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The practice of international marketing revolves around how to market your products or services in markets other than the country in which the product or service was developed or manufactured. Apart from the obvious considerations of marketing to consumers with perhaps a very different set of needs and circumstances than those you are familiar with, successful international marketing requires an understanding of logistics (distribution, trade channels, warehousing and delivery flow etc), legal and taxation aspects, trade laws and many other areas. An international marketing strategy must have at its base solid research into competitors and the market environment in each country. The feature articles below all focus on strategic considerations, Taylor, Zou and Osland identify eight factors and posit 5 as significant to Japanese MNC's choice of markets. Terpstra reviews concisely changing factors in international marketing, though reinforcing that no mass changes in international marketing practice are necessary. More specifically, we feature also a very informative case study on marketing leisure software to Asian countries (we suspect piracy may be a major problem). A must-read article for anyone interested in the econonomic trends affecting marketing into Asian countries is Strizzi and Kindra's 5 factors of "infrastructure upgrading, public sector reform, increased military procurements, massive capital inflows and foreign debt build-up". Add to that a "guanxi" approach to account management in Asia and a look at the implications of trade blocs on international marketing in general, and a read of all these articles will not fail to increase your understanding and prompt some new ideas on enhancing your international marketing strategy.
Foreign market entry strategies of Japanese MNCs While much prior research has focused on Japanese multi-national corporations' (MNCs) marketing strategies, little is known about the factors that influence Japanese MNCs' foreign market entry mode choice. In this study, a survey of Japanese MNCs is conducted in order to assess the factors that are the most influential in the foreign market entry decisions of Japanese MNCs. Using bargaining power theory, eight factors are identified in the study. The findings indicate that five of the eight factors (stake of the host country, need for local contribution, riskiness of the host country, resource commitment, and host government restrictions) are significant predictors of Japanese MNCs' entry mode choice and that bargaining power theory is of value in predicting the entry mode choices of Japanese MNCs.
Keywords: Multinationals, Market entry, International marketing, Marketing strategy
The millennium and international marketing Reviews the status of international marketing as we enter the new millennium. Suggests that changes will take place, highlighting issues such as globalization, new technology, the aging of the population, the political arena, and market segments as variables. However, asserts that these changes are part of a gradual development and that the millennium per se will not bring any dramatic change to the environment and operations of international marketers.
Keywords: International marketing, Globalization, New technology
A five-country study of national identity: Implications for international marketing research and practice A number of studies in the international marketing literature have focused on the identification and discussion of differences across nations and cultures. Unfortunately, the majority of these investigations focus on existing differences without addressing which of these differences have the potential to substantially affect international operations or how to make comparisons within a framework which allows some measure of flexibility across nations and cultures. The objectives of this study were twofold: (1) to develop and measure the national identify of several different cultures in order to establish a means by which similarities and differences can be placed into a practically applicable context for international marketing decision making; and (2) to establish initial generalizable national identity norms for making broad cross-cultural/cross-national comparisons. The results based on a five-country sample (i.e. the USA, Mexico, Japan, Sweden and Hong Kong) show that, within the theoretical framework of national identity it is possible to identify such differences. Implications for both academic research as well as managerial decision making in an international marketing context are presented.
Keywords: Consumer behaviour, Cross-cultural management, International marketing, Marketing
strategy, National cultures
Consumer desire to buy and use products in international markets: How to capture it, how to sustain it Focuses on two fundamental issues facing firms competing in the global arena, namely - how should executives responsible for success in international consumer markets allocate their scare marketing resources? And why, based on what methods, should they do this? Concentrating on global/pan-European consumers in the northern European country of Finland, a quasi-longitudinal "gap analysis" of US versus Japanese product and marketing efforts is undertaken. Using empirical evidence gathered every five years (from 1975 to 1995), this research examines which dimensions of marketing contribute most to specific consumers' "purchase and use" preferences? And, where (which "gaps") should organizations competing for global consumers concentrate their marketing efforts in order to be successful? It is argued that the method employed in this research can be utilized in any global marketing setting to identify the most promising areas for resource expenditures.
Keywords: Consumer marketing, Group analysis, International marketing, Marketing strategy
Global marketing of leisure software: a case study of Asian countries Addresses issues of innovation in the global marketing of leisure industry software products. A strong marketing base is identified as being essential but identifying such a base can be complicated due to changes in demographic and social structures, particularly those taking place in Asia. Explores ways of establishing and devising strategies to become a global leisure software publisher. Interactive entertainment companies have experienced particularly rapid growth cycles with success being achieved through portfolios of strong titles and aggressive marketing.
Keywords: Global marketing, Innovation, Software companies, Software development, Asia
Emerging issues related to marketing and business activity in Asia
Pacific Assesses five trends that will be likely to affect the nature of trade and investment in Asia Pacific in the coming decade. These include infrastructure upgrading, public sector reform, increased military procurements, massive capital inflows and foreign debt build-up. States a better understanding of these trends will promote strategic entry into fast-growing, hard-to-crack markets. Vastly improved corporate revenue and profits might result. Equally important, it presages long-term gains in economic and political influence in Asia Pacific.
Keywords: Asia Pacific, Capital, Debt, Infrastructure, International marketing, Public sector
Market orientation and business performance: some evidence from Hong Kong Recent studies conducted in the USA and the UK have shown evidence of a relationship between market orientation and company performance. The overall aim of the research reported in this paper was to build on this limited body of literature by considering the evidence from another, non-Western, business environment, namely Hong Kong. In addition, this study sought to clarify the distinction, not often made in the literature, between a market- and a marketing-orientation. Data from 73 textiles and garments manufacturers were collected using an instrument based on Narver and Slater's (1990) scale. Consistent with previous findings in Western cultures, the results of this study are suggestive of a relationship between market orientation and company performance. However, surveyed firms exhibited a much higher marketing orientation suggesting that it is possible to be effective at implementing the marketing function without possessing a market-oriented organisational culture.
Keywords: Company performance, Hong Kong, Marketing orientation, Marketing strategy, Textile
industry
Key to key account management: relationship (guanxi) model Key account management has been increasingly important in international markets. Key account programs differ considerably across countries and firms but all organizations have to decide how to identify their own major accounts and how to organize for effective relationship building with them. The purpose of this article is to assist organisations to determine the positioning of their major customer relationships so as to formulate key account relationship marketing strategies and implement them effectively in China and other Asian countries. A key account relationship model is described, with an empirical survey on the measurement components of the model. Also, conclusions about the research questions are given in the form of various perspectives and perceptions. Finally, a summary of both theoretical and practical implications for business practice and applications is presented.
Keywords: Account management, Channel relations, International marketing, Key accounts,
Marketing strategy, Relationship marketing
Research note:The psychographic segmentation of the female market in Greater China Attempts to segment the female consumers' market in Greater China (the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong) by employing principal component factor analysis and cluster analysis. Psychographic dimensions were generated and the factor scores were computed and used in cluster analysis to develop psychographic segments of the female consumers' market in Greater China. Four distinct segments were identified and these were labelled as "conventional women" (40.7 per cent of the sample), "contemporary females" (21.9 per cent), "searching singles" (19.4 per cent) and "followers" (18.1 per cent).
Keywords: China, Consumer behaviour, Market segmentation, Marketing strategy,
Psychographics, Women
Heterogeneity of regional trading blocs and global marketing
strategies: A multicultural perspective While demand for many products has become more homogeneous across countries, cultural factors have strongly inhibited this change as well. In a multicultural world, cultural heterogeneity will continue to remain the most significant barrier to one global market. Cultures are resilient and enduring and so is the concept of global multiculturalism. At the global level, trading blocs may be viewed as a cluster of geographically close countries that share abstract and/or material culture in varying degrees. It is interesting to note that the three major regional trading blocs (i.e. the European Union, North American Free Trade Agreement, and the Association of South East Asian Nations) can be characterized by significant differences in culture. With the rapid emergence of trading blocs in the multicultural market, our paper attempts to meet several objectives. First, we discuss the growing importance and underlying motives of regional trading blocs in a multicultural setting. The level of trading arrangements between nations is described and a brief overview of the three major trading blocs is then presented. The level of heterogeneity of each trading bloc is examined with implications for market segmentation. The critical role of strategic alliances in the context of regional trading blocs is discussed next. Finally, we recommend marketing strategies for firms marketing to countries within its trading bloc as well as to countries outside its trading bloc.
Keywords: Alignment, Global marketing, International trade, Market segmentation, Marketing
strategy, National cultures
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