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International Marketing Research | Meaning, Significance and Process

What is international marketing research.

International marketing research involves studying and analyzing markets outside a company's domestic boundaries to make informed decisions for global business expansion. International marketing research requires a deep understanding of diverse cultures, as consumer behavior, preferences, and market dynamics can vary significantly across countries. International marketing research helps in identifying viable entry strategies for international markets. This involves assessing the regulatory environment, and competition, and understanding the economic landscape.

Geeky Takeaways:

The procedures, methods, tools, and techniques of conducting marketing research are conceptually the same for both domestic marketing and international marketing.
The scope, coverage, cost, and intricacies of international marketing make it a highly specialized, complex, and complicated activity.
The international marketing researcher must develop the ability for imaginative and smart application of tried and tested techniques in sometimes totally new settings.

According to B.S. Rathore, B.M, Jani and J.S. Rathore, "International marketing research is the systematic gathering, recording, analysis and interpretation of data on international marketing problems. It consists of specific studies required to develop, implement and evaluate export marketing strategies. Answers are sought to such questions as: (i) What is the potential market for a product overseas? (ii) Who are the present and potential customers across the boundaries of a nation? (iii) How can the international marketer best appeal to this market? (iv) How successful is the international marketing programme?; and (v) What are the weak areas in the international marketing programmes?"

Table of Content

Significance of International Marketing Research

Process of international marketing research.

1. Global Market Understanding: International marketing research provides businesses with a comprehensive understanding of the global marketplace. It helps identify and analyze diverse consumer preferences, cultural variations, economic conditions, and regulatory landscapes. This understanding is essential for tailoring products, services, and marketing strategies to specific international markets.

2. Informed Decision Making: Informed decision-making is a cornerstone of successful international expansion. Through thorough research, companies can gather data on market potential, competition, and consumer behavior in different countries. This information allows businesses to make strategic decisions related to market entry, product adaptation, pricing strategies, and promotional activities.

3. Risk Mitigation: International markets come with inherent risks, including political instability, economic volatility, and legal complexities. Marketing research enables companies to assess and anticipate these risks, allowing them to develop strategies for risk mitigation. This proactive approach enhances the chances of success and minimizes the impact of unforeseen challenges.

4. Resource Optimization: Conducting international marketing research helps in optimizing resource allocation. It allows companies to allocate resources more efficiently by focusing on markets with the highest potential for success. This includes identifying target demographics, understanding consumer needs, and aligning products and marketing messages with the preferences of the target audience.

The following steps are involved in carrying out international marketing research,

1. Defining the Research Problem

The first step in the marketing research process is defining the research problem. This denotes that the objective or purpose of the research study should be clearly laid down. This is essential to give a clear direction to research and to avoid confusion. The research process thus begins with defining the research problem and establishing specific research objectives. Market researcher must be sure that the problem definition is sufficiently broad enough to cover the entire range of response possibilities, and not be clouded by his self-reference criterion. Defining the research problem is vital in collecting the required information, avoiding gathering irrelevant information, and analysing and interpreting data. Thus, defining the research problem may be the pivotal task in the entire study. In defining the problem, two important considerations are taken into account, that is market structure and product concept. Market structure denotes the size of the market, its stage of development, the number of competitors and their market shares, and the channels through which the market is reached. The meaning of the product in a particular environment refers to the Product Concept.

2. Carrying out Situational Analysis

Situational analysis helps in defining the research problem more clearly and may also enable the formulation of the research hypothesis. Situational analysis is particularly significant when marketing research is conducted by an outside agency, because the situational analysis is intended to familiarise the researcher with the company and its environment, hence making the problem more comprehensible to the researcher. The researcher analyses the situation by obtaining relevant information about the company, its competitors, and other information pertinent to the problem.

3. Conducting Informal Investigation

This stage is in fact an extension of the previous stage. Situational analysis is mainly confined to information from company sources, but in this stage, the researcher collects more information from external sources, such as competitors, middlemen, advertising agencies, customers, etc. In some cases of research problems, the required information will be obtained by this step so that it will not be necessary to continue the research. But, if the formal investigation reveals the necessity for a further investigation, the next step will have to be taken; i.e., formulating a research design.

4. Formulating a Research Design

A research design is the specification of methods and procedures for obtaining the required information. It is the overall pattern of the framework of the research project that stipulates what information is to be gathered from which sources and by what procedures. A research design thus spells out the type of information required, the sources of the information, and the methods or techniques of data collection.

5. Collection of Information

As the research design states the information requirements, sources of information, and methods of data collection, the next step taken will be the collection of data. The marketer's lack of familiarity with a country's basic socio-economic and cultural patterns results in a huge demand for information, which can be available both from primary as well as secondary sources. Availability, reliability, comparability, and validating of data are some of the problems encountered with secondary data. Most countries do not have governmental agencies that collect data on a regular basis which might be needed by a marketer.

6. Processing, Analysis and Interpretation of Data

Once the data have been collected, the next step in the research process is the analysis and interpretation of findings in light of marketing problems in order to produce meaningful guides for management decisions. Presentation of research findings is the final step, for which the data must be analysed and interpreted. The raw data collected have to be processed and presented in an appropriate form, such as tables to make them easily amenable to analysis. Analysis should be followed by interpretation, which consists of expressing the findings in more meaningful terms, such as percentages, and drawing useful inferences from them.

7. Presentation of Research Findings

The information extracted from the respondents will not serve the intended purpose unless provided to decision-makers in a timely manner. High-quality international information systems design will be an increasingly significant competitive tool as businesses are going international and resources must be invested accordingly. The research findings should be presented in an appropriate form depending upon a number of factors like the nature of research, its purpose and use, the persons who use them, etc.

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Home » Marketing Management » International Marketing Research – Definition, Categories and Process

International Marketing Research – Definition, Categories and Process

International marketing managers make the same basic types of decisions as do those who operate in only one country. Of course, they make these decisions in a more complicated environment. As with marketing decisions, the basic function of marketing research and the research process does not differentiate between domestic and multinational research. However, the process is complicated almost exponentially as more and more countries are involved in the same decision. Marketing research practices and techniques have become truly global. For example, the world’s largest research firm, Nielsen, is headquartered in the U.S. but derives almost two-thirds of its revenue from outside the U.S. It is standardizing much of the data it routinely collects in 27 different countries.

The main factors which influence marketing research in different countries are;

Product. When a soft drink was launched in Arab countries, it has a label with six-pointed stars. The sales were very low as the stars were associated with Israel.
Price. An American firm was willing to set a reasonable price for the product they intended to sell to the Japanese. A detailed presentation was made to the Japanese businessmen, but it was followed by a deep silence. The Americans thought that the Japanese were going to reject the price and offered a lower price. The Japanese kept silent again. After that, the Americans lowered the price again saying that it was the lowest they could sell at. After a brief silence, the offer was accepted. Later the Japanese confessed that the first offered price was quite acceptable, but they had a tradition to think over the offer silently. An American company suffered great losses in this case.
Place. A company wanted to enter the Spanish market with two-liter drink bottles and failed. Soon they found out that Spaniards prefer small door fridges and they could not put large bottles into them.
Promotion. Pepsico came to Taiwan with the ad ‘Come Alive with Pepsi’. They could not imagine that is it translated ‘Pepsi will bring your relatives back from the dead’ into Chinese.
Racial Differences. This refers to the differences in the physical features of people in different countries. For example, types of hair cut and cosmetic products differ greatly in various countries.
Climatic Differences. These are the meteorological conditions such as temperature range or degree of rain. For example, Bosch-Siemens adapted their washing machines to the markets they sell. In Scandinavia, where there are very few sunny days, they sell washing machines with a minimum spin cycle of 1,000 rpm and a maximum of 1,600 rpm, whereas in Italy and Spain a spin cycle of 500 rpm is enough.
Economic Differences. Economic development of various countries is different and when a company introduces a new product it adapts it to that new market. There are factors that show the level of economic development .
Buying power and revenue of the market. In developed countries with higher income of revenue, people prefer complicated products with advanced functions, while in poor countries simple products are preferable.
The infrastructure of the market. Such elements of the infrastructure of the country as transport, communication system, and others influence the product. When Suzuki entering the Indian market the suspension was reinforced as the state of roads in India is very poor.
Religious Differences. Religion affects the product greatly and makes companies adapt their product to religious norms. If a company exports grocery products to Islamic countries it must have a special certificate indicating that the animal was slaughtered according to ‘Halal’ methods.
Historical Differences. Historical differences affect consumer behavior . For instance, Scotch whiskey is considered fashionable in Italy and not very trendy in Scotland.
Language Differences. The correct translation and language adaptation is very important. For example, when Proctor & Gamble entered the Polish markets it translated properly its labels but failed. Later they found out that imperfect language must have been used in order to show that the company fits in.

Besides the differences mentioned above, there may be differences in the way that products or services are used, differences in the criteria for assessing products or services across various markets, and differences in market research facilities and capabilities.

International Marketing Research Categories

International marketing research is the systematic design, collection, recording, analysis, interpretation, and reporting of information pertinent to a particular marketing decision facing a company operating internationally. International marketing managers need to constantly monitor the different forces affecting their international operations.

There are three general categories of research based on the type of information required.

Exploratory research deals with discovering the general nature of the problem and the variables that relate to it. Exploratory research is characterized by a high degree of flexibility, and it tends to rely on secondary data, convenience or judgment samples, small-scale surveys or simple experiments, case analyses , and subjective evaluation of the results.
Descriptive research is focused on the accurate description of the variables in the problem model. Consumer profile studies, market-potential studies, product-usage studies, attitude surveys, sales analyses, media research, and price surveys are examples of descriptive research. Any source of information can be used in a descriptive study, although most studies of this nature rely heavily on secondary data sources and survey research.
Causal research attempts to specify the nature of the functional relationship between two or more variables in the problem model. For example, studies on the effectiveness of advertising generally attempt to discover the extent to which advertising causes sales or attitude change.

There are three types of evidence to make inferences about causation: (1) concomitant variation, (2) sequence of occurrence, and (3) absence of other potential causal factors.

Concomitant variation, or invariant association, is a common basis for ascribing cause. For example, advertising expenditures vary across a number of geographic areas and measure sales in each area. To the extent that high sales occur in areas with large advertising expenditures and low sales occur in areas with limited advertising expenditures, it is inferred that advertising is a cause of sales. It must be stressed that this has been only inferred, it is not proved that increased advertising causes increased sales.

The sequence of occurrence can also provide evidence of causation. For one event to cause another, it must always precede it. An event that occurs after another event cannot be said to cause the first event. The importance of sequence can be demonstrated in the last example of advertising causing sales. It is supposed that further investigation showed that the advertising allocation to the geographic regions had been based on the last period’s sales such that the level of advertising was directly related to past sales. Suddenly, the nature of our causal relationship is reversed. Now, because of the sequence of events, it can be inferred that changes in sales levels cause changes in advertising levels.

A final type of evidence that is used to infer causality is the absence of other potential causal factors. That is, if one could logically or through our research design eliminate all possible causative factors except the one he/she is interested in, he/she would have established that the variable he/she is concerned with was the causative factor. Unfortunately, it is never possible to control completely or to eliminate all possible causes for any particular event. Always there is a possibility that some factor of which one is not aware has influenced the results. However, if all reasonable alternatives are eliminated except one, one can have a high degree of confidence in the remaining variable.

Steps of International Marketing Research Process

The international marketing research process, as well as the domestic one, is a series 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;

the cost of wrong decision increases,
our level of knowledge as to the correct decision decreases, and
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 purposes 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, the 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, depending 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.

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 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 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.

Internal Sources of International Secondary Data

The internal sources of data for international decisions can be classified into four broad categories – accounting records, salesforce reports, miscellaneous records, and 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 increase 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.

External Sources of International Secondary Data

For example, when a company starts an external search for international secondary data it consults general guides to this type of data, such as the 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) Databases

Both ABI (Abstract Business Information)/Inform, which contains 150-word abstracts of articles published in about 1,300 business publications worldwide, and Predicasts, which provides 11 online databases, have significant international content in their bibliographic databases. Predicasts coverage is particularly good and it is growing rapidly. In fact, half its information is on companies and industries from outside the U.S. Its major bibliographic database, PROMPT, contains material from all over the world. Both Infomat International Business and Worldcasts are focused on companies, products, industries, economies, and so forth outside the U.S. Predicasts also have separate F&S Indexes for Europe and for the rest of the world excluding Europe and the U.S. A major advantage of these abstracts is that they are all in English. Copies of the entire article are generally available in the original language.

b) 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.

c) 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 Nations 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 socio-economic topics involving its members and the developing nations.

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 there is a lack of an appropriate marketing research infrastructure.

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 a 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. 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.

Survey Methods of International Marketing Research

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

Personal interviews are considered to be the most popular method of data collection in international marketing research. However, there are several constraints to the usage of this technique. In 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 the tax protest movement is being developed, the interviews are thought to be tax inspectors.
Mall intercept surveys may be used in the United States, Canada, and European countries. As far as the developing countries are concerned they are not common.
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 percent and telephone surveys reduce the survey coverage greatly. But even in such developed countries as Great Britain telephone penetration comprises only 80 percent. That is why a lot of marketers are very skeptical about telephone surveys and nowadays there is a great reduction in their application.
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 an invasion into their private life and the effectiveness of these surveys is reduced. In such countries as Brazil, where only 30 percent of mail is delivered, mailing surveys can not be used as well.
Electronic surveys become more popular in the United States and Europe and they are used for products that 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 the low costs of surveys makes this method suitable for international marketing research.

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 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. In 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 a 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 contexts.

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International marketing research is an essential part of every successful international marketing strategy as it helps you understand the cultural differences and preferences of the new global markets you want to target, as well as the consumer demand in prospective markets.

Even though collecting data about customers and competitors in other countries can be challenging, there’s nothing you can’t accomplish with the right approach!

This article covers everything you need to understand about international market research, from the advantages to the processes invovled, guiding you through all the details.

Let’s get started!!

International market research is the process of studying and analyzing data regarding customers and competitors in a new country or region. This process gives you valuable insights into foreign audiences’ consumer behavior, helping you adapt your marketing and pricing strategies appropriately to match a foreign market’s cultural nuances.

Domestic and international market research refers to analyzing customer and market data. While both are essential for marketing decision-making, the former deals with local markets and the latter with foreign markets.

Each requires different processes and offers different insights. Here are the main differences between domestic and international market research:

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International market research comes with many benefits:

Identifying the rules and regulations of a new market is key to a successful international marketing strategy , as it helps you avoid misunderstandings and costly mistakes along the way. Knowing your target market’s laws helps you abide by them, avoiding legal trouble that could potentially hurt your brand’s reputation.

From tax laws to environmental regulations, there are many legal details you need to consider.

However, being informed about the current laws and regulations isn’t enough! Staying updated is equally important, as they may change in the future.

Before launching a new product or service in a foreign market, you must ensure it aligns culturally with your target audience. Therefore, understanding your target market’s cultural nuances and preferences can facilitate your market entry, enhance your brand’s reputation, and increase profits.

International market research is crucial for identifying each market’s cultural nuances and adapting your strategy to match them!

For example, international market research results may show that you must change your packaging or branding colors to align with your target audience’s preferences.

Adjusting them before you enter a new market can help you avoid negative associations that could hurt your reputation and negatively impact sales!

Your brand won’t be the only player in a new market—there are competitors your target audience already knows and trusts.

Analyzing the competitive landscape and market conditions of the region you want to target will help you identify your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses and adjust your strategy accordingly.

This way, you can gain a competitive advantage against them!

Don’t assume that using marketing channels you know is the best way to engage with foreign audiences.

What is successful in your home country might not be successful abroad, so you must discover your target market’s most popular and effective channels.

Conducting thorough market research can help you identify the best marketing channels you can leverage to enter a new market successfully!

Primary and secondary research are two types of research you can leverage in international market research. Each has its advantages, and combined, they can help you understand foreign markets and adjust your marketing strategy to match local preferences.

Let’s see what each of these research types entails!

Primary research refers to data collection from your own qualitative and quantitative research methods, such as online surveys, focus groups, and observations.

This type of research is useful when you need to collect specific data that could impact your business’s success in the future. It gives you an understanding of the most recent data from primary sources, helping you understand cultural nuances and market trends, which is key for successful export planning.

Primary market research is usually carried out by in-house market research teams or in collaboration with local researchers. Regarding its cost, it mainly depends on whether it is conducted in-house or outsourced.

Secondary research is research that has been conducted by other researchers, offering you consumer insights you can leverage in your research project.

This type of research can complement primary research with data collection from pre-existing sources, like scholarly journals, academic studies, international business books and magazines, government reports, and more.

Secondary research is a cost-effective way to gather data from existing sources and access international information. However, this information isn’t always up-to-date, meaning you should check your resources to ensure relevancy.

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Conducting international research effectively can be challenging, especially if you don’t use the right tools and practices. Here are some tips on how to conduct successful international market research and avoid common pitfalls along the way!

The first thing you should do before starting to gather data is to define your objectives. What are your goals? What are your potential markets? What questions do you aim to answer through international marketing research? What do you want to achieve? What emerging markets do you want to target?

These are some important questions you need to answer before starting your research!

One of the most important steps in the international market research process is selecting the right research methods. Are you going to choose primary market research, secondary market research, or a mix of both?

As mentioned above, primary and secondary market research complement each other, so combining them might be the best way to ensure accuracy.

Combining quantitative and qualitative approaches that align with your objectives is also an effective way to collect culturally relevant information!

Identifying your competitors is crucial for international marketing research success. Knowing the competition in your target markets can help you discover opportunities and adjust your strategy based on your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses.

To do that, you can use a SWOT analysis, which helps you define a business’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Conduct one for your competitors and then one for your business, and compare the results. It’s one of the most effective ways to see where your business stands compared to local competition and identify growth opportunities!

After completing primary and secondary research, it’s time to collect and analyze data.

By analyzing the data you have gathered, you will extract important information regarding your target market. This can help you adjust your international marketing strategy to match your target audience’s preferences.

Remember to be diligent when analyzing data, organizing information, and identifying patterns, location-based market trends, and cultural nuances!

Now, you should present your findings to your clients or managers, explaining the research process you followed and every finding’s meaning.

It’s best to highlight the key insights and cultural considerations, using visual aids like tables and charts to help demonstrate the findings. This will give your audience a comprehensive understanding of your research findings!

Now that you’ve done your market research and know your audience’s preferences, it’s time to leverage this information to create an effective international marketing strategy!

However, research is only a part of a successful international marketing strategy. International marketing has many challenges, which you can overcome only by using the right tools and implementing the right practices.

For instance, linguistic complexities and cultural nuances are often among international marketing’s most challenging aspects. Failing to localize your website and marketing campaigns to align with your target audience’s identity could cause misunderstandings, offend, and even harm your brand’s identity.

Therefore, effective localization tools are crucial for creating highly relevant and localized content that resonates with diverse audiences, boosting your international marketing strategy.

Entering a new market comes with numerous challenges you should navigate to achieve international marketing success.

Effective localization doesn’t have to be one of them!

Transifex AI , our powerful localization tool featuring robust automation, can help you achieve global reach and successful localization, offering human-quality SEO-optimized translations that resonate with diverse audiences.

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An international marketing researcher studies markets and consumers in different countries and extracts information about their needs, preferences, and behaviors.

Some of the most effective methods you can use for international market research are:

Foreign government information collection
Overseas business research
Focus groups
One-to-one interviews
Online surveys
Text message surveys

The 5 Cs of international marketing are company, customers, competitors, collaborators, and climate.

SWOT analysis is a type of analysis that helps you identify a business’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It is essential for creating a new local or international marketing strategy.

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What is International Marketing Research? Scope, Factors

Post last modified: 20 April 2021
Reading time: 6 mins read
Post category: Marketing Essentials

What is International Marketing Research?

International Marketing Research can be defined as research that crosses national boundaries and involves the respondents and researchers from various countries and cultures. It may be conducted simultaneously in multiple countries or sequentially over a period to time.

Table of Content

1 What is International Marketing Research?
2 Scope of International Marketing Research
3.1 Cultural differences
3.2 Climatic Differences
3.3 Economic Differences
3.4 Religious Differences
3.5 Historical Differences
3.6 Language Differences

The major objectives of International Marketing Research are:

To carry out country screening and selection.
To evaluate a country’s market potential.
To identify problems that would not require a country’s listing for further consideration.
To identify aspects of country’s environment that needs further study.
To evaluate the components of marketing mix for possible adoptions.
To facilitate in developing strategic marketing plan.

Scope of International Marketing Research

The following activities are included in international market research:

Analysis of the market size according to the age, gender, income, profession and standard of living of customers.
Estimating the regional or territorial demand of different markets.
Understanding the diverse consumer demands and consumer, behavior and then translates their behaviors into the markets strategies and collecting information about the existing and prospective customers.
Information needs for international market entry, which includes micro issues (for instance product and services sales potential, market growth rate and completive intensity) and macro issues e.g. (Political, legal and regulatory environment of each international country).
Analyzing the working of various channels of distribution and their role in creating market demand of the product.
Forecasting the profitability of different markets and marketing segments.

Factors Influencing International Marketing Research

Cultural differences.

Culture refers to widely shared norms or patterns of behavior of a large group of people. Culture comprises of the values, attitudes, beliefs, artifacts and the other symbols represented in the pattern of life adopted by people that help them interpret, evaluate and communicate as members of a society.

A country which is operating in the International market is in need of cross cultural awareness. Cross cultural differences such as different forms of values, norms, rituals, non-verbal communication and language are to be carefully viewed and incorporated in the strategic decisions. A few examples of the cultural blunders in the marketing mix are:

Example: When a soft drink was launched in Arabian countries, it had label with six pointed stars. The sale of the product was very low as the stars were associated with Israel.

Climatic Differences

These are the meteorological or climatic conditions such as temperature range or degree of rain etc.

Example: Bosch-Siemens adapted their washing machines to the markets they sell. In Scandinavia, where there are very few sunny days, they sell washing machines with a minimum spin cycle of 1,000 rpm and a maximum of 1,600 rpm, whereas in Italy and Spain a spin cycle of 500 rpm is enough.

Economic Differences

Economic development and economic conditions of various countries is different and when a company introduces a new product it adapts it to that new market. There are factors which show the difference in the level of economic development

As in the case of the developed nations, the buying power and revenue of the market with higher income of revenue people prefer complicated product with advanced functions, while in poor countries simple product are more preferred.

Religious Differences

Religion too affects the product greatly and makes companies adapt their product to religious norms.

Example: If a company exports grocery products to Islamic countries it must have a special certificate indicating that the animal was slaughtered according to ‘Halal’ methods.

Historical Differences

Historical differences affect the consumer behavior. For instance, Scotch whiskey is considered fashionable in Italy and not very trendy in Scotland.

Language Differences

The correct translation and language adaptation is very important. Example : when Proctor & Gamble entered the Polish markets it translated properly its labels but failed. Later they found out that imperfect language must have been used in order to show that the company fits in.

Besides the differences mentioned above, there may be differences in the way that products or services are used, differences in the criteria for assessing products or services across various markets and differences in market research facilities and capabilities which influence the strategic decisions.

Marketing Management

( Click on Topic to Read )

What Is Market Segmentation?
What Is Marketing Mix?
Marketing Concept
Marketing Management Process
What Is Marketing Environment?
What Is Consumer Behaviour?
Business Buyer Behaviour
Demand Forecasting
7 Stages Of New Product Development
Methods Of Pricing
What Is Public Relations?
What Is Marketing Management?
What Is Sales Promotion?
Types Of Sales Promotion
Techniques Of Sales Promotion
What Is Personal Selling?
What Is Advertising?

Market Entry Strategy

What Is Marketing Planning?
Segmentation Targeting And Positioning
Brand Building Process
Kotler Five Product Level Model
Classification Of Products
Types Of Logistics
What Is Consumer Research?
What Is DAGMAR?
Consumer Behaviour Models
What Is Green Marketing?
What Is Electronic Commerce?
Agricultural Cooperative Marketing
What Is Marketing Control?
What Is Marketing Communication?
What Is Pricing?
Models Of Communication

Sales Management

What is Sales Management?
Objectives of Sales Management
Responsibilities and Skills of Sales Manager
Theories of Personal Selling
What is Sales Forecasting?
Methods of Sales Forecasting
Purpose of Sales Budgeting
Methods of Sales Budgeting
Types of Sales Budgeting
Sales Budgeting Process
What is Sales Quotas?
What is Selling by Objectives (SBO) ?
What is Sales Organisation?
Types of Sales Force Structure
Recruiting and Selecting Sales Personnel
Training and Development of Salesforce
Compensating the Sales Force
Time and Territory Management
What Is Logistics?
What Is Logistics System?
Technologies in Logistics
What Is Distribution Management?
What Is Marketing Intermediaries?
Conventional Distribution System
Functions of Distribution Channels
What is Channel Design?
Types of Wholesalers and Retailers
What is Vertical Marketing Systems?

Marketing Essentials

What i s Marketing?
What i s A BCG Matrix?
5 M'S Of Advertising
What i s Direct Marketing?
Marketing Mix For Services
What Market Intelligence System?
What i s Trade Union?
What Is International Marketing?
World Trade Organization (WTO)
What i s International Marketing Research?
What is Exporting?
What is Licensing?
What is Franchising?
What is Joint Venture?
What is Turnkey Projects?
What is Management Contracts?
What is Foreign Direct Investment?
Factors That Influence Entry Mode Choice In Foreign Markets
What is Price Escalations?
What is Transfer Pricing?
Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)
What is Promotion Mix?
Factors Affecting Promotion Mix
Functions & Role Of Advertising
What is Database Marketing?
What is Advertising Budget?
What is Advertising Agency?
What is Market Intelligence?
What is Industrial Marketing?
What is Customer Value

Consumer Behaviour

What is Consumer Behaviour?
What Is Personality?
What Is Perception?
What Is Learning?
What Is Attitude?
What Is Motivation?
Consumer Imagery
Consumer Attitude Formation
What Is Culture?
Consumer Decision Making Process
Applications of Consumer Behaviour in Marketing
Motivational Research
Theoretical Approaches to Study of Consumer Behaviour
Consumer Involvement
Consumer Lifestyle
Theories of Personality
Outlet Selection
Organizational Buying Behaviour
Reference Groups
Consumer Protection Act, 1986
Diffusion of Innovation
Opinion Leaders

Business Communication

What is Business Communication?
What is Communication?
Types of Communication
7 C of Communication
Barriers To Business Communication
Oral Communication
Types Of Non Verbal Communication
What is Written Communication?
What are Soft Skills?
Interpersonal vs Intrapersonal communication
Barriers to Communication
Importance of Communication Skills
Listening in Communication
Causes of Miscommunication
What is Johari Window?
What is Presentation?
Communication Styles
Channels of Communication
Hofstede’s Dimensions of Cultural Differences and Benett’s Stages of Intercultural Sensitivity
Organisational Communication
Horizontal C ommunication
Grapevine Communication
Downward Communication
Verbal Communication Skills
Upward Communication
Flow of Communication
What is Emotional Intelligence?
What is Public Speaking?
Upward vs Downward Communication
Internal vs External Communication
What is Group Discussion?
What is Interview?
What is Negotiation?
What is Digital Communication?
What is Letter Writing?
Resume and Covering Letter
What is Report Writing?
What is Business Meeting?
What is Public Relations?

Business Law

What is Business Law?
Indian Contract Act 1872
Essential Elements of a Valid Contract
Types of Contract
What is Discharge of Contract?
Performance of Contract
Sales of Goods Act 1930
Goods & Price: Contract of Sale
Conditions and Warranties
Doctrine of Caveat Emptor
Transfer of Property
Rights of Unpaid Seller
Negotiable Instruments Act 1881
Types of Negotiable Instruments
Types of Endorsement
What is Promissory Note?
What is Cheque?
What is Crossing of Cheque?
What is Bill of Exchange?
What is Offer?
Limited Liability Partnership Act 2008
Memorandum of Association
Articles of Association
What is Director?
Trade Unions Act, 1926
Industrial Disputes Act 1947
Employee State Insurance Act 1948
Payment of Wages Act 1936
Payment of Bonus Act 1965
Labour Law in India

Brand Management

What is Brand Management?
4 Steps of Strategic Brand Management Process
Customer Based Brand Equity
What is Brand Equity?

What is media planning advantages, basic terminology, process of developing a media plan, world trade organization (wto): functions, objectives, significance, what is joint venture advantages, disadvantages.

What is a BCG matrix? Example, Advantages, Limitations

International marketing strategy, implementation and evaluation of creative strategy, what is transfer pricing methods, objectives, advantages, what is trade union definition, functions, objectives, purpose.

Methods of Pricing & Strategies

Tips for becoming a top digital marketer, media research, buying and negotiation, leave a reply cancel reply.

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Editorial Mission

Journal of International Marketing is dedicated to advancing international marketing practice, research, and theory. Aimed at both international marketing/business scholars and practitioners at senior- and mid-level international marketing positions, the journal’s prime objective is to bridge the gap between theory and practice in international marketing.

Impact factor: 4.9

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This Journal of International Marketing Special Issue takes a fresh look at brands and branding in an international context, exploring several forward-thinking branding topics and perspectives.

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Additional Resources

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Customer Engagement in International Markets
Well-Being in a Global World, Part 1: Lessons from a Global Pandemic
Well-Being in a Global World, Part 2: Future Directions for Research in International Marketing
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