Effective International Marketing Research

As the concept of a global economy continues to develop, the demand for international market research will also increase. This means that the services provided by U.S. market research firms will need to include international marketing research as an option for both its domestic clients selling products or services into foreign markets as well as non-U.S. clients selling into their own or other markets. In many cases, the marketing research firm will be asked to deploy a survey instrument in multiple languages with sub-quotas for each country.

Effective international marketing research requires the use of a software platform that can accommodate foreign language characters for the survey itself as well as the email invitations, survey instructions, and respondent validations. There must also be a reliable method for directing respondents to the correct language version of the survey instrument if not known in advance. Vendors can accomplish this using keyboard recognition and/or language selection by the individual respondent.

It is important to recognize the need for fielding international market research surveys in the appropriate language for a given country. UK and even Canadian versions of a survey instrument may require translation and separate fielding from a U.S. version. Certain countries might also have more than one dialect, and the survey should be translated as needed to reach the desired segments. In most cases, the language(s) used by the survey panelists will govern this decision.

Delivery of survey results where multiple language survey instruments are used need not be a complicated undertaking if all of the questions are closed-ended (scales or other non-comment question types). However, where open-ended comment questions are used, the final survey report usually requires language translation of the responses into a single reporting language, such as English. Sufficient time needs to be budgeted for this process, particularly if verbatim coding is desired.

For example, if a U.S. company were evaluating a possible product offering into France, Germany, and Spain, the marketing research firm would field three different versions of the questionnaire. Each version would have its own welcome and exit messages, respondent instructions, email language, and survey validations. Typically, for reporting purposes, an English language version of the survey would also be created. In the case of closed-ended questions, no extra translations would be needed - - the results would line-up with the English version. For open-ended questions, the responses would be translated into English and included with the report "as is" or coded.

Effective international marketing research also requires knowledge and experience regarding country-specific response rates - - and there can be wide variations between different countries. The same survey might produce a 20% response rate in one country and a 5% response rate in a different country. Market research firms should be able to offer advice on this subject.

In summary, when considering the use of international market research, it is important to select a marketing research firm that can offer experienced advice on response rates and language requirements, as well as offer a robust survey platform. Ask questions about the software used by the market research firm to determine which solution best meet your needs. A properly administered multi-language survey can be a time-consuming process and is often best managed by a skilled supplier.

Marc I. Tillman is a member of the professional services staff at Amplitude Research, Inc., a full-service market research firm headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. Please visit Amplitude's international market research page to learn more about its service offerings.