Task of the International Marketing Researcher free essay sample

Below I will outline the many problems/challenges that the international market researcher is likely to encounter. Defining the problem and establishing research objectives. (5) The research process starts with defining the research problem and creating detailed research objectives. (3) This can only be achieved if the researcher is able to translate vague research objectives into specific, measureable and attainable objectives. In known and familiar markets the researcher frequently begins with unclear and undefined clarity of the actual problem and this is further exacerbated when dealing in unknown and unfamiliar markets. 5) With sociocultural and economic markets differing so much from country to country, international market researchers must be able to adapt research questions and research instruments to varied markets. (6) One of the main considerations that researchers fail to recognise or include as part of their research is the inclusion of local culture and the failure to a lso include self-referencing criterion. So now what occurs is that the researcher deals with the problem/objective in exactly the same way they would if they were dealing with it in their own domestic market. We will write a custom essay sample on Task of the International Marketing Researcher or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This is one of the most important aspects when conducting research in a foreign market and that is to understand the local market and recognise the SRC. For e. g. in Slavic countries (e. g. Slovakia), the national drink, Slivovica is often drank first thing in the morning to give one an adrenalin boost for the day whereas in South Africa if one were to drink a very high alcoholic drink so early in the day, one would be considered to be an alcoholic. If the researcher considers the SRC and is not blurred by the SRC and they ask the correct questions in the beginning phase of the process, they will be able to satisfactorily define the specific challenge and will be able to establish specific, measureable and attainable objectives. Problems of availability and use of secondary data. (5) Many first world and developed countries have masses of secondary data available. However in less developed and emerging countries there is very limited availability of secondary data. Even if there is data available, questions must be asked about the reliability, accuracy, comparability and validity of the data. If we consider the availability of data, some countries just don’t have any data available. For e. g. If we in South Africa wanted to conduct research in Burkina Faso about â€Å"living standards measurement† there is no data or research that has been composed. The researcher would struggle to find such information. If we consider reliability of data we would have to take the following into account: is the data collected reliable? For e. g. if a foreign country wanted to conduct research on the amount of people who have died in South Africa from AIDS in the nineteen nineties the South African government stated that only a limited number of people had died from AIDS. However, this figure was skewed as they did not take into account or failed to admit that when doctors completed a â€Å"Death Certificate† they stated that the patient died from pneumonia or TB etc and not from the main reason which was AIDS. So this turned out to be unreliable data. The researcher must consider the reliability of secondary data before attempting to utilise this information. If we look at comparability of available data we must consider the following: For e. g. if a researcher wanted to use census data from Angola, the last time a census was done was in 1970 and in turn this information would be very outdated and not comparable. If we consider the validity of secondary data we must always verify and interpret the data received very circumspectly. For e. g. if a researcher wanted to check the readership of South African daily newspapers in 2004, the information provided by the daily newspaper â€Å"ThisDay† would have been invalid as it inflated its readership to obtain more advertising and to receive increased advertising rates. To rectify and to validate the data received the researcher could have obtained actual records from the printing press to verify and compare figures of newspapers actually printed. Gathering primary data Once all secondary data is collected and it is not enough to answer the research questions satisfactorily, then the researcher must collect primary data to ensure that all the objectives are acceptably answered. There are two types of primary data collected: 1)Quantitative data is where data is collected and the researcher is able to quantify the amount of data collected. For e. g. a researcher would like to know how many people frequent a specific shopping mall. A survey is conducted which provides you with a specific amount of how many people frequent the shopping mall. )Qualitative data is where a person’s feelings, emotions and attitudes are required to determine a person’s thoughts for a specific topic. For e. g. Mugg Bean would like to enter the American market and they would first conduct qualitative research to determine what are the trends and restaurant concept that Americans are looking for in a restaurant. We cannot assume that if it works in South Africa t hat the exact same concept would work in America. Challenges of collecting primary data. (5) If we have clearly defined our research objectives, the next obstacle that awaits the international researcher is to ensure that all data collected addresses the research objectives accurately. However, when carrying out research for primary data, majority of challenges stem from either how cultures differ from country to country or the language barrier. †¢Ability to communicate opinions (5) We form opinions and attitudes about products from using them or seeing other people using them. If a person has not experienced or never seen the product, it is very difficult to form an opinion or attitude. For e. g. getting people’s opinions and attitudes about Automated washing powder who live in deep rural Africa †¢Willingness to respond (5) Respondents in other countries are not that willing to share information as readily. When providing data to a researcher, the researcher must consider that the respondents are culturally habituated and are hesitant to respond to research been conducted. Gender based questions could be offensive or culture can prevent a female from answering. When designing research surveys care must be taken not to offend the respondent’s privacy. (5) For e. g. n international company wanting to conduct research in Saudi Arabia and they send a female to carry out interviews; she would not get far, as only certain females can work in Saudi and it is also to do with respect. †¢Sampling in Field surveys (5) Sampling can only be considered to be accurate if there is dependable demographic data available. This makes it difficult for the researc her to have an adequate sample from which to conduct a valid and reliable survey if conducting research in a less developed market. In many markets there is a lack of means from where to extract information, i. . telephone directories, census data and any data needed for the research is either unavailable or outdated. This usually leaves the researcher to make an educated guess about what data is required, for e. g. if wanting to conduct research in Burkina Faso where a telephone directory is required as a source of information, the researcher would struggle as there are no telephone directories available. †¢Languages and comprehension (5) Researchers must be able to design their research questions so that all respondents are able to fully understand. When trying to conduct research in a foreign market, language barriers are one of the largest challenges that researchers have to deal with. To try and communicate the benefits of a product or service, the respondents are sometimes unable to fully understand the benefits and advantages so are unable to communicate their exact emotions/opinions/attitudes about that product or service. (2) People in different countries have different meanings of certain words. E. g. in South Africa when you speak to someone from an African culture, they sometimes include friends as their â€Å"sisters or brothers. Literacy is a huge concern in many undeveloped countries. For e. g. if a researcher wanted people from a rural part of Ivory Coast to complete a written questionnaire, he would definitely have no luck as their literacy levels are very low. It is critical that a native speaker of a country ensures that all questionnaires are written correctly without any faults in order to ensure that when th ey are completed, they are completed with the answers that are needed to complete the research design. For e. . if a South African wanted to conduct research in the UK and in the question wrote â€Å"Robots† instead of â€Å"Traffic lights† the respondents would be very confused. †¢Multicultural research (5) When companies want to enter other markets they must consider what they can and cannot use of their marketing mix before they continue with any facet of the marketing strategy. However when engaging multicultural research, many of these challenges further exacerbate the complexity of cross cultural similarities Multicultural research involves dealing with countries that have different languages, economies, social structures, behaviour, and attitude patterns† (Cateora and Graham, 2007, pg 2. 29) It is critical that these differences are considered when developing multicultural research. †¢Other challenges ?Gathering information outside of your countr y can be very time consuming and expensive. Conducting market research in Europe can take double the time and cost double the price than if you conduct the same research in the USA. Japan can be 3 to 4 times more expensive. (8) ? Lack of technological infrastructure available to conduct research. ?Level of researcher’s capabilities and skills in a foreign market. ?Interpreting and analysing data from less developed countries can present challenges for researchers from different sociocultural backgrounds. Also when interpreting and analysing data, researchers must be aware of all the challenges discussed above. For e. g. they must understand the attitude of the respondent’s attitude towards a specific product. Speed in collection and interpretation of research from various and geographically different markets can also present a challenge Opportunities of the Internet for international marketing research The internet is significantly revolutionising the way in which international marketing research is been conducted. This applies to the accessing of secondary and the collection of primary data. Literally day by day tens of thousands of new people are coming on line globally. With the internet the researcher has access to traditional sources of data and data that is only available on the internet. Primary data can also be collected via the internet. This can be done either by tracking respondents on a specific website or an electronic questionnaire can be completed online or can be sent to the respondent’s email address. An advantage is that once the questionnaires are completed they can be interpreted and analysed in real time and the responses can be automated. One of the biggest benefits with the internet is that you are able to collect samples worldwide. When a respondent visits a site their behaviour can be tracked and analysed. New product and service ideas can also be researched on the internet. A further benefit is that with a questionnaire a researcher can include things such as product facts, photos of products and can even include graphics and sounds. There are various other uses of the internet for research, such as online surveys, online focus groups, observational research etc. A researcher can even translate surveys into many languages quickly. A large benefit is the access to secondary data which was previously only available in print and there is almost immediate access to the data. The internet has clearly many advantages and even more benefits will materialise in the near future. (5) (1) Conclusion The international researcher clearly has many multifaceted challenges ahead of him, which vary from country to country. Even with all these challenges the market researcher is expected to present research that is accurate and correct and is received speedily. The successful researcher will consider all the above challenges and seek out creative ways to ensure that the research is of the highest quality and seek the best way forward to deal with the increasingly fast paced competitive global environment.