MEDZINRODNVEDECK KONFERENCIA GLOBALIZCIAAJ EJ SOCILNOEKONOMICKDSLEDKY08

INTERNATIONALMARKETINGENVIRONMENT
1 MartinaGogolov

Key words: international marketing environment, Corruption Perception Index, investment climate,culture,internettechnology,WorldEconomicPyramid Abstract: Uveden prspevok popisuje nedokonalosti medzinrodnho marketingovho prostredia pri investcich, pribliuje korupciu vmedzinrodnom ekonomickom prostred, pribliuje svetov ekonomick pyramdu, popisuje kultrne elementy, ktor vplvaj na socilnokultrneprostredieapoukazujenaprienikinternetovejtechnolgiedoobchodovania vovybranchkrajinch. Bound together by satellite communications and global companies, consumers in every corner of the world are demanding an everexpanding variety of goods. As Table 1 illustrates, world trade is an important economic activity. Because of this importance, the inclination is for countries to control international trade to their own advantage. As competition, intensifies the tendency toward protectionism gains momentum. If the benefits ofthesocial,political,andeconomicchangesnowtakingplacearetobefullyrealized,free trademustprevailthroughouttheglobalmarketplace.

Table1

TopTen2004U.S.TradingPartners(billions,merchandisetrade)
TotalTrade 446,1 266,6 231,4 184 108,6 82,4 72,5 56,3 53,1 39,1 Exports 190,2 110,8 34,7 54,4 31,4 36 26,3 21,7 21,2 10,9 Imports 255,9 155,8 196,7 129,6 77,2 46,4 46,2 34,6 31,8 29,2 Balance 65,7 45 32 75,2 45,8 10,4 19,9 12,9 10,6 17,3

Country Canada Mexico china Japan Germany UnitedKingdom SouthKorea Taiwan France Malaysia

Source:www.census.gov/foreigntrade/top

Ing.MartinaGogolov,PhD.,DepartmentofEconomics,FakultyofOperationandEconomicsofTransport andCommunications,Universityofilina,Univerzitna1,01026ilina,SlovakRepublic email: martina.valaskova@fpedas.uniza.sk

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The international marketing environment is a complex constellation of demands and constraints which the firm faces as it attempts to compete and grow. Identifying customer values in international markets requires a sophisticated understanding of differentiated expressionsofcustomerneeds, manyofwhichare influencedbyculture.Similarly,thetask ofcommunicatingthe valuesprovideandtheirdelivery in international markets iscomplex, requiring a great deal of understanding of the environment and its influences. International marketingischaracterizedbytheconvergenceofthecompanymarketingprocess,usuallyin one country, and the customers purchase decision process in another. This international marketingenvironmentconsistsofanumberofelementsmostofwhichlieoutsidethecontrol of the firm (Figure 1). Each of these elements is discussed and integrated in the firms decision makingprocess.
Customer s

Competitor s

Cultureand values

Fir min international mar kets

Politicaleconomy

Resources

Technology

Figure1Internationalmarketingenvironment[1]
The study of the international political and legal environment must therefore be brokendownintoseveralsubsegments.Manyresearchersdothisbyseparatingthelegalfrom the political. This separation although perhaps analytically useful is some what artificial becauselawsaregenerallytheresultofpoliticaldecisions.Herenoattemptwillbemadeto separatelegalandpoliticalfactors,exceptwhensuchaseparationisessential. Thepoliticalsystemsofthecountriesservedorbeingconsidered byan international marketerareanimportantpartofthefirmsmacroenvironment.Amultitudeofmoreorless powerfulgroupsofstakeholders from inside butsometimesalsooutsideacountrys borders influences: 1. Whogovernsthecountry? 2. Whatpoliciesthegovernmentfollows? 3. Whatlegalregulationsresultfromthosepolicies?[2] Figure2ranksthe factorsthataffectacountrysinvestmentclimate,notethatpolicy uncertainty dominates the concerns of firms. However, variations in political and legal environmentscanalsooffernewopportunitiestointernationalmarketers.[3]

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EnvironmentalShortcomin gsoftheInvestmentClimate
2% 2% 2% 4% 10% 28% Policyuncertainty Macroinstability Taxrates Regulationandtaxadministration 10% Corruption Finance Electricity Skills Crime 19% 23%

Figure2EnvironmentalShortcomingsoftheInvestmentClimate[4]
The World Trade Organization has, for the first time, decided to consider placing bribery rules on its agenda. A good portion of this progress can be attributed to the public work done by Transparency International (TI). This nonprofit organization regularly publishes information about the perception of corruption in countries around the globe. In addition,TIalsoreportsoncountrieswhosefirmsaremostandleastlikelytoofferbribesas shown inTable2. A countrysCorruptionPerceptionIndexshowsthedegreeofcorruption perceivedbybusinesspeopleandcountryanalysts.Possiblescoresrangefrom10(veryclean) to0(highlycorrupt).Thetoptenleastcorruptandmostcorruptcountriesareshownabove, alongwiththeirworldranksandCPIscores.

Table2CorruptionPerceptionIndex
Rank 1 2 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 LeastCor rupt Country Iceland Finland NewZealand Denmark Singapore Sweden Switzerland Norway Australia Austria CPIScore 9,7 9,6 9,6 9,5 9,4 9,2 9,1 8,9 8,8 8,7 Rank 144 151 152 152 152 155 155 155 158 158 MostCorrupt Country Tajikistan Angola CotedIvoire EquatorialGuinea Nigeria Haiti Myanmar Turkmenistan Bangladesh Chad CPIScore 2,1 2 1,9 1,9 1,9 1,8 1,8 1,8 1,7 1,7

Source:CorruptionsPerceptionIndex2005,Dr.J.GrafforTransparencyInternational, UniversityofPassau,Germany,http:// www.transparency.org

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The wide use of GDP figures can be explained by their easy availability, but they shouldneverthelessbeusedwithcaution.Inindustrializedcountries,therichest10percentof thepopulationconsume20percentofallgoodsandservices,whereastherespectivefigurefor thedevelopingcountriesmaybeashighas50percent.Insomemarkets,incomedistribution produceswidegapsbetweenpopulationgroups.Themoredevelopedtheeconomy,themore incomedistributiontendstoconvergetowardthemiddleclass.Worldmarketscanbedivided intofourtiersofconsumersbasedonbroadmeasuresofincome,asshowninFigure3.Tier1 consistsof100millionconsumersfromaroundtheworld.Typically,thismeansconsumersin developedmarkets,suchastheOECD,butalsoincludestherichelitesindevelopingmarkets. Tier2consistsofthelowerincomesegmentsindevelopedmarkets,whileTier3includesthe risingmiddleclassconsumersinemergingmarkets.Tier4ishometotheaverageconsumer indevelopingmarkets.[3] AnnualperCapitaIncome* MoreThan $20,000 Tiers 1 PopulationinMillions 75100

$2,000 $20,000

2$3

1,500 1,750

LessThan $1,500

*BasedonpurchasingpowerparityinU.S.$.

Figure3WorldEconomicPyramid[5]
Cultur e may be defined as the standards of beliefs, perception, evaluation, and behavioursharedbythememberofasocialgroup.Someauthorsevendefinecultureas,,the collective programming of the minds that distinguishes the members of one group of people from another. Most traditional definitions of culture centre around the notion that culture is the sum of the values, rituals, symbols, beliefs, and thought processes that are learned, shared by a group of people, and transmitted from generation to generation. So cultureresidesintheindividualsmind.[6] ElementsofCulture: language(Verbal,Nonverbal), religion, valuesandattitudes, mannersandcustoms, materialelements, aesthetics, education, socialinstitutions.[3]

ILINSKUNIVERZITAVILINE FAKULTAPREVDZKYAEKONOMIKYDOPRAVYASPOJOV Katedr aekonomiky

Social institutions including family, religion, school, the media, government and corporationsallaffectthewaysinwhichpeoplerelatetooneanother,organizetheiractivities to live in harmony with one another,teach acceptable behaviour to succeeding generations, andgovernthemselves.Thepositionofmenandwomeninsociety,thefamily,socialclasses, group behaviour, age group, and how societies define decency and civility are interpreted differentlywithineveryculture.[6] The diffusion of Internet technology into core business processes and into the lifestylesofconsumers has beenrapid,especiallyin industrializedcountries.Thenumberof Internethostshasincreasedto353,2millionby2005,upfrom56,2millionin199.Thetotal numberofpeopleusingtheInternetiddifficulttoestimate.EstimatesinEarly20069putthe numberatnearlyonebillion(seeTable3).Therearenaturallysignificantdifferenceswithin regions as will, for example, within the European Union, The Nordic countries have penetrationratesof70percent,whilenewmember,suchasPoland,areatlessthan30%[3] Table3 WorldInternetUsage
Wor ld Regions Africa Asia Europe MiddleEast North America Latin America/ Caribbean Oceania/ Australia WORLD TOTAL Population (2005Est.) 896,721,874 3,622,994,130 804,574,696 187,258,006 328,387,059 Population % ofWor ld 14,00% 56,40% 12,50% 2,90% 5,10% Inter net % Usage Population Usage LatestData (Penetr ation) % ofWor ld 23,917,500 332,590,713 285,408,118 16,163,500 224,103,811 2,70% 9,20% 35,50% 8,60% 68,20% 2,50% 34,20% 29,30% 1,70% 23,00% Usage Gr owth 20002005 429,80% 191,00% 171,60% 392,10% 107,30%

546,723,509 33,443,448 6,420,102,722

8,50% 0,50% 100,00%

72,953,597 17,690,762 972,828,001

13,30% 52,90% 15,20%

7,50% 1,80% 100,00%

303,80% 132,20% 169,50%

Source:InternetWorldStats,http://internetworldstats.com/stats.htm,accessedJanuary,2006

GrantprojectVEGA1/0471/08ThemarketingcommunicationcompanyserviceIntegrated modelandcustomercommunication
Refer ences: [1]BRADLEY,F.:InternationalMarketingStrategy.Fifthedition,PrenticeHallUniversity CollegeDublin,2005,ISBN:9780273686880 [2] MHLBACHER, HELMUTH, L. DAHRINGER, L: International Marketing A rd GlobalPerspective.3 Ed.London:ThomsonLearning,2006,ISBN1844801322 [3] CZINKOTA, M. R. RONKAINEN, I. A.: International marketing. Thomson South Western,2007,ISBN0324317026 [4] http://devdata.worldbank.org/wdi2005/Figures5.htm [5]U.N.WorldDevelopmentReports th [6] GATEORA, P. R. GRAHAM, J. L.: International Marketing. 13 Ed. New York: McGrawHill,International Edition,2007,ISBN0071105948 [9] http://internetworldstats.com/stats.htm