniques, complemented by supporting
software and hardware designed for the gathering
and interpretation of business and environmental
data

20. Sales Forecasting
 Sales Force Composite Estimates
 Personal observations and expectations of the local
sales force
 Jury of Expert Opinion
 Opinions of different experts about future demand
 The Delphi Method
 Experts to estimate market performance; findings
are aggregated, and experts are queried again, in
light of aggregate responses

21. Sales Forecasting, continued
 Time Series and Econometric Models
 Use data of past performance to predict future
market demand
 Analogy Methods
 Estimation method that relies on developments and
findings in markets
- With similar levels of economic development, or
- Where the product is in the same market development
stage, or
- In markets which share similar cultural characteristics

22. • Point of Sale Research
 Made with the help of store scanners, in markets where they
are available
 Involve comprehensive store audits
Sales Forecasting, continued

23. Summary
 Defined international marketing research
 Described steps involved in the international
marketing research process and related
international constraints
 Discussed marketing decision support systems