Global Marketing Research: A Myth Or Reality?

Numerous companies have not applied or simply ignored the proper implementation of global marketing research and, as a result, failed to launch a product or service into the international market. Before introducing a new product onto a global market, customer market satisfaction research must differentiate itself from existing competitors and offer customers what has not been provided yet (Tinsley & Ormsby, 2010).

The case of Ford Motor Company demonstrates the underlying function of global marketing research. The results of the consumer surveys conducted by Brazil's unit of Ford Motor Company directed the management to develop a smaller and more efficient Ford car model that would suit poor Brazilian roads and low-income communities, a prevailing segment of the automobile market in Brazil (Tinsley & Ormsby, 2010).

Another successful story of marketing research implementation was done by Hewlett-Packard (H-P). When consumer marketing research revealed that consumers are more inclined to purchase laptops over desktops due to the need and want to express themselves, H-P began to promote emotional features of the laptops as touch screen features and attractive laptop outlook in the advertising campaigns (Tinsley & Ormsby, 2010).

Market responsiveness is when market research is needed the most. Before entering a foreign market, ZARA, the most prominent Spanish retail Inditex division, conducts extensive market research to determine if its intended target market has sufficient buying capabilities (Ferdows, Lewis, & Machuca, 2003).

Coach implemented extensive marketing research in the early 2000s to investigate how consumers' preferences have changed, conducting consumer surveys, and as a result, decided to make leather bags more fashionable and trendy with a price of less than $300, resulting in a rapid increase in sales (Tinsley & Ormsby, 2010).

Kashani (1989) demonstrates that those companies that conduct formal research often gain sufficient information on the commonalities and differences of the subsidiary markets. Kashani gives an example of Lego, a Danish toy company that utilized "bonus" packages and gift promotions on the U.S. market and later tried to implement the same marketing tactic in the Japanese market without conducting formal market research. The Lego company assumed that the Japanese market would fully penetrate the global transferability of sales promotions. However, as a result, it failed to appeal to the Japanese toy consumer market (Kashani, 1989).

Conclusion

These cases vividly depict a fundamental function of global market orientation research: it needs to be integrated into all company functions, including product development, marketing, and manufacturing, to ensure the company's global performance and global customer satisfaction (Tinsle&nd Ormsby, 2010).

References:

Ferdows, K., Lewis, M., & Machuca, J. A. D. (2003). Zara BEM Bordeaux Management School.

Kashani, K. (1989). Beware the pitfalls of global marketing. Harvard Business Review, 67(5), 91–98.

Tinsley, D., & Ormsby, J. G. (2010). How Coach, H-P, Zara, and Ford profited from a comprehensive application of market orientation. Graziadio Business Report, 13(1), 1-5.