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A study of two cultures – the USA and China –

found that emphasis on joint, husband-dominated,

and wife-dominated decisions varied by stage of the

decision process as well as by stage–culture inter-

action. Compared with the US sample, the Chinese

sample exhibited: (1) lower levels of egalitarianism,

(2) more husband-dominated decisions, and (3)

fewer joint decisions.

Similarly, in the case of Hispanic ethnic identiﬁ-

cation groups, the effect of ethnic identiﬁcation on

marital roles in decision making was found to inter-

act with the phase of the purchase decision process.

In addition, there is a positive relationship between

ethnic identiﬁcation and husband dominance in

decision making.

OPINION LEADERSHIP

Within each social group, there are some individu-

als who are able to exert a signiﬁcant inﬂuence on

other members in such a way as to affect their think-

ing and behavior in a desired direction.These indi-

viduals are known as opinion leaders. In the context

of consumer behavior, their opinions about products

can affect subsequent purchases made by others.

In marketing products overseas, MNCs should

attempt to appeal to opinion leaders. In general,

these are likely to be people who command respect

from others. In Ghana, government health workers

gain better cooperation and reception by asking for

village witch-doctors’ approval before inoculating

people or spraying huts to ﬁght malaria. In devel-

oping countries, it is a good strategy to market new

ideas to teachers, monks, or priests ﬁrst, because

their opinions inﬂuence the acceptance of these

ideas by others.

When it is doubtful who the opinion leaders are,

marketers should try to identify those with inﬂuence

and afﬂuence. BMW, for example, sells its cars at a

discount to diplomats, believing that its target con-

sumers will take notice of the kind of cars driven by

those in power. In foreign countries, business peri-

odicals and English-language newspapers are usually

an effective means of reaching government and

business leaders who are potential opinion leaders.

DIFFUSION PROCESS OF INNOVATIONS

The diffusion process of innovations is an acceptance

over time of a product or idea by consumers, linked

to a given social structure and a given system of val-

ues or culture. Innovators possess certain character-

istics that distinguish them from noninnovators.

Innovators are frequently opinion leaders, and it is

thus desirable to identify and contact innovators.

The diffusion process varies from culture to

culture. The conservative business etiquette in

South Korea is reﬂected in Korean ﬁrms’ organiza-

tional structure as well as in their managerial

approach, which emphasizes harmony and structure

over innovation and experimentation. Diffusion of

the Internet differs between the USA and Japan.

Japan, as a collectivist culture, values high uncer-

tainty avoidance and has large power distance. As

such, Japan has a slower adoption process.

One study investigated consumer innovativeness

in a cross-cultural context by examining data

collected from 2283 consumers in eleven EU coun-

tries.According to the ﬁndings, innovation orienta-

tion differs both among consumers and among

countries, reﬂecting the fact that national cultural

variables can explain systematic differences in inno-

vativeness between countries. In collectivistic coun-

tries, a marketing message should emphasize social

acceptance and a product’s local origin. In contrast,

Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the

USA, and Canada have national cultures that are

characterized by low uncertainty avoidance, high

individualism, and high masculinity. As such, they

are receptive to product innovations.

Culture not only affects the diffusion process in

general, but it also exerts a great deal of inﬂuence

on the adoption of a product in particular.A product

that is suitable in one culture may be totally inap-

propriate elsewhere. The Italian and Asian prefer-

ence for fresh meat and vegetables has hampered the

acceptance of frozen foods. In Italy and Southeast

Asia, markets open and close early, and shoppers

who wish to select the best items must get to market

very early in the morning. By the early afternoon

the market is ready to be closed, with only a few

inferior items left.

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CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

As explained by the international product life-

cycle concept, a new product is not adopted at the

same time or at the same rate in various countries.

It is thus necessary to ask whether innovators should

be classiﬁed on a national (local) or international

(worldwide) basis. If innovators are deﬁned as the

ﬁrst 10 percent of adopters, how should a consumer

be classiﬁed if he is not in the ﬁrst 10 percent inter-

nationally but well within the ﬁrst 10 percent of

purchasers within his home country? The answer is

that the diffusion rate should be based on segmen-

tation criteria for each target market. Special con-

sideration must be given to certain ethnic groups,

age levels, social classes, geographic areas, and so

on.Therefore, innovators should be classiﬁed as the

ﬁrst 10 percent of a particular target market,

regardless of the percentages of adoption in other

countries or on a worldwide scale.

It should be pointed out that innovators are small

in number and that their inﬂuence is not always pos-

itive in that they may reject a new product.Although

innovators are important, the evidence suggests that

“the basic strategy should be aimed at imitators in

the market in order to stimulate demand for the

new product. Furthermore, the product should be

tailored carefully to the needs and wants of that

segment.

CONCLUSION

Consumer behavior, as a discipline of study, has been

researched extensively in the USA at both the macro

and micro levels. Surprisingly, it has not been so rig-

orously and diligently investigated in the inter-

national context. All too frequently, studies that

compare consumers in various countries attribute

differences in consumer characteristics and behav-

ior to cultural differences.This convenient approach

(i.e., culture) is inadequate by itself and does not

enhance the understanding of consumption behav-

ior overseas.

Instead of explicitly or implicitly attempting to

use culture to explain most variations in consump-

tion, researchers should redirect their attention

toward smaller units of analysis. This requires a

study of psychological concepts as well as social

concepts which are not based solely on cultural

determinants.

At the psychological level, relevant concepts

such as motivation, learning, personality, psycho-

graphics, perception, and attitude should be closely

examined. Because consumer needs vary across

countries, as does the degree of importance

attached to a particular need, it is unrealistic to

expect consumers everywhere to be motivated in

the same way. The varying motives that occur are

due in part to individual personality traits and

lifestyles.The learning and perception of a product

and the attitude toward it will also affect con-

sumers’ motivations in acquiring the product.

At the social level, it is redundant to state that

consumer behavior is affected by the cultural

environment. It is more important to list speciﬁcally

the cultural norms in a country and to understand

why those norms vary from country to country. It

is thus important to appreciate how these norms are

shaped by reference groups, social class, family,

opinion leadership, and the diffusion process of

innovation. Consumer preference depends in part

on how well a product ﬁts into the cultural circum-

stances and on whether the product will have the

approval of a consumer’s reference group, social

class, and family.

In conclusion, marketers and researchers should

guard against using culture as a catch-all term and

should not use it on a wholesale basis to explain

overseas behavior. It is necessary to go beyond

noticing cultural differences and instead to attempt

to understand the underlying causes of cultural vari-

ations. This goal requires researchers to be more

speciﬁc and rigorous in their investigation by

extending the application of relevant psychological

and social concepts to the international scene. It is

time to move away from a vague and generic expla-

nation of consumption behavior to a more precise

and better-focused avenue of research.

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CASE 7.1 BENEATH HIJAB: MARKETING TO THE VEILED WOMEN OF IRAN

Jeffrey A. Fadiman, San José State University

Hijab

means modest dress, and that is how Muslim women cover themselves. To Muslim women wearing

hijab

one of the most annoying questions asked by Western women is, “Why?”

In defense of the practice,

Mahjubah: The Magazine for Moslem Women

(an English-language journal pub-

lished in Iran for foreign distribution) ran an article examining

hijab

from the perspective of Muslim women.

According to the article, men and women are physically and psychologically different. Muslim women are equal

to men but not the same as men. Each sex has its own rights and place in society. Women wear

hijab

not because

they are weak but because of the high status given to them by Allah and because of their desire to adhere to

Islamic morality. As such,

hijab

means more than an outer garment; the heart must be modest as well.

Muslim women, on the other hand, often wonder why Western women wear skimpy, skin-tight dresses that are

impractical and uncomfortable. Why must Western women be slaves to appearance, forever listening to the media

about how to be glamorous? Why must they have to look beautiful for strangers to ogle them in public places?

Why do Western feminist groups want to turn women into men? Muslim women wonder whether such question-

ing of gender roles is a sign of strength or actually a sign of weakness.

Points to consider

Assume that Iran’s new leaders now welcome US businesses, requiring only that the members of each ﬁrm respect

the religious, ethical, and moral beliefs of the nations. Consider that before the Ayatollah Khomeini’s revolution,

Iran’s women showed enormous and increasing interest in a wide range of US goods, often wearing them “beneath

the

hijab

,” in deference to the opinions of Iranian men. Then came Khomeini, labeling the United States “the

Great Satan.” As a consequence, Western goods became equated with religious evil. Now the market has opened

once more, after a drought of years.

How can you reawaken that demand? How can you stimulate the demand for Western goods (or services) among

Iranian women without generating anxiety on the part of Iran’s (all male) religious and secular authorities?

Your responses to this question should take the form of an essay, suggesting a number of speciﬁc measures

that might be taken. The essay should include your responses to the following:

Product selection

. What type of product (goods or service) could you, as the marketing director of a small

US ﬁrm, attempt to test market to the female population of Iran? Describe in detail. Justify your choice of

product.

Market segment

. Which segment of the market should you target as an initial clientele? Describe in detail,

including sex, age, social class, residential pattern (rural, suburban, urban), and so on. Justify your choice of

segment.

Product modiﬁcation

. In what ways should the product (or service) be modiﬁed to stimulate demand by

women, particularly those who continue to wear the black

chadur

, thereby conforming to

hijab

either by pref-

erence or in deference to male authority? Justify your modiﬁcations.

Product image

. In what ways should the product image be modiﬁed to conform to Iranian religious, ethical,

and moral norms, considering that these are entirely imposed by men? Justify your modiﬁcations. In addi-

tion, consider media selection, potential distribution outlets, point-of-purchase strategies, and so on.

On-site project head

. Considering both the legacy of hostility that Iranians feel toward America and their

long-range fascination with Western goods, what type of individual would you select to launch this ﬁrst-time

208

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

effort within the country? Based on the data available to you at this moment, who among your classmates

would appear to be the best selection? Justify your choice.

As you write your essay, you should consider speciﬁcs about Iranian distribution outlets. Iran’s cities, like many

in the Middle East, can be described as three communities in one:

■

Modern core

. Department stores, specialty shops; luxury goods (pre-Khomeini) elitist,Western-oriented clien-

tele; also patronized by the middle class.

■

Traditional core

. Middle-Eastern marketing patrons – open bazaars, with separate sections for specialists

(e.g., street of the silversmiths), family go-downs (small general stores), clustered along tiny streets; lower-

middle-class, “traditional,” and urban worker clientele.

■

Worker zones

. Concentric circles around both cores, each less wealthy than its predecessor, extending outward

until they blend into the rural villages, from which the cities draw their food.

QUESTIONS

1 Distinguish among these three disciplines in terms of the unit of analysis: psychology, sociology, and anthro-

pology.

2 Are rational motives more effective than their emotional counterparts in motivating consumers to make a

purchase?

3 Are consumers’ perceptions of products affected by the information concerning the products’ countries of

origin?

4 Explain how attitudes toward (a) marketing and (b) women may vary across countries.

5 Do social classes exist in the USA, the so-called land of equality?

DISCUSSION ASSIGNMENTS AND MINICASES

1 Do you feel that consumer differences can be adequately explained by the all-encompassing concept of

culture? Is it a waste of time to employ other psychological and social concepts to understand consumer

behavior?

2 Are the same buying motives effective worldwide?

3 Because personality is related to an individual person, is it possible for citizens of a country to have unique

personality traits? Does a nation have its own national character?

4 Compared to Americans, are Asians and Africans: (1) more group oriented, (b) more family oriented, and

to Asian and African consumers?

5 Do you think it is worthwhile to appeal to opinion leaders and innovators in foreign markets?

NOTES

1 Saeed Samiee and Insik Jeong, “Cross-Cultural Research in Advertising: An Assessment of Methodologies,”

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science

22 (No. 3, 1994): 205–17.

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CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

2 A. Coskun Samli, “Toward a Model of International Consumer Behavior: Key Considerations and Research

Avenues,”

Journal of International Consumer Marketing

7 (No. 1, 1994): 63–84.

3 Swee Hoon Ang, “The Power of Money: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Business-Related Beliefs,”

Journal of

World Business

, 35 (No. 1, 2000): 43–60.

4 Terry Clark, “International Marketing and National Character: A Review and Proposal for an Integrative

Theory,”

Journal of Marketing

54 (October 1990): 66.

5 Michael Shapiro,

The Shadow in the Sun: A Korean Year of Love and Sorrow

(New York, NY: Atlantic

Monthly Press, 1990).

6 “Frenetic People in a Hurry,”

Financial Times

, May 28, 2002.

7 Neil R. Abramson

et al

., “A Comparison of Canadian and Japanese Cognitive Styles: Implications for

Management Interaction,”

Journal of International Business Studies

24 (No. 3, 1993): 575–87.

8 Terence A. Shimp and Subhash Sharma, “Consumer Ethnocentrism: Construction and Validation of the

CETSCALE,”

Journal of Marketing Research

24 (August 1987): 280–9; Subhash Sharma, Terence A.

Shimp, and Jeongshin Shin, “Consumer Ethnocentrism: A Test of Antecedents and Moderators,”

Journal of

the Academy of Marketing Science

23 (winter 1995): 26–37.

9 Kate Hamilton, “Project Galore: Qualitative Research and Leveraging Scotland’s Brand Equity,”

Journal of

Advertising Research

40 (January to April 2000): 107–11.

10 Frederic Jallat and Allan J. Kimmel, “Marketing in Culturally Diverse Environments: The Case of Western

Europe,”

Business Horizons

45 (July to August 2002): 30–6.

11 Geert Hofstede,“The Cultural Relativity of Organizational Practices and Theories,”

Journal of International

Business Studies

14 (fall 1983): 75–89.

12 Geert Hofstede,

Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values

(Beverly Hills,

CA: Sage Publications, 1980).

13 Geert Hofstede,“Cultural Constraints in Management Theories,”

Academy of Management Executive

7 (No.

1, 1993): 81–94.

14 Cheryl Nakata and K. Sivakumar,“National Culture and New Product Development: An Integrative Review,”

Journal of Marketing

60 (January 1996): 61–72.

15 Martin S. Roth, “The Effects of Culture and Socioeconomics on the Performance of Global Brand Image

Strategies,”

Journal of Marketing Research

32 (May 1995): 163–75.

16 Laura M. Milner and James M. Collins, “Sex-role Portrayals and the Gender of Nations,”

Journal of

Advertising

29 (spring 2000): 67–79.

17 Mansour Javidan and Robert J. House,“Leadership and Cultures around the World: Findings from GLOBE,”

Journal of World Business

37 (spring 2002): 1–2; Robert House

et al

.,“Understanding Cultures and Implicit

Leadership Theories Across the Globe: An Introduction to Project GLOBE,”

Journal of World Business

(spring 2002): 3–10.

18 Vipin Gupta, Paul J. Hanges, and Peter Dorfman, “Cultural Clusters: Methodology and Findings,”

Journal

of World Business

37 (spring 2002): 11–15.

19 Vipin Gupta

et al

., “Southern Asia Cluster: Where the Old Meets the New?”

Journal of World Business

(spring 2002): 16–27.

20 Neal M. Ashkanasy, Edwin Trevor-Roberts, and Louise Earnshaw, “The Anglo Cluster: Legacy of the British

Empire,”

Journal of World Business

37 (spring 2002): 28–39.

21 Hayat Kabasakal and Muzaffer Bodur,“Arabic Cluster: A Bridge between East and West,”

Journal of World

Business

37 (spring 2002): 40–54.

22 Erna Szabo

et al

., “The Germanic Europe Cluster: Where Employees Have a Voice,”

Journal of World

Business

37 (spring 2002): 55–68.

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CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

23 Gyula Bakacsi

et al

., “Eastern European Cluster: Tradition and Transition,”

Journal of World Business

(spring 2002): 69–80.

24 Jorge Correia Jesuino, “Latin Europe Cluster: From South to North,”

Journal of World Business

37 (spring

2002): 81–89.

25 Simon Ulrik Kragh and Malene Djursaa, “Product Syntax and Cross-Cultural Marketing Strategies,”

European Journal of Marketing

35 (No. 11, 2001): 1301–20.

26 Lewis C. Winters, “International Psychographics,”

Marketing Research

4 (September 1992): 48–9.

27 Jon Lafayette, “Backer Predicts Material World,”

Advertising Age

, July 29, 1989, 79.

28 For a list of studies focusing on country of origin, see the previous editions of this textbook.

29 Erdener Kaynak and Ali Kara,“Consumer Perceptions of Foreign Products: An Analysis of Product–Country

Images and Ethnocentrism,”

European Journal of Marketing

36 (No. 7, 2002): 928–49.

30 Durairaj Maheswaran, “Country of Origin as a Stereotype: Effects of Consumer Expertise and Attribute

Strength on Product Evaluations,”

Journal of Consumer Research

21 (September 1994): 354–65.

31 Zeynep Gurhan-Canli and Durairaj Maheswaran, “Determinants of Country-of-Origin Evaluations,”

Journal

of Consumer Research

27 (June 2000): 96–108.

32 John J. Watson and Katrina Wright, “Consumer Ethnocentrism and Attitudes toward Domestic and Foreign

Products,”

European Journal of Marketing

34 (No. 9, 2000): 1149–66.

33 Paul Chao, “Partitioning Country of Origin Effects: Consumer Evaluations of a Hybrid Product,”

Journal of

International Business Studies

24 (No. 2, 1993): 291–306.

34 Paul Chao, “The Moderating Effects of Country of Assembly, Country of Parts, and Country of Design on

Hybrid Product Evaluations,”

Journal of Advertising

30 (winter 2001)

35 Robert A. Peterson and Alain J.P. Jolibert, “A Meta-analysis of Country-of-Origin Effects,”

Journal of

International Business Studies

26 (No. 4, 1995): 883–900.

36 Jeen-Su Lim, William K. Darley, and John O. Summers, “An Assessment of Country of Origin Effects

under Alternative Presentation Formats,”

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science

22 (No. 3, 1994):

274–82.

37 Ravi Parameswaran and R. Mohan Pisharodi, “Facets of Country of Origin Image: An Empirical

Assessment,”

Journal of Advertising

23 (March 1994): 53–6.

38 Victor V. Cordell,“Interaction Effects of Country of Origin with Branding, Price, and Perceived Performance

Risk,”

Journal of International Consumer Marketing

5 (No. 2, 1993): 5–20; Victor V. Cordell, “Effects of

Consumer Preferences for Foreign Sourced Products,”

Journal of International Business Studies

23 (No.

2, 1992): 251–69.

39 Michael K. Hui and Lianxi Zhou, “Country-of-Manufacture Effects for Known Brands,”

European Journal

of Marketing

37 (No. 1, 2003): 133–53.

40 Chol Lee, “Modifying an American Consumer Behavior Model for Consumers in Confucian Culture:The Case

of Fishbein Behavioral Intention Model,”

Journal of International Consumer Marketing

3 (No. 1, 1990):

27–50.

41 “The Best Global Brands,”

Business Week

, August 6, 2001, 50–7; “The Best Global Brands,”

Business

Week

, August 5, 2002, 92–99.

42 Martin S. Roth and Jean B. Romeo, “Matching Product Category and Country Image Perceptions: A

Framework for Managing Country-of-Origin Effects,”

Journal of International Business Studies

23 (No. 3,

1992): 477–97.

43 Erdener Kaynak, Orsay Kucukemiroglu, and Akmal S. Hyder, “Consumers’ Country-of-origin (COO)

Perceptions of Imported Products in a Homogeneous Less-Developed Country,”

European Journal of

Marketing

34 (No. 9, 2000): 1221–41.

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44 Marjorie Wall, John Liefeld, and Louise A. Heslop, “Impact of Country-of-origin Cues on Consumer

Judgments in Multi-cue Situations: A Covariance Analysis,”

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science

19 (spring 1991): 105–13.

45 Soo J. Tan

et al

., “Warranty and Warrantor Reputations as Signals of Hybrid Product Quality,”

European

Journal of Marketing

35 (No. 1, 2001): 110–32.

46 Francis Piron, “International Outshopping and Ethnocentrism,”

European Journal of Marketing

36 (No. 1,

2002): 189–210.

47 Chol Lee and Robert T. Green, “Cross-Cultural Examination of the Fishbein Behavioral Intentions Model,”

Journal of International Business Studies

22 (No. 2, 1991): 289–305.

48 Annamma Joy, “Gift Giving in Hong Kong and the Continuum of Social Ties,”

Journal of Consumer Research

28 (September 2001): 239–56.

49 John B. Ford, Michael S. LaTour, and Tony L. Henthorne, “Perception of Marital Roles in Purchase Decision

Processes: A Cross-Cultural Study,”

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science

23 (spring 1995):

120–31.

50 Cynthia Webster, “Effects of Hispanic Ethnic Identiﬁcation on Marital Roles in the Purchase Decision

Process,”

Journal of Consumer Research

21 (September 1994): 319–31.

51 Carrie La Ferle, Steven M. Edwards, and Yutaka Mizuno, “Internet Diffusion in Japan: Cultural

Considerations,”

Journal of Advertising Research

(March to April 2002): 65–79.

52 Jan-Benedict E.M. Steenkamp, Frenkel ter Hofstede, and Michel Wedel,“A Cross-national Investigation into

the Individual and National Cultural Antecedents of Consumer Innovativeness

,” Journal of Marketing

(April 1999): 55–69.

53 Hirokazu Takada and Dipak Jain,“Cross-national Analysis of Diffusion of Consumer Durable Goods in Paciﬁc

Rim Countries,”

Journal of Marketing

55 (April 1991): 48–54.

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The faster and further you move information, the more valuable it becomes.

Glen McG. Renfrew, managing director, Reuters Holdings PLC

CHAPTER OUTLINE

■ Nature of marketing research

■ Marketing information sources

■ Secondary research

 Private sources

 Public sources

■ Primary research

■ Sampling

■ Basic methods of data collection

 Observation

 Questioning

■ Measurement

 Conceptual equivalence

 Instrument equivalence

 Linguistic equivalence

 Response style

 Measurement timing

 External validity

■ Marketing information system

 System development

 Desirable characteristics

 Subsystems

■ Conclusion

■ Case 8.1 B&R Bank: developing a new market

Marketing research and

information system

Chapter 8

NATURE OF MARKETING RESEARCH

According to the American Marketing Association,

marketing research involves the “systematic

gathering, recording, and analyzing of data about

problems relating to the marketing of goods and ser-

vices.” This deﬁnition provides a useful description

of the nature of marketing research, but it fails to

include preresearch analysis, which is an important

aspect of the research process. Before data collec-

tion, careful planning is required to specify both the

kind of information needed and the purpose of such

information.Without preresearch activities, there is

a great danger that critical information may not be

obtained and that what is obtained may turn out to

be irrelevant or unsuitable.The letter in Exhibit 8.1

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MARKET RESEARCH AND INFORMATION SYSTEM

PURPOSE OF CHAPTER

Lack of knowledge and unfamiliarity with foreign markets usually heighten the risks for a company wanting

to do business in a foreign land.The problem is further complicated by the fact that international market-

ing research is more difﬁcult and more complex than domestic research.The case of Toyota illustrates the

value of marketing information and how such information can make the difference between success and

failure.The data allow the ﬁrm to make timely adjustments to its marketing mix, and the company’s under-

standing of consumer habits makes it possible for Toyota to better satisfy its customers’ needs.

Given the complexity of today’s fast-changing world and the unpredictability of consumer demands, the

use of marketing research is essential if a company is to reduce the serious risks associated with market-

ing a product. Thus the purpose of this chapter is to examine the nature and techniques of international

marketing research.The chapter investigates such topics as types of data, types of data collection methods,

sampling, and measure. The discussion emphasizes the difﬁculties associated with cross-cultural research

and the necessity for adapting marketing research techniques to international markets.

In addition to consumer interviews, Toyota’s product

teams attended a cocktail party at a Houston country

club and learned that car owners preferred a distinc-

tive grille that made the car more impressive when

brought to the door by a valet. The teams also mea-

sured how close cars were parked to one another at

the ballparks, leading the company to implement

sliding doors instead of swing-open doors in its mini-

vans. By observing that adults take their children

along when shopping and return to the car with their

arms full, Toyota realized the need to have an easy-

to-open door mechanism that also opens the trunk.

Toyota and its US subsidiaries often disagree

on the design choices for the US market, and the

disagreements range from major product-strategy

decisions to minor ones such as interior color

schemes. In the late 1990s,Toyota’s Japanese product

planners did not endorse the idea of their American

counterparts to build a V8 pickup truck. As a result,

the American executives took the Japanese colleagues

to a Dallas Cowboys football game. To their surprise,

the Japanese saw rows of full-size pickup trucks at

the Texas Stadium parking lot. They quickly realized

that, to many Americans, a pickup was more than just

a commercial vehicle since it was considered to be

primary transportation as well. Thus the successful

Toyota Tundra was born.

Sources:

“Japan’s Building Motor City II in S. California,”

San José Mercury News

, May 11, 1990; “The Americaniza-

tion of Toyota,”

Business Week

, April 15, 2002, 52–54.

MARKETING ILLUSTRATION KEEPING TABS ON CUSTOMERS

shows a lack of problem deﬁnition, research objec-

tives, and preresearch activities.

The gathering of information can never be a

substitute for good managerial judgment. A story

told by the founder of Bata (the world’s largest

shoe company) illustrates this point.Two shoe sales-

men from two companies visited the same island

and came away with vastly different interpreta-

tions of people not wearing shoes there. One was

returning home immediately because of a non-

existent marketing opportunity. The other sales-

man, however, was very enthusiastic since all these

potential customers were still without shoes. The

moral of the story is that marketing research is only

one part of the equation, and proper analysis and

judgmental decisions are required.

In terms of marketing research expenditures, the

USA is a leader. According to ESOMAR (European

Society for Opinion and Marketing Research), com-

mercial ﬁrms’ total worldwide expenditures for

marketing, advertising, and opinion research

totaled $15.5 billion in 2000. The top twenty-ﬁve

ﬁrms accounted for 61 percent of the total world

expenditures.

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MARKET RESEARCH AND INFORMATION SYSTEM

To: International Trade Administration

US Department of Commerce

Washington, D.C.

Dear Sir/Madam:

I am in the process of planning the importation of

a foreign product into the USA for wholesale distrib-

ution.

I have not yet determined the nature of the

product. I am certain, however, that it is neither a food

item nor automotive products. I am also undecided

about the country of origin, even though I am leaning

in the direction of the European or Asian manufac-

turing ﬁrms. These requirements should be able to

minimize the research required to locate the research

materials which I would like to receive from you.

Thank you for your assistance in providing me with

the requested information.

Sincerely,

Potential Importer

EXHIBIT 8.1 POORLY FORMULATED RESEARCH

One measure of an economy’s consumption capacity is

the ratio of the dependents to the employed. There is

more money per capita when each employed person

has fewer dependents. From the absolute standpoint,

China is certainly not a wealthy country; yet, relative

to the number of dependents, China looks strong

because it has one of the lowest dependency ratios. At

0.78 in 2000, each wage earner in China supports him

or herself and 0.78 other. In other words, if a person

earns $1000, he and his dependent end up with $561

each. India, however, is a different story. Each wage

earner has to support himself plus 2.73 dependents. If

an Indian worker earns $1000, the amount has to be

divided among 3.73 persons, leaving $268 for each.

Among Asian countries, China, Thailand, and

Japan have a ratio of less than one. For Hong Kong,

South Korea, Taiwan, and Indonesia, their ratios are

between 1 and 1.5. But in the case of the Philippines,

Malaysia, and India, their ratios exceed 1.5.

As young dependents enter the work force, they will

transform themselves into independents. This trend

will take place in India, the Philippines, Thailand,

Malaysia, and Indonesia, resulting in an improvement

in their ratios.

Source:

“Supporting People,”

Asian Wall Street Journal

June 19, 2001.

CULTURAL DIMENSION 8.1 FEWER DEPENDENTS, MORE INDEPENDENCE