International Marketing

Citation

Shaw, V. (1998), "International Marketing", International Marketing Review, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 232-233. https://doi.org/10.1108/imr.1998.15.3.232.1

This is a book which, on the face of it, is about international marketing. Its aim is, in essence, to provide an understanding of marketing in global markets. Whilst it achieves the first part ‐ to provide an understanding of marketing ‐ it does not do so in a global context. The book sets out to appeal to both students and managers. The target market could, however, on the basis of content, be narrowed down further to US students and managers. The bias towards the USA is so strong that it may be off‐putting to European readers, unless, perhaps, they want to gain some insight into marketing in the USA. Sandhusen claims that the book is written more in a journalist style than in “labored academise”. This is certainly true and is perhaps the book’s main strength. This style, however, loans itself more towards managers than serious students of international marketing.

The book comprises 19 chapters divided into four main sections: strategy and planning; researching and understanding the business environment; segmentation and targeting; and the marketing mix. The basic structure is logical, although there is some unnecessary repetition. In the preface the author explains that a single case study will be used throughout the book to illustrate the issues raised. This is a very sound idea. However, readers are soon disappointed to learn that the example of Merton Electronics is purely fictitious. In a global business environment with so many rich real‐life examples there is really no need to fabricate an example. At the end of each chapter there are sections which the author refers to as “know the concepts”. This comprises a list of “terms of study”. It is unclear what readers are meant to do with these as they are just lists of words and not a glossary. This is followed by “matchup exercises” where the reader is expected to match up a descriptor in column 1 with its description in column 2. This is very simplistic and more an exercise in word association than anything really useful. By the end these exercises actually become quite irritating. To conclude each chapter there are then questions for review and discussion. This is a technique used in many text‐ books nowadays and one positive point about this book is that answers are provided to help students. However, in many cases the answers are on the page facing the questions thus removing any incentive for readers to think for themselves about the issues raised. The answers also come across as being definitive answers, whereas all teachers and students of international marketing know that the responses to global challenges are not as straightforward as that!

The biggest single weakness is that this is not really a book on international marketing. Most of the introductory texts on marketing in the European market have a higher level of international content than this book. It is virtually entirely a book on basic marketing concepts. Whilst the author does cover a full range of marketing issues, these are done very much from a US perspective. Whilst it is virtually impossible to satisfy all readers with a single text on international marketing, this book’s focus is much too broad. The author has effectively sacrificed depth of coverage by focusing on breadth.

There are also a number of omissions. The internationalisation process is not explicitly discussed, and the issue of standardisation versus adaptation in developing international marketing strategies is glossed over. The book provides some general prescriptions for managers, but it does not fully consider the extent to which approaches in domestic marketing do or do not transfer to international markets. Whilst some of the chapters do provide some comparative data on, for example, economic factors, there is only limited discussion of how factors in the international marketing environment might influence strategy. There is also no information on how managers might assess the relative attractiveness of individual overseas markets. The provision of practical examples is also limited. Any lecturer reading a new text on international marketing hopes to find new examples. With this book they would be disappointed as, in most cases, only the old tried and tested examples are trotted out. For the most part few suggestions are provided for further reading which can be very frustrating to the curious reader who wants to follow up a particular line of enquiry. Where references are provided they are, in many cases, quite dated, especially in the chapter on cultural influences and there is no discussion of the key contribution in this field by Hofstede ‐ a surprising omission. There are mistakes where non‐US issues are concerned. For example the author claims, on more than one occasion, that there are 14 members of the European Union. Such errors are inexcusable.

The author has missed an opportunity to write a good international marketing text and he does not do the subject justice. More examples of real companies are needed, as well as a greater recognition that international marketing is more than just taking models and concepts developed for domestic markets and applying them without question in an international context. The author notes that the “US as a player in international markets hardly seems to have reached its potential” (p. 3). This book as a player in the field of international marketing does not reach its potential either.