Developing a Global

vision through Marketing

Research
Learning Objectives

► The importance of problem definition of

international research
► The problems of availability and use secondary
data
► Sources of secondary data
► Quantitative and Qualitative research methods
► Multi cultural sampling and its problem
Microsoft Bill Gates find
time to have a
face-to-face meetings
with the first Xbox
Customer in Japan.
 Introduction

► Information
► is the key component in developing successful marketing
strategies and avoiding major marketing blunders.
Information needs range from:
► General data
► Information bought from trusted research vendors or supplied by
international marketing staff; or
► the highest level executives have to “get their shoes dirty”
► As an enterprise broaden its scope of
operation to include international
markets, the need for current, accurate
information is magnified.
► A marketer must find the most accurate
and reliable data possible within the limits
imposed by time, cost and the present
state of the art.
Marketing Research

► Traditionally defined as the

systematic gathering, recording and
analyzing data to provide
information useful in marketing
decision making.
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.
Complications in International
Marketing Research

► Information must be communicated

across cultural boundaries
► The environment within which the
research tools are applied are often
different in foreign countries
Breadth and Scope of International
Marketing Research

How do you differentiate domestic

and foreign market research?
Breadth and Scope of International
Marketing Research

► The basic difference between

domestic and foreign market
research is the broader scope
needed for foreign research,
necessitated by higher levels of
uncertainty.
Breadth and Scope of International
Marketing Research

1. Economic and demographic

General data on growth in the
economy, inflation, business cycle
trends.
Breadth and Scope of International
Marketing Research

2. Cultural, sociological and political

climate
A general noneconomic review of
conditions affecting the division business.
Breadth and Scope of International
Marketing Research

3. Overview of Market condition

A detailed analysis of market conditions
that the division faces, by market
segment including international
Breadth and Scope of International
Marketing Research

4. Summary of the technological

environment
A summary of the state-of-the-art
technology.
Breadth and Scope of International
Marketing Research

5. Competitive situation
A review of competitor’s sales
revenues, methods of market
segmentation, products and apparent
strategies on international scope.
Research can be divided into three
types based on information needs

1. general information about 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
3. specific market information used to make
product, promotion, distributions and price
decisions and to develop marketing plans.
The Research Process

A key to successful research is a

systematic and orderly approach to
the collection of data and analysis of
data.
The Research Process

► Steps in Research Process

► Define the research problem and establish research
objectives.
► Determine the sources of information to fulfill the research
objectives.
► Consider the costs and benefits of the research efforts
► Gather relevant data from secondary or primary sources
or both
► effectively communicate the results to decision makers
Defining the Problem and Establishing
Research Objectives

► The research process should begin with a

definition of the research problem and
the establishment of specific research
objectives.
Defining the Problem and Establishing
Research Objectives

► Considered as the most crucial step in research is more

critical in foreign markets because an unfamiliar
environment tends to cloud problem definition.
► Researchers either fail to anticipate the influence of the
local culture on the problem or fail to identify the
self-reference criterion (SRC) and so treat the problem
definition as if it is were the researchers home
environment.
Problems of Availability and Use of
Secondary Data

► The problems of availability, reliability and comparability of

data and validating secondary data are described:
► Availability of Data – researcher’s language skills
► Reliability of Data – Level of reliability
► Comparability of data – comparability of
available data is the third shortcoming faced by
foreign marketers. E.g. the term “supermarket” in
Japan is quite different from American.
► Validating secondary data
Validating Secondary Data

► To effectively judge the reliability of the

secondary data sources:
► Who collected the data? Would there be any reason
for purposely misrepresenting the facts
► For what purposes were the data collected?
► How were the data collected? (methodology)
► Are the data internally consistent and logical in light
of known data sources or market factors.
Problems in gathering Primary Data

► Most problems in collecting primary data in

international research stem from cultural
differences among countries and range from
inability of respondents to communicate their
opinions to inadequacies in questionnaire
translation
Gathering Data: Quantitative and
Qualitative Research

► Primary Data is the data collected specifically

for the particular research project at hand.

► 2 basic types of marketing research method

► Quantitative
► Qualitative
Quantitative Research

► Usually large number of respondents are asked

to reply either verbally or in writing to structured
question using a specific response format
(yes/no)
► Question are designed to obtain specific
responses regarding aspects of the
respondents’ behavior, intentions, attitudes,
motives and demographic characteristics.
Qualitative Research

► The question asked is always open-ended or in-depth

and unstructured responses reflect the person’s
thoughts and feelings.
► Customers first impressions about product may be useful.

► Qualitative research seeks to interpret what the people

in the sample are like– their outlooks, the dynamic
interplay of their feelings and ideas.
► Qualitative research is used in international marketing
research to formulate and define a problem more
clearly and to determine relevant questions to be
examine in subsequent research
Problems in gathering Primary Data

► Ability to Communicate Opinions – the ability to

express attitudes and opinions about the
product concept depends on the respondent’s
ability to recognize the usefulness and value of
such product or concept.
Problems in gathering Primary Data

► Willingness to Respond – cultural

differences offer the best explanation for
the unwillingness or the inability of many
to respond to research survey.
Problems in gathering Primary Data

► Sampling in Field Survey

► The greatest problem in sampling stems
from the lack of adequate demographic
data and available list from which to draw
meaningful samples.
Problems in gathering Primary Data

► Language and Comprehension

► The most universal survey research
problem in foreign countries is the
language barrier.
Problems in gathering Primary Data

► Three different techniques to help

minimize translation errors ahead of
time.
► Back translation
► Parallel translation
► Decentering
Problems in gathering Primary Data

Back translation- the

questionnaire is translated from
one language to another and
then a second party translates it
back into the original
Problems in gathering Primary Data

► Parallel –back translation may not always

ensure an accurate translation because of
commonly used idioms in both language.
► Parallel translation used to overcome this
problem. In this process more than two
translators are used for the back translation; the
results is compared, differences discussed and
most appropriate translation selected
Problems in gathering Primary Data

► Decentering is a hybrid of back

translation.
► It is successive process of translation
and retranslation of a questionnaire,
each time by different translator.
Multicultural Research: A special
problem

► As companies become global marketers and

seek standardize various parts of the marketing
mix across several countries multicultural studies
become more important.
► A company needs to determine to what extent
adaptation of the marketing mix is appropriate.
Multicultural research

► Involves dealing with countries that have

different languages, economies, social
structures, behavior and attitude patterns.
► When designing multi cultural studies, it is
essential that these differences to be
taken into account.
Estimating Market Demand

► In assessing current product demand and

forecasting future demand, reliable historical
data are required.
► The quality and availability of secondary data
frequently are inadequate (estimates of market
must be attempted to plan effectively)
Two methods for forecasting demand
that suitable for international
marketers

► Expert Opinion
► In this method, experts are polled for their
opinion about market size and growth rates.
► The key in using expert opinion to help forecast
demand is triangulation
► Triangulation- comparing estimates
produced by different sources
Two methods for forecasting demand
that suitable for international
marketers

► another technique is to estimate by

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

► First, a relationship must be established between

the item to be estimated and a measurable
variable in a country that is serve as the basis for
the analogy. Once a known relationship is
established, the estimator then attempts to
draw an analogy between the known situation
and the country in question.
Problems in Analyzing and Interpreting
Research Information
► After data are collected, the final steps in the
research process are the analysis and
interpretation of finding in light of the stated
marketing problem.
► Both secondary and primary data collected by
the researcher are subject to the many
limitations.
► In final analysis, the researcher must take
consideration these factors despite their
limitations, produce meaningful guides for
management decision
Three talents a marketer must possess
in generating meaningful marketing
information
► high degree of cultural understanding of
the market in which research is being
conducted.
► Creative talent for adapting research
methods.
► A skeptical attitude in handling both
primary and secondary data.
Website for International Marketing

► www.stat-usa.gov
► www.trade.gov/index.asp - web site of the
Commerce Department’s International Trade
Reference

► https://www.slideshare.net/matbalie/international-marketing-research-pre
sentation
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
International Marketing/15/e
Copyright 2011 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights
reserved