International Marketing Management1

Introduction
With the advent of globalization, organizations today are expanding over borders to
develop their business. However, carrying on business operations at a global level is not the
same as carrying out business in the domestic market. There are a lot of things that change
when firms enter an international market right from the entry mode chosen to the strategy
implementation. However, before entering a market, profound research is to be carried out in
order to gain information about the market which helps in making a decision if the market is
worth entering and carry out business or not. Marketing research carried out in the
international market has too many challenges which have been discussed in the paper along
with ways to handle it. The paper also discusses the concept of advertisement which is a
popular promotional technique used by marketers. Advertisement too when used as a
promotional tool in the international market has its own pros and cons.
Part (a) International Marketing Research
American Marketing Association defines Marketing Research as systematic
gathering, recording, and analyzing of data about problems relating to the marketing of goods
and services. It includes the research of markets, products, price, sales promotion,
distribution, and customers. Marketing research provides information regarding whether a
market is potential or not and when to enter or leave a market. It also provides information
related to market performance, market shares and sales analysis and forecasting (Jain,
2000)1.Marketing research helps an organization to come up with the right market entry
strategies and marketing mix decisions.
The increasing globalization has increased the importance of market research. Earl Naumann,
Donald W. Jackson Jr, William G. Wolfe in their study found that Japanese firms give utmost
importance to marketing research and make a thorough research of the markets before
entering them (Earl Naumann, 1994).2
Unlike, carrying out research in the domestic markets, carrying out research at an
international level is quite different. Initially the information requirements are to be
determined following which the level of analysis along with the types of decision would be
identified (The future of Research in Marekting: Marketing Science, 1993).
Information requirement determination - Information requirements for each firm are
different. A firm present in an international market seeks different kind of information
compared to the one that is planning to enter the international market. Firms that are
planning to enter the international market for the first time need to decide upon aspects like
targets market, entry methods, product specification, pricing and market logistics techniques,
and documentary requirements. Firms that are present in the international market, look for
information that helps them in consolidating and expanding the market share, performance
evaluation in terms of nu7mbers, and reaching the physical targets (ICFAI Center for
Management Research (ICMR), 2005).
1 Subhash C. Jain, International Marketing Management, 3 rd Edition, CBS
Publishers and Distributors.
2 Earl Naumann, Donald W. Jackson Jr, William G. Wolfe, Examining the practice
of United States and Japanese Market Research Firms, California Management
Review, summer 1994.

International Marketing Management2

Therefore, the information requirements of an international market researcher are
firms specific and cannot be generalized.
Analysis level and decision type - Once the information requirements at the firm level are
determined, the Marketing Information System tries to identify the information requirements
of the sales and marketing managers. The decisions taken by the international sales and the
marketing managers may be classified into strategic, operational, or tactical categories.
These decisions are taken at the top and middle levels of the organization.
Unit of Analysis The study of unit of analysis is the next step after deciding the level of
analysis and types of decisions. G.C. Beri defines unit of analysis as individuals or the
objects whose characteristics are to be measured. The unit analysis identifies the objects to
be studied.3 The following may be the units in the marketing research:
Region or country grouping
Country;
Sub-groups within the countries.
The International marketing research is a complex and multi-tier research.
Selecting information sources is the next step after determining the unit of analysis. The two
important sources of data in domestic or international market research are primary and
secondary sources. Primary data is very costly and time consuming while secondary data is
not always reliable. Hence, an international marketer has to make a trade-off between the
two types of sources. The selection of sources is to be done keeping in mind the objectives of
conducting the research. If the research is carried out to gather information about a specific
product, then secondary source of information would not be of use. Such information is
available only through primary research.
Problems in International Marketing Research It is very difficult to conduct a marketing
research at a global level because of differences among nations, uncertainty in the markets,
lack of proper information networks, increasing costs because of geographical distances,
problems in decentralization, and changing foreign exchange rates (Halton, 1999).4The
problems faced by an international researcher may be the following.
Problem of numerous markets
Problems with secondary data
Comparing several markets
Problems with primary data
Infrastructure constraints.
Problems of numerous markets Marketing research in international markets requires lot of
financial, human, and technological input. Obtaining reliable data becomes difficult
especially, in developing and less developed countries. Researchers also find it very difficult
to define the sample and undertake research in international markets. Analysis of the data
obtained from different sources also becomes challenging. Another constraint is the limited
budgets of the organizations.
3 G.C. Beri, Marketing Research, 2nd edition, Tata McGraw Hill Publishing
Company Limited
4 Richard H. Holton, Marketing Policies in Multinational Corporations, California
Management Review, summer 71, Vol. 13 Issue 4, p:57, p:11

International Marketing Management3

Problems with secondary data Obtaining secondary data from various countries, especially
developing countries, is difficult. According to Subhash C. Jain, the availability of reliable
secondary data is directly related to the level of economic development of a country (Jain,
2000).5 Data collection is an expensive and a tedious process. Therefore, if the government
does not have financial resources, it may not be interested in collecting data. Moreover,
secondary data often becomes outdated.
Comparability of the data The data obtained from different sources needs to be analyzed
and compared to have an understanding of the international markets. However, this is not
possible because of the differences in definitions of the variables and differences in base
years. For example, the definition of Construction equipment, machinery and tools in
Malaysia includes huge bulldozers as well as hand operated drills (A Cross Natioonal
Comparison of Consumer Research Measures, 1997)6 whereas in many other countries that is
not the case. Therefore, an international researcher will not be able to compare the data
between different nations.
Problems with Primary Data IT is not easy to obtain data from primary sources in
international markets. International researchers face a lot of problems because of the
differences in socio-cultural factors and level of economic development in a country. First,
researchers face problems in defining the sample (Halton, 1999). A good sample should
represent the entire population. Semantic differences pose another problem. Different
countries have different languages. Everywhere the questionnaire has to be translated into
the native language, which is not an easy task. International marketing researches also face
the problem of non-response. This may be because of various reasons like cultural
differences, language barriers, and time constraints. Respondents may often not be honest or
may be unwilling to share their feelings with the researchers.
Infrastructure Constraints Researchers may face a number of technical problems while
collecting data in foreign markets. In developing countries, in particular, the problems in
collecting data are multi-fold. Poor infrastructure facilities like slow and unreliable postal
system, lack of telephone facilities, lack of transportation facilities, lack of exposure to
technological devices, and poor standard of research support infrastructure force researchers
to confine their activities to a limited area and a limited number of people, and not consider
the entire population.
Minimizing the problems in International Marketing Research
God research not only depends upon proper designing but also upon the mode of
implementation, which is influenced by a number of factors beyond the control of the
researchers (Keegan, 1997, 5th Edition). There are no ready-made solutions to the aforesaid
problems. However, international researchers can try to minimize the problems by
undertaking the following measures:
1. The costs of gathering data and finding the necessary manpower in international markets
can be reduced to a large extend by having a tie-up with local established institutions. The
international researcher may give instructions regarding their requirements, and the local
research institution should collect it the way they want.

5 Subhash C. Jain, International Marketing Management, 3 rd Edition, CBS

Publishers and Distributors.
6 Ravi Parameswaran and Attila Yaprak, A Cross National Comparison of
Consumer Research Measures, Journal of International Business Studies, spring
1997.

International Marketing Management4

2. An international researcher can avoid problems of local culture and languages by hiring a
local person who is conversant with marketing techniques and local culture.
3. By taking some extra care in the preparation of the questionnaire, a lot of semantic errors
can be avoided. The questionnaire should be translated into different languages through a
local person who can understand the language the questionnaire is in and properly translate it
into the native language. The retranslated version should then be compared with the original
version and errors. If any, should be rectified. Finally, it must be checked whether the
questions reflect the same meaning in the local language.
4. The researcher should apply appropriate measures while drawing the sample and adopt
proper methods while analyzing the data.
Part - b
Advertising can be defined as a paid form of non-personal communication about an
organization or products transmitted to a target audience through a mass/broadcast medium.
Advertising offers unique benefits to the advertiser. There is flexibility that permits focus on
a small, clearly defined segment of the market. It is also cost-efficient. An organization can
communicate with a large number of prospective customers at a minimal cost per person.
Further, the receiver of the message gets an opportunity to compare various messages from
different players operating in the market. An advertiser, offering value for money and
communicating the offer, stands to benefit. Advertising has a lot of scope for expression and
dramatization is possible. There is the danger that some companies might misuse this
freedom and suffer as a consequence ((ICMR), 2004).
International advertising involves dissemination of commercial messages to varied
target audiences. In the world context, communication is often complex. The difficulty can
be ascribed to multiple contexts such as differences in language, differences in literacy levels
and differences in culture. Cultural barriers can hamper effective communication. For
example, when the American Dairy Association entered Mexico with its Get Milk?
campaign, The Spanish translation sounded like Are you lactating? It may sound
humorous, but it can be taken as offensive too!! Perhaps, using a visual symbol could have
made this campaign clearer.
Cultures can be broadly classified into high context cultures and low context cultures.
High context refers to societies or groups where people have close connections over a long
period of time. Low context refers to societies where people tend to have many connections
but of shorter duration or for some specific reason. The cultures of Japan, China and other
collectivist cultures of Asia come under the first category. Western societies are low-context
cultures. The advertising content has to be different for the two types.
When an MNC is advertising in high context cultures, it has to provide more
information on products and services, than it would in low context cultures. In high context
cultures the advertising has to be based more on image or mood appeal (ICFAI Center for
Management Research, 2003). In these cultures, prospective customers tend to rely more on
personal networks for information and content. An international marketer has to appreciate
these differences in communication styles to ensure effective advertising.
This form of communication is ideal to generate quick sales and create a long-term
image for the product. There are some disadvantages as well. There is rarely any generation
of feedback. The communication is also less persuasive than personal selling. Though cost
per potential customer is low, the absolute outlay needed for advertising is high.

International Marketing Management5

An effective standardized campaign needs careful management and good
communication. Non-standardized campaigns often miss corporate objective. This happens
when firms follow the laissez faire philosophy. When adopting non-standardized campaigns,
some multinational corporations relax all controls over foreign affiliates and let them decide
how to advertise. These MNCs assume that an effective non-standardized campaign based on
individual requirements of each foreign market will automatically happen once enough
freedom is given to foreign affiliates. This is not always true. Following certain principles
can help MNC improve their promotional operations in foreign markets. The following are
the ones.
The first principle is - knowing about the target market. Both the international
advertising executive situated at company headquarters and the local advertising executive
should have good market knowledge. They should collect market data continuously on their
products or the competitors, with regards to performance in international markets.
Information like customer demographics like age, sex, income level and occupation etc,
shopping behaviors and product usage have to be on hand (Blois, 2000). Comparative
analysis of this data, collected from different markets, highlights the difference between
them. Such analysis can help decide whether to choose a standardized campaign or a
differentiated one.
The next important step would be to gain knowledge about the foreign executives. It
is important that MNC managers get to know the executives in their foreign affiliates,
operating division and independent distributorships. Getting cooperation is easier when
managers know the strengths, weaknesses, competencies and biases of their counterparts in
other countries. This is equally true when they are working with executives from other
companies.
Working with a single network agency is another important principle that companies
need to follow. It is better to work with a large international advertising agency with
branches in a foreign marketing area than with separate agencies in each area. Using a
network agency helps in better coordination. Individual or separate agencies often mean poor
cooperation, lack of proper communication and inter-agency jealousies. All these can hamper
an effective advertising campaign.
The MNC managers must also get to know the advertising agency they are going to
work with, and the agencys personnel. This is important whether the company employees a
network agency or separate local agencies. Managers must insist on meeting local
advertising agency executives. They should see samples of the advertising executives past
work on other accounts. Becoming familiar with their style, media biases, preferences and
other unique factors helps realistic assessment of campaign suggestions.
There are inherent advantages with a long planning horizon. It gives enough time to
visit markets that need special attention (Wild, 2008). Longer lead times also allow foreign
advertising managers to internalize stated campaign objectives. More lead time is
particularly useful when a firm is going in for non-standardized campaigns. It will have
enough time to develop a campaign suited to local conditions that is consistent with overall
corporate goals.
Keeping budget approvals with the home office ensures that money is not sanctioned
and disbursed till local campaigns are appropriately developed. It also sees to it that a
standardized campaign theme is suitably developed.

International Marketing Management6

An advertising campaign involves developing a series of advertisements and targeting
them at the potential customers through different media like the print and broadcast media.
Steps involved in an advertisement program can be broadly classified into

Identifying the target audience,

Specifying advertising objective,
Setting the advertising budget,
Developing the advertising message,
Selecting the right media

Spending a lot on advertising does not automatically guarantee success. Research

suggests that the clarity of an advertising message is more important than the amount spent
on it. Factors that affect the advertising message can be product related and customer related.
Product related factors are its features, usage and benefits. Characteristics of the target
customers such as age, gender, their likes and dislikes, their habits, education, income and
occupation also affect the content and form of advertisements. Other factors that can affect
the message of an advertisement are its objective and platform. For instance, if a firm want
sot create a brand image, its advertising message must focus on its logo and it should be
repeatedly aired through appropriate media. And finally the advertising message must be
carefully drafted and targeted to create the right impact on the target audience.
A successful advertising message should have the following characteristics:
Meaningful Target customers should find the message of an advertisement relevant and
meaningful. Marketers must pay due attention to the message delivered to make it more
meaningful.
Distinctive An advertisement message needs to be unique so that it captures the customers
attention. For example, the Liril toilet soap advertisement combined a visual a girl in the
waterfall with a unique sound track. The soap could create distinct brand image and
maintained a leadership position in premium toilet soap category (Share, 1977).
Believable the message should convince the customers about the features of the product.
The structure, also known as the body of an advertisement, plays a vital role in
promoting a brand. Advertisements help customers form their opinions of a product or a
company. Messages can be one-sided, i.e. the marketers telling their part of the story, or twosided, i.e. comparing their product with competing brands. Conclusions drawing messages
raise issues or questions and then attempt to answer them.
Advertisers primarily evaluate the effectiveness of an advertisement because firms
spend huge amounts of money on advertising. And no marketer would like to spend such
amounts without having any clue about the resultant effects of such expenditure. However,
one might raise a question about the necessity of advertising itself. Although a marketer can
perform his business activities without advertising, he will definitely lose the opportunity of
increasing his sales (Thill, 1992).

International Marketing Management7

Therefore, to measure the effectiveness of advertisements, marketers use several
methods like intermediate measures. They are called intermediate measure because the target
audiences are tested after they are exposed to the advertisement and before they take any
action i.e. purchase. In this method, the researchers question the respondents to analyze their
receptiveness, their comprehension of the advertisement and their response towards the
advertisement.
Receptiveness: Whether the audiences have clearly received the message.
Comprehension: Whether the audiences have understood the message.
Response: Whether the audiences have accepted the message.
Other intermediate methods include recognition and recall tests, where the audience is
put to test on whether they can recognize and recall a particular advertisement. In case of the
recognition test, the interviewer shows a copy of the advertising message to the customer and
asks him to recognize. If the answer is positive, the advertiser asks further questions with
regards to the advertisement. Recall test can either be an aided or unaided recall test. In an
unaided recall test, the respondents are not shown any copy of the advertising message and
are simply asked what they have seen recently. Whereas in an aided recall test, respondents
are shown a list of products, brands, company trademarks, logos, etc. to test their memory of
the advertisement.
A persuasion test is another method where the respondents are asked whether they
have been influenced by a particular advertisement, rather than asking them whether they
remember the advertisement.
Conclusion
Various important aspects of marketing like product decision, segmentation, targeting,
marketing research and their implementation varies according to the market selected. As
described in the above paragraphs, marketing research also is different when carried out in
the international market. It has got its own set of challenges. Researchers need to keep in
mind a lot of things in order to succeed in getting the information that is aimed at retrieving
by carrying out research. In the same way, advertisement should be designed and focused
keeping in mind the target market and the target audience along with giving attention to the
demographics of the market. Only then would our advertisement would be successful.

International Marketing Management8

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