International marketing standardisation strategies analysis: A cross‐national investigation

Abstract

Purpose

This study is designed to explore international marketing standardisation (IMS) by investigating the choice of IMS for industrial product (ID) and non‐industrial product (non‐ID) operators and firms from Australia and New Zealand.

Design/methodology/approach

This study has used the experiences of a group of exporting firms to achieve its research objectives. It has employed both main effect and interaction methods to assess its research framework.

Findings

The outcomes of this study reveal that, in addition to the main effect outcomes, some significant variations exist. Some of these variations are consistent with the main effects, while others are not. On some occasions a factor is not identified as a main effect factor, and yet it has a significant impact in a certain situation (e.g. infrastructure*IDs). The interaction outcomes are more significant in terms of the price, promotion and performance components. The interaction outcomes show that firms might be able to use a number of alternatives to achieve their performance goals when operating in a foreign host market, even in the absence of a main effect. These alternatives have not been outlined in the existing literature.

Research limitations/implications

The results point out that researchers may need to be cautious about generalising their findings without conducting a thorough statistical examination on the sub‐group variations within a study.

Originality/value

Previous research on IMS strategies focuses on investigating factors’ direct impacts on the research framework. Sub‐group variations have not been explored in the existing studies.

Citation

Chung, H.F.L. (2007), "International marketing standardisation strategies analysis: A cross‐national investigation", Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 145-167. https://doi.org/10.1108/13555850710738499