International marketing research faces many challenges due to differences in cultures, languages, and business environments across countries. It involves systematically defining problems, collecting and analyzing both secondary and primary data, and interpreting the findings to make informed marketing decisions for international operations. Primary data collection has higher costs overseas and requires consideration of translation issues, instrument reliability, and reluctance of some respondents. Both qualitative and quantitative research approaches can be used, with their own constraints to address.

1. International Marketing Research:
Practices and Challenges

2. International Marketing Research
• International marketing
managers need to
constantly monitor the
different forces affecting
their international
operations
• International marketing
research is especially
complex

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 #1
• Competitive product studies
• Packaging design studies
• Test marketing

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