Businesses and International Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Businesses and International Strategy - Essay Example This has made it necessary to conduct research across boundaries as it helps to identify regional and global market segments. As firms need to collect information from a broader and more diverse range of markets conducting research in developing countries has become essential. However, conducting market research in developed countries poses certain challenges. These challenges range from collecting accurate and updated data on existing behavior patterns in a cost-effective manner. Collection of data has become easier due to technological advancement but also complex at the same time. The communications infrastructure enables data collection on a much broader and diverse scale. The removal of barriers between countries, the growth of regional and global market infrastructure and the increased mobility of consumers have exerted pressure to have an integrated international marketing strategy. The emerging economies are promising in terms of sales and expansion of the multinationals and hence conducting international market research in these countries is of paramount importance. Before entering these markets, firms have to collect information to assess potential opportunities and determine how to position, price, promote and place their product. International Marketing Research (IMR) has been defined as market research conducted either simultaneously or sequentially to facilitate marketing decisions in more than one country (Kumar, 2000). The process entails taking into account various market characteristics for facilitating marketing decisions. The various components that are responsible for marketing the product can be traced. Marketing research is an important part of the marketing intelligence system as it helps to improve management decision making by providing relevant, accurate and timely (RAT) information (Aaker, Kumar & Day, 2001).