The document discusses various aspects of international marketing research, including the importance of conducting research to identify opportunities in foreign markets, the process of researching market potentials in different countries and industries, and the different levels, sources, methodologies, and objectives of marketing research. It also outlines the typical steps involved in the market research process from defining problems and objectives to collecting, analyzing, and presenting findings.

1. Marketing Research
The systematic design, collection,
interpretation, and reporting of
information to help marketers solve
specific marketing problems or take
advantage of marketing opportunities

2. The Importance of International Research
 A frequent objective of international research is that of
foreign market opportunity analysis.
 Firms must learn where the opportunities are, what
customers want, why they want it, and how they satisfy their
needs and wants.
 Research allows management to identify and develop
international strategies.
 Firms must identify, evaluate, and compare potential foreign
business opportunities and the subsequent target market
selection.
 Research is necessary for the development of a business plan.
2

3. Process of Researching Foreign Market Potentials
Stage One
Preliminary Screening for Attractive Country Markets
Key Question to be answered:
Which foreign markets warrant detailed information?
Stage Two
Assessment of Industry Market Potential
Key Question to be answered:
What is the aggregate demand in each of the selected markets?
Stage Three
Company Sales and Promotion Analysis
Key Question to be answered:
How attractive is the potential demand for our products and services?
3

4. International Marketing Research Occurs at Different Levels…
Assessment of a
foreign market
(general Industry
information Information
about a country) (relates to
product category) Specific market
• Economic information (used
• Social / Cultural to develop
• Market size
• Political / Legal
• Segmentation marketing plans)
• Technological
• Competition
• Consumer
• Product
• Pricing
• Distribution
• Promotion

5. Types of Market Research
By Source By Methodology By Objectives
- Primary - Qualitative - Exploratory
- Secondary - Quantitative - Descriptive
- Causal
(or experimental)

6. Types of Market Research: By Source
Primary Collection of data specifically for the problem or
project in hand
Secondary Based on data previously collected for purposes
other than the research in hand (e.g. published
articles, government stats, etc)

7. Secondary Data
 Secondary data is information that already has been collected by some
other organization.
 This data should be evaluated regarding the quality of the source, how
recent the data is, and the relevance to the task at hand.
 Because secondary data were originally collected to serve another purpose,
they can often only be used as proxy information.
 Precautions should be taken due to increasing sensitivity to data privacy.
Firms must inform their customers of privacy policies.
7

8. Uses of Secondary Data
 May provide enough information to resolve the problem being investigated
 Can be a source of new ideas that can be explored later
 Acts as a prerequisite to collecting primary data and can help in designing the
primary data collection process
 Helps to define the problem and formulate hypotheses about its solution
 Helps in defining the population / sample / parameters of primary research
 Can serve as a reference base to compare validity of primary data

9. Sources of Secondary Data
Other Firms
Directories
Governments
International
Institutions
Trade Associations Service
Organizations
9

10. Benefits and Limitations of Secondary Data
Benefits Limitations
 Low cost  Collected for some other purpose
 Less effort  No control over data collection
 Less time  May not be accurate
 Sometimes more accurate  May not be in correct form
 Sometimes only way to  May be outdated
obtain data  May not meet data requirements
 Assumptions have to be made

11. Types of Market Research: By Methodology
Qualitative Quantitative
Type of Question Probing Simple
Sample Size Small Large
Information per respondent High Low(ish)
Questioner’s skill High Low(ish)
Analyst’s skill High High
Type of analysis Subjective, Objective,
Interpretative Statistical
Ability to replicate Low High
Areas probed Attitudes Choices
Feelings Frequency
Motivations Demographics

12. Types of Market Research: By Objective
• Exploratory Preliminary data needed to develop an idea
further. Eg outline concepts, gather insights,
formulate hypotheses
• Descriptive Describe an element of an ideas precisely. Eg
who is the target market, how large is it, how
will it develop
• Causal Test a cause and effect relationship, e.g. price
elasticity. Done through experiment

13. The Market Research Process
1. Defining the 2. Developing 3. Collecting 4. Analysing 5. Presenting
problem and the research the the the findings
objectives plan information information
Steps
Distinguish between Decide on Information is Statistical Overall conclusions
the research type - budget collected manipulation of to be presented
needed e.g. according to the data collected rather than
- data sources
the plan ( it is (e.g. regression) overwhelming
- exploratory - research or subjective
approaches often done by statistical
- descriptive analysis of focus methodologies
- research external firms)
- causal groups
instruments
- sampling plan
- contact methods
Comments
If a problem is The plan needs This phase is Significant Can take various
vaguely defined, to be decided the most costly difference in forms:
the results can upfront but and the most type of analysis - oral presentation
have little flexible enough liable to error according to
- written conclusions
bearing on the to incorporate whether market supported by analysis
key issues changes/ research is
iterations quantitative or - data tables
qualitative