The world is every changing and dynamic, but even with all our technologies at our disposal, people still differ. Those differences can be economic, cultural, demographical, global or domestic and it causes a lot of problems for business owners who want to market their products to people across the globe.
The principles of marketing may be very similar, but the marketing research technique that is commonly used to target a market requires national and cultural specific characteristics.
Using market segmentation to determine values, concerns, and attitudes of target market members requires market research specific to each nation and groups of people within each nation.
Global and Domestic Marketing: Targets Different Types of People
USA market segmentation concentrates on demographics, psychographics and buying behavior. But the information provided by these characteristics doesn't cross borders.
It's difficult enough to market across cultures within the USA, but the difficulty intensifies when marketing across nations.
Global and Domestic Marketing: Demographics Change Across Borders
Once you have left the United States, market segmentation criteria vary from nation to nation. Each country is defined by a different history and culture. Marketing using a hockey player works in Canada, but it won't work in Morocco.
The World War II generation in the USA was influenced by the second world war just like most people in the Western world. However, the influence of Pearl Harbor on the USA WWII generation was greater than for those in the rest of the world.
If a business plans one campaign for the world around characteristics for USA markets, the campaign will fail in the rest of the world.
Global and Domestic Marketing: Psychographic Segments Differ
People's attitudes, morals, values, concerns, and expectations vary by nations. They result from each nation's culture, history, experiences, and social expectations. Different nations vary by what they teach in their schools, what they expect within families, the role of established religion, and the type of government.
What is valued in one nation may be considered abhorrent by another, and these attitudes can change over time.
For example, religious freedom is a basic right in the USA. We consider forcing a certain religion on a person to be abhorrent. Yet, in other nations, governments and powerful people force their religious perspective on others even to the point of murdering those who don't accept their religion.
So psychographic characteristics like attitudes, values, and concerns change drastically across borders.
Global and Domestic Marketing: People's Buying Preferences Vary
Because each nation's economy is based and distributed differently, what people can afford and what they value enough to spend their money on changes across nations.
But spending preferences go beyond people's ability to buy. It is closely tied to culture, social pressure, ideas of success and many other nationally specific characteristics.
Buying differences apply to basic needs as much as they do to discretionary products. In many nations, people buy groceries a day at a time from local markets.
But in the USA, we buy from large chains that freeze, can, dehydrate and process in other ways so that food lasts for a long time. Then we buy at least enough for a week at a time, and some people buy for a month at a time. We think shopping everyday would be a terrible inconvenience and that we are just too busy with our careers and family to spend that much time buying groceries.
People in some nations probably think that USA residents have their priorities messed up to avoid spending their time buying and preparing fresh, healthy foods.
If we are so different in the way we purchase survival products like food, how much more different are we when it comes to buying other products.
Global and Domestic Marketing: Summary
Developing a marketing campaign for the people in one nation and trying to transfer that campaign to another nation doesn't work.
Successful marketing campaigns must be redesigned for each nation. This requires that marketers have to learn as much as possible about people in each nation.
But the sad truth is that little nation-specific information about people's characteristics is being developed. And much of what is developed remains proprietary. If we are to improve every nation's ability to advance economically, we must accumulate and share this information. Only then will global and domestic marketing provide equal chances of success.
The principles of marketing may be very similar, but the marketing research technique that is commonly used to target a market requires national and cultural specific characteristics.
Using market segmentation to determine values, concerns, and attitudes of target market members requires market research specific to each nation and groups of people within each nation.
Global and Domestic Marketing: Targets Different Types of People
USA market segmentation concentrates on demographics, psychographics and buying behavior. But the information provided by these characteristics doesn't cross borders.
It's difficult enough to market across cultures within the USA, but the difficulty intensifies when marketing across nations.
Global and Domestic Marketing: Demographics Change Across Borders
Once you have left the United States, market segmentation criteria vary from nation to nation. Each country is defined by a different history and culture. Marketing using a hockey player works in Canada, but it won't work in Morocco.
The World War II generation in the USA was influenced by the second world war just like most people in the Western world. However, the influence of Pearl Harbor on the USA WWII generation was greater than for those in the rest of the world.
If a business plans one campaign for the world around characteristics for USA markets, the campaign will fail in the rest of the world.
Global and Domestic Marketing: Psychographic Segments Differ
People's attitudes, morals, values, concerns, and expectations vary by nations. They result from each nation's culture, history, experiences, and social expectations. Different nations vary by what they teach in their schools, what they expect within families, the role of established religion, and the type of government.
What is valued in one nation may be considered abhorrent by another, and these attitudes can change over time.
For example, religious freedom is a basic right in the USA. We consider forcing a certain religion on a person to be abhorrent. Yet, in other nations, governments and powerful people force their religious perspective on others even to the point of murdering those who don't accept their religion.
So psychographic characteristics like attitudes, values, and concerns change drastically across borders.
Global and Domestic Marketing: People's Buying Preferences Vary
Because each nation's economy is based and distributed differently, what people can afford and what they value enough to spend their money on changes across nations.
But spending preferences go beyond people's ability to buy. It is closely tied to culture, social pressure, ideas of success and many other nationally specific characteristics.
Buying differences apply to basic needs as much as they do to discretionary products. In many nations, people buy groceries a day at a time from local markets.
But in the USA, we buy from large chains that freeze, can, dehydrate and process in other ways so that food lasts for a long time. Then we buy at least enough for a week at a time, and some people buy for a month at a time. We think shopping everyday would be a terrible inconvenience and that we are just too busy with our careers and family to spend that much time buying groceries.
People in some nations probably think that USA residents have their priorities messed up to avoid spending their time buying and preparing fresh, healthy foods.
If we are so different in the way we purchase survival products like food, how much more different are we when it comes to buying other products.
Global and Domestic Marketing: Summary
Developing a marketing campaign for the people in one nation and trying to transfer that campaign to another nation doesn't work.
Successful marketing campaigns must be redesigned for each nation. This requires that marketers have to learn as much as possible about people in each nation.
But the sad truth is that little nation-specific information about people's characteristics is being developed. And much of what is developed remains proprietary. If we are to improve every nation's ability to advance economically, we must accumulate and share this information. Only then will global and domestic marketing provide equal chances of success.
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