Steps of International Marketing Research Process (IM 01 Dec 2020)

Steps of International Marketing Research Process

The international marketing research process as well as domestic one is a serious of separate steps. However, the international marketing research process has some peculiarities such as the national differences between countries arising out of political, legal, economic, social and cultural differences and, the comparability of research results due to these differences.

 

Step 1. Research Problem Definition.

Problem definition is the most critical part of the research process. Research problem definition involves specifying the information needed by manage­ment. Unless the problem is properly defined, the information produced by the research process is unlikely to have any value.

 

Step 2. Information Value Estimation.

Information has value only to the extent that it improves decisions. The value of information increases as

(1) the cost of a wrong de­cision increases,

(2) our level of knowledge as to the correct decision de­creases, and

(3) the accuracy of the information the research will provide increases.

The principle involved in deciding whether to do more research is that research should be conducted only when the value of the information to be obtained is expected to be greater than the cost of obtaining it.

 

Step 3. Selection of the Data Collection Approach.

There are three basic data collection approaches in international marketing research:

(1) secondary data,

(2) survey data, and

(3) experimental data.

Secondary data were collected for other purpose than helping to solve the current problem. Primary data are collected expressly to help solve the problem at hand. Survey and experimental data are therefore secondary data if they were collected earlier for another study; they are primary data if they were collected for the present one. Secondary data are virtually always collected first because of their time and cost advantages.

 

Step 4. Measurement Technique Selection.

Four basic measurement techniques are used in marketing research:

(1) questionnaires,

(2) attitude scales,

(3) observation, and

(4) depth interviews and projec­ts techniques.

As with selecting the data collection method, selection of a measurement technique is influenced primarily by the nature of the information required and secondarily by the value of the information.

 

Step 5. Sample Selection.

Most marketing studies involve a sample or subgroup of the total population relevant to the problem, rather than a census of the entire group. The popu­lation is generally specified as a part of the problem definition process.

 

Step 6. Selection of Methods of Analyses.

Data are useful only after analysis. Data analysis involves converting a series of recorded observations into descriptive statements and/or inferences about relationships. The types of analyses, which can be conducted, depend on the nature of the sampling process, measurement instrument, and the data collection method.

 

Step 7. Evaluation of the Ethics of the Research.

It is essential that marketing researchers restrict their research activities to practices that are ethically sound. Ethically sound research considers the interests of the general public, the respondents, the client, and the research profession as well as those of the researcher.

 

Step 8. Estimation of Time and Financial Requirements.

Time refers to the time needed to complete the project. The financial requirement is the monetary representation of personnel time, computer time, and mate­rials requirements. The time and finance requirements are not independent.

 

Step 9. Preparation of Research Proposal.

The research design process provides the researcher with a blueprint, or guide, for conducting and controlling the research project. This blueprint is written in the form of a research proposal. A written research proposal should precede any research project. The re­search proposal helps ensure that the decision maker and the researcher are still in agreement on the basic management problem, the information re­quired, and the research approach.

 

International Secondary Data Sources

1. The Nature of International Secondary Data

Secondary data for international marketing decisions are subject to some disadvantages. Unfortunately, many of the disadvantages are multiplied when the data involve more countries. An additional problem is that most secondary data are available only in the host country’s language. Thus, multi-country searches require utilizing specializing firms or maintaining a multilingual staff.

Data availability, recency, accessibility, and accuracy vary widely from country to country. Until recently, there were few commercial databases in Japan because of the difficulty of using Japanese characters on computers. Now the problem is resolved. The Japanese government prepares many potentially useful reports, but even Japanese firms seldom use them because they are poorly organized and indexed. Secondary data in many non-democracies often reflect political interests more closely than reality. In general, the amount of secondary data available in a country varies directly with its level of economic development.

Even when the accurate data are accessible, it may not be possible to make multinational comparisons. Data from several countries may not be comparable because the data were collected at different times, use different units of measurement, cover slightly different topics, or define the classes (such as age groups) differently. This has become a major problem in the European Community as firms begin to analyze the market as a whole rather than as a collection of individual countries. To resolve part of the problem, ESOMAR (European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research) has proposed a standardized set of questions to gather demographic data in both government and private surveys. Similar work is underway in Brazil, India, and the Middle East.

 

2. Internal Sources of International Secondary Data

The internal sources of data for international decisions can be classified into four broad categories –

a. accounting records,

b. sales force reports,

c. miscellaneous records and

d. internal experts.

However, utilizing international internal data can be difficult. Different accounting systems, decentralized (often on a country basis) management and information systems, sales forces organized by country or region, and so forth, all this increases the difficulty of acquiring and using internal data in a timely manner. To deal with these problems global firms implement international information systems and require some standardization across countries in terms of internal recordkeeping and reporting.

 

3. External Sources of International Secondary Data

For a example, when a company starts an external search for international secondary data it consults general guides to this type of data, such as International Marketing Handbook of the US Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration, The World of Information (Africa Guide), or it contacts Euromonitor, the leading provider of world business information and market analysis. An alternative to conducting such a search “in house” is to use a specialist firm such as PricewaterhouseCoopers and McKinsey.

 

a) Foreign Government Sources

All developed countries provide census-type data on their populations. However, the frequency of data collection and the type and amount of data collected vary widely from country to country. Germany went 17 years be­tween its last two censuses, and Holland has not conducted a census in 20 years. The U.S. collects income data in its census and marketers make extensive use of it. Most other nations, including Japan, Britain, France, Spain, and Italy, do not. (Australia, Mexico, Sweden, and Finland do.) While the Scan­dinavian countries, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand publish English-language versions of their main census reports, most countries report them only in their home language.

 

b) International Political Organizations

Three major international political organizations provide significant amounts of data relevant to international marketing activities. The United Nations and its related organization, the United Nation’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, provide hundreds of publications dealing with the population, economic, and social conditions of over 200 countries.

The World Bank lends funds, provides advice, and serves as a catalyst to stimulate investments in developing nations. To carry out its missions, it collects substantial amounts of useful data which can be purchased inexpen­sively.

The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) con­sists of 24 economically developed countries with the mission of promoting the members’ economic and social welfare by coordinating national policies. As part of this mission, it publishes reports on a broad range of socioeconomic topics involving its members and the developing nations.

 

4. Issues in International Primary Data Collection

Primary data are the data collected to help solve a problem or take advantage of an opportunity on which a decision is pending.

The main advantage of primary data lies in the fact that it is collected for solving the exact problem and that is why it is characterized by high usefulness and novelty. The disadvantage is that the costs of collecting primary data are much higher in foreign developing markets as it involves lots of money.

The international primary data is collected with the help of qualitative and quantitative research approaches. Qualitative research is particularly used as a first step in studying international marketing phenomena (focus groups, observation). However, the main constraint is that responses can be affected by culture as individuals may act differently if they know they are being observed.

Quantitative researches are more structured. They involve both descriptive research approaches, such as survey research, and causal research approaches, such as experiments. More respondents take part in quantitative research, although it highlights fewer problems than qualitative research.

International marketing research in cross-cultural environment requires the measurement of behaviors and attitudes. A major issue in primary data collection is the existence of the so-called EMIC vs. ETIC dilemma (EMIC [insider view for the study of culture] & ETIC [outsider view for the study of culture] are two different approach for the study of culture). The EMIC school states that attitudinal and behavioral phenomena are unique to a culture. The ETIC school is primarily concerned with identifying and assessing universal attitudinal and behavioral concepts, and developing pan-cultural or culture-free measures.

 

5. Survey Methods of International Marketing Research

The techniques of data collection used in international marketing research have both advantages and disadvantages.

 

1. Personal interviews are considered to be the most popular method of data collection in international marketing research. However, there are several constraints for the usage of this technique. In the Middle East countries personal interviews are treated with great suspicion. Moreover, the personnel for the survey should be male and they may conduct interviews with housewives only when their husbands are at home. In Latin American countries, where tax protest movement is being developed, the interviews are thought to be tax inspectors.

 

2. Mall intercept surveys may be used in the United States, Canada and the European countries. As far as the developing countries are concerned, they are not common.

 

3. Telephone interviews have several advantages over other survey methods of international marketing research. The time and costs of international telephone calls are reducing, the surveys may be conducted from one place, the results of telephone interviews are considered reliable and it is easier to perform the client and interviewer control. But telephone surveys also have some limitations because of poor telecommunication systems in several countries. For example, in India telephone penetration is only 1 per cent and telephone surveys reduce the survey coverage greatly. But even in such developed countries as Great Britain telephone penetration comprises only 80 per cent. That is why a lot of marketers are very skeptical about telephone surveys and nowadays there is a great reduction in their application.

 

4. Mailing surveys are widely used in industrialized countries, where there is a high level of literacy, good mailing services and availability of mailing lists. However, the use of this method in developing countries has some constraints. In some countries people consider the mailing surveys to be the invasion into their private life and the effectiveness of these surveys is reduced. In such countries as Brazil, where only 30 per cent of mail is delivered, mailing surveys can’t be used as well.

 

5. Electronic surveys become more popular in the United States and Europe and they are used for the products which require technological literacy such as computers and computer software. E-mail surveys begin to replace mail and telephone surveys. The limiting factors for electronic surveys are as follow: there are still many countries with low internet access, the internet versions available in various countries may not be compatible and there may be a big number of non-responses because of technical issues. At the same time the speed of getting responses and low costs of surveys makes this method suitable for international marketing research.

 

Conclusion

International marketing research is the systematic design, collection, recording, analysis, interpretation, and reporting of information relating to a particular marketing decision facing a company operating internationally. The international marketing research process has some peculiarities such as the national differences between countries arising out of political, legal, economic, social and cultural differences and, the comparability of research results due to these differences.

 

A company performing the international marketing research may experience several problems. Firstly, there is a complexity of research design due to operation in a multi country, multicultural, and multi linguistic environment. Secondly, the availability of secondary data varies widely from country to country. On some markets, especially emerging and unstable, the data is neither available nor reliable. Thirdly, the costs of collecting primary data are much higher in foreign developing markets as there is the lack of an appropriate marketing research infrastructure.

 

Fourthly, problems associating with coordinating research and data collection in different countries may arise. And finally, there are the difficulties of establishing the comparability and equivalence of data and research conducted in different context.

Choice of Advertising Media (9 Factors) (A&BM 28 Nov 2020)

Choice of Advertising Media (9 Factors)

 

With a thorough study of each medium and vehicle, we are now poised for making vital decision on the choice of an advertising media and media vehicle. In fact, medium or media selection is unique decision to be made by every advertiser.

Actual selection of the best medium or media for particular advertiser will depend on variables like specific situation or circumstances under which he is carrying on his business, the market conditions, the marketing programme and the peculiarities of each medium of advertising.

Strictly speaking, there is no one best medium/media for all similar units. What is “best” is decided by unique individual circumstances. However, in general, the following factors govern the choice of an advertising media.

 

Factors Governing the Choice:

 

1. The nature of product:

A product that is needed by all will encourage mass media like print, broadcast, telecast, outdoor and the like. A product needing demonstration warrants television and screen advertising. Industrial products find favour of print media than broadcast media. Products like cigarettes, wines and alcohols are never advertised on any media.

 

2. Potential market:

The aim of every advertising effort is to carry on the ad message to the target audience economically and effectively. This crucial task rests in identification of potential market for the product in terms of the number of customers, geographic spread, income pattern, age group, tastes, likes and dislikes etc.

If the message is to reach the people with high income group, magazine is the best. If local area is to be covered, newspaper and outdoor advertising are of much help. If illiterate audience is to be approached, radio, television and cinema advertising are preferred.

 

3. The type of distribution strategy:

The advertising coverage and the distribution system that the company has developed have direct correlation. Thus, there is no point in advertising a product if it is not available in these outlets where he normally buys. Similarly, the advertiser need not use national media if not supported by nationwide distribution network.

 

4. The advertising objectives:

Though the major objective of every company is to influence the consumer behaviour favourably, the specific objectives may be to have local or regional or national coverage to popularize a product or a service or the company to create primary or secondary demand to achieve immediate or delayed action to maintain the secrets of the house.

If it wants immediate action, direct or specialty advertising fitting most. If national coverage is needed, use television and news-paper with nationwide coverage.

 

5. The type of selling message:

It is more of the advertising requirements that decide the appropriate choice. The advertisers may be interested in appealing the prospects by colour advertisements. In that case, magazine, film, television, bill- boards, bulletin boards serve the purpose.

If the timeliness is the greater concern, one should go in for news-paper, radio, posters. If demonstration is needed there is nothing like television and screen media. If new product is to be introduced, promotional advertising is most welcome.

 

6. The budget available:

A manufacturer may have a very colourful and bold plan of advertising. He may be dreaming of advertising on a national television net-work and films. If budget does not allow, then he is to be happy with a low budget media like his news-paper and outdoor advertising.

Instead of colour print in magazine, he may be forced to go in for black and white. Thus, it is the resource constraints that decide the choice.

 

7. Competitive advertising:

A shrewd advertiser is one who studies carefully the moves of his competitor or competitors as to the media selected and the pattern of expenditure portrayed. Meticulous evaluation of media strategy and advertising budget paves way for better choice.

It is because, whenever a rival spends heavily on a particular medium or media and has been successful, it is the outcome of his experience and tactics. However, blind copying should be misleading and disastrous.

 

8. Media availability:

The problem of media availability is of much relevance because; all the required media may not be available at the opportune time. This is particularly true in case of media like radio and television; so is the case with screen medium. Thus, non-availability of a medium or a media poses a new challenge to the media planners and the people advertising industry. It is basically an external limit than the internal constraint.

 

9. Characteristics of media:

Media characteristics differ widely and these differences have deep bearing on the choice of media vehicle.

These characteristics are:

Coverage,

Reach,

Cost,

Consumer confidence and

Frequency.

“Coverage” refers to the circulation or the speed of the message provided by the media vehicle. Larger the coverage, greater the chances of message exposure to the audiences. Advertisers prefer the media vehicles with largest coverage for the amount spent.

The vehicles like radio, television, news-papers, magazines and cinema are of this kind; on the other hand, direct advertising and outdoor advertising are known for local coverage.

“Reach” is the vehicle’s access to different individuals or homes over a given period of time.

It refers to readership, listenership and viewership. It is the actual number reading than the persons buying or owning these.

For instance, one need not own a television set to have advertising message so also a news-paper and a magazine. ‘Relative cost’ refers to the amount of money spent on using a particular vehicle. It is one that involves inter vehicle and medium cost analysis and comparison.

“Cost” is expressed with reference to the time and the space bought, in case of news-papers, it is milline rate; in case of magazine, it is rate per thousand readers; in case of radio and television, it is per thousand listeners or viewers per minute and ten seconds.

“Consumer confidence” refers to the confidence placed in the medium by the consumers.

This consumer credibility of a vehicle is important because, credibility of advertising message is depending on it. Speaking from this point of view, news-papers and magazines enjoy high degree of credibility than radio and television commercials.

Outdoor medium is considered the least credible.

“Frequency” refers to the number of times an audience is reached in a given period of time.

Limited frequency makes little or no impression on the target audience. Thus, news-papers, television, radio and outdoor media are known for highest frequency while, magazine, screen, display and direct advertising the lowest.

In a nut-shell, the advertiser, to get the best results for the money spent and the efforts put in, should consider all the above nine factors that govern selection of a medium or media and media vehicle. Media selection is a matter of juggling, adjusting, tailoring, filling, revising and reworking to match to his individual situation.

 

Advertising Media Selection

The selection of a media is very important. It will influence the impact and cost of advertising. The target audience should also be identified.

An advertising campaign cannot contribute to success unless the target audience is exposed to it. The purpose of media selection is to transmit the message of adver­tising to the target audience effectively and economically.

The selection of media involves the selection of a particular source or vehicle of advertise­ment and its utilization over a period of time.

Medium or media selection is a unique decision to be made by the advertiser. There is no one medium that is best for all business units and what is best depends on the unique individual situation of the business unit.

 

Advertising Media Selection – Media Choices as per Market Preference

Media selection is a highly involved task for a marketer. The major reason for this involvement is that there could be no single best media strategy that would apply to different involvement is that there could be no best media strategy that would apply to different situations. This attempt is therefore, to identify a fit between media choice and market preferences.

1. Newspapers:

Daily appearance, localized coverage, mass audience appeal, short lead times, poor reproduction quality, short life span. However, can be referred to as often as one wishes to. best for launch announcements. Generally, the advertising is hurriedly glanced through. Research has shown that readers stay loyal to their newspaper and consider it as the most authoritative medium. Large detailed copy can be placed in it, useful, when advertising for technological products or processes as well as when a new complex concept has to be explained.

2. Magazines:

Magazines can segment audiences according to their field of interest-film, finance, tourism or sports, or covering different industries such as cement, steel, construction, etc. There are however also general interest magazines. Magazines have a long-life span and pass along readership. Reproduction is better than in newspapers but because of its periodicity (weekly, fortnightly, monthly) the impact of advertising is deferred. Also, there are long lead times.

Readers look up magazines in a more leisurely fashion. Most magazines are bought at a newsstand and therefore the lead story and contents on the cover determine the extent of readership of a particular issue.

3. Television:

Television allows for sight, sound and motion to be combined with dramatization. Can convey emotion as well as offers product demonstration. Colour can enhance appetite appeal or useful for products that depend on colour such as paints, colour cosmetics etc. Television however because of multiplicity of channels (satellite + cable) has led to media fragmentation.

It is found that zapping of commercials during the commercial break more often takes place. A mass medium, television can attract audiences of every age and income. An expensive medium both in terms of cost of production and cost of exposure. The higher the ratings, the higher the cost to the advertiser. These ratings are tracked by INTAM and TAM through People meters.

4. Radio:

The message is fleeting and serves as a good reminder medium. Radio is a very personalized medium. The radio commercial must create a picture in the mind (since there are no visuals), therefore complicated messages or vivid demonstrations are not possible. Being a mobile medium, the message can be transmitted almost anywhere. In India the advertising is carried by Vividh Bharati and the primary channel of All India Radio, and now also transmitted through the FM Channels.

5. Cinema:

Cinema lost out to television but it is staging a comeback with the building of multiplexes in the urban cities. Visiting the cinema is seen as a social outing. The Big Picture effect of a cinema screen is an added attraction. Cinema viewing is very popular in the South and the smaller towns. In India we have special category of touring cinemas, defence cinemas and cinemas at tea gardens. Rates are negotiated based on total amount spent and the class of cinema as well as on the market profile of the town.

6. Outdoor:

Consists of hoardings (painted by sign painters), posters (large sized posters pasted on the board) and electronic hoardings. Other forms of outdoor are transit and transportation sites-such as bus stops, electric poles, buses, trains, taxies, rickshaws. Minimum copy, as the massage has to be taken in at a glance. Location of the site is most important. Geographically selective medium. Often used in India by smaller advertisers who cannot afford the cost of print and television. Messages need to be changed frequently.

Other peripheral media are neon signs, baggage tags, match box covers, specialty advertising. We may also have non-conventional media such as wall paintings, kirtanas, tamashas, special stalls at haats and shandies in rural markets.

Advertising Media Selection – With Difficulties in Selection

No one medium type is superior to all the others; each has its merits and its handicaps. The profitability of any one type varies from manufacturer to manufacturer even within a single product classification, and may vary from year to year for a single manufac­turer. Changes and shifts are about the only rule, making generaliza­tions dangerous and any scientific selection of media types impossible.

The advertiser approaches the selection of media types by defining the typical buyer he intends to influence through his advertising. These buyers constitute his market; they are to receive his advertising message from and through the media he selects. The concept of coverage consists of the advertiser’s reaching the maximum number of these buyers his current and prospective customers.

Coverage, then, is limited to users of the advertiser’s product and to persons who do not use it but should; it does not imply the maximum number of all the consumers. Having defined his buyer, the advertiser then determines how many there are and where they are.

The remainder of the selection process involves how to send an effective advertising message economically to the group of buyers that has been defined. A major consideration here is the nature of the message.

Another is how often it needs to be delivered; still another involves the length of the campaign period. The advertiser must deliver this effective message at a cost which he can afford at a figure which will make the advertising effort profitable.

Difficulties in Selecting of Media Types:

(i) Audience Measurement:

The media sell circulation or the opportunity to develop circulation. There is a gross aspect to circulation (how many copies of the Fermina were bought last month) and a net aspect (how many of those purchasers are prospects for the product); or, refined further; how many prospects for the product saw the advertisement last month in the Femina. Audience measurement in the broadcast media is not as precise as advertisers would prefer.

(ii) Difficulty of Cost Comparisons:

There is a cost per thousand concept in every medium type but the basic unit varies, sometimes being cost per thousand homes or thousand viewers, sometimes being cost per thousand passersby, sometimes being cost per page per thousand copies sold.

There is no sound meaningful way of comparing the value of a thousand pages in a publication with a thousand members of a broadcast audience.

Just how does the reaction of a thousand housewives, who read a food advertisement about Magi noodles, compare with that of a different thousand housewives who watch the same on TV

(iii) The Reliance a Manufacturer Should Place on a Particular Type of Medium:

How much of his promotion effort should a food manufacturer place in magazines and how much on TV how much, if any, in outdoor or point of purchase? Which type should be dominant and which ones supple­mentary.

Media costs, the costs of space and time, are the largest single expense item in most advertising budgets. The selection of media types to be used in an undertaking deserves, even demands, the very best thought and judgement of on the part of the top management.

The matters should get attention are:

(i) Availability:

Regional markets may be so limited that national circulation of magazines should not be used. A product may have so slight a market that a medium such as the radio would not be indicated for use.

(ii) Selectivity:

Some big sales ideas demand visual presen­tation others demand oral presentation. The radio cannot accommodate stories requiring a physical form, and outdoor advertising cannot accommodate long stories. The copy aiming at direct action is different from the copy seeking indirect action.

(iii) Competition:

Competiton is a matter which the advertiser does not ignore. A company may select media types not used by its competitors, counting on distinctiveness and domination to justify this choice.

Selection of Individual Media:

Having finally decided to use magazines, the advertiser’s next job is to select which magazines should carry his advertising.

The points to be considered for this purpose are:

(i) Circulation:

What advertisers buy from media is circulation. Continuing our magazine example, the advertiser searches for those magazines whose quality and quantity of circulation fit his needs.

When the typical reader of a certain magazine and the typical prospect of a certain manufacturer are the same individual, the quality of circulation is excellent. The circulation of medium in those markets where the manufacturer does not have distribution facilities reduces the quality of the medium for that manufacturer.

The quality and quantity of a medium’s circulation are meaningful only in terms of the medium’s rates. When the magazine starts selling more to advertisers, it charges them more; and when its costs continue to rise, it must raise its rates.

(ii) Prestige:

Prestige is an intangible. Excellence in putting together the editorial features which go into an issue contribute to a magazine’s prestige; outstanding physical appearance makes a similar contribution. The magazine’s advertising standards and the patronage of a group of respected advertisers are evidence of prestige.

(iii) Influence:

This, too, is an intangible. Some magazines as carriers of advertising undoubtedly enjoy greater influence with retailers and with consumers than do other magazines.

(iv) Readership:

How thoroughly is the magazine read? What is the intensity and the intentness of this reading? How much reader loyalty and reader confidence in the authority of the magazine are present in this reading.