Global Marketing Management

Prof. Zillur Rahman

Module - 3
Lecture - 12
Global Marketing Research - Part I

Welcome to this course on Global Marketing Management.

And we have talked about the second section, that is Global Marketing Environment. Now,
we will start talking about the development of competitive strategy. Now you see that, we are
moving from the external environment to the internal environment, from the broad
environment to the narrow environment. How these, the global marketing environment, how
does it affects the internal environment, how does it affect the consumers.

So, this is what we will first try to understand. And we will start talking about global
marketing research which is spread over 2 modules. That is, module number 12 and 13. Now,
we will talk about module 12. And you see from this chart, from global marketing research
will come, how to go about segmentation, targeting and positioning. And then about the 4 Ps.
So, from we will understand from global marketing research, how to go about forming the
marketing strategy. So, that is why this this module is called as development of the
competitive strategy. And their, based on these 2 things will come the global market entry
mode.
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In this module, we will first talk about the marketing research process. The global marketing
research process is slightly different from the domestic marketing research process. And I
will tell you where the differences comes in. Then we will talk about the secondary global
marketing research, the primary global marketing research and how to go about using internet
for global marketing research.

Now, let us first try to understand why this marketing research is required. Given the
complexity of the global marketplace, there are different types of external environments
across different countries.
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The solid marketing research is critical for a host of global marketing decisions. Skipping or
not doing the research phase in the international marketing decision process can prove to be a
very costly mistake for the company. And most of the cultural blunders in global marketing,
they have come up from inadequate marketing research. Therefore, even marketing
behemoths such as Walmart and P&G sometimes fail to live up to the test, test and test
maxim. When, now you look at this example.
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When Walmart first entered the Argentine market, its jewellery counters display emerald,
sapphires and diamonds, while Argentine women prefers wearing gold and silver. The
hardware department had tools and appliances for 110-volt electric power, while the standard
throughout Argentina is 220-volt. Now we see, these can be not doing sufficient amount of
global marketing research can prove to be a blunder. What is marketing research? So,
marketing research is a systematic design, collection, analysis and reporting.
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First is, it has to be systematic. Second it is the design, collection, analysis and reporting of
data and findings which are relevant to specific marketing situation facing the company. So,
we will do marketing research when there is a specific marketing situation that the company
faces. So, marketing research assist the global marketing managers in 2 ways. First is to make
better decisions that recognize cross-country similarities and differences.

And another important thing that global marketing research does is to gain support from the
local subsidiaries for proposed marketing decisions. What happens many times it so happens
that, the local subsidiaries, they think that the headquarters they are imposing their decisions
on them. So, in order to come, do away with this kind of mindset, this marketing research can
be can be a tool that can be used so that the support from local subsidiaries can be gained for
the marketing decisions.
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This is the role of marketing research. These are the various customer groups. So, 1 is
consumer, employees, shareholders and suppliers. All of them put together are called as
customer groups. There on the right, here is the uncontrollable environmental factors, that is
the external environment. That as we have seen in the second section, that is a the global
marketing environment. That consists of political, legal, economic, social and cultural
technology and laws and regulations.

Then on the extreme left, you have the internal environment. That is the controllable
environmental factors, product, price, place and promotion. And then, we are doing
marketing research, together information from all these places. And this marketing research
will assess the information needs. They, it will provide information and it will help in
marketing decision making.

And the marketing managers can use this information for market segmentation, test target
market selection, the various marketing programs, performance and control. And then again,
this information again goes back to marketing research so that the marketing decisions can be
after performance and control and feedback, all this information goes back to again goes back
to marketing research so that marketing decisions can be changed accordingly.
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These are the 6 steps to conduct a global marketing research. These steps are the same that
are normally done in domestic market research also. So, for the first step is to define the
research problem. The second is to develop a research design. The third step is to determine
information needs. The fourth is to collect the data that is the primary or the secondary data.
Then we will analyze the data and interpret the result and report and present the findings of
the study to the decision maker. So, keep in mind that market research will not make
decisions. So, marketing research will not make a decision. It provides information to
managers for decision making.
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So, the first step of this global marketing research process is to define the problem, 1. Then
the decision alternatives and the research objectives. What is to be researched, that is the
content and scope of the problem. And why it is to be researched, the decision that are to be
made. The second step is to develop a research plan. But, it include another 6 type of things.
First is the data source, research design, research approach, sampling plan, research
instrument and contact method.
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Now, let us look at each one of them. What are the various types of data sources. 1 type of
data source is the secondary source or the secondary data; data that was collected for another
purpose and already exist somewhere. Another type of data is primary data. That is freshly
gathered data for a specific purpose, specific purpose at hand. The second component of
research plan is the research design.

What is a research design? Research design is a framework or a blueprint for conducting the
marketing research project. It details the procedure necessary for obtaining the information
needed to structure or solve marketing research problems.
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This is the classification of various marketing research design. So, marketing research design
can be exploratory or conclusive. So, these are the 2 types of marketing research designs.
Now, conclusive research designs can again be of 2 types. That is, descriptive and causal. So,
research designs are of 2 type, exploratory and conclusive. Conclusive research designs are of
2 types descriptive research and causal research.

Descriptive research can be cross-sectional design or longitudinal design. And cross-sectional

The third thing are the research approaches. Again, these are of 6 different kinds. So, it you
can conduct research by way of observation, ethnography, focus group, survey, you can use
behavioral data or you can use experimentation. The various types of research instruments
available are: first as everybody knows are the questionnaires. The second is the qualitative
measures.

That includes, word association, projective techniques, visualization, brand personification

The fifth component is the sampling plan. And it again consists of 3 different types of
questions. First is, what is the sampling unit. That is, who is to be surveyed. For example, a
person goes to a house to collect data, then who will answer the questions. The second is
sampling size. How many people should be surveyed. It should be 10 or 20 or 100 or 1,000.
What is the sampling procedure? How should the respondent be chosen?

Should we just start asking question to each and everyone who comes across us or we or
there are other methods also. So there, the various types of samples are: probability samples,
probability samples include simple random sample, stratified random sample and cluster
samples. While non-probability samples are convenience, judgement and quota. The various
types of contact methods are:
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Mail questionnaire, telephonic interviews, personal interviews and online interviews.
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So these, all this things they these can be the details can be available for or you can go
through any course on marketing research for understanding the details of these courses, of
these things and we will also talk about these things in some more detail later on. But, let us
look at the major challenges faced by the global marketing researchers. So, this is the
problem specific to, these are the problems which are specific to global marketing researchers
and not to domestic market researchers.

The first problem that a global marketing researcher faces is complexity of research design
because of environmental difference. And the research design, that is a second step. Because
you see that research design includes so many things, the research approaches and
instruments and sampling plan and types of sample, etcetera. So, this the research design
becomes complex across the various countries across the world.

Then, there can be lack and inaccuracy of secondary data. So, what is, for example, what is
poverty line? So, that kind of thing can be different in different countries. What is the voting
age in different countries? So that, the lack, so either the information is not available or the
information available is inaccurate. Time and cost to collect primary data. That will be
different in different countries depending upon the type of method of contact that you may
use.

So, if you are getting information from internet, gathering getting up getting people to fill
questionnaires through internet, then the cost and time may be low. Other is when you go
from door to door and collect data, then the time and cost can be very high. And then, the
fourth problem is coordination of multi country research efforts. So, when you are doing
research, marketing research in different countries, so how to go about coordinating this.

And then, the fifth problem that the global marketing researcher face is difficulty in
establishing compatibility across multi-country studies. So, in 1 country the findings, how to
relate, how to understand those findings with respect to the findings of the other country. I
will give, briefly give you an example about this. So, let us talk of the use of the bicycle. In 1
country the number of bicycles sold may be different from the number of bicycle sold in
another country.

Because, in 1 country it is, they are used to used for the purpose of transportation and in other
country they are used for leisure or just for the sake of cycling. So therefore, how to
established the comparability of the data across countries.
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Then, we talk about the first step of this research process, that is the problem, research
problem formulation. Any research starts off with a precise definition of the research
problem, the precise definition of the research problem. And in international context, the
marketing research problem formulation is hindered by the self-reference criteria, that we
have talked about earlier or ethnocentrism.

A major difficulty in formulating the research problem is unfamiliarity with the foreign
environment. So, how do we go about defining a research problem when we are not aware of
the environment in the foreign country. Therefore, omnibus surveys are regularly conducted
by research agencies.
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Let us look at this example of multi-country marketing research project by Eli Lilly. The
research problem was to estimate the dollar potential for a prescription weight-loss product in
the U.K., Spain, Italy and Germany. This research problem was converted into research
hypothesis. That is the patients would be willing to pay a premium price for the product, even
without reimbursement by the government.

We use primary and secondary data to conduct this research. The secondary data research
included market share of similar product, that is isomeride. The second type of data that they
use was incidence of overweight and obesity in Europe. Then they conducted after having
collected secondary data; so, that was the first step. Then they started collecting primary data.
The sample size that they have chosen was 350 physicians from these 4 countries U.K., Italy,
Spain and Germany.

The sampling procedure was random selection from a high prescribers doctors list based on
company data. The data collected was by 3 different methods. The first is, a diary was kept
by physicians for 2 weeks. So, these 350 physicians, they kept a diary for 2 weeks.
Questionnaires completed by patients who were just to be prospect for the product by
physicians. So, people who were obese and overweight, they were contacted and they were
asked to fill a questionnaire. The pricing study done based on 30 additional phone interviews
with physicians in the U.K., Italy and Spain to measure the price sensitivity.
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What is secondary global marketing research? Once the research issue has been stated,
management needs to determine the information needs. Researchers will first explore
secondary data sources, since that information, that kind of information is usually available
which is much more cheaper and less time consuming to gather, as compared to the primary
data.

So, any kind of marketing research, the first thing that you should do is to look at the
secondary data sources before you go in for the primary data sources. Marketing researcher,
market researchers in developed countries have access to a wealth of data that are that was
gathered by government and private agencies earlier. But unfortunately, the equivalents of
such databases are missing outside the developed world.
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When the information is available, it may be hard to track down. The starting point for data
collection is the internet or a computerized service that provides real-time online access to
information resources based on user provided keywords. So, we will look at this in a
moment. Many companies have their own libraries that provide valuable data sources. And
large companies typically compile enormous data banks on their operations. So, they keep on
collecting data which is then stored in data banks. And then it acts as a source of secondary
data.
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Governments publish lots of data and this can be sometime offer information on overseas
markets also. Beside government offices, there are various international agencies such as the
World Bank, OECD, IMF and United Nations. They gather a huge amount of data. Now, lots
of reports are published by these organizations which are especially useful for demographics,
economic information and trends in social economic indicators.

So, all this information can be used, which is freely available before we start looking for
primary information. Several companies, they specialize in producing business related
information, which is more directly relevant for companies. However, such information is
usually far more expensive than government based data. Because, this information, lots of
this information is freely available on the websites of these organizations. But then, their this
information may not be so useful for a company. Therefore, there are several companies who
collect data for other companies on the basis of payment.
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Now, these are the various sources of secondary data that can be easily and freely used. That
is, Yearbook of International Trade Statistics, that is published by United Nations. U.S.
Imports, that is published by U.S. Bureau of the Census. U.S. exports and then Exporters’
Encyclopaedia. There are country information handbooks with that includes socioeconomic
and political conditions.

Yearbook of Industrial Statistics is published by United Nations. Then there are Statistical
Yearbook that are that is published by United Nations and updated by Monthly Bulletin of
Statistics. Then there is OECD, that is OECD’s economic survey. World Competitiveness
Yearbook. Then there are Country Reports that are published by EIU. Demographic
Yearbook that is published by United Nations.

Statistical Yearbook is again published by United Nations. So, all this information is freely
available and these can be the first step. And this information can be used as the first step for
conducting marketing research. After gathering this information, then people may move or
the companies may move to collect the primary data. But keep in mind that secondary data
which is freely available should be first used, so that it cuts down the time and money.

Then, these are some other sources of secondary data that are freely available. The problem
with the, but all this information that is freely available, they are, it comes with certain kind
of problems. So, the problems with secondary data research is that, is the accuracy of data;
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How accurate the data is, so that is the question; how accurate it is. Age of data: how old it is.
Reliability over time: so has the reliability been lost over time and how to go about
comparing this data across countries. These are the 2 methods for, that can be used to
compare data across compare across countries and across sources. So, 1 source may say that
the number of adults in a country is X.

Another source says that the number of adults in a country are Y. And yet another source
says that it is Z. So, how to go about comparing that. So, for that we need, there are 2 types of
methods are available. First is to triangulate and then functional or conceptual equivalence
has to be seen. And the lumping of data. So, for example, 1 study collects data for kids 0 to 5,
another from 6 to 10. In another country they collect data for 0 to 3, 4 to 6 and 7 to 10. Now,
how to these are the various lumps of data. How to establish a compatibility between from in
this data.
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The next thing is primary global marketing research. After going through the secondary data,
the another thing another important step that has to be taken is to conduct a primary global
marketing research. Because, seldom do secondary data prove sufficient for international
marketing research studies. So, it is not sufficient enough to base your marketing research
marketing decisions. Therefore, companies they go in for primary research also. The primary
data can be collected in several ways. 1 is the focus groups, survey research, observational
research and test markets.
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A focus group is a loosely structured free-flowing discussion among a small group. The
group may have 8 to 12 people of target consumers. So, this focus group will, is a loosely
structured free-flowing discussion in a small group of 8 to 12 target consumers which is
facilitated by a professional moderator. The focus group can be used for many different
purposes. The different purposes may include that it can be used to generate information to
guide the quantitative research projects, 1.

To uncover new product opportunities and to test out new product concepts. So, when 8 to 12
target consumers, they come together, they, then they can be used, this group can be used to
identify what may be the new product opportunities and to test out new product concepts.
Moderator should be familiar with the local language and the social interaction pattern.
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The problem is, the culture sensitivity is an absolute must with focus groups. Japanese
consumers tend to be much more hesitant to criticize new product ideas than their western
counterparts. So, the idea of for telling you all this is that, these are the various approaches
and the importance or utility. Importance and utility of these methods may be different in
different countries in different contexts.

So, 1 method cannot prove to be a solution for all kind of problems across the world. When
analyzing and interpreting focus group findings, market researcher should also concentrate on
nonverbal cues. That is why, there is a need to have a moderator who will moderate the this
focus group discussion. So, that is why it is called as focus group discussion. So, this
moderator, he should be familiar with local language and social interaction pattern so that
these nonverbal cues can also be incorporated in the finding of the focus group discussions.
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How to go about conducting survey methods for cross-culture marketing research. 1 is the
questionnaire design. So, we will look at the conceptual and functional equivalence,
translation and scalar equivalence. Back translation and parallel translation and scalar
equivalence. Now, this is a funny faces scale. Instead of asking whether they like the concept
or not or how much they like the new product idea; these are the faces that are shown.

So, obviously, as you can see that this is very unhappy and this is very happy. So, instead of
giving marks from 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, these faces are shown. And then, after telling
about the concept, the faces are shown. And the respondents, they tick on whatever they feel
comfortable with.
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The sampling plan consists of the sampling unit who answers the question, how many people
will answer the question and the sampling procedure. The contact method is by mail. That is
your normal postal mail. The telephone; person to person interviews, that is going from door
to door. And there can be online survey methods. So, you can attach a questionnaire with the
email and then you can send it to the respondents. There are random website surveys and
panel website surveys.
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When you collect information, there can be respondent and or interviewer related biases. So,
either the biases creep in from the respondent side or from the interviewer side. Then there
can be a problem of non-response. The respondent maybe reductant to talk to the strangers.
Then they may fear about the confidentiality of their of the data that they provide. If suppose,
you also, the questionnaire also talks about ask about the demographics, then the respondent
may not feel comfortable in providing that data, because they may think that the data may not
be confidential.

And then, there are other cultural biases which inevit respondents from giving the data. There
are courtesy biases. So, the courtesy is that people may not say no, as we have seen in the
case of Japan, people do not generally say no. So, that is the courtesy bias. And then, there
are social desirability bias. So, what is considered to be socially acceptable, so if a question
like, do you drink or do you normally or more often. You will get a response as no. So, this is
the social, because these are socially desirable, socially acceptable answers.
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Then, there are certain observational research. Observation that, as the name suggests, you
are observing people. 1 type of observation research is ethnographic. It means, it includes
field workers. These field workers are usually cultural anthropologist, embed themselves in
local communities that they are studying. So, they go and live with the communities. The
basic notion is to gather useful information by participating in the everyday life of people
being studied.

So, they live their, with the, with those people. And then, they look through their life all
through the day for collecting data. Part of the data collection exercise often involves
videotaping, participating consumers in purchase or consumption settings. So, how do they
make purchase, 1. And how do they consume, 2. So, these things are videotaped or recorded,
so that they can be analyzed later on.

Because, the this these 2 things, give they gives lot of information about new products also.
Another type of observational research is picture completion or collage. They are often useful
when studying the behavior or feelings of young children.
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The challenge in collecting the information is the issue of non-response. People do not
respond, 1. Second again is the courtesy bias; social desirability bias; or redundancy, asking
the same question in different ways. And issues of ethnographic research, because it takes
lots of time and money to conduct ethnographic observational research. Then, there can be,
how you, how to go about leveraging or using the internet for global marketing research.
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So, these are the various types of methods. 1 is online surveys; bulletin boards and chat
groups; webs web visitor tracking; virtual panels and again focus groups. So, the here we are
using focus group in online context. So, here those 8 to 10 people, they come together online
and discuss out the issue at hand.
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There are various advantages of using global marketing research. For example, the large
samples, they can be quickly assembled, while in offline it is a timely and costly affair. Then,
internet provides access to, access across the globe to the consumers. Obviously, the cost is
low. And then, anonymity of sensitive topics; direct data load for swift analysis and short
response time.
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The disadvantage of using internet is that the limited internet access in many countries. So, in
many countries, the internet access may not be available or it may not be so good. Samples
will not be representators because samples will include people only with internet access.
Download time that will hinder access; there may be incorrect addresses or poor connection.
The that is, another disadvantage is low response rate and multiple responses from the same
person, so that will create data, the problem with analysis of the data.
Should we take only 1 response from the respondent or; and how to identify whether the
same person is giving more than 1 response. So, to conclude, this model covered major issues
that complicate cross-country research.
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In domestic marketing research, all these issues are not there, while in global marketing
research, these issues, they creep in. And then, they make this cross-country research
complicated. The process and techniques of global market research were also described in
this module. And we have also discussed how the internet can support global marketing
research studies. Again, these are the 2 books that can be used for further understanding of
global marketing research process. Thank you.
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