Conducting Market Research for International Business

Conducting Market Research for International Business is designed to help managers and scholars understand the fundamentals of international market research. It offers a comprehensive treatment of the research issues that international business managers face when contemplating market entry, engaging buyers in foreign markets, maintaining and growing market share, and expanding to newer opportunities abroad. The book describes how to initiate an international research project—from analyzing the nature and scope of the research to the preliminary stages, gathering data, designing surveys, sampling, analyzing the data, and more. It also provides a sound theoretical base, supported by numerous examples. This practical, detailed guide further offers extensive coverage on using the Internet for research.

Key areas of coverage include the six activities associated with Global Market Opportunity Assessment (GMOA); fundamentals of international market research; the types of information needed in international research, and how these are gathered and converted into useful, managerially relevant information; the merits and limitations of primary and secondary data, and suggestions regarding Internet-based resources; research using primary data, particularly regarding survey research; a three-phased approach for conducting international market research composed of macro-, micro-, and cultural analysis; methodological considerations in international market research, such as validity, reliability, and equivalency in conducting research; specific measurement issues that researchers face in international studies, and methods to overcome these issues; an extended example of a market research situation facing a typical firm; important research issues, such as developing research questions, constructing measures, sampling, and data collection; a listing of numerous Internet sites, organized by category, for conducting research; a sample international business plan and the research requirements for completing such a plan.