Global marketing research is meant to provide adequate data and cogent analysis for effective decision making on a global scale. The analytic research techniques practiced by domestic businesses can be applied to international marketing projects. The key difference is in the complexity of assignments because of the additional variables that international researchers must take into account. Global marketers have to judge the comparability of their data across a number of markets and are frequently faced with making decisions based on the basis of limited data. Because of this, the researcher must approach the research task with flexibility, resourcefulness, and ingenuity.

Traditionally, marketing research has been charged with the following three broad areas of responsibility:

• Environmental studies. Given the added environmental complexity of global marketing, managers need timely input on various national environments.
• Market studies. One of the tasks that researchers most frequently face is to determine the size of a market and the needs of potential customers.
• Competitive studies. Another important task for the international marketing researcher is to provide insights about competitors, both domestic and foreign.

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