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Lesson#19
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Secondary Data Collection
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INTERNATIONAL MARKETING RESEARCH PROCESS
Secondary Data Collection
Issues in international research problem formulation:
• A major problem
is the unfamiliarity with the foreign environment - lack of familiarity may lead
to
false assumptions, poorly-defined research problems, and,
ultimately misleading conclusions about
the foreign market
• To reduce part of
the uncertainty, some exploratory research at the early stage of the research
process
is often fruitful
• A useful vehicle
for such preliminary research is an omnibus survey - conducted by research
agencies at regular intervals
Framework for international marketing research:
Determine research design:
–
Exploratory
(informal, unstructured) -
to gain background information, to define terms, to
clarify problems & hypothesis and to establish research
priorities.
• secondary data
• experience survey
• case analysis
• focus groups
• projecting
techniques (asking participants to act in controlled/simulated conditions)
–
Descriptive
research - to describe and
measure marketing phenomena at a point in time.
• provides answers
to questions such as;
– who customer,
competitor
– what product,
brand, design, size
– where places of
purchase, wholesale
– when time &
frequency of purchase
• one point in time
- cross-sectional surveys,
sample surveys.
• longitudinal -
repeat measurements on the same
sample over a period of time.
–
Causal
research - to determine
causality, to make “if then” statement.
Identify alternative information sources:
– internet
– international
publications
– country research
reports
– trade /
production statistics
– trade /
diplomatic offices
– local chamber of
commerce
Secondary data information sources:
Page
57
Secondary data may be readily available and may also be cheaper
than primary research. International
marketers, however, need to very carefully evaluate the
relevance, objectiveness and timeliness of the
secondary data. Following aspects about the secondary data need
to be evaluated for use in any
international marketing research;
–
Secondary
data:
• what was the
purpose of study?
• who collected
the information?
• what
information was collected?
• how was the
information obtained?
• how consistent
is the information with other information?
–
Data quality:
• timeliness,
accuracy, relevance
Issues with secondary research:
• Accuracy of data
may vary due to variation in definitions of various variables
• Quality and
reliability of information may also be compromised by the mechanisms that were
used to
collect them
• International
trade statistics do not cover cross-border & undocumented activities
• Comparability of
data across countries is constrained as different resources on a given item
produce
contradictory information
• One way to
reconcile these differences is to triangulate - obtain information on the same
item from at
least three different sources and speculate on possible reasons
behind these differences
• Comparability of
data may also be hindered by the lack of functional or conceptual equivalence -
functional equivalence refers to the degree to which similar
activities or products in different
countries fulfill similar functions - conceptual equivalence
reflects the degree to which a given
concept has the same meaning in different environments
• Finally, in many
developing nations, secondary data are very scarce. Information on retail and
wholesale trade is especially difficult to obtain
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