International Business (9th, Wild) - Notes for Chapter (14).doc

14 Ch 14: Developing and Marketing Products Ch 14: Developing and Marketing Products 3 Chapter 14 Developing and Marketing Products Learning Objectives: 14.1 Describe the factors to consider in developing international product strategies. 14.2 Outline the international promotional strategies and methods available to firms. 14.3 Explain the factors to consider when designing international distribution strategies. 14.4 Describe the two main international pricing strategies and factors to consider. Chapter Outline: Introduction Developing Product Strategies Laws and Regulations Cultural Differences Brand and Product Names Selecting International Brand and Product Names National Image Counterfeit Goods and Black Markets Shortened Product Life Cycles Creating Promotional Strategies Push and Pull Strategies International Advertising Standardizing or Adapting Advertisements Case: The Elusive Euro-Consumer Blending Product and Promotional Strategies Communicating Promotional Messages Product/Communications Extension (Dual Extension) Product Extension/Communications Adaptation Product Adaptation/Communications Extension Product/Communications Adaptation (Dual Adaptation) Product Invention Designing Distribution Strategies Designing Distribution Channels Degree of Exposure Channel Length and Cost Influence of Product Characteristics Special Distribution Problems Lack of Market Understanding Theft and Corruption Developing Pricing Strategies Worldwide Pricing Dual Pricing Factors That Affect Pricing Decisions Transfer Prices Arm’s Length Pricing Price Controls Dumping A Final Word A comprehensive set of specially designed PowerPoint slides is available for use with Chapter 14. These slides and the lecture outline below form a completely integrated package that simplifies the teaching of this chapter’s material. Lecture Outline I. INTRODUCTION Globalization affects international business activities, industries, and products differently. Some companies market an identical product worldwide, whereas others must adjust marketing strategies across national markets. Companies that cannot sell the same product abroad as at home must create new products, modify promotional campaigns, or adjust their marketing strategies in some other way. Yet, how do managers decide when their marketing strategies can remain the same or if they need modification? This dilemma is referred to as the standardization-versus-adaptation decision. II. DEVELOPING PRODUCT STRATEGIES A. Laws and Regulations 1. Companies must adapt their products to satisfy laws and regulations in a target market. 2. The fact that many developing countries have fewer consumer-protection laws creates an ethical issue; lower levels of education and experience mean that consumers need protection. 3. Many governments impose fewer regulations to hold down production costs and consumer prices. B. Cultural Differences 1. Companies sometimes must adapt their products to suit local buyers’ preferences rooted in culture. 2. Not all companies modify products but find a different cultural need that it satisfies. C. Brand and Product Names 1. Brand name is the name of one or more items in a product line that identifies the source or character of the items. Consumers assign products a certain value based on experiences with a brand. 2. Brand names help consumers select, recommend, or reject products; they also function as legal property that owners can protect from competitors. 3. A consistent worldwide brand image is important as more consumers and businesspeople travel internationally. 4. Companies must review its brand image and update it if needed. 5. Selecting international brand and product names a. Products in international markets need carefully selected names whether standardized or localized. b. Company and product names are made up of morphemes—semantic elements, or language building blocks. c. Brand names seldom offend people in international markets, but product names do. D. National Image 1. Value customers obtain from a product is influenced by the image of the country in which it is designed, manufactured, or assembled. 2. Image can be positive for some products but negative for others. 3. Because it affects buyers’ perceptions of quality and reliability, national image is an important element of product policy. 4. National image can and does change over time. E. Counterfeit Goods and Black Markets 1. Counterfeit goods are imitation products passed off as legitimate trademarks, patents, or copyrighted works. See Chapter 3 for discussion as to how companies are trying to protect their intellectual property and trademarks from counterfeit goods. 2. Counterfeit brand name consumer goods, such as watches, perfumes, clothing, movies, music, and computer software are sold to consumers on the black market. 3. Topping the list for counterfeits: China, India, Russia, Thailand, and Turkey. Counterfeiting is worth tens of billions globally each year. 4. Counterfeit goods can damage buyers’ images of a brand when the counterfeits are of inferior quality to the original. Buyers who purchase a brand expect a level of craftsmanship and satisfaction; when the product fails to deliver on expectations, the buyer is dissatisfied and the company’s reputation is tarnished. F. Shortened Product Life Cycles (See Chapter 5 – International Product Life Cycle) 1. Companies traditionally managed to extend a product’s life by introducing it into different markets consecutively; products were first in industrialized countries and later in developing markets. 2. Advances in telecommunications have alerted consumers around the world to the latest product introductions; consumers in developing and emerging markets demand the latest products. 3. Companies now undertake new product development at a rapid pace and shorten product life cycles. III. CREATING PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES Efforts by companies to reach distribution channels and target customers through communications such as personal selling, advertising, public relations, and direct marketing are called its promotion mix. A. Push and Pull Strategies 1. Pull strategy: Create buyer demand that will encourage channel members to stock a company’s product. Buyer demand is generated in order to “pull” products through distribution channels to end-users. 2. Push strategy: Pressure channel members to carry a product and promote it to final users. Manufacturers of products sold in department and grocery stores often use a push strategy. 3. The strategy to use depends on the type of distribution system, access to mass media, and the type of product. a. Distribution system: Implementing a push strategy is difficult when channel members wield a great deal of power relative to that of producers. It can be ineffective when distribution channels are lengthy. It might be easier to use a pull strategy. b. Access to mass media: Developing and emerging markets have fewer forms of mass media, making it difficult to increase consumer awareness and generate product demand. Many consumers cannot afford cable or satellite television, or glossy magazines, so advertisers use billboards and radio. c. Type of product: A pull strategy is appropriate when buyers display brand loyalty; brand-loyal buyers know what they want before they buy it. Push strategies are appropriate for inexpensive consumer goods for buyers who are not brand loyal; low brand loyalty means that a buyer purchases one of the brands carried by the retailer. B. International Advertising International advertising differs from domestic advertising. Cultural similarities mean that ads are only slightly modified in different nations. Cultural differences may mean that entirely new ads must be created. 1. Standardizing or adapting advertisements a. Most advertising in any one nation is produced solely for that domestic audience. Companies that advertise in multiple markets must determine the aspects of the advertising campaign that can be standardized and those that cannot. b. To pursue a global marketing strategy, a company tries to get the most for its advertising expenditure. An increasingly popular method is marketing over the World Wide Web. Companies that use direct marketing (such as telemarketing or leaflets through the mail) have had mixed results with Web ads. (See Chapter 11) c. Companies reach a global audience by sponsoring global sporting events, such as the Olympics, World Cup Soccer, and Formula One automobile racing. 2. Case: The Elusive Euro-Consumer a. The integration of EU nations causes marketers to think they can standardize advertising to appeal to the Euro-consumer. b. Advertising agencies have tried a pan-European advertising approach only to fail due to national differences; Europe’s many languages create translation issues for marketers. c. Successful pan-European ads contain visuals, few words, and a focus on the product. C. Blending Product and Promotional Policies When companies extend marketing to international markets, they develop communication strategies that blend product and promotional policies. A company’s communication strategy for a market considers the nature of the product and the promotion mix. There are five product/promotional methods. 1. Communicating promotional messages a. Marketing communication is the process of sending promotional messages about products to target markets. b. Marketing internationally often means translating promotional messages from one language to another. Marketers must also be knowledgeable of cultural nuances that affect how buyers interpret a promotional message. c. Laws that govern promotion in another country can force changes in marketing communication. d. Marketing communication is typically considered a circular process (Figure 14.1): The company with an idea to communicate is the source. The idea is encoded (translated into images, words, and symbols) into a promotional message. The promotional message is sent to the audience (potential buyers) through various media—radio, television, newspapers, magazines, billboards, and direct mailings. The audience receives the message, decodes the message, and interprets its meaning. Information in the form of feedback (purchase or nonpurchase) flows to the source of the message. The decoding process can be disrupted by the presence of noise—anything that disrupts the audience’s ability to receive and interpret the promotional message. Language barriers between the company and potential buyers create noise if a company’s promotional message is incorrectly translated into the local language. 2. Product/communications extension (dual extension) a. Extends the same home-market product and marketing promotion into target markets. Under certain conditions, it can be the simplest and most profitable strategy. b. May grow more popular as the information age ties the world together. Best suited for companies that use a global strategy; upscale personal items with global brand names. c. Useful to companies who are low-cost leaders in their industries; one product and one promotional message keep costs down. 3. Product extension/communications adaptation Extends the same product into new target markets, but alters its promotion. Communications require adaptation because the product satisfies a different need, serves a different function, or appeals to a different type of buyer. Contains costs because the product does not undergo any alterations; developing new promotional campaigns is expensive. Low economic development can demand that communications be adapted to local conditions. In developing countries, television and radio coverage are limited and the Web is years behind; marketers use door-to-door personal selling and regional product shows or fairs. 4. Product adaptation/communications extension a. Requires a company to adapt its product to the international market yet retain the original marketing communication. b. Company may adapt its product for reasons such as legal requirements in the local market. Governments can require certain local materials, labor, or other resources in local production process; if the same materials are not available locally, the product may be modified. c. Can be costly, especially if a company invests in production facilities to remain close to changing buyer preferences. It can be successful if a firm sells a differentiated product and charges a higher price to offset production costs. 5. Product/communications adaptation (dual adaptation) a. Adapts a product and its marketing communication to suit the target market. The product itself is adapted to match the needs or preferences of local buyers. The promotional message is adapted to explain how the product meets those needs and preferences. b. High cost means few companies employ this strategy; it can be implemented successfully if a large and profitable market segment exists. 6. Product invention a. Requires that an entirely new product be developed for the target market. Product invention is necessary when many differences exist between the domestic and target markets. b. One reason for invention is that local buyers cannot afford a product because of low purchasing power. c. Product inventions can arise due to lack of infrastructure. IV. DESIGNING DISTRIBUTION STRATEGIES Planning, implementing, and controlling the physical flow of a product from its point of origin to its point of consumption is called distribution. The physical path that a product follows on its way to customers is called a distribution channel. Companies along this channel that work together in delivering products to customers are called channel members or intermediaries. Manufacturers of goods are not the only producers who need distribution channels; service providers such as consulting companies, health-care organizations, and news services need distribution. Companies develop their international distribution strategies based on two related decisions: (1) how to get the goods into a country and (2) how to distribute goods within a country. See Chapter 13 for a review of the different ways companies can get their products into countries. A. Designing Distribution Channels When managers establish distribution policies, they consider the market exposure needed and the cost of distribution. 1. Degree of exposure a. Exclusive channel: Manufacturer grants the right to sell its product to one or a limited number of resellers. Gives control over sales to channel members such as wholesalers and retailers; this helps constrain distributors from selling competing brands. b. An exclusive channel creates a barrier that makes it difficult or impossible for outsiders to penetrate the channel. c. Intensive channel: Producer grants the right to sell its product to many resellers. Provides convenience because of the many outlets through which a product is sold. It does not create strong barriers to channel entry, nor provide control over reseller decisions such as what competing brands to sell. d. Obstacle for small companies that choose intensive channels is gaining shelf space. This is exacerbated by the increasing global trend toward retailers developing their own private label brands—brands created by retailers themselves. 2. Channel length and cost a. Channel length refers to the number of intermediaries between the producer and the buyer. b. Zero-level channel (called direct marketing): producers sell directly to final buyers. c. One-level channel: One intermediary between producer and buyer. Two intermediaries make up a two-level channel, and so on. d. The more intermediaries, the more costly it becomes because each one adds a fee for services. B. Influence of Product Characteristics 1. Value density: Value of a product relative to its weight and volume; an important variable in formulating distribution policies. 2. As a rule, the lower a product’s value density, the more localized the distribution system. Commodities have low value-density ratios—value is low relative to cost of shipping. 3. Products with high value-density ratios include emeralds, semiconductors, and premium perfumes. Because the cost of transporting these products is small relative to their values, they can be processed or manufactured and then shipped. C. Special Distribution Problems A country’s distribution system develops over time and reflects its unique cultural, political, legal, and economic traditions. The distribution system of each nation has its own unique pros and cons. 1. Lack of market understanding This can create frustration and financial loss for companies. 2. Theft and corruption This can present major obstacles to distribution. V. DEVELOPING PRICING STRATEGIES The pricing policy must match a company’s overall international strategy. A. Worldwide Pricing 1. Establishes one selling price for all international markets. 2. Difficult to achieve for four reasons: Production costs differ from one nation to another. Producing in just one location cannot guarantee the same selling price in international markets because of the different cost of reaching different markets. Purchasing power of local buyers must be considered. Fluctuating currency values can affect a product’s price abroad. B. Dual Pricing 1. Product has a different selling price (typically higher) in export markets than it has in the home market. 2. When a product has a higher selling price in the target market than it does in the home market, it is called price escalation, which results from exporting costs and currency fluctuations. 3. Product’s export price may be lower than the price in the home market. 4. Some companies decide that domestic sales are to cover expenses for R&D, administration, and overhead; exports cover only additional costs associated with exporting and selling in a target market (e.g., tariffs). 5. To apply dual pricing in international marketing, a company must keep domestic and international buyers separate. If a company cannot keep its buyers separate, they could undermine the policy through arbitrage—buying products at lower prices and reselling them at higher prices. C. Factors That Affect Pricing Decisions Several key factors affect pricing decisions. 1. Transfer prices a. Price of products between a company and a subsidiary. b. Companies enjoyed freedom in setting transfer prices; subsidiaries in countries with high taxes charged a low price for outputs to subsidiaries. The subsidiary lowered the parent company’s taxes by reducing profits in the high-tax country. c. Large firms used transfer pricing to manage their global taxes and become more price-competitive. 2. Arm’s length pricing a. Free-market price that unrelated parties charge one another. b. Although companies had great latitude in assigning transfer prices, many governments are assigning them arm’s length prices to clamp down on tax evasion. There is also pressure on companies to be good corporate citizens in target markets. c. Developing and emerging markets are hurt by lost revenue when international companies manipulate prices to reduce tariffs and corporate taxes. They need revenue for schools, hospitals, and infrastructure. These, in turn, benefit companies by improving the productivity and efficiency of the local business environment. 3. Price controls a. Upper or lower limits placed on the prices within a country. b. Upper-limit price controls provide price stability in an inflationary economy (when prices are rising). Companies that want to raise prices must apply to government authorities. c. Lower-limit price controls prohibit the lowering of prices below a certain level. d. Governments impose lower-limit prices to help local companies compete against the less expensive imports of international companies or to ward off price wars. 4. Dumping (See Chapter 6) a. Price of a good is lower in export markets than in the domestic market. b. Accusations of dumping are often made against foreign competitors when inexpensive imports flood a domestic market. c. Although charges of dumping normally result from deliberate efforts to undercut the prices of competitors in the domestic market, changes in exchange rates can cause unintentional dumping. d. Antidumping tariffs punish producers in the offending nation by increasing the price of their products. VI. A FINAL WORD Despite the academic debate over globalization and the extent to which companies should standardize their international marketing activities, many companies continue to adapt to local conditions. Sometimes this takes the form of only slightly modifying promotional campaigns and at other times it can require the creation of an entirely new product. The causes of alterations in promotional aspects of marketing strategy can be cultural, such as language differences. They can also be legal such as requirements to produce locally so as to help ease local unemployment. Some companies benefit from standardization and centralized production obtained by selling one product worldwide. Quick Study Questions Quick Study 1 1. Q: Deciding whether to keep a marketing strategy the same or modify it a broad is also known as what? A: This dilemma is referred to as the standardization versus adaptation decision. U.S. researcher Theodore Levitt argued that because the world is becoming standardized and homogeneous, companies should market the same products in the same way in all countries. Technology, he claimed, causes needs and preferences to converge throughout the world. Others say that standardization is just one of many strategies to enter the international marketplace successfully. They argue that standardization is not always the best strategy and advise smaller companies to adapt to local cultures while exploiting their unique images to gain local market share. Globalization is transforming the way some products are marketed internationally. Some companies implement a global strategy that uses similar promotional messages and themes to market the same product around the world. Those companies can reduce production and marketing costs by standardizing the physical features of their products and marketing strategies. Others find that their products require physical changes to suit the tastes of consumers abroad. Consumers in different national markets demand products that reflect their tastes: cultural, political, legal, and economic environments affect consumer preferences and industrial buyers worldwide. Certain products do appeal to practically all cultures. Product standardization is more likely when nations share the same level of economic development. 2. Q: What factors influence a country’s international product strategy? A: Many factors influence a company’s product policies. First, laws and regulations of the target market can force product alteration. Cultural differences between the home and host markets can force adaptations in products to suit local buyers’ product preferences. National image of the country in which a product is designed, manufactured, or assembled can have a strong influence on the value that customers obtain from a product. It affects buyers’ perceptions of quality and reliability. Counterfeit goods can damage buyers’ images of a brand because counterfeits are often of inferior quality to the original product. Companies historically entered international markets on a sequential basis and could therefore greatly extend their products’ life cycles. But new product development at an increasingly rapid pace is shortening the life cycles of products. 3. Q: What product characteristic is more likely than others to offend people in another country? A: Whether they are standardized or adapted locally, products in international markets need carefully selected brand names. Brand names seldom offend people in international markets, but brand names can be highly offensive if they are not researched and selected. Quick Study 2 1. Q: A strategy that pressures channel members to carry and promoted a product is called what? A: A push strategy is a promotional strategy designed to pressure channel members to carry a product and promote it to final users. 2. Q: Firms that standardize international advertising often control campaigns from where? A: Firms that standardize their advertising tend to control campaigns from the home office. 3. Q: The process of sending promotional messages about products to target markets is called what? A: The process of sending promotional messages about products to target markets is called marketing communication. Communicating the benefits of a product can be more difficult in international business than domestic business for at least several reasons. Marketing internationally usually means translating promotional messages from one language into another. Marketers must also be knowledgeable of many cultural nuances that can affect how buyers interpret a promotional message. A nation’s laws that govern the promotion of products in another country can also force changes in marketing communication. Quick Study 3 1. Q: What type of channel grants the right to sell a product to many resellers? A: An intensive channel is one in which a producer grants the right to sell its product to many resellers. 2. Q: In terms of channel length, direct marketing is known as what? A: Direct marketing is referred to as a zero-length channel because the producers sell directly to final buyers 3. Q: A product with a low value density tends to have a distribution system that is more what? A: The value of a product relative to its weight and volume is called its value density. Value density is an important variable in formulating distribution policies. As a rule, the lower a product’s value density, the more localized the distribution system. Quick Study 4 1. Q: What makes worldwide pricing difficult to achieve? A: A pricing policy in which one selling price is established for all international markets is called worldwide price. This is very difficult to achieve for the following reasons: First, keeping products costs the same is not possible for a company that has production bases within each market that it serves. As a result, selling prices will reflect the different costs of production. Second, a company that produces in just one location cannot guarantee that selling prices will be the same in every target market. The cost of exporting could be different in each country. Third, the purchasing power of local buyers must be taken into account. A lower price might be applied so that buyers could afford the product and the company can gain market share. Finally, currency fluctuations need to be considered. When the value of the currency in a country where production takes place rises against a target market’s currency, the product will become more expensive in the target market. 2. Q: To apply dual pricing successfully, how must a firm treat its domestic and international buyers? A: Worldwide pricing sets one selling price for all international markets. Dual pricing is a pricing policy in which a product has a different selling price (typically higher) in export markets than it has in the home market. It is typically the result of price escalation resulting from exporting costs and currency fluctuations. 3. Q: Parent firms and subsidiaries often transfer products among themselves as a price called what? A: A transfer price is the price charged for products transferred between a company and its subsidiaries. Ethical Challenge You are a lawyer working with the International Court of Justice in The Hague in the Netherlands. Your task is to review a recent decision by a U.S. judge regarding extraterritoriality. The case: French survivors of the Holocaust sued Yahoo USA because French citizens were purchasing Nazi memorabilia on Yahoo’s U.S. website. The lawsuit also charged Yahoo USA with hosting the websites of anti-Semitic groups. Although both these actions are illegal according to French law, they are permitted in the United States because of U.S. legislation protecting free speech. Because Yahoo’s French website did not violate French law, the U.S. federal judge hearing the case threw it out. The judge ruled that French law does not have the right to dictate the behavior of U.S. firms operating inside the United States. Today, the Internet can make it difficult to determine where jurisdictions begin and end. 14-5 If you had been the U.S. judge in this case, would you have ruled similarly? Explain. A: Students responses will vary. However, extraterritoriality is the right or privilege of a state to exercise authority in certain circumstances beyond the limits of its territory. In other words, the laws of your country follow you when you are doing business in another country. As it was pointed out, French law does not have the right to dictate the behavior of U.S. firms operating in the U.S. As it is pointed out the French citizens are accessing and making the purchase from the U.S. site. The French law would apply, if the sale was being made on the Yahoo France website. 14-6 What factors most influenced your decision? Students responses will vary, and depend on the position they take with reference to questions 14-5. 14-7 Do you know of any Internet controls that companies or governments can use to stop such cases from occurring in the future? A: There are a number of ways to view this dilemma. From the U.S. perspective, French law does not have jurisdiction over the operations of U.S. firms within their own country. Although with the Internet it does become a challenge at times to determine the exact area of operations of a Web site. Thus, from the French perspective it could be argued that because French citizens can access Yahoo.com (as opposed to Yahoo.fr in France), their laws apply. The Yahoo! managerial perspective must be considered as well. Is this negative publicity worth the marginal income for Yahoo!? Finally, the individuals who accessed the Nazi Web sites as well as the creators of these sites and sellers of memorabilia should be factored in to a final decision. Teaming Up Products often service different needs, appeal to different buyers, or are perceived differently in different markets. Consider a good or service that is sold in your country and another using different marketing strategies in each. One of the countries must be the countries home market. 14-8 In the home market, was the product’s initial introduction a new innovation or an extension of an existing product? 14-9 From the product’s home market, which one of the five product and promotion methods was used in the other market? 14-10 What factors likely explain why the company selected that particular method? A: Students might need to do some further research into the company’s business activities before answering this question fully. Practicing International Management Case Psychology of Global Marketing 14-13 Q: If you were Stephan Loerke, of the World Federation of Advertisers, how would you argue for the EU to enact more strict advertising laws? A: Students should recognize the highly political debate that will arise within the EU. Some may feel that it is foolish to enact new laws if they cannot be enforced. Sweden cannot currently control the broadcasts of other nations that are accessed by satellite. If members of the EU could agree on “voluntary” limits just the way that members agreed to institute the euro or accept certain standards for products, then the problem could be controlled. However, agreement on advertising in the EU would be difficult. 14-14 Q: Do you personally agree with the case you made above? A: Students responses will vary based on their own personal value system. 14-15 Q: Thinking of a specific product sold in industrialized nations, do you think it could create more than it satisfies needs if it were marketed in a developing country? A: Ads can indeed create wants. The cell phone is a good example. Before cell phones were available, the landline telephone sufficed. In developing countries, there are fewer telephones per person, but telephone access was generally possible. Now, it seems that every young person around the world wants a cell phone with all the bells and whistles and personalized, designer outer shells. The ethical issue is whether companies are creating wants in some countries that should instead be focusing on the more basic needs of young people, such as education and health. -