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International Marketing ­ MKT630
VU
Lesson # 1
OVERVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
Defining International Marketing:
· "Marketing is defined as a process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need & want by
creating and exchanging products and value with others.
· The term "International Marketing" refers to exchanges across national boundaries for the
satisfaction of human needs and wants.
· The extent of a firm's involvement abroad is a function of its commitment to the pursuit of foreign
markets.
· Global industries are defined as those where a firm's competitive position in one country is affected
by its position in other countries, and vice versa.
Evolution of Global Marketing:
Firms, depending on their level involvement in foreign markets, pass through following five
evolutionary phases.
1. Domestic marketing
Domestic marketers tend to be ethnocentric (focus is solely on domestic market) & pay little
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attention to changes taking place in the global market place.
­ Such firms produce and sell products and services only in their home country.
­ Firms that keep focus only on their domestic markets may be vulnerable to the sudden changes
forced on them from foreign competition, when foreign firms enter the markets or even when
foreign firms develop better or cheaper products.
2. Export marketing
Exporting firms fulfill unsolicited / solicited orders from foreign countries.
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For growth in export marketing, however, a company requires physical, financial and managerial
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resources.
­ When a firm attempts to export it faces many issues that include difficulties in import/export
restrictions, cost and availability of shipping, exchange rate fluctuations, collection of money,
development of distribution channels etc.
­ Export marketers still tend to take ethnocentric approach, since they mostly make products in
their home countries and have no direct involvement in the foreign markets.
3. International marketing
An international marketing firm has polycentric orientation with emphasis on product and
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promotional adaptation in foreign markets whenever necessary.
­ They make strategic decisions that are tailored to suit the cultures of the foreign countries.
­ The company may establish an independent foreign subsidiary in each and every foreign market
it services ­ such efforts are also called multi-domestic marketing.
4. Multinational marketing
Multinational firms are those that sell products or services in many countries.
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Economies of scale in product development, manufacturing, and marketing are achieved by
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multinational firms by consolidation of some of their activities on regional basis.
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