Deck 8: Analyzing People and Markets

Question 1

What implications does language have for international market research?

Answer 1

Language refers to words, symbol or sign that people use to communicate or express their feeling, knowledge, idea or information.
Language plays an important role international market research. A researching company should be careful while selecting the language. They should select language according to the people or nationality. Some of the implication that a language have on international market research are as follows:
• A wrong language selection can discourage a responded to answer correctly due to language barrier.
• A wrong language cam miss guide the research result.
• A particular culture's language plays a role in determining consumer perceptions, evaluations and decisions

Question 2

Compare and contrast the various research techniques explained in this chapter.

Answer 2

Information can be collected with the help of primary as well as secondary data.
The various research techniques are as given below:
1. Interviews - Interviews are conducted on one-on-one basis. It can suffer bias responses or inputs. It is important to obtain in-depth information rather than a wide variety of data.
2. Focus Groups - They are interactive in nature. A group of people receives a particular topic to focus on while the leader of the team stimulates the discussion and the topic is fully discussed until all agrees to a common solution.
3. Observations - In observations, an observer observes different activities and behaviors of a people. The information collected can be personal or impersonal, obtrusive or unobtrusive depending on the participant's knowledge of the research being conducted.
4. Surveys - Surveys are research techniques and they are quantitative in nature. Under this method opinions of a respondent are collected with the help of concise and straightforward questionnaires

Question 3

What effects has information technology had on international marketing research?

Answer 3

Not Answer

Question 4

Doctored Data Cast Doubt on Argentina's Inflation Rate
Over the past 50 years, Argentina has often achieved the highest inflation rate in the world. Recently, there has evolved a severe disagreement between politicians and business executives regarding the publication of data and research of inflation levels.
Businesses (and researchers) want accurate reporting so that they can adjust their prices and forecasts accordingly. However, higher inflation numbers have severe economic repercussions for government, since there were commitments made to adjust many government payments. In the budget, it makes a big difference whether the inflation rate is reported as 40 percent or as 8 percent.
In the country's statistical office, starting in early 2007, the government replaced several statisticians, clerks, and field workers who collect consumer prices. Subsequently, starkly lower inflation figures began to be reported. Workers at the National Institute of Statistics protested Argentina's miraculous declines in inflation and poverty rates. For example, the government numbers report an official poverty figure of 15.3 percent while the Catholic Church says it is near 40 percent.
Such discrepancies lead to controversy. Economists and political analysts say the allegations hurt the country's credibility in terms of investments. In speeches, though, President De Kirchner and other officials have defended the country's unorthodox economic policies, including high taxes on agricultural exports, heavy spending and energy subsidies. "Our different way of doing things has permitted growth and the creation of jobs," Vice President Amado Boudou recently told reporters. "Argentines can be proud we did things our way." Also, the government budget is less strained due to lower adjustment payments.
Who is right-the accuracy side, which is said to be particularly short term oriented, or the adjustment side, which claims there are other things than just numbers to worry about?
SOURCES: Juan Forero, "Doctored Data Cast Doubt on Argentina," The Washington Post, August 16, 2009, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/15/AR2009081502758.html; and Juan Forero, "Fight over Argentina's inflation rate pits government against private economists," The Washington Post, October 31, 2011.

Question 5

Who are the European Union's main trade partners? Which of these countries are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development? (Check both the WTO website, www.wto.organd the OECD website, www.oecd.org.)

Question 6

Discuss the possible shortcomings and benefits of secondary data

Question 7

Against what industries and countries did the United States file antidumping actions last year? (Check the U.S. International Trade Commission at www.usitc.gov.)

Question 8

Explore the trade-offs between centralized and decentralized international marketing research.