Here is a compilation of essays on ‘Overseas Market Research’ for class 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Overseas Market Research’ especially written for school and college students.
Essay on Overseas Market Research
Essay Contents:
- Essay on the Meaning of Overseas Market Research
- Essay on the Main Aspects of Study, by an Export Marketing Manager
- Essay on the Need and Importance of Overseas Market Research
- Essay on the Role of Trade Commissioners, Delegations and EPCs
1. Essay on the Meaning of Overseas Market Research:
Whether it is a domestic market or an overseas market, marketing research is the systematic, objective, and exhaustive research for and study of all facts relevant to any problem in the field of marketing.
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In overseas market research, the following questions should be categorically addressed:
(i) Which of a firm’s products can be easily sold in the foreign markets;
(ii) What are the markets for the given products, a firm should concentrate to achieve the maximum results; and
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(iii) What kind of strategies a firm should follow to achieve the maximum results in the markets.
The answers to these questions would lead a firm to a decision which helps in an effective deployment of available information.
The overseas market research, thus, involves getting the information relating to marketing conditions and consumer characteristics and behaviour in a foreign market which may be different from the domestic market in terms of customers and market conditions.
2. Essay on the Main Aspects of Study, by an Export Marketing Manager:
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In order to achieve maximum efficiency in export operation it is necessary for an exporting firm to understand the nature of the overseas markets and to determine the best methods of distributing one’s product to those markets. These are the basic tasks of marketing research and the essential prerequisite of successful exporting.
To start with, it is necessary to determine those markets that appear to be the most promising. And to identify the same, it is necessary to make a preliminary survey to provide prima facie evidence of the relative potential of various foreign markets.
The marketing manager of an exporting firm has to study four main aspects of any market in the preliminary survey, viz.:
(i) The political circumstances,
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(ii) The economic structure,
(iii) The fiscal arrangements,
(iv) The social structure and
(v) Social customs.
(i) Political Factors:
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A country, whose objective is to achieve economic self-sufficiency or where international political relations are very unstable, is not a very suitable area in which to spend huge sums of money for promoting the distribution and sale of a commodity.
The danger that political factors will lend to the sudden closure of the market, or domestic firms will be given advantages on political grounds are factors to be added to the limitations of any particular market.
The fiscal arrangements in a country are also a reflection of the political factors under consideration. The two main fiscal considerations, viz., import duties and the excise duty (and/or sales tax) add to the price that the consumer has to pay, and might well place a very severe limit on the size of the market.
(ii) Economic Factors:
In analysing the economic structure of a country (which is perhaps the most complex factor to be analysed in overseas market research) these factors are to be highlighted:
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(i) Firstly, the present level of consumption of the product in relation to the size and distribution of the national income can be compared with that of other countries.
This will surely give a general indication of the immediate market potential. It is vitally important to identify the broad reasons for a low consumption/income ratio in any particular country, since this might be due to institutional factors which restrict any expansion of consumption.
(ii) A second economic factor to be considered is the probable rate of growth of income (or any other factor that immediately affects the sale of a particular commodity) and the income elasticity of demand. This will suggest changes in the size of the market in future years.
(iii) Thirdly, there is need to carefully analyse the existing source of supply for the market.
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True, “the degree of competition from domestic suppliers and other foreign competitors will indicate the size of the effort required to capture and hold a significant share of the market. Where home producers are firmly entrenched, or where the market is subject to fierce international competition, the expenditure involved in advertising and sales promotion may be out of proportion to the return.”
In assessing the prospects of a particular market it is important to consider the ability of foreign importers to meet their financial commitments. The normal commercial risk of default is not of a serious nature. But there is the danger (particularly present in the case of less developed countries) that a government will refuse to make available its foreign exchange reserves on ‘balance of payments’ grounds.
There is no sure means of guarding against this danger (except to obtain a guarantee from the export credit and guarantee corporation). However, the past record of a country and the general strength of its economy will suggest the likelihood of difficulties on this score.
(iii) Social Structure:
Finally, the preliminary survey of a market should refer to the social structure and the social customs of the country. It is of little use to market products with an essentially middle-class appeal in countries like the U.S.A. or Switzerland where the middle-classes constitute a tiny fraction of the population, and where it might take several decades for the social structure similar in highly developed countries to emerge.
Likewise it will be of little use to market a product which is alien to the social customs or inappropriate to the physical environment of a country.
The initial survey of the broad factors determining the relative profitability of different markets will indicate those areas in which to concentrate its efforts. Having narrowed the field, more detailed research is required in order to plan production and distribution.
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It is to be noted that there is no fundamental difference between market research at home and abroad. The main difference, of course, lies in the account that has to be taken of the different socio-economic environment of various markets.
3. Essay on the Need and Importance of Overseas Market Research:
In the area of international marketing, the marketing research is the first important step for a firm. The overseas market research is needed and felt important with a view to achieving maximum efficiency in export business operation and determining the best methods of distributing a firm’s product to the foreign markets.
The overseas market research (OMR) can help an exporter in decision-making process in the following particular activities:
(i) To Enter the Market:
OMR enables the exporting firm to collect, assimilate, and analyse the basic information with respect to:
(i) Market potential; that is, which of the various foreign markets are highly potential in terms of demand and profitability;
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(ii) Consumer characteristics; that is, information about consumers’, education, age, sex, habits, traditions, buying motives and behaviour;
(iii) Environmental factors; that is, the details of market conditions, competitors and their strengths and weaknesses, products and attributes, etc.;
(iv) Marketing information; that is, the distribution and promotional methods adopted by the competitors—their prices, payment terms, relative merits and demerits, etc.;
(v) Product information; that is, the suitability or otherwise of the product for export markets and necessity of product modification; and
(vi) Marketing strategy, that is, the determination of various alternative strategies and choosing the one that would be practiced in entering the market.
(ii) To Review Export Market:
OMR enables the exporting firm to:
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(i) Understand changing market conditions; that is, loosing market share in one country. Here, the OMR helps to identify the causes for such loss, viz. cut-throat competition, sluggish market, new or better product introduced by the other competitor, fall in the company’s own product quality due to cost reduction, etc., for the remedial actions to be devised and implemented.
(ii) Improve the marketing conditions; that is, to decide on the appropriate changes necessary in any or more of the fields relating to channels of distribution, promotional devices, sales strategies, marketing policies, etc.
4. Essay on the Role of Trade Commissioners, Delegations and EPCs:
Various national and international governments and non-government agencies regularly conduct market research in various countries. These research reports are published from time to time and the exporting firms can make use of them. In the sphere of overseas markets trade commissioners, different delegations and export promotion councils also conduct market research.
The roles played by them may be outlined as follows:
(i) Trade Commissioners:
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The trade commissioners, commercial councillors or secretaries or representatives, on behalf of their respective countries, function in almost all the important trading centres of the world as the Government’s ‘eyes- and ears’. They help the exporting firms in many ways.
The Government of India’s trade representatives offer the following two major types of services regarding OMR:
(i) They report periodically on the economic, financial and commercial conditions of the countries in which they function. The exporting firms in India can collect such information either directly from the Ministry of Commerce or from the journals and bulletins published by the Ministry of Commerce;
(ii) They attend queries and enquiries from India regarding the business opportunities abroad and assist the visiting Indian businessmen with suitable introduction and forward samples of products imported from other countries which are capable of being manufactured and exported from India.
(ii) Delegations:
The Federation of Indian Export Organisation, an apex body formed by the various export organizations, arranges to send trade delegations abroad to study market conditions and organises talks between the importers and exporters. This organisation also publishes the reports of the delegations about the anticipated market potentials abroad. Any exporter can make use of these reports.
(iii) Export Promotion Councils:
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The export promotion councils in their respective fields:
(i) Conduct market surveys and marketing researches,
(ii) Send trade delegations abroad,
(iii) Publish various survey and research reports, and
(iv) Disseminate various useful information on overseas markets.
It is pertinent to note that the type of OMR undertaken by the above agencies is purely desk research. The results or information disclosed by them are likely to reveal gaps which will have to be covered only through personal investigation of the market. To cover these gaps, a field research is undertaken on the basis of structured or unstructured questionnaire.