Assignment 1:

Cultural and Economic Analysis

Date Due: After Lesson 6, and after receiving project approval
Weighting: 15 percent of final grade
Length: 20 double-spaced pages maximum
Be sure to read the Assignment Details page in the Evaluation block (on the course home
page) before beginning this assignment.
In Assignment 1, your goal is to assess how the cultural and economic environments of the
host country are likely to influence the demand for and commercialization of the type of
products you are interested in. This assignment involves research and analysis of the
cultural and economic situation of the country with respect to a product category.
The cultural and economic analysis templates provided on the textbook companion website
(Online Learning Center) offer some guidelines to help you complete this task (see The
Country Notebook in the left-hand menu). However, do not limit your research to these
guidelines. You may come across other cultural or economic issues that are relevant to your
product but that are not included in these guidelines; you may also find that not all items
listed in the guidelines are relevant to your product category.
Your main challenge in this assignment is to screen relevant information from the vast
amount of data available. Try to base your report on verifiable facts and then analyze these
facts in terms of the marketing implications for your chosen product category. For example,
suppose you are considering exporting Molson Canadian beer to China. At this initial stage
of your project, your analysis should show how cultural and economic factors might
influence the behaviour of beer sellers (local and foreign) as well as beer consumers in
China, and it should address questions such as the following:

What cultural and economic factors (as listed in the Country Notebook) may
encourage or limit beer consumption in China?

What cultural and economic factors favour or limit doing business in China?

What types of distribution and media channels are available in China, specifically for
the commercialization of beer?

Note: Assignment 1 is one report that includes both cultural analysis and economic
analysis.
If you have any questions, contact the Student Support Centre.

MKTG414v8 Assignment 1

September 25/2013