Page 149 - GLOBAL STRATEGIC MARKETING

of consumption, regional differences, purchasing power and so on.
Another area of research is product benchmarking or quality comparisons

of a firm’s product with that of its competitors.

5.5 The complexity of international marketing research

Marketing on a global scale poses problems that are inherently more
complex than those encountered in a firm’s domestic market (Doole and

Lowe, 2008; Douglas and Craig, 1995). One of the major problems of
marketing research is that information must be gathered from different
markets and that each market presents a unique challenge: for example,

differences in culture could result in a low response rate. Another problem
is the absence of secondary data: that is, published data from a third party.

There are also difficulties in gathering primary data: that is, data gathered
first hand using personal interviews or questionnaires (Doole and Lowe,

2008; Terpstra and Sarathy, 2000). In the complex and changing
international environment, marketing research assumes a vital role in
helping management keep in touch with developments throughout the

world. Research helps to assess where the best opportunities lie, where
and how to enter new markets and expand operations, how to develop the

most effective marketing strategies to operate in these diverse
environments, and how to adapt to the continually changing global

landscape (Terpstra and Sarathy, 2000).

5.6 The research design process

When a researcher has a clear idea of the purpose of the research, an

agency (organisations generally outsource their market research
activities) must design the research as well as the research question. The
international research design process involves defining the problem,

developing a research plan, designing data collection instruments,
collecting data, analysing and interpreting data, and writing the findings.