The purpose of this essay is to assess the views expressed by the authors, mentioned above, in their two articles and provide a conclusion regarding their findings on the above mentioned topic. Both the studies have made an interesting attempt to further the existing knowledge on this topic, however from different approaches. Zou and associates, for instance have studies the experiences of firms from a developing economy (Colombia) in foreign markets and have concentrated on the finer aspects of 4-Ps of the marketing mix. Whereas, Chung has taken into account the experiences of the firms from two developed economies (Australia and New Zealand) operating in large developing economy of Greater China. The two studies, however, cover some common aspects of marketing standardization, that is, the impact of major marketing environment forces (geographic, political, economic, and cultural) on the 4 – Ps (product, promotion, placement/distribution, and pricing). A brief review of the two articles is herewith presented below followed by a conclusion drawn out of their findings on the topic under discussion.
The first study discusses the issue of international marketing strategy standardization from the Colombians firms' perspective. The study, conducted in the 1990s, is based on the analysis of survey response, mailed to 550 Colombian exporting firms having 250 or more employees. It attempts to 'fill the gap' currently felt in the contemporary research literature concerning standardization of international marketing strategy from the developing world perspective as against the existing USA'S perspective which reflects the developed world viewpoint. The authors' started with a viewpoint that the developing world's domestic consum
...