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.
As a result, marketing techniques require the use of national and cultural characteristics.
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: Targets Different Types of People
Different cultures within the USA, and across the world, are going to have different buying habits. This presents a problem when you are trying to sell a product across nations.
The United States is known as a melting pot, and that means marketing to different cultures within one nation. That's hard enough, but when it must be done across borders, it gets even harder.
Global and Domestic Marketing: Demographic Segments Differ
Demographic segments vary across the world. For example, some characteristics for Generation Y in the USA may be similar worldwide, but most will be quite different.
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.
If a business plans one campaign for the world around characteristics for USA markets, the campaign will fail in the rest of the world.
Global and Domestic Marketing: USA Psychographic Characteristics Don't Cross Borders
Psychographic characteristics also differ by nations. For one reason, culture, morals, values and attitudes are learned within a society. Different nations develop different social pressures and expectations. They teach different values and attitudes within families and schools.
Every nation's culture differs so what is valued, expected, desired, and feared vary by nation.
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 Behaviors Differ
What people can afford to buy, how they buy, and what they buy changes from nation to nation.
What people choose to buy results from many factors that are tied to their national experiences and culture.
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.
In the USA, we don't buy groceries like that. Instead, we buy many processed foods weekly or monthly. We also eat lots of fast food although we know that most of it isn't as healthy as what we could cook at home. We just think we are too busy to spend lots of time shopping and cooking.
People in some nations probably think that USA residents have their priorities messed up to avoid spending their time buying and preparing fresh, healthy foods.
If we are so different in the way we purchase survival products like food, how much more different are we when it comes to buying other products.
Global and Domestic Marketing: Summary
Developing a marketing campaign for the people in one nation and trying to transfer that campaign to another nation doesn't work.
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.
As a result, marketing techniques require the use of national and cultural characteristics.
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: Targets Different Types of People
Different cultures within the USA, and across the world, are going to have different buying habits. This presents a problem when you are trying to sell a product across nations.
The United States is known as a melting pot, and that means marketing to different cultures within one nation. That's hard enough, but when it must be done across borders, it gets even harder.
Global and Domestic Marketing: Demographic Segments Differ
Demographic segments vary across the world. For example, some characteristics for Generation Y in the USA may be similar worldwide, but most will be quite different.
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.
If a business plans one campaign for the world around characteristics for USA markets, the campaign will fail in the rest of the world.
Global and Domestic Marketing: USA Psychographic Characteristics Don't Cross Borders
Psychographic characteristics also differ by nations. For one reason, culture, morals, values and attitudes are learned within a society. Different nations develop different social pressures and expectations. They teach different values and attitudes within families and schools.
Every nation's culture differs so what is valued, expected, desired, and feared vary by nation.
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 Behaviors Differ
What people can afford to buy, how they buy, and what they buy changes from nation to nation.
What people choose to buy results from many factors that are tied to their national experiences and culture.
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.
In the USA, we don't buy groceries like that. Instead, we buy many processed foods weekly or monthly. We also eat lots of fast food although we know that most of it isn't as healthy as what we could cook at home. We just think we are too busy to spend lots of time shopping and cooking.
People in some nations probably think that USA residents have their priorities messed up to avoid spending their time buying and preparing fresh, healthy foods.
If we are so different in the way we purchase survival products like food, how much more different are we when it comes to buying other products.
Global and Domestic Marketing: Summary
Developing a marketing campaign for the people in one nation and trying to transfer that campaign to another nation doesn't work.
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.
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