International Marketing Cultural Factors

Question: Discuss about the International Marketing for Cultural Factors. Answer: Introduction International marketing is the tendency of a business to expand its operations and strategies to other countries apart from its home country. It is a method that businesses used in expanding their operations through further product or service distribution, market expansion, customer increase and product sales increase. Therefore, it is simply the application of marketing techniques and strategies in more than one country, i.e. either overseas countries or cross-border countries. International marketing is however an option that is carried out mostly by large developed organizations (Eisend et al, 2016). It is therefore clear that for international business to take place, the specific country governments must be involved. However, they must work together and come up with new policies and laws that will suit and be acceptable by a majority of the industries to be involved. On the other hand, the businesses should also be ready to change some of their operations or practices and adapt t he new ones (Jin et al, 2016). Therefore, it is very important for any business with a desire of engaging in international marketing to be completely aware of these issues and be sure of ways to use in order to coup with them. For the sake of completing this assignment, am going to use Unilever Company as the business of my reference. It is a multinational business that specializes with the production of consumer goods. Factors Influencing International Marketing Cultural Factors These are in relation to the culture of the business and that of the potential country of establishment. They refer to the general or overall attributes of the consumers in the intended country. They may include: language barrier, tastes, age and population distribution, values and morality among others. Positive aspects of the culture attract more business into the international market and vice versa. Therefore, as for Unilever, it produces different products that can be used by a variety of consumers especially with different cultural beliefs. Political and Legal Factors These are factors that relate to government laws and regulations and the business laws themselves. The rules and policies made by the organizational authorities in the intended country to guide the business operations in general. They may include things like: taxation laws, fees charged for registration, tariffs and quotas implemented, licenses and permit regulations to name a few. These factors are capable of influencing a business that wants to participate in international marketing (Sun et al, 2013). The easier and simpler the rules are, the easier it will be for the business. Being an international business, has always followed the laws related to its products as well as the international rules that govern international trade. This is one of the reasons for its continuous success in most countries. Global Factors These are aspects that are made by world or global organizations that are beyond a businesss control but can cause major effects on its operations when involved in international marketing. Some of these kind of organizations are the UNO, WTO, IMF and the World Bank. They are responsible for determining most of the policies and laws that govern international businesses. Economic Factors They relate to the economic status of the intended country in which the business is to be established. These factors are the most influential of all other factors simply because they directly affect the business operations in one way or another (Key et al, 2017). They include the levels of demand and supply of the product or service, inflation rates, employment and unemployment rates, income distribution, per capita income to name a few. A country with a growing economy will attract more businesses than one whose economy is stagnant or decreasing. Unilever is certainly affected by such factors but has always worked toward coping with them or evading them as much as possible. Other Factors They may include the organizational policies and regulations (events, systems, employees and structure), geographical factors (organizational location) and environmental factors (climatic changes and conditions, weather changes). International Marketing Strategies As mentioned earlier, every business should be ready to effect some change on its strategies to be able to compete in the international market with other business and be successful. Therefore, this means that it has to improve its strategies for the better (Cuneo et al, 2015). For instance, Unilever should concentrate on product or service differentiation strategies, cost leadership strategies, applying the generic strategies. In addition to that, every business should be ready to adjust its prices to the international prices by taking into consideration the international factors of marketing. The marketing strategies of Unilever have helped through its international marketing issues. International Market Distribution Effective and efficient international distribution system is very essential for a business to succeed in the international markets (Czinkota et al, 2013). Considering the fact that the business is trying to establish itself in a new country, then it may not have the most efficient distribution system in place. However, it has to make sure that the system is in line with the governmental laws and regulations as well as other laws that govern business in that country (Papadopoulos et al, 2014). E.g. it can introduce the idea of having intermediaries especially in situations where the producer if far away from the consumer, i.e. wholesalers, retailers, agents among others. However, the business can opt to sell to the consumer directly where the consumer is close and ready to receive from them. This is apparently one of the most important aspects of a successful international business; e.g. Unilever has placed different intermediaries in different parts of the world to help it distribute its goods to its consumers. Advantages of International Marketing (Skarmeas et al, 2016). There is probability of increased economies of scale Increased sales volumes Increased market share and segmentation Increased number of consumers because of the brand globalization Possibility of innovation and invention Exposure to technological advancements and usage Lower marketing costs Lower production and distribution costs especially to those specific countries Increased exposure to technology development and changes Increased chances of forming partnerships and joint ventures Disadvantages Increased competition in the market of the same products Challenges in restructuring the organizations structure, policies and laws Lack of specific labor for the production amounts needed especially in the marketing sector, i.e. qualified and experienced international marketing directors, coordinators, analysis and agents. Challenges in product placement into the market Challenge in achieving a consistent market share and segment Conclusion From this report, I have learnt the importance of international trade to a business and how beneficial it can be. There are more benefits than challenges that are related to international trade. However, any business that desire to participate in international marketing must have the ability and willingness to change its operations and many aspects to be able to fit to the international rules and regulations. Also it must be ready to coup with most if not all the challenges that come in handy. A business must be ready to create a competitive advantage of itself against its competitors for it to be successful in international marketing. International trade being one of the ways of expanding a business, it is one of the most challenging procedures for businesses. This actually the case for Unilever Company. It has been able to focus on international trade, its advantages and come up with solutions for the disadvantages that may arise. References Skarmeas, D., Zeriti, A. and Baltas, G., 2016. Relationship Value: Drivers and Outcomes in International Marketing Channels.Journal of International Marketing,24(1), pp.22-40. Eisend, M., Evanschitzky, H. and Calantone, R.J., 2016. The relative advantage of marketing over technological capabilities in influencing new product performance: the moderating role of country institutions.Journal of International Marketing,24(1), pp.41-56. Jin, J.L., Zhou, K.Z. and Wang, Y., 2016. Exploitation and Exploration in International Joint Ventures: Moderating Effects of Partner Control Imbalance and Product Similarity.Journal of International Marketing,24(4), pp.20-38. Czinkota, M.R. and Ronkainen, I.A., 2013.International marketing. Cengage Learning. Papadopoulos, N. and Heslop, L.A., 2014.Product-country images: Impact and role in international marketing. Routledge. Sun, S.L. and Lee, R.P., 2013. Enhancing innovation through international joint venture portfolios: From the emerging firm perspective.Journal of International Marketing,21(3), pp.1-21. Cuneo, A., Milberg, S.J., Benavente, J.M. and Palacios-Fenech, J., 2015. The growth of private label brands: a worldwide phenomenon?.Journal of International Marketing,23(1), pp.72-90. Key, M., Clark, T., Feng, S., Ferrell, O.C., Price, L., Stewart, D. and Rajaratnam, D., 2017. Is the Marketing Function Influential or Not? We Should Really Be the Ones to Know!. InCreating Marketing Magic and Innovative Future Marketing Trends(pp. 591-594). Springer, Cham.