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17; 1982 >,

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Marfcetins News

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Dpnt become an Information lunkl^

7 rules for international research

D. GASMAN Dlractor of U.S. OparaHom Stoli Qawnan Ltd. Hiii. N.C.

Marketing Researciv Briefs

A NEW FIRM, TEEN-AGE RESEARCH UNLIMITED ( ^ Lake Forest, III., has been formett tomonitor the nation's teen market. TRU isasubsidiary of Educational Cpmnriunicatjons|nc^ which publisTies Who's Who^Amohg AmericarffiighSchool Students & since 1970 has conducted the "Annual Survey of High Achievers," which tracks'the attitudes of about 25,000 teen leaders.'TRd^will focus oo four.teen segments: teen leaders, the the general teen population, special-interest groups, & teens in college, according to Peter Zollo, v.p. The firm also will survey & provide analyses of outside lists, conduct two semiannual syndicated studied, & conduct customized surveys.

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING research oftenVuffers from cultural bias and misinterpretatioii, or fails to consider obfvious sources of information. Far from increasing the likelihood of success in^foreign markets, such research can confuse marketers, overlook opportunities, and lead management down the wrong path. Here are seven rules of good international marketing research which, if followed, will lead to research reports which are effective management tools. 1. Use informatioii sources in the U.S. before venturing overseas. This may seem like obvious advice, but you would be surprised at the number of companies which initiate expensive, lengthy fact-finding investigations in foreign countries, only to leam later that the same results could have been obtained by making a quick (and far less costly) trip to a local government office here in the states. The U.S. Department of Commerce, for example, offers numerous publications on international business, including special reports on individual countries and products as well as import/export sutistics. Using government publications alone, an experienced researcher ~*t)ften can identify the best overseas markets for fiis products, the main characteristic^of those markets, and the competition. Also, to supplement its publications, the Department of Commerce will refer the researcher to U.S. guveiuuieiit uffitials who are experts on business practices in foreign countries.
Frequently used sources of inform t i o n on foreign markets include: th publlcationt of tti European Society for Opinion M K I MaffcctInQ RMMich (ESOMAR). Anwtwdam, th Nvthwtands; "OvtfMM BualnM Reports," a M rtM of bookMs lmu*d montNy by th* International TrKi* Administraben of ItM U.S. DepartiWKMit of Comnwfc*. Each covers a different forslQn county. SinQle-lesue price is nominal; SfMMfcs and Eiuropewt Oeto eiitf Slstlklfeei published by EuromoiMor Publicattons U d . . London, and distributed In the U.S. by Gale Research Co.. OetroH; and - r / i e Europe Ytrbook: A Wild Survuy ana Countrim of A World ana Thtir LmdM. aiso distributed by Gaie Research Co.

In 8 recent resjar;ch project (qi^j textile manufacturer, we discovered that tiie. export markets^for synthetic yams differed widely depending on the type of yarn. If the manufacturer had merely used the combined export flgures for all synthetic yarns, he probably would have made erroneous cojvclusions and4isaslrous^^sions! 6. Study the competition. When entering overseas markets, local competitors.often will be significant factors and therefore always should be included in an international marketing research project. While few countries compile and publish corporate information to the extent that the U.S. does, it is usually possible to discem the interrelationships among various companies operating in a particular industry. This is LawrMicO. Gasman highly important in Third-World ure to understand these peculiarities countries, where a few families may can lead to severe distortions about dominate an economy through inter- market size and growth. connected businesses. In a recent survey of the European 7. Don't become an 'information micrographics market, for example, junkie." Information on overseas we discovered that such products were markets can be.expensive to collect, included under the "computer pe- especially if foreign travel is involved, ripherals" category in export statistics so don't go ov^oard in your inv^tiof some countries. Had we not gation. learned this, we would have underesThere is little point in spending a lot timated the size of the market for of time, money, and effort to tum a micrographics equipment. final report into a work7>f scholarship 5. Be specific when analyzinf overwhen the extra refinements won't imseas markets. General trends in gross^ prove management decision maknational product or in broad product ingwhich is the purpose of research categories seldom are good enough in the first place. guides to decision making.

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Other sources include newstetters, export manuals, directories, periodicals, seminars, and consultants. Librarians can help marketing researchers locate these sources, which Should be exhausted before continuing the infonnation search overseas.
2. Identify the type of information available from overseas sources.

are spoiled by the wealth material available o n ' U.S. markets and assafne similar information is available in foreign countries. In the Philippines, for example, I discovered, after a long search for detailed statistics on diesel engine production, that the government statistical office consisted of a room full of teenagers, who slowly gathered and. recorded the data manually. (In the U.S., that work is done by computer.) The result was that Philippine production statistics were seldom detailed and always several years behind. Regulatory differences also affect tlw information available. Few countries, for example, require the sametevelof
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3. -Know where to looli. Again, the rest pf the world is not like the U.S.,, For example. West German companies file corporate disclosures on a state-by-state basis. Thus, Germany doesn't have a central bodylike our Securities and Exchange- Commissionwhere all corporate disclosures can be obtained. Often the best guides to where to look for information are the commercial attaches at U.S. embassies. Indeed, in some Third-World countries, the U.S. attaches are better sources of information than the local agencies. 4. Chccii the accuracy and scope of data collected overseas. Often product defmitions or accounting practices differ from country to country. Fail-

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