International Marketing
Research
Research is very important when marketing in your own country, but it is even more
important in foreign markets. This is because in your own country you can rely on
some combination of research results and your own intuition (i.e. your sense of how
people think, how they use your products, and how they will respond to certain
messages). In foreign markets, you do not have the same kind of personal familiarity
with the markets, and therefore need to make up for it with more extensive research.
The results of this research should then be considered in light of what the firm can
deliver.
Doing detailed research is costly; a firm would typically only do detailed research on
the countries believed to be the most promising.
A. Demand Analysis
The firm needs to analyze and segment its customers. It should clearly identify
who are the accessible, target customers. It should understand how the country's
culture might affect demand for its product. Consider income levels,
demographics, education levels, distribution of incomes, urbanization,
consumption patterns. Moreover, consider trends in each of these issues. (e.g.
How fast are income levels rising? Is the population aging? etc.)
Essentially, you want to spot an emerging demand for your product. It is often
easier to break into emerging markets than into saturated markets.
Determine existing demand (based on the data and on expert opinion).
Determine future demand (based on trends).
Determine latent demand (demand for products not currently available in the
country).
Determine responsiveness to marketing.
Determine spillover effects to neighboring countries.