International Marketing Research

Dr. Anuj Sharma

Global Perspective
International marketing information. need for current, accurate

Marketing research, traditionally defined as the

systematic gathering, recording, and analyzing of data to provide information useful in marketing decision making.

International marketing research involves two complications:

 Information must be communicated across cultural boundaries  The environments within which the research tools are applied are often different in foreign markets
2.

International Marketing Research

Three types of research based on information needs:
Market data Economy, Politics Demography General information about the

country, area, and/or market

Industry trends Consumer trends Economic trends Social trends Information necessary to

forecast future marketing requirements

Price Distribution Promotion Product Specific market information used to

make decisions and develop marketing plans

3.

The Research Process

Seven steps:
1. Define the research problem 2. Establish research objectives 3. Determine the sources of information to fulfill the research objectives 4. Consider the costs and benefits of the research effort 5. Gather the relevant data from secondary or primary sources, or both 6. Analyze, interpret, and summarize the results 7. Effectively communicate the results to decision makers
4.

Defining the Problem and Establishing Research Objectives

Isolate the SRC, and ask the right questions Establish problem limits broad enough to include all relevant variables
Say what s a moutain goat doing way up here in a cloud bank?
5.

Defining the Problem and Establishing Research Objectives

Procedures People Equipment An example in retailing
Will offering a play area create enough incremental business to justify the initial cost and loss of selling space?

     

Define the problem Define the research objective(s) Determine the sources of information Collect the information Analyse the information Present the findings

Which type of customer would make use of the service? How valuable does this type of customer see the service? Would this customer spend more time in-store if the children could be left? Would spending more time in-store lead to increased expenditure?

In a form and at a time

Decision Makers
need it
6.

Determine the sources of information

Primary
data

Secondary
data

7.

Determine the sources of information

1. SECONDARY DATA
(gathered originally for another purpose)

Advantages: Low cost, Speed of access Inconvenients:

 Availability  Reliability  Comparability
Need for checking the consistency of one set of secondary data with other data of known validity
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A Wealth of Bad Chinese Data (Energy Tribune, May 23, 2007) Mark Twain said, Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please. But when researchers attempt to use Chinas energy data as source materials to determine the countrys situation or forecast the future, they have few reliable facts. Recently, the Paris-based International Energy Agency had to delay publication of its five-year outlook for the global oil market because of inconsistencies in Chinas data. The IEA complained that the energy data was either too sparse or too old to be useful. Other analysts and international organizations have raised doubts about the robustness of China's energy statistics. For example, problems identified by the IEA include a lack of good data on throughput at small refineries, known as teapots, and small independent refiners. These locally-operated refineries dont follow the central governments production plan, and their operations are based on economics. They run flat out if the margins are high, but shut units down when losing money, making it difficult for the government to track their production. For state-run refineries, production is based on the central governments compulsory monthly plan, regardless of whether they are profitable. China is understaffed when it comes to crunching energy data. Its National Bureau of Statistics has only eight employees charged with collecting and processing data, including crude oil and natural gas production, along with crude runs at refineries. Imports and exports of resources are handled by the General Administration of Customs. The government is considering expanding the bureaus energy team to improve the reliability of Chinas data. Lets hope they do so, and soon. After all, China is the worlds second-largest oil consumer. It has become too large a player to rely on shoddy data.

Determine the sources of information

2. PRIMARY DATA Questionnaire Information collected fall under Demographic data Marital Status, Income, Education, Occupational Category Behavioral Data: It tracks actual action taken by consumer in terms of buying the product & ways in which product is put to use. Branded and unbranded products. Retail Infrastructure shapes purchase behavior & shopping patterns Extent to which product market is defined similarly in all countries & culture

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2. PRIMARY DATA Comparability in Purchase, Consumption, Usage & Disposal Behavior Comparability in Product Class Attitudinal, Psychographic Data & Life Style Data: Many concepts exist in home country but not in country of research. General Constructs, values or long run orientation (materialism or self achievement) Domain or Category specific (food, clothing, children clothing) e.g. Credit (Attitude), Assumptions about life

Equivalence in IMR
A] Construct Equivalence Functional Conceptual Category B] Measurement Equivalence Calibration Translation Metric C] Sampling Equivalence Comparability of Sample Sample s Representativeness to the population
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Commonly Used Procedure for Translation

Back Translation Does not necessarily ensure equivalence in meaning (idioms) Bilingual translator dont use the language in same way as monolingual. Bilingual translator may not be able to make sense of poorly written target translation. Back translation assumes etic approach

COLLABORATIVE APPROACH
Committee Approach Expert Team Approach Basic Steps Translation Review Adjudication Pretesting Documentation Above stages results in iterative process.

Begins with parallel translation Review meeting held with one independent reviewer. Adjudicator may be present. Two committee rounds may be used Scale Anchoring Non-verbal scales (Visual or numeric) Limiting number of response options (dichotomous scales) Better calibrating label strength (equivalent across cultures)

Techniques to assess interword distance Numeric estimation Line production

Pretesting (for comprehension, clarity and concept) Qualitative Test (from mono & bi- lingual respondents and field staff) Focus Group Quantitative methods (when sample available is large)

Recommended Approach
Employ Collaborative approach Establish Equivalence Conduct Initial translation Pretest Questionnaire Adopt iterative approach

Potential Sources of Bias

Social Acquiescence or yes-saying bias Extreme response bias Social Desirability bias Topic Bias Question order effect Respondent Characteristic Item Non Response

IMPROVING CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATION OF IMR

EMIC Vs ETIC Approach

EMIC: Attitudes, interests, and behavior are unique to a culture and best understood in their own context

ETIC: Identifying and assessing universal attitudinal and behavioral concepts and developing pan-cultural approach

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Resolving Issues in Multi-Country Marketing Research

Conceptual framework Relevance of Theory Refining Conceptual framework Decentering research Perspective Relevance of Construct Assessing the role of context Identifying mediators and moderators Identifying construct bias

Expression of Construct

Resolving Issues in Multi-Country Marketing Research

Unit of Analysis Relevance of Unit Independence Comparability of country Heterogeneity within countries Purposive Selection Refining Unit of Analysis Alternative units

Degree of cultural interpenetration

Resolving Issues in Multi-Country Marketing Research

Construct Same Operationalization Stimulus Commonality Back Translation Method and item bias Improving Construct Measurement Preliminary research and pretesting Use of emic / etic instruments Use of parallel translation

Framework for Cross-Cultural Studies

Adapted Etic Model Assumption: Conceptual framework used is pan-cultural Assess relevance of theory to a given socio-cultural setting Examine relevance of constructs & hypotheses in other settings
 Conducting Research  Using other researcher experience

Linked Emic Model Group of researcher agree on the scope of research & key questions Qualitative research conducted to assess relevance of theories and constructs. Each researcher develops research design Discussion take place to identify
Common Concepts across contexts Common concepts but operationalized differently Relationship among constructs that differ across contexts Contexts that are unique to a given context.

Managerial Implications

Involve local management Research tools to be initiated in local country context Organization structure determines the approach for IMR
 Centralized (Adapted Etic)  Decentralized (Linked Emic)

Responsibility for Conducting Marketing Research

How to manage the Cultural Barrier?
Option A Company Agency Customers

Option B Company

Agency

Local Agency

Customers

Option C Company

Subsidiary

Agency

Customers

Option D Company

Foreign Agency

Customers

Cultural Barrier
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Common Errors in Conducting International Research

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Selecting a domestic research Co Rigidly Standardizing methodologies across countries Conducting interviews in English Setting inappropriate sampling requirement Low consideration given to language Lack of systematic international communication procedures Misinterpreting multicountry data across countries Lack of knowledge of international differences in conducting qualitative research.

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