Whether International Marketers Should Standardise or Adapt Their Communication in Overseas Markets - Literature review Example

A Discussion as to Whether International Marketers Should Standardise or Adapt Their Communication in Overseas Markets Introduction With reference to the writings by Pride & Ferrell (2011, p 8), the term marketing has been described as “a methodology of communicating the value of a product or service to customers, for the purpose of selling that product or service.” This means that marketing communication simply entails informing the target audience about the availability of a particular product or service, with the intent of selling the product and/ or service to the target audience. According to the writings by Walker (2005), marketing communications are normally made up of four key elements that include the product, price, place, and promotion. In regards to product, it is noted that marketing communication normally aim at expressing the benefits that are attached with the product being sold in order to make consumers eager and excited about using the product. In terms of price, marketers normally aim at communicating the value of a product as attached to the price of which it should be reasonable, and affordable to the customers being targeted. Thirdly, marketing communication also aim at informing the target audience about where the product can be viewed and/ or where it can be purchased. Lastly, marketing communications are geared towards promoting the product by creating awareness about its existence in the market and its unique values. In the development of marketing communication, numerous factors are put into consideration in order to ensure that the marketing message is appropriate to the target audience and it yields the expected results. This means that from time to time the abovementioned marketing elements are refined or adjusted in order to ensure that they fit well with the target audience. However, according to Buzzell (1968), certain scenarios call for use of standardised marketing communication across all markets and this is normally when the product at the center is of an industrial nature i.e. machinery or materials for use by other industries or companies. This essay is based on international marketing and it seeks to discuss whether international marketers should standardise or adapt their communication in overseas markets. The key question attached to this discussion is whether the marketing communication would be effective if the marketing message used at the domestic market is equally applied to foreign markets or whether there is need to refine the marketing communication with factors that influence the effectiveness of a marketing message in a foreign market. The essay will commence with a theoretical background study on international marketing and then it will provide a critical discussion on factors that influence the effectiveness of marketing communication in overseas markets upon which it will be pointed out whether international marketers should standardise or adapt their marketing communication in overseas markets. Theoretical background on international marketing According to the studies conducted by Keegan and Green (2013), it is noted that international marketing owe its origin to globalisation, which is described as the process of worldwide integration that is caused by interchanging of culture, ideas, and products among others. According to Buckley and Ghauri (2004), globalisation can be looked at from two different angles that include globalisation of production and globalisation of markets. Globalisation of production refers to the process of sourcing for products and services from different countries in order to take advantage of the variance in regards to quality and cost, while globalisation of markets refers to the process of creating a common market across the World by removing trade barriers on all borders. It is important to note that variance of culture across different borders has been a key impediment factor to rapid globalisation of markets while globalisation of production has resulted in a fierce competition within the market place (Clark and Mathur, 2003). International marketing arises from the bedrock of globalisation whereby marketers aim at communicating the value of a product or service to the target audience who are located in more than one country with an aim of ensuring that the product or services record impressive sales across different countries. From a narrow perspective it is correct to argue that globalisation of markets and production processes calls for a similar approach in marketing, which perceives the World to be a global village. International marketing is comprised of three major components that include marketing controllables, domestic uncontrollables and foreign uncontrollables. According to Clark and Mathur, (2003), marketing controllables include all factors that marketers can control and these are the traditional elements of marketing, which consist of price, product, promotion, and place. Domestic uncontrollables comprise of factors that marketers cannot control within their home country and this include; legal factors, environmental factors, political factors, technological factors, political factors, and economical factors (Kotler, 1986). Foreign uncontrallables simply refer to domestic uncontrallables but from the perspective of foreign markets. The diagram below is an illustration of the key components within the international markets (Kotler, 1986). Figure 1: Illustrations of the components within international markets Source: Class Readings It is important to note that through public relations strategies, marketers can be able to tame some domestic uncontrollable factors to their favor, but it will be impossible to tame political, cultural, and economic factors in foreign markets using the same PR strategies. For example, it is impossible for a PR campaign conducted by marketers in the United States to change the political or cultural conditions in China. A discussion of whether international marketers should standardise or adapt their marketing communicating in overseas market requires a critical analysis on the factors that are at play in overseas market and these consist of only pertinent foreign uncontrallables, which have direct influence on the effectiveness of a marketing communication. Why international marketers should adapt their communication to overseas market To begin with, it is important to note that globalisation as noted above has resulted in the world integrating to become a global village, which means that numerous ideas, technology, and economical aspects are shared from country to country. However, the integration has not gone to an extent whereby there are no differentiation factors across borders. This is because people in different countries have been able to maintain their cultural identify and other factors that make them distinct; such as language they use and even their form of dressing (Jain, 1989). For example, despite the levels of globalisation, the Chinese have still maintained their cultural practices, which distinguishes them from the Americans while the Muslim community still maintains their form of dressing more so in Islamic states, which distinguishes them from Christians in countries that are dominated with Christian citizens. Therefore, despite the levels of globalisation, it is inappropriate to consider that foreign markets bear similar characteristics to domestic markets. Political and legal factors To begin with political factors influence the effectiveness of marketing communication in overseas market considering it is the key pillar for all the other uncontrollable factors such as legal, economic, technological, and economic factors. For example, the political class set legal requirements, and even make decisions that will determine the economic performance of a country. For a marketing campaign of an independent business organization to be effective it has to ensure that it, does not cause rift within the political class nor lean on one side of the political divided, additionally, it has to be in line with the prevailing political conditions. This is because the political class wields a lot of power, which they can use to frustrate and even close down a business organisation that seems to be acting or operating in a manner that contravenes the prevailing political conditions. For example, in the year 2012, some of Google’s online services such as G-mail and its search engine were blocked in China ahead of a scheduled national meeting to discuss the handover of power to a new generation of leaders while YouTube services had been blocked since 2009. This was because it was alleged that Chinese authorities felt that the company was promoting the agenda of the U.S government in its internal affairs/ political issues (Quinn, 2012). According to Levitt (1983), one of the key factors that distinguish the foreign market from domestic markets is the political and legal conditions. This means that political conditions in foreign markets tend to differ with the conditions in the domestic market. This is the same for legal factors, since the laws on advertising and marketing can possibly differ from one country to another. For example, the political conditions in China are very different from those in the United States, since China’s political system is pegged on communalism principles while United States’ political systems are pegged on principles of democracy. Secondly, the political environment in Egypt is not the same as the political environment in Canada, this is because in Egypt there is disparity among the political class that has created numerous conflicts within the country whilst Canada’s political class enjoy a peaceful co-relation (Associated Press, 2014). In regards to legal differences, it is noted that the United Kingdom highly regulates food adverts as compared to a country like Libya where there are less regulations on how food or other consumables can be advertised. For example, the UK laws prohibit advertising of junk food during hours when children programmes are being aired whilst such laws do not exist in a country such as Libya (Molly, 2014). Conclusively, it is correct to state that international marketers need to adapt their marketing communication in overseas market to ensure that they are in line with the political conditions within the overseas market. It is highly likely that the political class will be opposed to a marketing communication that is standardised with the communication originating from another country that is not friendly to theirs; this is because it will deem the communication to promote the agenda of the enemy country. Based on the examples given above, it is correct to argue that UK politicians will be opposed to an Indian company that deals in Junk products, to conduct a similar marketing communication that it does in India where there are no stringent laws regulating food advertisement. The UK political class or regulatory authorities will expect the Indian company to refine its marketing communication to ensure it abides by the laws regulating food advertisement in the UK so as not to endanger the health of the population especially through lifestyle diseases such as obesity. In addition, to the laws on food advertising, the UK’s laws will require foreign companies to show proof of benefits attached to the product or service being advertised especially if it meant to be consumed for healthy purposes or just for nutrition (Crown & Farmer, 2008). Therefore, foreign companies will be required to restructure their marketing communication in order to avoid mention of alleged benefits that have not been proven. For example, in recent news, Red Bull agreed to pay out 13 million US dollars in a class action lawsuit where the Australian Company was sued for false and misleading marketing communication based on the slogan “Red Bull gives you wings” (O’reilly, 2014). This case example, affirms why international marketers should not standardise their marketing communication in overseas market since what is politically correct and legal in their domestics might be politically incorrect and illegal in a foreign market. Socio-cultural factors With reference to the writings by Bird and Stevens (2003), it is stated that socio-cultural factor dictate the perception that people will have in regards to a particular marketing communication. If the marketing message is perceived to be socially and culturally incorrect, the marketing communication will be repulsed and hence it will not be effective, but if the marketing communication is perceived to be socially and culturally correct, then it will be embraced by the target audience and there are high chances that it will achieve its target. Considering that each country/ market has its own distinct cultural practices it means that marketing communication should also observe these differences and therefore, adapt each communication to the socio-cultural beliefs of each overseas market (Coskun and Merici, 2008). By standardising a marketing communication even to the overseas market, it might be inferred that the company in question is trying to sell another culture to the overseas market, which will probably face rejection, as people normally prefer the status-quo (Carrie, Steven, and Wei‐Na, 2008). This argument is proven by the fact that implementation of change within an organisation is usually faced with numerous challenges and resistance from the employees, and if it is not managed in a correct manner the intended change usually, fails to take effect (Paton & McCalman, 2008). Whilst developing a marketing communication, the marketers normally try to integrate the product or service with the lifestyle of the target audiences; however, lifestyle choices differ across borders due to cultural differences, which dictate lifestyles that are acceptable and those that are not (King, 2003). For example, in conservative countries such as Islamic states and most African countries it is considered culturally inappropriate to use scantily dressed women to promote any products or service whatsoever the message being passed across, and the advert will be rebuked for promoting the secular culture and from that point the marketing communication will seize to be effective. However, in country such as the U.S scantily dressed women are used in adverts all over since it is culturally acceptable and hence, the target audience will relate well with the marketing communication that is being presented. In the studies conducted by Schaller & Crandall (2004), on the psychological foundations of culture, it is noted that culture influences language, the meaning of images or symbols, and even how people of opposite genders can interact. This means that international marketers have to adapt the language used in marketing communication to the overseas market, the images used have to culturally appropriate and the interaction between male and female characters have to be culturally correct in the overseas market. For example, it will be ineffective for international marketers to use an advert that is done by British-speaking characters in an overseas market like China were the English language is not commonly used, and majority of the Chinese cannot understand the British accent. In this case, the international marketers are expected to adapt their marketing communication to the Chinese culture by using characters who speak the Chinese language (Carrie, Steven and Wei‐Na, 2008). Another example to affirm that international marketers need to adapt marketing communication to overseas market is the recent promotion conducted by The Paper Magazine that is based in New York. The Magazine used the image of a half naked socialite named Kim Kardashian as the cover photo and recorded enormous publicity coupled with high sales, which meant that the American public was receptacle to the pop-culture that does not in any way promote conservative values (Rees, 2014). However, the same reaction cannot be expected if this magazine try to sells its copies in a country like China where it will be probably be banned from circulation (Somdutta, Mahmood and Kathleen, 2009). Scenarios where international marketers can standardise their marketing communication There are certain scenarios where every country in the World would have the same political and cultural opinion about a marketing communication, but this has only to be scenarios where the product or service is used globally acknowledge and it bears no direct inclination to a certain political or cultural side (Agrawal, 1995). For example, marketing communication on New Year’s celebration warrant the use of a standarised communication but still there will be differences in terms of languages used, symbols used, and even interaction of the characters in the advert. Conclusion Despite the rapid globalisation taking place there are still uncontrollable factors that cannot allow for use of standardise marketing communication since that will make marketing communication in overseas market ineffective. 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(2005). Marketing strategy: A decision-focused approach. Boston: McGraw-Hill Irvin. Read More