Developing a Global Vision through Marketing Research

Chapter 9

Matakuliah : J0474 International MarketingTahun : 2009

Bina Nusantara University 3

Learning Outcome

• Breadth and Scope of International Marketing Research.• The Research Process• Defining the Problem and Establishing Research Objectives• Problems of Availability and Use of Secondary data• Gathering Primary Data• Problems of Gathering Primary data• Multicultural Research• Research on the Internet• Estimating Market Demand

Bina Nusantara University 4

Breadth and Scope of International Marketing Research.

Research can be divided into three types based on information needs :

1. General information about the 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, distribution and price decisions and to develop marketing plans.

Bina Nusantara University 5

Breadth and Scope of International Marketing Research.

The broader scope if international marketing research is reflected in Unisys Corporation’s planning steps:

• Economic• Cultural, sociological and political climate.• Overview of market conditions.• Summary of the technological environment.• Competitive situation.

Bina Nusantara University 6

The Research Process

1. Define the research problem and establish research objectives.2. Determine the sources of information to fulfill the research objectives.3. Consider the costs and benefits of the research effort.4. Gather the relevant data from secondary or primary sources, or both.5. Analyze, interpret, and summarize the results.6. Effectively communicate the results to decision makers.

Bina Nusantara University 7

Defining the Problem and Establishing Research Objectives

In assessing some foreign business failures it is apparent that research was

conducted, but the questions asked were more appropriate for the local market

than for the foreign one.

Other difficulties in foreign research stem

from failures to establish problem limits broad enough to include all relevant variables.

Bina Nusantara University 8

Problems of Availability and Use of Secondary data

1. Availability of Data,Detailed data on the numbers of wholesalers, retailers, manufacturers, and facilitating services, for example are unavailable for many parts of the world, as are data on population and income.Another problem relating to the availability of data is researchers’ language skills.

2. Reliability of Data,Available data may not have the level of reliability necessary for confident decision making .Official statistics are sometimestoo optimistic, reflecting national pride rather than practical reality,While tax structures and fear of the tax collector often adversely affect data

Bina Nusantara University 9

Problems of Availability and Use of Secondary data

3. Comparability of Data,The rapid change in socioeconomic features being experienced

in many of these countries makes the problem of currency a vital one.Further, even though many countries are now gathering reliable data,

there are generally no historical series with Which to compare the current information.

4.Validating secondary Data :a. Who collected the data? Would there be any reason for purposely misrepresenting the facts?b. For what purposes were the data collected?c. How (by what methodology) were the data collected?d. Are the data internally consistent and logical if light of known data sources or market factors?

Bina Nusantara University 10

Gathering Primary Data

Primary data, that is data collected specifically for the particular research project at hand,The researcher may question the firm’s sales representatives, distributors, middlemen, and customers to get appropriate market information.

Quantitativeresearch

Qualitative research

Bina Nusantara University 11

Problems of Gathering Primary Data

Ability to Communicate

Opinions

Sampling inField

Surveys

Willingness to Respond

Language and

Comprehension

Bina Nusantara University 12

Multicultural Research

Multicultural research involves dealing with countries, that have different language ,economic, social structures, behavior, and attitude pattern.

An important point to keep in mind when designing research to be applied

across cultures isTo ensure comparability

and equivalency of results.

Japanese, compared with American

businesspeople, tend not to respond

to mail surveys.

Bina Nusantara University 13

Research on the Internet

There are eight different uses for theInternet in international research:

1. Online surveys and buyer panels.2. Online focus groups.3. Web visitor tracking.4. Advertising measurement.

5. Customer identification systems.6. E-mail marketing lists.7. Embedded research.8. Observational research.

Bina Nusantara University 14

Estimating Market Demand

Expert Opinion

Analogy

Bina Nusantara University 15

Summary

• The basic objective of the market research function is providing management with information for more accurate decision making. this objective is the same for domestic and international marketing.

• Customer attitudes about providing information to a researcher are culturally conditioned. Foreign market information surveys must be carefully designed to elicit the desired data and at the same time not offend the respondent’s sense of privacy.