Page 144 - GLOBAL STRATEGIC MARKETING

5 International Market Research

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit you should be able to:

• Appreciate the key roles of marketing research in international
marketing

• Develop the skills to carry out an international market research project

• Be able to identify sources of information and methods of information
analysis

5.1 Introduction

The quality of marketing decisions is usually dependent on the quality of

the information that underpins those decisions (Hill and O’Sullivan, 2004).
The information needed to make such decisions is usually provided by

marketing research. For firms that already have an international operation,
screening procedures and criteria are already established. Management
does not have to overcome the initial uncertainty associated with an

operation outside the home market. More importantly, the experience
gained by operating in a different country provides additional information

to assess the new country’s environment. The purpose of this unit is to
examine the place of marketing research in international marketing
strategy and the contribution it makes to the decision-making process.

This unit presents an overview of research design, focusing on a
discussion of the methodological issues, both quantitative and qualitative.

These consist of a literature survey, case studies, questionnaires,
personal interviews and telephone interviews. Furthermore, primary
research is employed for collecting data, and research includes the

selection of the survey sample, the design of the survey instrument (the
questionnaire and personal interviews), the measurement of the main

variables, the data collection procedure, and the methods of analysing
data.