joh81012_ch07_205-236 8/28/08 8:07 PM Page 205 33a8d66 6e7d7dc9e13 dd1 05b1 1d31 bb1a 3455 1df2b0 cb9 7186 bc6 d16a 369ee5 b ee72a4a6 c95e 8b44 261 c11b4da31 9ff705 b88da 47d8 4df733 b53a c07db5dfacc 1510e98 0f4 50b60aa5d5a6890 d04 084e1 69f91b0a 0746aa f8db6ad4b36 3cb2aa f7241 c66a 32f777 f8d7 cb0bb287 f89ee b3cc87 25aa013 8eb5 ef5 3e30 c2eaa3 b4 e02a5a6fa 70b0 7f7 fcd90 ba65b61b8 f12 3f1 9667 d8f652fe56 cf4 b7e8a dcc6c3 27fc8c5 9ff18a6 cc5 b550e f27 2207e 2890 e7004 6d87 71b5cc78 c4cc78 b7b5 3ed 7c671 77c6ed c0d9 cb4e3df6 d9b4 f27 9f2 4b01 e9147a 384db32 2798e 50c0f8e b6 be2c8 01b1fb0070 8e12 c6de 961 c5f1c0 06855 d27 b368 f5d3200 457bf86 82875 8 7da9aa76 fc2 ed63 f83 0eaf0 c38 74ebfb6 7e9c8ed f16 f6dc82 6b51 078e7 60f49c 65a914d4973 444e2 d79a7 58d43b2e 6adbb6da 6d7 cb1 d692 8950 8de5 27b9 8e614 08e5183 8cb468 07e5 f69d5b5 f32e 0b59 dd6 d94 9422a0 b5 cc7e 452e d3c3d3a4 8f c8c0 747 d2d9 988b26a4d181 f8d1ae03e7 8f6a 3d5a4 0036 f14 74f03bfa68a33 1f 24180d1943 19c5b53 60e51 00c27f5c0 6601 be5b55b9 1eb2 908e5 cb1a159e 6e2b bd19 f0b1a72 c4971 21fb1e8 ee703 c88 1d05 b4f370 b27a4 cb9a 76d3 8fc7fa3 9f9 6e4c1 25a430 5bfc91 dc8 7d41 6036 0fb00fca063 6038aae 4774 0cfd0a7 b33ab4d c075 cc2 f31a 7f7 245 c7a5fca8 f749 3b20 d1be27aa69 d40 c7a2 f7f36b3f0ae f35 e190ac1c9 6f6 f10 748 f84c4d3a 7aaad61 9ff8ef2 9806 c05 43c99b8a 20c9a1df4 b83b8 d125 48d1f8 da85e1 7f2 45c47e48 f5 cf18c4a38b4fb6219a 69980 133a2 49 3 Part Local Marketing In Part Two, Foreign Entry, we focused on how the firm establishes its presence in foreign countries. Part Three now looks at the local marketing activities in the new countries. The marketer is no longer at headquarters but located abroad. This shift has several important consequences.
First, the marketer must analyze and segment markets, manage distribution channels, position products and services, develop effective promotions, capture market share, and increase sales. Even though the main strategic objective of the firm’s presence in the country might be to check competition, monitor leading customers, or cross-subsidize a business elsewhere, the marketing job is still to be as successful as possible within the corporate constraints. Second, the marketer must learn more about the environmental factors, as the political, financial, and legal restrictions on business can create unforeseen headaches. Also, the social and cultural networks among customers and competitors work in new and mysterious ways.
The marketing infrastructure has developed under different conditions, so that the functions performed by wholesalers, retailers, advertising agencies, and other middlemen may deviate from expectations. Co-workers speak a different language, pledge allegiance to their own nation, believe in a different religion, and behave in unfamiliar ways toward each other. Third, the focus is no longer on national boundaries. The local marketer is now concerned with the market—and the market may or may not be the same as the nation.
The market could be larger, a free trade region or geographically close countries, or it could be smaller, ethnic or urban subgroups within a country. In our discussion of local marketing in Part Three, the manager will be seen as a marketer who is working within the special constraints created by a new and unfamiliar environment, with an arm’s-length relationship to the home office. Chapter 7 presents the conceptual models underlying the marketer’s understanding of customers, how local buyer behavior research can be done, and how segmentation and positioning are affected when new foreign brands enter a local market. Chapters 8, 9, and 10 show how the different market environments in maturing, new growth, and emerging economies affect the local marketing effort.
These chapters deal with strategy formulation, implementation, and execution under quite different conditions. joh81012_ch07_205-236 8/28/08 8:07 PM Page 206 33a8d66 6e7d7dc9e13 dd1 05b1 1d31 bb1a 3455 1df2b0 cb9 7186 bc6 d16a 369ee5 b ee72a4a6 c95e 8b44 261 c11b4da31 9ff705 b88da 47d8 4df733 b53a c07db5dfacc 1510e98 0f4 50b60aa5d5a6890 d04 084e1 69f91b0a 0746aa f8db6ad4b36 3cb2aa f7241 c66a 32f777 f8d7 cb0bb287 f89ee b3cc87 25aa013 8eb5 ef5 3e30 c2eaa3 b4 e02a5a6fa 70b0 7f7 fcd90 ba65b61b8 f12 3f1 9667 d8f652fe56 cf4 b7e8a dcc6c3 27fc8c5 9ff18a6 cc5 b550e f27 2207e 2890 e7004 6d87 71b5cc78 c4cc78 b7b5 3ed 7c671 77c6ed c0d9 cb4e3df6 d9b4 f27 9f2 4b01 e9147a 384db32 2798e 50c0f8e b6 be2c8 01b1fb0070 8e12 c6de 961 c5f1c0 06855 d27 b368 f5d3200 457bf86 82875 8 7da9aa76 fc2 ed63 f83 0eaf0 c38 74ebfb6 7e9c8ed f16 f6dc82 6b51 078e7 60f49c 65a914d4973 444e2 d79a7 58d43b2e 6adbb6da 6d7 cb1 d692 8950 8de5 27b9 8e614 08e5183 8cb468 07e5 f69d5b5 f32e 0b59 dd6 d94 9422a0 b5 cc7e 452e d3c3d3a4 8f c8c0 747 d2d9 988b26a4d181 f8d1ae03e7 8f6a 3d5a4 0036 f14 74f03bfa68a33 1f 24180d1943 19c5b53 60e51 00c27f5c0 6601 be5b55b9 1eb2 908e5 cb1a159e 6e2b bd19 f0b1a72 c4971 21fb1e8 ee703 c88 1d05 b4f370 b27a4 cb9a 76d3 8fc7fa3 9f9 6e4c1 25a430 5bfc91 dc8 7d41 6036 0fb00fca063 6038aae 4774 0cfd0a7 b33ab4d c075 cc2 f31a 7f7 245 c7a5fca8 f749 3b20 d1be27aa69 d40 c7a2 f7f36b3f0ae f35 e190ac1c9 6f6 f10 748 f84c4d3a 7aaad61 9ff8ef2 9806 c05 43c99b8a 20c9a1df4 b83b8 d125 48d1f8 da85e1 7f2 45c47e48 f5 cf18c4a38b4fb6219a 69980 133a2 49 joh81012_ch07_205-236 8/28/08 8:07 PM Page 207 33a8d66 6e7d7dc9e13 dd1 05b1 1d31 bb1a 3455 1df2b0 cb9 7186 bc6 d16a 369ee5 b ee72a4a6 c95e 8b44 261 c11b4da31 9ff705 b88da 47d8 4df733 b53a c07db5dfacc 1510e98 0f4 50b60aa5d5a6890 d04 084e1 69f91b0a 0746aa f8db6ad4b36 3cb2aa f7241 c66a 32f777 f8d7 cb0bb287 f89ee b3cc87 25aa013 8eb5 ef5 3e30 c2eaa3 b4 e02a5a6fa 70b0 7f7 fcd90 ba65b61b8 f12 3f1 9667 d8f652fe56 cf4 b7e8a dcc6c3 27fc8c5 9ff18a6 cc5 b550e f27 2207e 2890 e7004 6d87 71b5cc78 c4cc78 b7b5 3ed 7c671 77c6ed c0d9 cb4e3df6 d9b4 f27 9f2 4b01 e9147a 384db32 2798e 50c0f8e b6 be2c8 01b1fb0070 8e12 c6de 961 c5f1c0 06855 d27 b368 f5d3200 457bf86 82875 8 7da9aa76 fc2 ed63 f83 0eaf0 c38 74ebfb6 7e9c8ed f16 f6dc82 6b51 078e7 60f49c 65a914d4973 444e2 d79a7 58d43b2e 6adbb6da 6d7 cb1 d692 8950 8de5 27b9 8e614 08e5183 8cb468 07e5 f69d5b5 f32e 0b59 dd6 d94 9422a0 b5 cc7e 452e d3c3d3a4 8f c8c0 747 d2d9 988b26a4d181 f8d1ae03e7 8f6a 3d5a4 0036 f14 74f03bfa68a33 1f 24180d1943 19c5b53 60e51 00c27f5c0 6601 be5b55b9 1eb2 908e5 cb1a159e 6e2b bd19 f0b1a72 c4971 21fb1e8 ee703 c88 1d05 b4f370 b27a4 cb9a 76d3 8fc7fa3 9f9 6e4c1 25a430 5bfc91 dc8 7d41 6036 0fb00fca063 6038aae 4774 0cfd0a7 b33ab4d c075 cc2 f31a 7f7 245 c7a5fca8 f749 3b20 d1be27aa69 d40 c7a2 f7f36b3f0ae f35 e190ac1c9 6f6 f10 748 f84c4d3a 7aaad61 9ff8ef2 9806 c05 43c99b8a 20c9a1df4 b83b8 d125 48d1f8 da85e1 7f2 45c47e48 f5 cf18c4a38b4fb6219a 69980 133a2 49 7 Chapter Understanding Local Customers “Buyers everywhere are the same—only different” After reading this chapter, you will be able to: 1. Handle the conceptual rethinking that becomes necessary when trying to understand buyer behavior in a new local market. Adapt existing concepts and models of consumer behavior by incorporating new data about the local environment uncovered by marketing research.
Do local market research with translated questionnaires, controlling for measurement problems, differences in how people respond to surveys, and problems of sample equivalence. Tailor the segmentation scheme to the stage of the life cycle and to local attitudes, social norms, and existing loyalties. Configure product positioning to account for the possible shifts in the market as the new brand enters. Ultimately, customers in different places may want the same basic things, but specifically, their product and service needs and preferences vary considerably.
The reasons for the variations lie in cultures and socioeconomic and geographic environ- ments, that is, the conditions under which products and services are used and con- sumed. These locational and cultural factors affect buyer behavior directly and they demand a corresponding variety in local marketing activities. A good deal of the lo- cal marketer’s hard work abroad involves adjusting his or her understanding of what customers specifically want as well as of how and why customers and competitors be- have as they do. This adjustment of one’s understanding is not a matter of acquiring advanced mar- keting skills but of stretching basic conceptual skills.
To the extent they are relevant and applicable, most of the technical marketing skills required in a local market are very similar to those at home. This chapter will not deal extensively with those. On the other hand, there are sophisticated conceptual skills needed, especially when the local market is a leading market. To understand customers and competitors, the local mar- keting manager needs to develop a “theory” of what motivates the people.
As a start, it is useful to look back at relatively simple models of buyer behavior—stages of con- sumer decision making, how information is processed by consumers, what external influences play a role in buying decisions, and how the individual buyer handles risk- taking—and reevaluate the assumptions underlying these models. Such conceptual rethinking requires a stretch of the imagination and constitutes part of the learning that goes into marketing abroad. The local marketer abroad will develop larger conceptual skills, fresh ways of thinking about marketing, which in the future can be usefully 207 joh81012_ch07_205-236 8/28/08 8:07 PM Page 208 33a8d66 6e7d7dc9e13 dd1 05b1 1d31 bb1a 3455 1df2b0 cb9 7186 bc6 d16a 369ee5 b ee72a4a6 c95e 8b44 261 c11b4da31 9ff705 b88da 47d8 4df733 b53a c07db5dfacc 1510e98 0f4 50b60aa5d5a6890 d04 084e1 69f91b0a 0746aa f8db6ad4b36 3cb2aa f7241 c66a 32f777 f8d7 cb0bb287 f89ee b3cc87 25aa013 8eb5 ef5 3e30 c2eaa3 b4 e02a5a6fa 70b0 7f7 fcd90 ba65b61b8 f12 3f1 9667 d8f652fe56 cf4 b7e8a dcc6c3 27fc8c5 9ff18a6 cc5 b550e f27 2207e 2890 e7004 6d87 71b5cc78 c4cc78 b7b5 3ed 7c671 77c6ed c0d9 cb4e3df6 d9b4 f27 9f2 4b01 e9147a 384db32 2798e 50c0f8e b6 be2c8 01b1fb0070 8e12 c6de 961 c5f1c0 06855 d27 b368 f5d3200 457bf86 82875 8 7da9aa76 fc2 ed63 f83 0eaf0 c38 74ebfb6 7e9c8ed f16 f6dc82 6b51 078e7 60f49c 65a914d4973 444e2 d79a7 58d43b2e 6adbb6da 6d7 cb1 d692 8950 8de5 27b9 8e614 08e5183 8cb468 07e5 f69d5b5 f32e 0b59 dd6 d94 9422a0 b5 cc7e 452e d3c3d3a4 8f c8c0 747 d2d9 988b26a4d181 f8d1ae03e7 8f6a 3d5a4 0036 f14 74f03bfa68a33 1f 24180d1943 19c5b53 60e51 00c27f5c0 6601 be5b55b9 1eb2 908e5 cb1a159e 6e2b bd19 f0b1a72 c4971 21fb1e8 ee703 c88 1d05 b4f370 b27a4 cb9a 76d3 8fc7fa3 9f9 6e4c1 25a430 5bfc91 dc8 7d41 6036 0fb00fca063 6038aae 4774 0cfd0a7 b33ab4d c075 cc2 f31a 7f7 245 c7a5fca8 f749 3b20 d1be27aa69 d40 c7a2 f7f36b3f0ae f35 e190ac1c9 6f6 f10 748 f84c4d3a 7aaad61 9ff8ef2 9806 c05 43c99b8a 20c9a1df4 b83b8 d125 48d1f8 da85e1 7f2 45c47e48 f5 cf18c4a38b4fb6219a 69980 133a2 49 208 Part Three Local Marketing applied in other parts of the world. Again, significant features of buyer behavior in the home market will also be better understood when contrasted against buyer behavior in other countries.
Disneyland Paris Tries to Rekindle Marketing Magic Just a year and a half after opening its gates in 1992, the EuroDisney theme park situated at Marne-La-Vallee just outside Paris was teetering on the brink of bank- ruptcy. The company reported disappointing revenues and an unexpected $900 million loss for its first full year of operation. Unless it could negotiate financial help from its creditor banks and parent Walt Disney Company, EuroDisney would have to shut down. What went wrong? At one point, EuroDisney seemed to be a promising concept: Based on Disney’s success in Japan and North America, the company’s theme park concept seemed to have worldwide appeal.
However, park attendance at EuroDisney was less than expected, and the visitors who came did not spend much money. Perhaps most devastating to EuroDisney’s bottom line was that the resort had constructed too many hotel rooms. Tourists did not book rooms for visits to the park as expected. Disney responded by gradually modifying its marketing approach, renegotiat- ing the financial package, and changing the way it treated its employees.
For ex- ample, the familiar “Disney culture” was relaxed to fit the local culture and the expectations of the European managers and workers. The French “cast” (Disney employees) did not take lightly to the idea of being lectured about personal grooming, what makeup to use, and what clothes to wear even coming and go- ing to work, as they felt such demands were tantamount to invasion of privacy. And European middle managers cared more about prestige and status than the democratic ideals of American management. For these reasons, Disney eased up on its strict behavioral code.
Other changes involved adaptation of the “product.