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The International Marketing

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Leonidas C. Leonidou , John S. Kaminarides &
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The International Marketing Environment:
Textbook Content versus Educators’ Views

Leonidas C. Leonidou
John S. Kaminarides
Photis Panayides
ABSTRACT. The article analyzes the content of 18 international mar-

keting academic textbooks with regard to factors comprising the global
marketing environment. Three broad categories of factors are identified,
the macro (i.e., physical, demographic, and socio-cultural), meso (i.e.,
economic, political-legal, and technological), and micro (i.e., intermediar-
ies, competitors, market, and customers). In each of the subcategories,
10 different factors affecting global marketing were extracted. By mea-
suring the extent of coverage given to each factor in each textbook, the
relative emphasis placed collectively was established. These results were
subsequently compared and contrasted to the views of 71 academics
teaching international marketing; revealing the existence of gaps be-
tween the importance attached to most of the elements comprising the
Dr. Leonidas C. Leonidou is Professor of Marketing, University of Cyprus. Dr. John

S. Kaminarides is Emeritus Professor in Economics and International Business, Arkansas
State University. Dr. Photis Panayides is Associate Professor of Marketing, Cyprus
International Institute of Management.
Address correspondence to: Dr. Leonidas C. Leonidou, School of Economics and
Management, University of Cyprus, Kallipoleos 75, P.O. Box 20537, CY-1678 Nicosia,
Cyprus (E-mail: leonidas@ucy.ac.cy).
The authors would like to thank the Editor and the anonymous reviewers of the
Journal for their constructive comments on a previous version of the article. They also
express their gratitude to Savvas Gregoriou for his valuable assistance during the initial
phases of the project.
Journal of Teaching in International Business, Vol. 18(2/3) 2007
Available online at http://jtib.haworthpress.com
© 2007 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1300/J066v18n02_06 101
102 JOURNAL OF TEACHING IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
international marketing environment, and the coverage provided in aca-

demic textbooks. doi:10.1300/J066v18n02_06 [Article copies available for

a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH.
E-mail address: <docdelivery@haworthpress.com> Website: <http://www.
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KEYWORDS. International marketing, environmental factors, content

analysis, review
INTRODUCTION
The international marketing environment has been repeatedly cited in

the literature to largely affect the firm’s ability to initiate, build, and sustain
successful business relationships with foreign customers (Ogunmokun and
Ng 1999; LeClair 2000; Mylonakis 2003). This has become more critical
nowadays due to the accelerating globalization of the world’s economy,
which has been responsible for inducing an ever-increasing number of
firms to embark on foreign operations (Keegan 2002). However, accom-
modating this environment is a very cumbersome and time-consuming
task, for the following reasons: (1) a high amount of complexity, asso-
ciated with the multiplicity of marketing environments found in over-
seas countries; (2) a high level of volatility, deriving from the rapidly
changing nature of most parts of these environments; (3) a high degree
of uncertainty, attributable to the fact that many of the environmental
forces, particularly those of a broader nature, are difficult to control;
and (4) a high volume of heterogeneity, caused by the diverse country
environments that the firm has to confront in the global marketplace
(Terpstra 1985).
Despite these idiosyncrasies, a comprehensive understanding of all
constituent parts of this environment (using, for example, marketing in-
telligence, secondary data analysis, or primary marketing research) is
essential in identifying foreign business opportunities to be exploited,
as well as threats to be avoided (Brownie 1996; Lim, Sharkey, and Kim
1996). Based on this analysis, the firm can design or adjust its inter-
national marketing strategies to effectively and efficiently meet the
challenges emerging from the rapidly changing environment (Kotler
and Armstrong 2004). The crucial role of the global environment has
led many authors of international marketing textbooks to place particu-
lar emphasis on explaining its dimensions, as well as the way these may
Leonidou, Kaminarides, and Panayides 103
affect the formulation of sound marketing strategies. This is in contrast

to developments in empirical research into international marketing,

where the role of the environment has mainly been narrowly examined
as part of wider research problems (Young 2001).
The widespread coverage of the global marketing environment by
academic textbooks, as opposed to its relatively peripheral treatment in
academic journals, chapter articles, and conference proceedings, im-
plies that state-of-the-art knowledge has developed more quickly, com-
pared with input derived from scholarly empirical research (Jaffe 1997).
Such knowledge could serve as a basis for embarking on a more system-
atic analysis of environmental factors affecting international marketing
decisions that would help to gain a more insightful understanding of the
subject. This is particularly important in light of recent attempts in mar-
keting academia to redesign and/or improve the international marketing
curriculum, to accommodate the changing needs of modern business or-
ganizations (Turtley and Shannon 1999; Burton 2005). Our study aims
to provide a systematic identification, consolidation, and evaluation of
all the elements comprising international marketing environment based
on input extracted from major academic textbooks in the field,1 as well
as the views of international marketing scholars.
Specifically, the objectives of the study are fourfold: (1) to identify
from extant academic textbooks all those items that make up the inter-
national marketing environment; (2) to consolidate these items into
more generic variables and broad groups; (3) to evaluate these variables
in light of the relative collective emphasis placed on them by academic
textbooks; and (4) to compare and contrast the content of these text-
books with the views of international marketing educators. The remain-
der of the article is organized into four sections:
1. The extant empirical literature on international marketing envi-

ronment and its role in the firm’s foreign marketing operations is
reviewed.
2. The method adopted for carrying out the present investigation is
fully explained.
3. The findings with regard to international environmental factors
are presented, analyzed, and discussed.
4. Some conclusions are derived from the study, as well as implica-
tions for marketing educators, business practitioners, public
policymakers, and academic researchers.
EMPIRICAL RESEARCH ON INTERNATIONAL

MARKETING ENVIRONMENT
The international marketing environment has been empirically ex-

amined from four major perspectives. One stream of research viewed
environmental factors as stimuli responsible for attracting the firm to
initiate and/or sustain international business operations. Such stimuli
include, for example, favorable foreign exchange rates, reduction of tar-
iffs/nontariffs in overseas markets, relaxed product regulations by foreign
governments, and physical proximity to foreign markets (Leonidou 1995).
These stimuli have been characterized mainly as reactive, in the sense
that the firm engages in international activities as a response to environ-
mental pressures, rather than an interest in exploiting unique organiza-
tional competences or market opportunities (Czinkota and Ronkainen
2004). In general, the firm’s reactive stimulation is associated with a
passive and opportunistic approach toward entering foreign markets, as
opposed to a proactively stimulated company which is more aggressive
and strategic oriented.
The international environment may also act as a barrier from engag-
ing and/or developing business activities abroad. This has been the fo-
cus of an enormous amount of research, which has highlighted the
harmful effects of such environmental forces as deteriorating economic
conditions abroad, strict foreign rules and regulations, high tariff/non-
tariff barriers, political instability in overseas markets, existence of dif-
ferent socio-cultural traits, communication difficulties with foreign
partners due to language differences, keen competition in international
markets, and different foreign customer habits/attitudes (Leonidou 2004).
Notably, these barriers can be subject to rapid changes, incorporate high
levels of uncertainty, and fall beyond the control of the firm. In fact, in
some instances they can be so severe that they may force the firm pull
out altogether from or reduce the intensity of carrying out business
abroad (De Búrca, Fletcher, and Brown 2004).
A third stream of research examined environmental factors from the
perspective of information required by firms in overseas markets.
Leonidou and Theodosiou (2004) summarize the major empirical find-
ings on the subject as follows:
1. Information on customers and competitors was considered highly

important in most studies, as opposed to suppliers, intermediaries,
and publics who were virtually neglected.
2. Information on economic, socio-cultural, and political-legal is-

sues were also found to be of moderate to high importance to in-

ternational marketers, while issues pertaining to demography,
technology, and natural resources received marginal attention.
3. Information needs on market characteristics (e.g., size/growth,
structure, entry conditions, preferences, potential, and position/
share) exhibited somewhat inconsistent results, with some studies
stressing their high importance, as opposed to others that showed
a surprisingly minimal value.
Environmental factors were also seen from another important angle,
namely that of antecedents to international marketing strategy. Although
at times a large number of such factors were reported to have a critical
effect on standardizing or adapting marketing programs in foreign mar-
kets (e.g., Terpstra and Sarathy 2000; Cateora and Graham 2002;
Czinkota and Ronkainen 2004), only a few have been empirically exam-
ined. In synthesizing the studies conducted on the subject, Theodosiou
and Leonidou (2003) revealed the following:
1. Political-legal and economic factors had a moderate impact on
product and pricing aspects.
2. Market size was positively correlated with promotion adaptation,
whereas only in a few cases did similarities in the marketing in-
frastructure between home and host countries lead to marketing
standardization.
3. Competition intensity was significantly and positively associated
with both product and promotion adaptation, whereas the structure/
nature of competition made no impact on marketing strategy.
4. Customer issues have a rather significant effect on the marketing
strategy standardization/adaptation decision.
STUDY METHOD
To identify the academic textbooks relevant to the study, both man-

ual and electronic literature search methods were employed. This in-
volved a thorough checking of the book catalogues issued by academic
publishers, searching the libraries of leading universities, and visiting
the Websites of major online booksellers. Eligible books had to fulfill
the following criteria: (1) relevance to the subject, that is, to have interna-
tional marketing operations as a core emphasis; (2) micro-business per-
spective, that is, to examine international marketing from the standpoint
of the firm, rather than at an industry, country, or regional level; (3) aca-
demic orientation, that is, to have as a target audience business students,

university teachers, and academic researchers; (4) textbook format, that
is, to incorporate homogeneous material, rather than a collection of aca-
demic articles, chapters written by different authors, or only case stud-
ies; (5) English publication, that is, all text, tables, figures and charts to
have been expressed in the English language; and (6) latest edition, that
is, to have been published relatively recently, so as to achieve compara-
bility of the various issues addressed.
The scanning of the literature revealed 31 textbooks complying with
the above-mentioned eligibility criteria. However, 13 of these had only
peripherally addressed international marketing environmental issues
and/or were outdated and therefore had to be excluded from further
analysis. The remaining 18 textbooks exhibited the following character-
istics:2 (1) Authorship: Five books were written by a single author, nine
had two authors, while the remaining four had three or more authors.
(2) Publishing house: Two books were published by Prentice-Hall Inc,
two by Pearson Education, two by Dryden Press, two by McGraw-Hill,
two by Thomson, and each of the remainder by various other publish-
ers. (3) Place of publication: Ten books were published in the United
Kingdom and the rest in the United States. (4) Year of publication: Five
books were published in 2000 or earlier, two in 2001, five in 2002, two
in 2003, and four in 2004.
The volume of pages contained in the 18 textbooks ranged from a low
302 to a high 983, the average being 648 pages. A large proportion of
these books was covered by text and supported by tables, graphs, photo-
graphs, and even maps. All textbooks were analyzed using the content
analysis method. This has been used extensively in academic circles to
identify the existence of particular words or concepts within texts, or by
taking a step further, to show the weight that these have in a book or
manuscript (Krippendoff 2004). Content analysis was conducted by
two experienced coders, who were asked to preliminarily analyze the
various textbooks to: (1) identify any material relevant to the interna-
tional marketing environment; (2) write down as many keywords as
possible relating to environmental factors; and (3) record the frequency
with which each key word appeared in the text. The result of this proce-
dure was the extraction of 132 keywords, which provided exhaustive
coverage of all areas comprising the firm’s global environment.
An attempt was made by both coders to classify these keywords
into meaningful groups, based on their relevance established in the
textbooks reviewed. Ten major categories were identified, pertaining
to physical/natural elements, demography, sociological/cultural issues,

economy, political/legal aspects, technology, marketing intermediaries,

competition, market, and customers. Based on how these forces were
close to and controllable by the firm, they were divided into three major
groups: macro–larger forces which are far away from and beyond the
control of the firm, such as physical, demographic, socio-cultural; meso
(or middle)–factors that are closer to the firm, but on which some indirect
control can be exerted, such as economic, political-legal, and technologi-
cal; and micro–actors close to the firm that immediately influence its
operational marketing ability, but are directly controllable, such as
intermediaries, competitors, customers, and the market (see Figure 1).3
The next step was to compress the lengthy list of keywords found
into a more manageable list consisting of a maximum of 100 items. To
safeguard a balanced treatment of all categories, a maximum of 10
items was allowed to be incorporated in each category.4 To ascertain the
face validity of the variables included in each category, the following ac-
tions were taken by two independent expert panels, each having a mixture
of both academics and practitioners specialized in international market-
ing. The first panel was given the list of the 100 items (ungrouped), as
well as the definitions of the titles of each of the 10 groups derived from
the literature review, and was asked to allocate a maximum of 10 items
in each group. The second panel was also given the definitions of each
FIGURE 1. The International Marketing Environment
Physical
Economic Political-legal
Intermediaries
Competitors Company Market
Customers
Technological
Demographic Socio-cultural
Micro-environment
Macro-environment
Meso-environment
of the 10 environments and was asked to match these to 10 untitled

groups listing the environmental items already categorized. Any discrep-

ancy emerging from the original grouping was discussed and resolved
with members of each of the two teams until reaching agreement. The
outcome of both procedures was a final categorization of the 100 factors
into 10 groups, each consisting of 10 items. This provided the basis for
designing a special coding sheet to help further in the codification of the
information contained in each textbook.
The coding process was undertaken by the same coders under the su-
pervision of an individual with extensive experience in coding proce-
dures. Both coders underwent rigorous training, to understand how to
code the information contained in each textbook, using the special cod-
ing sheet developed earlier. Because environmental factors contained in
academic textbooks are not directly measured, it was deemed necessary
to develop a measurable entity as an index to facilitate the coding pro-
cess (Krippendoff 2004). After careful examination of alternative mea-
sures, it was found appropriate to adopt the amount of space allocated to
each individual item in a textbook, this being measured in terms of num-
ber of pages.5 Although this index does not indicate the qualitative way
that environmental factors were approached by various authors, it pro-
vides an indirect quantitative measure of the importance, attention, or
emphasis attached to specific issues addressed (Budd 1964).
Before initiating the full-scale coding, both the coders and the super-
visor participated in a coding exercise, whereby each was indepen-
dently involved in coding a small number of items from a randomly
selected textbook, to check whether the whole procedure had been ad-
equately understood. Then, coders proceeded with the actual coding
task, which consisted of five parts:
1. Codification. The information contained in each textbook was

transferred on to the coding sheet by each coder who worked sepa-
rately on a set of nine textbooks each.
2. Control. Approximately 10% of the completed coding sheets of each
coder was checked by the independent supervisor to ascertain that
these were properly coded.
3. Resolution. Potential misunderstandings or problems during the
coding process were discussed and resolved with the assistance of
the supervisor.
4. Editing. The full set of the coding sheets completed by each coder
was finally checked to ensure that each was fully and appropri-
ately completed.
5. Data entry. The information contained in the edited coding sheets

were entered in a special statistical packaging program for analy-

sis, and a verification procedure ascertained that all data were
properly inserted.
Our analysis of international marketing textbooks was supplemented

by a survey among academics engaged in the teaching of international
marketing courses. These were mainly identified from their articles pub-
lished in three international marketing journals–Journal of International
Marketing, International Marketing Review, and Journal of Global
Marketing–during the period 2000-2005. Each academic was con-
ducted by e-mail, and altogether 71 have agreed to answer a short ques-
tionnaire, which consisted of three major parts: The first focused on the
awareness, readership, and adoption of the 18 international marketing
textbooks used in the study; the second explored the criteria used by ed-
ucators in evaluating international marketing textbooks; and the final
part asked respondents to rank the 10 environmental categories in terms
of importance, as well as indicate three items that they considered im-
portant in each category.
The survey revealed high levels of awareness (ranging from 83.1
to 98.6%) and readership (ranging from 43.7 to 94.4%) for the 18 inter-
national marketing textbooks, which confirms their suitability for the
purposes of the present study. Adoption rates of the various textbooks did
not exceed 42.3%, with the highest rates observed in the case of those
written by Cateora and Graham (2002), Czinkota and Ronkainen (2004),
Johansson (2003), and Terpstra and Sarathy (2000). With regard to the
criteria used by educators to evaluate international marketing textbooks,
the most important were “adequate coverage of subject matter,” “read-
ability/succinct way of presenting the material,” “comprehensive expla-
nation of the topics covered,” and “friendly to use by the instructor and
students” (see Appendix A). The same factors were also given as reasons
for selecting the international marketing textbook(s) adopted, while their
absence justified their decision to deselect non-adopted textbooks.
RESEARCH FINDINGS
This section presents the results of the content analysis for each of
the components of the micro-, meso-, and macro-environment, as well
as those derived from the study among international marketing schol-
ars. The average number of pages written on issues relating to the
international marketing environment in the 18 academic textbooks was

113.4, which represents about 17.5% of the total. Overall, the meso cat-
egory was the most widely covered as a whole, (representing 46.6% of
all pages written on the international marketing environment), followed
by the micro-environment (37.1%), and the macro-environment (16.3%).
Notably, the educators’ survey revealed a different level of emphasis at-
tached to each environmental group, with the following descending or-
der of importance: micro, meso, and macro.
International Macro-Environmental Factors
The physical environment consists of all those characteristics that re-

late to natural landscape, resources, and conditions in foreign countries.
As such, it is the primary force that shapes the characteristics and wealth
of a specific society, as well as the means required to supply the needs of
its members. Despite its core status, the international physical environ-
ment was the least explored, representing only 20.1% of the total pages
devoted to the macro-environment (see first part of Table 1). This can
probably be ascribed to the very broad nature of this type of environ-
ment, as well as to the fact that some of the issues addressed (such as
geographic location, territorial size, and topography) are basic knowl-
edge already gained during early stages of an individual’s education. Of
the factors examined in this category, territorial size (21.7%) and geo-
graphic distance (18.9%) were the most widely covered in international
marketing textbooks, probably because they can seriously influence
transportation costs, product availability, pre- and post-sales service,
and product quality in the foreign market. Educators also did not regard
the physical environment as important and gave a different priority to its
parameters. As opposed to textbooks, their emphasis was primarily
placed on the size of natural resources (75.0%), as well as on issues
relating to environmental pollution (65.9%). While the first factor
reflects the future wealth in an overseas market (as well as its potential
for resource exploitation), the second echoes the growing public con-
cern in many countries about the damage caused to the quality of the
environment.
The demographic environment focuses on human populations in
overseas markets, and is of interest to international marketers because
to a large extent it determines market size. However, this type of envi-
ronment did not receive adequate coverage, probably because of its
high relevance to markets and customers, which are part of the firm’s
TABLE 1. The International Macro-Environment
Environmental Factor Average Standard Minimum Maximum Overall Sub-Area Category Study Among
Pages Deviation Pages Pages Contribution Contribution Contribution Educators
(#) (#) (#) (#) (%) (%) (%) (%)
Geographical location 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.4 0.1 0.6 2.7 56.4
Geographic distance 0.7 3.0 0.0 1.2 0.6 3.8 18.9 13.6
Territorial size 0.8 2.6 0.0 11.2 0.7 4.3 21.7 11.4
Topography/terrain 0.2 0.6 0.0 2.6 0.2 1.1 5.4 13.6
Climatic conditions 0.6 1.6 0.0 6.6 0.5 3.2 16.2 13.6
Type of natural resources 0.6 1.2 0.0 4.6 0.5 3.2 16.2 13.6
Size of natural resources 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.7 0.1 0.6 2.7 75.0
Water/other vital resources 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.3 0.1 0.6 2.7 0.0
Environmental pollution 0.2 0.3 0.0 0.6 0.2 1.1 5.4 65.9
Environmental protection 0.3 0.7 0.0 2.6 0.3 1.6 8.1 11.4
issues
Total Physical 3.7 7.9 0.0 30.8 3.3 20.1 100.0 10th rank
Population size 0.3 0.4 0.0 1.1 0.3 1.6 5.9 79.5
Population age/structure 1.0 2.3 0.0 9.8 0.9 5.4 19.6 20.5
Population density 0.4 1.1 0.0 4.6 0.3 2.2 7.8 15.9
Geographic distribution 1.0 2.3 0.0 9.1 0.9 5.4 19.6 27.3
of population
Family/household size 0.3 0.8 0.0 2.6 0.3 1.6 5.9 18.2
Urbanization rate 0.3 0.7 0.0 2.6 0.3 1.6 5.9 31.8
Population growth 0.4 0.8 0.0 2.6 0.3 2.2 7.8 9.1
111
112
TABLE 1 (continued)
Environmental Factor Average Standard Minimum Maximum Overall Sub-Area Category Study Among
(#) (#) (#) (#) (%) (%) (%) (%)
Ethnic groups 0.6 1.6 0.0 6.4 0.5 3.3 11.8 29.5
Family structure/life cycle 0.1 0.3 0.0 1.2 0.1 0.6 1.9 63.6
Social class stratification 0.7 1.0 0.0 1.2 0.6 3.8 13.8 2.3
Total Demographic 5.1 4.2 0.0 41.2 4.5 27.7 100.0 9th rank
Customs and traditions 0.8 1.4 0.0 4.5 0.7 4.3 8.3 32.6
Roles, status, and symbols 0.4 0.8 0.0 2.4 0.4 2.2 4.2 7.0
Religion/religious groups 1.8 2.0 0.0 6.7 1.6 9.8 18.8 86.0
Education level/type 1.0 1.0 0.0 3.9 0.9 5.4 10.4 93.0
Value systems, beliefs, 0.7 0.7 0.0 2.0 0.6 3.8 7.3 11.6
attitudes
Language/nonverbal 2.6 3.0 0.0 13.9 2.3 14.2 27.1 86.0
communication
Lifestyle patterns 0.1 0.3 0.0 1.5 0.1 0.6 1.0 4.7
Aesthetics 0.3 0.4 0.0 1.7 0.3 1.6 3.1 1.4
Social institutions/ 1.3 1.7 0.0 6.0 1.1 7.1 13.5 2.8
representations
Material possessions/ 0.6 0.9 0.0 2.9 0.5 3.2 6.3 1.4
elements
Total Socio-Cultural 9.6 5.9 0.0 45.5 8.5 52.2 100.0 6th rank
micro-environment (see second part of Table 1). Two elements of this

category have attracted particular attention in international marketing

textbooks: population age/structure (19.6%) and geographic distribu-
tion of population (19.6%). With regard to the former, it is widely un-
derstood that people have different needs in various stages of their lives,
and that the different age structure of each country’s population might
pose a lucrative opportunity or a serious threat for the international firm.
With regard to the latter, the way the population of a country is geo-
graphically distributed largely affects the effectiveness and efficiency
of the firm’s target marketing strategies. International marketing schol-
ars also rated very low the demographic environment, but gave an en-
tirely different emphasis to its various components. A case in point is
population size, which was found to be the most critical factor in this
category (79.5%), probably because it provides a good indication of for-
eign market potential (especially in industrialized countries). Another
highly regarded item is family structure/life cycle (63.6%), which, al-
though crucial in determining specific buying roles and changes in con-
sumption needs, was virtually unexplored in textbooks.
The socio-cultural environment consists of all those forces that af-
fect a foreign society’s basic values, perceptions, preferences, and be-
havior. Socio-cultural issues vary considerably across countries, and
international marketers need to recognize these differences and adapt
their plans accordingly. This category absorbed more than half (52.2%)
of the pages written on macro-environment and was ranked sixth over-
all, equal to the rank provided by international marketing academics
(see third part of Table 1). Of the elements contained in this category,
language/nonverbal communication received most attention in text-
books (27.1%), probably because: (1) it mirrors culture, due to its inex-
tricable link with other cultural elements; (2) it is important in achieving
effective communication between sellers and buyers in overseas mar-
kets; and (3) it can critically affect certain marketing parameters, such
as branding, labeling, and advertising. Ranked second in terms of cov-
erage (18.8%) are religion/religious groups, demonstrating their signifi-
cance in shaping people’s buying motives, customs, and practices,
which subsequently impact on marketing and advertising programs.
These findings concur with those of the educators’ survey, where 86%
stated that both variables are critical in influencing international mar-
keting strategy. However, in the case of education level/type, although
it received minimal coverage in textbooks, it was considered important
by the vast majority of respondents, probably due to its crucial role in

maintaining/transferring culture and fostering communication between

sellers and buyers.
International Meso-Environmental Factors
The economic environment consists of factors that affect consumer

purchasing power, spending patterns, and living standards in overseas
markets. In the same way as demography of a foreign country affects
market size, the country’s economic situation influences its wealth.
This attracted more than a quarter (26.5%) of the total pages written on
meso-environmental factors, classified as the third major category over-
all (see first part of Table 2). The primary focus here was on foreign di-
rect investment (24.3%), that is, the capital flowing from one country to
another guided by the comparative advantage principle. This has been
an issue of special interest for multinational enterprises, since they are
constantly searching for places with lower production costs, high tech-
nical expertise, and attractive foreign government investment incentives.
Foreign exchange rates/controls are also another widely examined eco-
nomic parameter (21.4%), largely because they critically affect demand
for the company’s products in host markets and/or restrict the com-
pany’s ability to repatriate profits. In the case of international marketing
scholars, the economic environment was classified as the most impor-
tant category overall. However, although the vast majority (89.6%) of
the respondents praised foreign exchange rates/controls highly, the op-
posite was true with regard to foreign direct investment. Two other eco-
nomic factors, namely per capita income and balance of payment
debt/servicing, that were considered significant by more than two-
thirds of the respondents, received a relatively moderate coverage in
textbooks.
Of the components comprising the international meso-environment,
the political-legal environment was the most widely examined. In fact,
28.8 pages were written on average on political-legal issues, represent-
ing two-fifths (54.4%) of the meso-environment, as well as a quarter
(25.4%) of all the material devoted to the international marketing envi-
ronment (see second part of Table 2). This is because the political-legal
environment consists of government agencies, laws, agreements, and
pressure groups that can seriously influence or limit the firm’s opera-
tions in a foreign country, as can the individuals living in it. Govern-
ment controls/protectionism is the most widely covered issue in this
TABLE 2. The International Meso-Environment
Environmental factor Average Standard Minimum Maximum Overall Sub-Area Category Study Among
(#) (#) (#) (#) (%) (%) (%) (%)
Per capita income 1.3 1.5 0.0 3.8 1.1 2.5 9.3 69.8
Foreign exchange rates/ 3.0 3.4 0.0 13.1 2.6 5.7 21.4 89.6
controls
Availability/cost of economic 0.7 1.3 0.0 3.4 0.6 1.3 5.0 37.5
resources
Labor conditions/ 0.5 0.9 0.0 2.8 0.4 0.9 3.6 10.4
unemployment
Balance of payment debt/ 1.9 2.6 0.0 9.3 1.7 3.6 13.6 66.7
servicing
Public finances/public debt 0.2 0.6 0.0 2.5 0.2 0.4 1.4 6.3
Inflation rate/Price controls 1.0 1.3 0.0 4.0 0.9 1.9 7.1 6.3
Economic infrastructure 1.1 2.4 0.0 9.3 1.0 2.1 7.9 12.5
Foreign direct investment 3.4 4.8 0.0 19.9 3.0 6.4 24.3 4.2
Income distribution/growth 0.9 1.8 0.0 5.6 0.8 1.7 6.4 2.8
Total Economic 14.0 8.4 0.0 73.7 12.3 26.5 100.0 1st rank
Political situation/stability/risk 3.9 3.3 0.5 15.1 3.4 7.4 13.5 89.6
Political system/ideology 1.1 2.1 0.0 8.4 1.0 2.1 3.8 25.0
Business/marketing regulatory 4.2 2.6 0.0 10.3 3.7 7.9 14.6 22.9
system
Government attitude toward 2.6 3.7 0.0 14.0 2.3 4.9 9.3 35.4
foreign business
Government controls/ 6.8 5.8 0.0 19.2 6.1 12.9 23.6 16.7
protectionism
115
116
TABLE 2 (continued)
(#) (#) (#) (#) (%) (%) (%) (%)
Government business services 1.6 2.4 0.0 7.0 1.4 3.0 5.5 20.8
Efficiency of government 0.7 1.7 0.0 5.6 0.6 1.3 2.4 45.8
procedures/bureaucracy
Business/intellectual right 2.2 2.8 0.0 7.4 1.9 4.2 7.6 33.3
protection
International association/ 4.3 2.8 0.0 9.8 3.8 8.1 14.9 4.2
organization membership
Government foreign policy 1.4 1.8 0.0 5.8 1.2 2.6 4.8 1.4
Total Political-Legal 28.8 12.9 0.5 102.6 25.4 54.4 100.0 7th rank
Level of scientific/ 0.2 0.5 0.0 1.2 0.2 0.4 2.0 85.8
technological skills
Production technology/ 0.4 1.2 0.0 5.1 0.4 0.8 4.0 25.0
techniques
Consumption technology 0.1 0.2 0.0 1.1 0.1 0.2 1.0 64.6
Information technology 2.1 3.1 0.0 11.2 1.9 4.0 21.8 29.2
Internet accessibility 1.3 2.8 0.0 9.6 1.1 2.4 12.9 10.4
Rate of technological change 0.6 1.2 0.0 3.9 0.5 1.1 5.9 31.3
Satellite accessibility 0.2 0.5 0.0 1.9 0.2 0.4 2.0 4.2
Communications technology 1.6 3.0 0.0 10.6 1.4 3.0 15.8 8.3
Research and Development 3.0 5.9 0.0 23.1 2.6 5.7 29.7 31.3
activity
Transportation technology 0.6 1.8 0.0 7.6 0.5 1.1 5.9 2.1
Total Technological 10.1 9.4 0.0 75.3 8.9 19.1 100.0 8th rank
group (23.6%), as well as among all the meso-environmental factors ex-

amined. This reflects a concern about the harmful role that this parame-
ter plays in conducting foreign business, usually expressed in the form
of tariff/nontariff barriers, prohibited country destinations, and product
restrictions. Contrary to the high level of attention given to political-legal
forces in academic textbooks, international marketing educators down-
played its importance, as indicated by the fact that they ranked it in sev-
enth position overall. Again, educators’ views about the significance of
the variables comprising this environment differed markedly from ac-
tual textbook coverage. For instance, political situation/stability/risk,
although considered important by the great majority (89.6%) of the sur-
vey participants (probably because of its serious impact on reducing
marketing effectiveness or ceasing entire business operations in foreign
markets), did not receive analogous emphasis in textbooks.
The third component refers to the technological environment, which,
despite its crucial role in dramatically changing the international mar-
keting scene, represented only a small proportion (19.1%) of the total
pages written on the meso-environment and was ranked in fifth position
overall (see third part of Table 2). Most of the emphasis in this category
was on the research and development activity taking place in interna-
tional markets (29.7%), a subject of particular concern to multinational
firms exploring alternative research and development and/or manufac-
turing locations. Another widely covered factor was information tech-
nology (21.8%), which in recent years has significantly changed the
way international marketing activities are being conducted, such as
gathering adequate and timely data, targeting specific customer groups
more efficiently, and preparing winning marketing programs. The tech-
nological environment received a very low ranking in the educators’
survey, and, contrary to academic textbooks, the emphasis was mainly
on the level of scientific/technological skills (85.8%) and consumption
technology (64.6%). Indeed, the former is a vital factor for multina-
tional firms in staffing their overseas production facilities, while the lat-
ter is crucial in determining whether to adapt or standardize products
according to the needs of foreign consumers.
International Micro-Environmental Factors
Marketing intermediaries help the company to promote, sell, and dis-

tribute its products in international markets, and include such firms as
distributors, logistics companies, marketing services agencies, and fi-
nancial institutions. Intermediaries are of particular significance in in-
ternational marketing because of the numerous complexities faced by

firms selling their goods to foreign markets. This explains why more
than two-fifths (44.7%) of the material written on the micro-environ-
ment refers to issues relating to marketing intermediaries, placing this
category in the second position overall (see first part of Table 3). Here,
the factor that received the widest coverage (an average of 5.6 pages) is
the structure/operation of the distribution system (29.8%), which, be-
cause of its different nature in various countries, implies adjustments in
the way the company’s product can be made available to the end-user.
This is followed by the availability/quality of advertising and promo-
tion agencies (17.6%), whose role in providing assistance to international
marketers is well acknowledged because of the peculiarities involved in
communicating effectively with end-users in different countries. As op-
posed to the strong emphasis received in academic textbooks, educators
rated marketing intermediaries relatively modestly (fifth position). Fol-
lowing the pattern observed in other environmental categories, the im-
portance attached to the various items contained in this category did not
match their coverage in the textbooks. For example, although availabil-
ity/quality of research agencies and existence of warehousing facilities
were regarded as significant by three-quarters of the survey partici-
pants, they were only marginally covered in textbooks.
International marketers do not operate in a vacuum, but have to face
competition in giving their foreign customers value and satisfaction. Al-
though critical in many respects, this micro-environmental component
has not been adequately explored in academic textbooks, receiving sev-
enth position in terms of coverage (see second part of Table 3). Two in-
terrelated factors attracted most of the attention in this category: The
first refers to competitors’ advantage(s) (18.6%), which the firm needs
to become aware of to make the necessary adjustments to its own
marketing strategies, while the second focuses on competitors’ strategy/
behavior (18.6%), the understanding of which is crucial in taking precau-
tionary measures against future actions by the competition. Compared
with textbook coverage, participants in the educators’ survey stressed
more the significance of competition and ranked this in fourth position.
About four-fifths (80.9%) of them considered competitors’ market
share as a crucial factor that warranted in-depth examination, probably
because it provides an indicator of how well they perform in foreign
markets, as well as of the specific strategies followed. This variable also
received relatively adequate coverage in academic textbooks. However,
for the remaining items in this category, textbook coverage was not con-
TABLE 3. The International Micro-Environment
(#) (#) (#) (#) (%) (%) (%) (%)
Availability/quality of research 2.1 1.7 0.0 4.7 1.9 5. 11.2 76.6
agencies
Availability/cost of shipping firms 1.3 2.3 0.0 7.6 1.2 3.1 6.9 34.0
Availability/capability/cost 0.3 0.8 0.0 2.8 0.3 0.7 1.6 6.4
of suppliers
Existence of warehousing facili- 0.6 1.1 0.0 3.4 0.5 1.4 3.2 74.5
ties
Availability/quality of 3.3 3.1 0.0 12.2 2.9 7.9 17.6 31.9
advertising/promotion agencies
Bank/financial services 1.1 1.9 0.0 5.2 1.0 2.6 5.8 44.7
Trade promotion organizations 1.9 1.9 0.0 5.3 1.7 4.5 10.1 10.6
Structure/operation 5.6 3.9 0.0 12.2 4.9 13.3 29.8 10.6
of distribution system
Availability/types 1.4 2.4 0.0 9.0 1.2 3.3 7.4 6.4
of wholesalers/retail
Mass media organizations 1.2 1.4 0.0 4.1 1.0 2.9 6.4 1.4
Total Intermediary 18.8 12.3 0.0 66.5 16.6 44.7 100.0 5th rank
Number of competitors 0.4 0.9 0.0 3.0 0.3 0.9 5.7 63.8
Origin of competitors 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.9 0.1 0.2 1.4 2.1
Size/growth of competitors 0.9 0.3 0.0 1.0 0.8 2.1 12.9 25.5
Competitors’ market share 1.0 1.4 0.0 5.5 0.9 2.4 14.3 80.9
Competitors’ strategy/behavior 1.3 2.1 0.0 8.6 1.1 3.1 18.6 34.0
119
120
TABLE 3 (continued)
(#) (#) (#) (#) (%) (%) (%) (%)
Competitors’ presence/ 0.5 0.8 0.0 2.3 0.4 1.2 7.1 29.8
experience
Competitors’ technology 0.2 0.7 0.0 2.6 0.2 0.5 2.8 1.4
Competitors’ capabilities/ 0.4 0.7 0.0 1.9 0.4 1.0 5.7 38.3
skills
Competitors’ price/quality 0.9 1.5 0.0 5.2 0.8 2.1 12.9 21.3
position
Competitors’ advantage(s) 1.3 1.4 0.0 3.8 1.1 3.1 18.6 4.3
Total Competition 7.0 4.8 0.0 34.8 6.1 16.6 100.0 4th rank
Demand seasonality 0.2 0.7 0.0 3.1 0.2 0.5 2.0 76.1
Market entry/exit barriers 2.2 2.4 0.0 7.3 1.9 5.2 21.5 34.8
Demand elasticity 0.2 0.4 0.0 1.3 0.2 0.5 2.0 19.6
Market size 1.4 2.8 0.0 11.0 1.2 3.3 13.7 15.2
Stage of market development 0.8 1.6 0.0 5.1 0.7 1.9 7.8 45.7
Market structure 1.1 1.5 0.0 4.2 1.0 2.6 10.8 10.9
Market growth 0.5 1.1 0.0 4.5 0.4 1.2 4.9 84.8
Demand conditions 0.9 2.9 0.0 12.2 0.8 2.1 8.8 4.3
Product variety/substitutes 1.0 1.9 0.0 7.3 0.9 2.4 9.8 10.9
Price levels/escalation 1.9 2.5 0.0 8.6 1.7 4.5 18.7 1.4
Total Market 10.2 5.7 0.0 64.6 9.0 24.2 100.0 3rd rank
Consumer preferences/tastes/ 0.9 1.3 0.0 3.7 0.8 2.1 14.8 97.9
expectations
Consumption patterns/ 0.7 1.2 0.0 4.2 0.6 1.7 11.5 12.5
characteristics
Product usage/behavior 0.3 0.7 0.0 2.7 0.3 0.7 4.9 14.6
Consumer buying roles 1.6 1.8 0.0 6.1 1.4 3.9 26.2 35.4
Consumer loyalty 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.8 0.1 0.2 1.6 37.5
Price/quality sensitivity 0.3 0.7 0.0 2.3 0.3 0.7 4.9 22.9
Purchasing power 0.8 1.3 0.0 4.2 0.7 1.9 13.1 56.3
Purchasing/shopping patterns 0.1 0.5 0.0 2.2 0.1 0.2 1.6 4.2
Consumer ethnocentrism 0.4 0.6 0.0 2.0 0.3 1.0 6.6 14.6
Customer demographics/ 0.9 1.5 0.0 5.0 0.8 2.1 14.8 6.3
characteristics
Total Customer 6.1 4.0 0.0 33.2 5.4 14.5 100.0 2nd rank
121
sistent with the importance attached to them by the participants in the

survey.
The market provides the framework within which the company’s ac-
tual and potential buyers operate, and as such to a large extent deter-
mines its operations. This component represented approximately a
quarter (24.2%) of the pages written on micro-environmental factors,
and was ranked fourth overall (see third part of Table 3). Here, the most
widely covered topic was market entry/exit barriers (21.5%) underlying
the hurdles that many companies face in entering (e.g., long geographic
distances, trade barriers, and government regulations) and/or exiting
(e.g., nonrecoverable investments, binding agreements with distribu-
tors, and personnel hired for a long period of time) appropriate foreign
markets. Extensive coverage was also given to price levels/escalation
(18.7%), one of the most common reasons for a firm losing its competi-
tiveness in international markets. Most textbooks give particular atten-
tion to explaining how prices can escalate when selling abroad, as a
result of factors such as extra transportation costs, higher foreign taxa-
tion, and longer distribution channels. Survey participants also evalu-
ated this category highly, but again the significance attached to each
individual item was not consistent with the emphasis given to them in
textbooks. A case in point is market growth, which although regarded as
crucial by 84.8% of the respondents, received relatively scant attention
in international marketing textbooks.
Customers are inextricably linked with markets and provide the very
focus of international marketing activity. Despite this, the final compo-
nent of the micro-environment received relatively low attention in text-
books (14.5%), probably because some issues relating to customers
were indirectly covered in other environmental categories, such as de-
mographic, socio-cultural, and market (see fourth part of Table 3). Most
of the emphasis in the textbooks examined was on the alternative con-
sumer buying roles adopted (e.g., decider, purchaser, user) in foreign
countries and their impact on designing effective marketing strategies,
representing more than a quarter (26.2%) of all pages written about cus-
tomers. In next position were customer demographics/characteristics
(14.8%), which, as the previous analysis of the macro-environment has
shown, is very country specific, affecting target marketing strategies ac-
cordingly. Customer preferences/tastes/expectations were also in this
position (14.8%), stressing the fact that consumer needs vary among,
but also within, nations, as a result of differences in tradition, income,
and education, requiring an analogous adjustment for the elements of
the marketing mix. Customer preferences/tastes/expectations were also
considered important by almost all participants in the educators’ survey,

who overall ranked customers as the second most important environ-

mental category. With regard to the remaining variables in this category,
however, there was a great mismatch between textbook coverage and
perceived importance by scholars.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
Several conclusions can be derived from the content analysis of inter-

national marketing textbooks:
1. There are numerous environmental factors with a potentially dif-

ferent impact on international marketing strategy, which have
received a different amount of coverage by authors in the field.
2. On the whole, meso-environmental factors are more extensively
examined compared with their counterparts in the micro- and
macro-environments.
3. Despite the different emphasis placed on each factor, it seems that
those related to political-legal aspects, marketing intermediaries,
and economic parameters are the most widely covered.
4. The specific individual factors attracting the greatest attention in-
cluded government/control protectionism, structure/operation of
the distribution system, business/marketing regulatory system,
international association/organization membership of a foreign
country, and political situation/stability/risk.
The study among international marketing scholars revealed that their

evaluations of the various components of the macro-environment were
relatively low, which is in harmony with the low coverage given to aca-
demic textbooks. In the case of the meso-environment, although politi-
cal-legal factors were extensively covered, educators perceived them as
being less significant. The opposite was true with regard to economic
factors, which, despite their low textbook coverage, were found ex-
tremely important. It also seems that, contrary to the modest emphasis
placed on the various components of the micro-environment, educators
are very deeply concerned about each of them, probably due to their
more immediate impact on international marketing strategy. Apart from
the above-mentioned differences at the category level, significant gaps
between textbook coverage and educators’ emphasis existed for the
great majority of the individual environmental items examined.
The variations found in the contents of the academic textbooks re-

viewed, as well as the mismatch observed between the emphasis placed

by textbooks on the various components of the international marketing
environment and the importance attached to them by educators, can be
explained on four major grounds:
1. Managerial relevance. If managers consider a particular factor
critical to conducting their international marketing activities
(e.g., trade barriers, distribution systems, foreign direct invest-
ment), it is likely to receive more attention in textbooks.
2. Academic impact. An environmental topic which has been exten-
sively investigated by academic scholars, because it provides an
important/innovative issue and/or because it comes as an indirect
request from business practitioners, may attract more emphasis.
3. Information availability. The prevalence of sufficient and readily
available secondary and/or primary data on a specific environ-
mental aspect may induce a more lengthy textbook coverage.
4. Author’s interest. Environmental topics that have been on the
individual author’s research agenda, practical experience, or even
personal preferences may stimulate a more extensive coverage.
This disparity between textbook content and educators’ needs re-
veals an interesting dilemma in marketing education: Do authors have
to write books according to the specific requirements and suggestions of
educators, or do educators need to rely on what authors consider impor-
tant and useful? In our opinion, these two approaches are not mutually
exclusive, but are complementary to each other. On the one hand, it is
important to evaluate educators’ needs, and identify knowledge areas
that are deemed crucial, interesting, and innovative to be communicated
to students. On the other hand, it is imperative to bring to the surface
issues which may be ignored by educators (but considered essential by
practitioners) and/or provide leading edge knowledge that has been re-
cently generated or is on the verge of being developed. The ultimate aim
is to acquire, organize, and present in a comprehensive, coherent, and
attractive manner state-of-the-art knowledge that will be of value to the
students of today and the international marketing managers of tomorrow.
IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY
Irrespective of the possible motives underlying the emphasis placed

on environmental factors in international marketing textbooks, as well
as the different importance attached to them by international marketing

scholars, our analysis of the international marketing environment could

be useful to various interested parties. Marketing educators could bene-
fit from the findings of this study, since this exhaustive review has
helped to identify the key determinants of the international marketing
environment and classify them into a comprehensive framework. This
could provide a very useful tool for helping current and prospective
students of international marketing to gain an integrative picture of the
major parameters describing the marketing environment in various
countries. In particular, the categorization of the various environmental
factors into macro, meso, and micro, as well as the specific subcatego-
ries identified, could help to achieve an easier understanding of their
nature, composition, and interrelationships.
Business managers could design successful international marketing
strategies to accommodate the peculiarities characterizing the unique
marketing environment prevailing in foreign markets. For this reason, it
is essential for firms interested in succeeding in these markets to invest
in establishing sound mechanisms that will help scan the characteristics
of this environment and monitor its changes over time. In this respect,
the list of 100 factors developed in this study could be used as a diagnos-
tic tool by managers in auditing: (1) the relevance of each factor to do-
ing business in global markets; (2) the particular importance/emphasis
attached to this factor; and (3) the specific implications that this may
have in designing appropriate international marketing programs (see
Appendix B).
Public policy-makers could also capitalize on the results of this study
in a number of ways. For instance, they could prepare profiles of current
and potential country-markets with an interest to target, based on the set
of international marketing environment characteristics identified in this
study. Using these characteristics, they could also embark on a segmen-
tation exercise that would help to trace those countries offering the best
opportunities and the least threats for current and would-be foreign sell-
ers. This information should be disseminated to indigenous firms with
an interest in foreign business activities through special reports, semi-
nars, and conferences. Most importantly, local firms need not only be-
come familiar with the marketing environments of targeted countries,
but also learn how to deal effectively with these environments. This
could be achieved by offering training programs that would include, for
example, case studies, field trips abroad, and simulation exercises.
Finally, academic researchers could build on the results of this study
by taking a number of actions. An empirical study should be undertaken
to determine the perceived importance attached to each environmental

factor by practitioners in the field, as well as measure its specific impact

on adapting the elements of the firm’s international marketing strategy.
Such a study could also examine the background effects of the interna-
tional marketing environment on the company’s performance in over-
seas markets. To obtain a wider view of the role that environment plays
in international marketing, it would be illuminating to incorporate in the
analysis firms belonging to various industrial groups, operating in dif-
ferent geographic countries/regions, and following different modes of
foreign market entry. The usefulness of the study could be augmented if
a longitudinal approach were adopted to see which parts of the environ-
ment are changing more rapidly than others, and whether international
marketing strategy is adjusted accordingly.
NOTES
1. There was another attempt in the past to provide a citation analysis of 15 interna-
tional marketing textbooks, which found great variability of the subject matter covered
(Jaffe 1997). This was attributed either to the possibility that authors had tried to differ-
entiate their work from that of others or to the lack of consensus about the structure and
content of the international marketing discipline.
2. The final list included textbooks written by the following authors: Albaum,
Strandscov, and Duerr (2002), Bennett (2002), Bradley (2002), Cateora and Graham
(2002), Czinkota and Ronkainen (2004), De Búrca, Fletcher, and Brown (2004), Doole
and Lowe (2001), Douglas and Craig (1995), Hollensen (2004), Jeannet and Hennessey
(2003), Johansson (2003), Keegan (2002), Kotabe and Helsen (2001), Mühlbacher,
Dahringer, and Helmuth (1999), Onkvisit and Shaw (2004), Paliwoda, Thomas, and
James (1998), and Terpstra and Sarathy (2000).
3. Although the most commonly accepted classification of the marketing environ-
ment has traditionally been based on the macro/micro typology, with macro-environ-
mental forces being noncontrollable and micro-environmental factors being controllable
(Kotler and Armstrong 2004), exhaustive discussions with marketing academics indi-
cated that certain components of the macro-environment could be indirectly controlled
by the firm.
4. By setting these limits, some of the items had to incorporate multiple dimen-
sions, as in the case of “government controls/protectionism” which included tariff and
nontariff barriers, embargoes, and foreign government restrictions on pricing. This
helped to avoid any loss of information relating to the key words taken out from the ini-
tial list.
5. Notably, in rare cases an item could completely cover a full page or pages. For
this reason, it was important to count the exact number of lines devoted to the item,
and based on the average number of lines contained in a page of a textbook, the exact
page proportion was calculated. In addition, since an item could be covered not only
by text, but also by tables/graphs, the proportion of the page space occupied by
tables/graphs was also measured.
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Submitted: January 2006

First Revision: June 2006
Second Revision: October 2006
Accepted: November 2006
doi:10.1300/J066v18n02_06
APPENDIX A
International Marketing Educators’ Evaluative Criteria for International Market-

ing Textbooks (n = 71)
Evaluative Criteria Descending Order Top Three Reasons Top Three Reasons
of Importance for Adopting for Deselecting
(Rank) Specific International Other Textbooks
Marketing Textbook (%)
(%)
Readability/succinct way 2 49.3 65.2
of presenting material
Adequate coverage of 1 84.5 60.9
subject matter
Comprehensive 3 62.9 43.5
explanation of topics
covered
Organization/sequence of 5 14.3 14.5
material presented
Friendly to use by the 4 67.1 63.8
instructor and students
Support text with 6 7.1 2.9
graphs/charts/
illustrations
Presentation of relevant 7 4.3 2.9
illustrations/pictures
Provision of examples/ 8 1.4 7.2
case studies/video cases
Updated/wide 11 2.9 4.3
bibliography
Availability of Instructor’s 9 7.1 18.8
manual/material
Reputation of the 10 5.7 8.7
textbook’s author(s)
APPENDIX B
Diagnostic Tool for Analyzing the International Marketing Environment
Environmental Variable Score Environmental Variable Score

1. Geographical location Total socio-cultural
2. Geographic distance 31. Per capita income
3. Territorial size 32. Foreign exchange
4. Topography/terrain rates/controls
5. Climatic conditions 33. Availability/Cost
of economic resources
6. Type of natural resources
34. Labor conditions/
7. Size of natural resources unemployment
8. Water/other vital resources 35. Balance of payment
9. Environmental pollution debt/servicing
10. Environmental protection 36. Public finances/public
issues debt
Total physical 37. Inflation rate/Price controls
11. Population size 38. Economic infrastructure
12. Population age/structure 39. Foreign direct investment
13. Population density 40. Income distribution/growth
14. Geographic distribution of Total economic
population 41. Political situation/
15. Family/household size stability/risk
16. Urbanization rate 42. Political system/ideology
17. Population growth 43. Business/marketing
regulatory system
18. Ethnic groups
44. Government attitude towards
19. Family structure/life-cycle foreign business
20. Social class stratification 45. Government controls/
Total demographic protectionism
21. Customs and traditions 46. Government business
22. Roles, status, and services
symbols 47. Efficiency of government
23. Religion/religious groups procedures
24. Education level/type 48. Business/intellectual right
protection
25. Value systems, beliefs,
attitudes 49. International association/
organization member
26. Language/nonverbal
communication 50. Government foreign policy
27. Lifestyle patterns Total political-legal
28. Aesthetics 51. Level of scientific/
technological skills
29. Social institutions/
representations 52. Production
technology/techniques
30. Material possessions/
elements 53. Consumption
technology
Environmental Variable Score Environmental Variable Score

54. Information technology 76. Competitors’ presence/

55. Internet accessibility experience
56. Rate of technological 77. Competitors’ technology
change 78. Competitors’
57. Satellite accessibility capabilities/skills
58. Communications 79. Competitors’ price/
technology quality position
59. Research & 80. Competitors’ advantage(s)
Development activity Total competition
60. Transportation 81. Demand seasonality
technology 82. Market entry/exit barriers
Total technological 83. Demand elasticity
61. Availability/quality 84. Market size
of research agencies
85. Stage of market
62. Availability/cost development
of shipping firms
86. Market structure
63. Availability/capability/
cost of suppliers 87. Market growth
64. Existence of warehousing 88. Demand conditions
facilities 89. Product variety/substitutes
65. Availability/quality 90. Price levels/escalation
of advertising agencies
Total market
66. Bank and other financial
services 91. Consumer preferences/
tastes/expectations
67. Trade promotion
organizations 92. Consumption patterns/
characteristics
68. Structure/operation
of distribution system 93. Product usage/behavior
69. Availability/types 94. Consumer buying roles
of wholesaler/retailers 95. Consumer loyalty
70. Mass media organizations 96. Price/quality sensitivity
Total intermediary 97. Purchasing power
71. Number of competitors 98. Purchasing/shopping
72. Origin of competitors patterns
73. Size/growth of competitors 99. Consumer ethnocentrism
74. Competitors’ market share 100. Customer demographics/
characteristics
75. Competitors’ strategy/
behavior Total customer
Note: Scoring is based on an eleven-point measurement scale, ranging from 0 (minimum) to 10 (maxi-
mum). This can be applied to measure the relevance, importance, or strategic implication of each environ-
mental factor.

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This article was downloaded by: [Universitat Politècnica de València]

On: 21 October 2014, At: 12:30

The International Marketing

To cite this article: Leonidas C. Leonidou , John S. Kaminarides & John S.

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J066v18n02_06

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Textbook Content versus Educators’ Views

ABSTRACT. The article analyzes the content of 18 international mar-

Dr. Leonidas C. Leonidou is Professor of Marketing, University of Cyprus. Dr. John

international marketing environment, and the coverage provided in aca-

demic textbooks. doi:10.1300/J066v18n02_06 [Article copies available for

KEYWORDS. International marketing, environmental factors, content

The international marketing environment has been repeatedly cited in

affect the formulation of sound marketing strategies. This is in contrast

to developments in empirical research into international marketing,

1. The extant empirical literature on international marketing envi-

EMPIRICAL RESEARCH ON INTERNATIONAL

The international marketing environment has been empirically ex-

1. Information on customers and competitors was considered highly

2. Information on economic, socio-cultural, and political-legal is-

sues were also found to be of moderate to high importance to in-

To identify the academic textbooks relevant to the study, both man-

demic orientation, that is, to have as a target audience business students,

to physical/natural elements, demography, sociological/cultural issues,

economy, political/legal aspects, technology, marketing intermediaries,

FIGURE 1. The International Marketing Environment

Competitors Company Market

of the 10 environments and was asked to match these to 10 untitled

groups listing the environmental items already categorized. Any discrep-

1. Codification. The information contained in each textbook was

5. Data entry. The information contained in the edited coding sheets

were entered in a special statistical packaging program for analy-

Our analysis of international marketing textbooks was supplemented

international marketing environment in the 18 academic textbooks was

International Macro-Environmental Factors

The physical environment consists of all those characteristics that re-

TABLE 1. The International Macro-Environment

micro-environment (see second part of Table 1). Two elements of this

category have attracted particular attention in international marketing

by the vast majority of respondents, probably due to its crucial role in

maintaining/transferring culture and fostering communication between

International Meso-Environmental Factors

The economic environment consists of factors that affect consumer

TABLE 2. The International Meso-Environment

group (23.6%), as well as among all the meso-environmental factors ex-

International Micro-Environmental Factors

Marketing intermediaries help the company to promote, sell, and dis-

ternational marketing because of the numerous complexities faced by

TABLE 3. The International Micro-Environment

sistent with the importance attached to them by the participants in the

considered important by almost all participants in the educators’ survey,

who overall ranked customers as the second most important environ-

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Several conclusions can be derived from the content analysis of inter-

1. There are numerous environmental factors with a potentially dif-

The study among international marketing scholars revealed that their

The variations found in the contents of the academic textbooks re-

viewed, as well as the mismatch observed between the emphasis placed

IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY

Irrespective of the possible motives underlying the emphasis placed

as the different importance attached to them by international marketing

scholars, our analysis of the international marketing environment could

to determine the perceived importance attached to each environmental