Marketing Midterm Concentrated

What are controllable factors in international marketing?

Decisions the firm can control: product, price, promotion, distribution, branding, research, and entry strategy.

What are uncontrollable factors in international marketing?

Environmental forces the firm cannot control; it must understand and adapt to them.

Main foreign uncontrollable factors

Political/legal, economic, socio-cultural, technology, competition, distribution, geography/infrastructure.

Main domestic uncontrollable factors

Domestic political/legal forces, economic climate, and competition.

What is environmental adaptation?

Adjusting a marketing plan to fit each foreign market’s uncontrollable environment.

Why are foreign markets challenging?

They vary in culture, laws, political stability, economics, technology, and competition.

What is culture?

Learned and shared values, beliefs, thought processes, behaviors, rituals, and symbols passed through generations.

Hofstede’s definition of culture

The “software of the mind” that guides how people think and behave.

Why does culture matter to marketing?

It affects consumer values, buying behavior, communication, and brand meaning.

Main origins of culture

Geography, history, political economy, technology, and social institutions.

Main social institutions shaping culture

Family, religion, school/education, media, government, and corporations.

Five elements of culture

Cultural values, rituals, symbols, beliefs, and thought processes.

What is uncertainty avoidance?

The degree to which a culture is uncomfortable with ambiguity and risk.

High vs low uncertainty avoidance

High: prefers rules, security, predictability. Low: tolerates ambiguity and risk.

What is power distance?

The degree to which a culture accepts hierarchy and unequal power.

High vs low power distance

High: hierarchy/status accepted. Low: equality, knowledge, and achievement valued.

Individualism vs collectivism

Individualism = “I,” independence. Collectivism = “we,” group loyalty and harmony.

What are rituals?

Learned, repeated patterns of behavior and interaction.

What are symbols in culture?

Language, colors, images, objects, and designs with cultural meaning.

What are beliefs in culture?

Accepted convictions, often influenced by religion or tradition.

What is cultural distance?

The degree to which one country’s cultural values differ from another’s.

What is rebranding?

Changing brand identity, associations, positioning, name, symbol, packaging, design, or attributes.

Why do firms rebrand in foreign markets?

To reduce cultural distance and make the brand meaningful to local consumers.

What is evolutionary rebranding?

Small, almost invisible changes that reinforce the existing brand identity.

When is evolutionary rebranding most likely?

When cultural distance is relatively small.

What is revolutionary rebranding?

Major, visible repositioning that may include a new brand name.

When is revolutionary rebranding most likely?

When cultural distance is relatively large.

What is brand awareness?

The ability of consumers to recognize or identify a brand.

What is brand image?

The consumer’s perception of a brand based on associations in memory.

Why did Ferrero face a problem in China?

Chocolate was unfamiliar and viewed as unhealthy, fattening, and harmful to teeth.

Ferrero Rocher’s rebranding strategy in China

Positioned Rocher as a gift for social occasions; emphasized friendship and sociality.

Kinder Chocolate’s rebranding strategy in China

Emphasized family, children, parental care, and high milk content.

Why did Ducati face a problem in China?

Motorcycles were seen as basic transport associated with bicycles, not status.

Ducati’s rebranding strategy in China

Positioned Ducati as a status product; stressed Italian design, quality, technology, sportiness, and luxury.

Why did Pirelli face a problem in China?

Tires were seen as unimportant commodity products compared with the automobile.

Pirelli’s rebranding strategy in China

Emphasized luxury, elegance, fashion, design, and links to luxury-car makers.

How did Pirelli reinforce its luxury positioning?

It highlighted supplying Aston Martin, Bentley, Ferrari, Porsche, and Rolls-Royce.

What did Ferrero, Ducati, and Pirelli have in common?

They used social/expressive brand values to overcome cultural distance in China.

What is marketing research?

Systematically collecting and analyzing information to support marketing decisions.

Marketing-research process

Define problem/objectives; choose sources; weigh cost/benefit; gather data; analyze; communicate results.

What is secondary research?

Existing data collected previously for another purpose; also called desk research.

What is primary research?

New data collected specifically for the current research project; also called field research.

What should marketers check in secondary data?

Quantity, reliability, timeliness, comparability, and validity.

What is qualitative research?

Exploratory research into thoughts, feelings, motivations, and reasons behind behavior.

What is quantitative research?

Research that measures patterns using large, structured, usually numerical datasets.

Which usually comes first: qualitative or quantitative?

Qualitative; it explores issues that quantitative research can later measure.

Main qualitative methods

In-depth interviews, focus groups, and observation.

What is an in-depth interview?

A one-on-one interview where someone can speak freely about a topic.

What is a focus group?

A moderated discussion, usually with 8–12 participants, about a product, service, or issue.

What is observation research?

Watching people’s actions and interactions to understand behavior.

What is netnography?

A qualitative method that studies consumer behavior through online communities and texts.

What is text mining?

A quantitative method using software to extract patterns from large amounts of text.

Netnography vs. text mining

Netnography interprets online consumer behavior qualitatively; text mining analyzes large text datasets quantitatively.

What is brand equity?

The value a brand adds to or subtracts from a product or service.

Aaker’s five brand-equity assets

Awareness, perceived quality, loyalty, brand associations, and exclusive brand resources.

What is Keller’s Brand Equity Pyramid?

A four-stage process for building customer-based brand equity.

Keller pyramid: salience

Brand awareness and basic associations in a product category.

Keller pyramid: performance and imagery

Brand meaning through functional performance and abstract/image associations.

Keller pyramid: judgments and feelings

Consumers’ evaluations and emotional reactions to the brand.

Keller pyramid: resonance

A deep, long-term brand-customer relationship and loyalty.

What is mono-brand/family branding?

Using one brand across all products/services, often the company name.

What is a product-line extension?

Using the same brand for new products in the same product category.

Risk of product-line extension

Cannibalization: the new product takes sales from existing products in the line.

What is brand extension?

Using an existing brand to enter a different product category.

Risk of brand extension

Brand dilution: the brand identity becomes weaker or unclear.

What is multi-brand strategy?

Using different brands for different products/product lines, often to target different segments.

Main multi-brand tradeoff

More expensive to build awareness for each brand, but one brand’s crisis does not automatically hurt the others.

Four stages of an international marketing plan

Preliminary analysis/screening; adapt marketing mix; develop plan; implementation/control.

Stage 1: preliminary analysis and screening

Match company capabilities with country opportunities; assess market potential and risk.

Stage 2: adapt the marketing mix

Adapt product, price, promotion, and distribution to the local market.

Stage 3: develop the marketing plan

Set objectives, strategy, budget, actions, and timeline.

Stage 4: implementation and control

Execute the plan, measure results, and adjust as needed.

Four foreign-market entry modes

Exporting, contractual agreements, strategic alliances, and direct foreign investment.