How Global And Domestic Marketing Differ
The world is a small place thanks to the Internet, but there are still plenty of differences between people by nations. Those differences often translate into global and domestic marketing problems.
Some companies use a one-size-fits-all marketing approach. This approach is doomed to fail because what people in one culture like, another those in another nation abhor.
Using market segmentation to determine values, concerns, and attitudes of target market members requires market research specific to each nation and groups of people within each nation.
Global and Domestic Marketing: Use Different Strategies For Different Nations
Different cultures within the USA, and across the world, are going to have different buying habits. This presents a problem when you are trying to sell a product across nations.
It’s difficult enough to market across cultures within the USA, but the difficulty intensifies when marketing across nations.
Global and Domestic Marketing: Demographic Characteristics Vary By Nation and Culture
Once you have left the United States, market segmentation criteria vary from nation to nation. Each country is defined by a different history and culture. Marketing using a hockey player works in Canada, but it won’t work in Morocco.
Generation X, young adults in the USA, were deeply influenced by the 9-11 terrorists attacks. Because of global mass media, that event was somewhat experienced by young people across the globe. But young people in other countries experienced it differently. Some even celebrated it.
So you can’t take characteristics that best define a USA generation and transfer those characteristics world wide.
Global and Domestic Marketing: USA Psychographic Characteristics Don’t Cross Borders
Psychographic characteristics also differ by nations. For one reason, culture, morals, values and attitudes are learned within a society. Different nations develop different social pressures and expectations. They teach different values and attitudes within families and schools.
Every nation’s culture differs so what is valued, expected, desired, and feared vary by nation.
For example, religious freedom is a basic right in the USA. We consider forcing a certain religion on a person to be abhorrent. Yet, in other nations, governments and powerful people force their religious perspective on others even to the point of murdering those who don’t accept their religion.
This illustrates that many nationally specific events, beliefs and culture form the personalities of people. So personality characteristics must differ nation to nation.
Global and Domestic Marketing: Buying Habits Are Nationally Specific
What people can afford to buy, how they buy, and what they buy changes from nation to nation.
What people choose to buy results from many factors that are tied to their national experiences and culture.
For example, people buy even the most basic needs according to buying habits within their nations. Many buy groceries daily from local “farmer’s markets.”
In the USA, we don’t buy groceries like that. Instead, we buy many processed foods weekly or monthly. We also eat lots of fast food although we know that most of it isn’t as healthy as what we could cook at home. We just think we are too busy to spend lots of time shopping and cooking.
I’m sure that many European residents are appalled by our over-processed food and would never consider serving it to their families.
This example illustrates that buying habits for even the most fundamental products differ across nations.
Global and Domestic Marketing: Summary
Developing a marketing campaign for the people in one nation and trying to transfer that campaign to another nation doesn’t work.
International marketing demands that a unique marketing program be created for each nation and that marketers know characteristics of the people in each nation.
Unfortunately, there is little systematic research being accumulated and shared with business owners about people in other nations. As the world gets smaller and the Internet gets larger, that has to change. We must do a better job of global and domestic marketing.