Global Market Research

Global marketing has become a fact of life. Local companies are affected by global ones, understanding the global market is a must. Firms are going beyond geographical boundaries to take advantage of resources they don’t have in their countries. Understanding these diverse markets is a must and it is done through global market research. Conducting research in these countries is hard, so it is better to get research done by a local firm. Marketing and market research go hand in hand now, previously the market research department did not have a say in decision making but now, and they play a major role. They help in predicting trends in the market.

Importance of Market Research

Market research is very important; it helps companies to tailor their messages to their targeted audience and helps the organisation to perform better. Research can measure the reputation of a company among consumers, governmental officials and the academic community. Mathematical models are used to estimate the failure or success of a product. Research helps in getting consumer reaction to products that are already being sold by the company or even a product that is at a conceptual stage. Research can tell a marketing company what flavour or colour the appeals most to the consumer. Target audiences can be set accurately and positioned in the right market. Research can prove whether your advertisement communicates what it was intended to be.
The major steps involved in market research are:

• Defining the market research problem
• Formulation of Research design
• Analysis of secondary data
• Development of a questionnaire
• Collection of primary data
• Data Analysis
• Preparation and Presentation of report

Phases of Global Market Research

These is market research in general, global market research has more steps. International Marketing Research design has 5 major phases

• Phase 1: Deciding whether to internationalise- Assessing the demand for the company's products or services
• Phase 2: Deciding on markets to enter- Understanding their local competition and the potential of the product
• Phase 3: Market entry strategies- Understanding the competitors strategy
• Phase 4: Designing the international marketing mix, the 7 Ps- Understanding the behaviour of the consumer, SWOT analysis, and deciding on the media mix
• Phase 5: Implementation of plan in international market- Final implementation and analysis of performance.
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Acquiring secondary data is a must; this gives a clear background as to how the process of research takes place. Other companies would have also done market research in these global markets. By reading these works of research market researchers can design their research work. At the end of the market research, companies usually list out the drawbacks of the research or the challenges they faced during the implementation phase.

Primary research must be done when the agency is not able to acquire enough or reliable information. Collecting primary data takes more time and money consuming. Designing a primary data collection is a must and the right collection technique to collect data. Some of the popular methods of data collection for global market research include:

• Observational and Tracking Methods
• Focus Group Interviews
• In-depth Interviews
• Action Research
• Survey and Questionnaires
• Experiment
• Psychological or Psychographic approach2

Global market research is very important and market research companies which have knowledge about global markets must be selected, so that data obtained is accurate. Market research allows marketing agencies to tailor their message or product accurately in the right country at the right time. Geographical boundaries have more differences, in terms of weather, culture, religion and language. The product or service should be positioned in a market where it is profitable. Market research allows companies to do exactly that.

References:
1. Schmidt Marcus & Hollensen Svend. 2007, Marketing Research: An International Approach, Pearson, New Delhi
2. Shah Kruti & D’Souza Alan. 2009, Advertising and Promotions an IMC perspective, Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi