Scope and Challenges of International Marketing

Though international marketing is in essence export marketing, it has a broader connotation in marketing literature. It also means entry into international market by:

(a) Opening a branch / subsidiary abroad for processing, packaging, assembly or even complete manufacturing through direct investment.

(b) Negotiating licensing / franchising arrangements whereby foreign enterprises are granted the right to use the exporting company’s know how, viz., patents processes or trade marks, with or without financial investment;

(c) Establishing joint ventures in foreign countries for manufacturing and/or marketing;

(d) Offering consultancy services and undertaking turnkey projects abroad;

(e) Sun contracting and counter trade; and

(f) Important for export production;

Depending upon the degree of a firm’s involvement, there may be several variations of these arrangements.

International Trade, International Marketing and International Business:

It would be useful to discuss three terms very often used in this context, international trade, international marketing and international business. International trade, which arises due to divergent scarcities between nations, points out the possibilities and advantages of trade. International marketing is the process through which international trade takes place.

Analyzing the behavioral orientation of international executives, it was found that these could be categorized into three: ethnocentric, regiocentric and geocentric. This idea was later further developed into the four fold classification of EPRG, where the fourth Polycentric was added. The basic idea behind the concept is that manager’s views their home country culture in different ways and that in turn influence their world view which in turn impact the corporate growth process.

In ethnocentric orientation, home country is considered to be superior. Further the manager looks for similarly in the foreign market. He supposes that products and processes which...