International Marketing of Bedour Ibrahim - Essay Example

International Marketing Reflective Essay International Marketing Reflective Essay While startingthe unit, we understood that there were a variety of topics in class pertaining to the international market. As a result, we were provided with a number of presenters who allowed us to gain an understanding of this concept appropriately. The first presenter in this case was Bedour Ibrahim, who took us through the concept of international marketing. He revealed that most firms in the world today are thinking in global terms and acting local. This is serving as a powerful marketing strategy for global enterprises in the modern business environment. This is because the needs and wants of customers from various parts of the world are diverse, and it is therefore appropriate for organizations to change and adopt strategies that can allow them to survive in the global marketplace (Baker, 2003). Ibrahim revealed to us that there are two major concepts that organizations should adopt in the global market place. These include standardization and adaptation, and they differ from each other in an international marketing perspective. Standardization refers to refers to the manner in which an enterprise adopts a standard business portfolio with respect to prices, product, place, policies, promotion and procedures. These standard policies are implemented in any country that an organization is operating in regardless of the needs that are associated with the host country. In the case of standardization, Ibrahim took an example of Coca Cola where he revealed that the Coca Cola brand uses the same formula, packaging, positioning and distribution techniques in the global market (Azad, 2011). Conversely, he described adaptation a mechanism that encourages enterprises to be flexible with respect to the approach they adopt while developing business strategies. This implies that an organization should change its strategies based on the local needs of the residents of the host country. For example, Starbucks launches new products and charges different prices based on the need of the clients in the new country (Azad, 2011). Ibrahim also introduced the term glocalization, which is a combination of “globalization” and localization. This term is used to describe a service or product which is developed as well as distributed globally, but it is tailored to allow it accommodate the needs of the local market. Companies that adopt glocalization believe that in order for them to succeed in the international market, they must think through local mechanisms. McDonalds is one of the major companies around the world that has been able to succeed as a result of implementing the glocalization concept. Since McDonalds is a popular global company in the fast food industry, it has always adopted strategies that can allow it to succeed in the international market. It emphasizes on the needs and wants of the local consumers in a particular country (Baker, 2003). For instance, when McDonalds penetrated the Indian market, it was forced to change its entire portfolio of product since most of the clients in India are vegetarians. It introduced products such as vegetarian McPuff and potato burger, which would address the needs of the customers in India. Badriya AlShaiji, the second presenter emphasized on the issue of convergence in the behaviour of consumers, and the impact that they have towards international retailing. Here, he stipulated that the disappearing differences in income and the influence of converging technology across countries will not make consumers to homogenize their behaviour. In this case, consumers will tend to become more heterogonous as a result of the cultural differences that prevail among them. As the income of consumers congregate across nations, their desire to manifest their value differences will grow stronger (De-Moiji & Hofstede, 2002). Therefore, AlShaiji stipulates that it will be vital for organizations to understand the value that is attributable to the culture of countries as well as the impact that they have towards the behaviour of consumers. It is not possible for a company to extend its retailing strategies to a different country without first adapting to it. As such, AlShaiji presented the Hofstede’s model that is associated with the culture of a country in order to help understand the differences that prevail in consumer behaviour across nations. He illustrated the way in which the needs of consumers around the world are converging even though they come from different cultures. For instance, all consumers from around the word are using the internet, and thus an illustration that they have similar needs with respect to online activities. With the widespread internet acceptance, especially the e-commerce concept, the varying successes that have been realized in this initiative across cultures are as a result of the prevailing cultural differences (Bart, 2011). Moreover, he revealed that the law of one price is applicable across different nations around the world. It is because of this that the products that McDonalds produces are similar across the globe. Additionally, the behaviour of consumers around the world is diverging. As a result, it is appropriate for firms across the globe to develop new marketing strategies that can allow them to succeed in the market. One of the major ways in which they can realize this aim is by emphasizing on innovation. A company that has been able to realize this objective is Apple through its power of differentiation. All the products that Apple provides in the market are unique, and they incorporate features that other manufacturers in the market have not been able to. Fox has also been able to practice differentiation after introducing 324 channels that are broadcasted to about 173 television markets, and has versioned them into 44 diverse languages (De-Moiji & Hofstede, 2002). Mohammed Al-Rushaid, the third presenter emphasized on Hall’s Theory of High and Low Context Communication. Here, he revealed that various culture have the potential to adopt high-context forms of communication over low-context messages while embarking on routine communication. The speaking styles that an individual or a group chooses to use can translate to a group that adopts similar expectations and experiences, from which one can draw inferences. In the case of a high-context culture, the participants leave many things unsaid, thereby letting culture to offer the explanation. In this case, it is appropriate to emphasize on the use of word for word while engaging in a higher-context form of communication. This is because few words have the potential of communicating multifaceted messages to an in-group very effectively, but in a less effective manner while outside the group. In the case of low-context culture, the communicator is required to be more explicit since the value of a single word highly significant (Hall, 2013). Al-Rushaid reveals that the people who are found in high-context groups can be able to understand each other, and they are also faster at understanding while compared to those people who are found in low-context groups. Arabs are regarded a belonging to a high-context culture since one Arabic word is capable of explaining more in Arab culture than in the case of those found in Europe. Most of the high-context cultures are usually found in Asia. Most of these people can be able to explain a lot of things while using a single word or one impression. China and Japan are among the largest high-context cultures around the world (Hall, 2013). In this case, one of the major reasons as to why nations tend to adopt either low or high context cultures is because they have similar expectations and experiences. A communicator from a low-context culture is supposed to be more explicate since a single word is less significant. Since a low-context culture is supposed to offer further explanation to some things, this may be due to the fact that many countries that are associated with low-context culture comprise of people who are associated with different cultures (Hall, 2013). With respect to high and low-context cultures, it is crucial for international businesses to emphasize on learning more about intercultural communication. This strategy is essential in terms of sustaining a successful business and gaining knowledge in psychology that can allow a firm to communicate effectively with other individuals and organizations globally. Intercultural communication skills are therefore essential in terms of allowing an enterprise to realize better results in the competitive global market place (Hall, 2013). Yousif Al-Amairi is the one who makes the last presentation and he emphasizes on the differences that prevail between COO (country-of-origin) and consumer ethnocentrism. He describes COO as the preferences that a consumer expresses towards a particular product based on the country where it was manufactured. COO is mostly attributed to instances whereby the country of manufacture is associated with high quality products, or in case particular information regarding a certain product is missing. If an objective valuation of product in question has not been carried out, then the perceived reputation of a given country is substituted (Lin & Chen, 2006). The image of the country of origin impacts on the perceptions of consumers towards quality of a product that offers benefits to the economy of a country. It indicates loyalty to the country and also increases the reputation and image of the company. As a marketing strategy, country of origin plays an essential role with respect to differentiating a product from competitors. Consumers develop preference as well as willingness to buy a product once it is associated with high quality (Lin & Chen, 2006). Conversely, ethnocentrism refers to the bias that consumers apply to the come country while compared to the effect of COO. It refers to the way in which people tend to identify themselves as members of a particular group (ingroups) and differentiate themselves from others (outgroups). In this case the in-group regards himself as superior to the out-group. Since the concept of ethnocentrism rises in the event of a threat from the group, the same phenomenon applies in the case of perceived threat to the economic performance of a particular country. Here, consumers believe that the purchase of a domestic product offers them more benefits while compared to purchasing a foreign good. The consumer purchase domestic products since they believe that they drive their economy by being loyal to the products that it produces (Bawa, 2005). Therefore, it is appropriate to consider COO and consumer ethnocentrism as factors that influence the purchase behaviour and intention of consumers. Reference List Azad, P. 2011. Marketing Management and Strategy, APH Publishing, New Delhi. Baker, M. 2003. Marketing Management and Strategy, Macmillan Business, London. Bart, A. 2011. Convergence and divergence in consumer behavior, viewed 23 April 2014, . Bawa, A. 2005. Consumer Ethnocentrism: CETSSCALE Validation and Measurement of Extent, Journal of Decision Makers, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 1-16. De-Moiji, G & Hofstede, G. 2002. Convergence and Divergence in Consumer Behavior: Implicatios for International Retailing, Journal of Retailing, vol. 78, no. 1, pp. 61-69. Hall, E T. 2013. High Context Communication vs. Low Context Communication, viewed 23 April 2014, . Lin, L Y & Chen, C S. 2006. The influence of the country of origin image, product knowledge and product involvement on consumer purchase decisions: an empirical study of insurance and catering services in Taiwan, Journal of Consumer Marketing, vol. 23, no. 5, pp. 248-265. Read More