Insights on Global and Domestic Marketing

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.

To market globally well, you must learn characteristics of the people in each nation and culture. The best way is through market segmentation.

Global and Domestic Marketing: Use Different Strategies For Different Nations

The market segment of the United States is dependent on many different factors, ranging from the demographics of the public to what the public needs, want and will buy. But information about USA publics doesn't apply in different 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.

Most of the Western world experienced a baby boom after World War II, but Baby Boomers in the USA experienced birth control, civil rights, and women's rights differently than the rest of the world. Their ability to influence USA policy also gave them a believe that they could change society. This believe is not equally shared by people of that same generation in other nations.

So building a marketing campaign on USA characteristics will not be effective in other nations.

Global and Domestic Marketing: USA Psychographic Characteristics Don't Cross Borders

People's attitudes, morals, values, concerns, and expectations vary by nations. They result from each nation's culture, history, experiences, and social expectations. Different nations vary by what they teach in their schools, what they expect within families, the role of established religion, and the type of government.

What is valued in one nation may be considered abhorrent by another, and these attitudes can change over time.

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.

Obviously, the people in some nations have more spending power and more discretionary income than those in other nations. But even among comparatively wealthy nations, people spend differently.

Take grocery shopping as an example. In many prosperous European nations, people still buy fresh groceries from local markets and purchase every day for that day's meals.

But in the USA, we buy from large chains that freeze, can, dehydrate and process in other ways so that food lasts for a long time. Then we buy at least enough for a week at a time, and some people buy for a month at a time. We think shopping everyday would be a terrible inconvenience and that we are just too busy with our careers and family to spend that much time buying groceries.

Surely, people in lots of other nations consider our food buying habits foolish.

This example illustrates that buying habits for even the most fundamental products differ across nations.

Global and Domestic Marketing: Synopsis

No business can design one marketing campaign and successfully use it across nations.

To effectively market internationally, unique marketing campaigns must be developed for each nation. But first marketers and business owners must learn about the people in the targeted nation.

But the sad truth is that little nation-specific information about people's characteristics is being developed. And much of what is developed remains proprietary. If we are to improve every nation's ability to advance economically, we must accumulate and share this information. Only then will global and domestic marketing provide equal chances of success.

Article Source: ArticlesMaker.com

About the Author: You can read more about Marketing In The USA and Marketing Globally at the above links. 

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