Business today is a global enterprise, and “global marketing” and “global research” is an integral part of any successful business lexicon.  And rightfully so given the globalization of the world economy, and the precipitous growth of world trade volume and value.

• The World Trade Organization puts the annual global trade of goods and services at an estimated $15 trillion.
• Based on United Nations’ estimates, the world population will grow to 8.9 billion by 2050, and most of this growth will be in countries with average daily earning of less than $2.  Asia will account for two-thirds of the world population by 2050.
• And according to the World Bank, 25% of the world GDP will come from China by 2025.

In this ever-growing “borderless global marketplace” where established, emergent and developing economies compete side-by-side, marketers are constantly looking for an edge that will catapult their product or brand above the competition.  With this also comes the recognition that markets are less about the products, and more about the people.  You may have a global product or brand, but there is no such thing as a “global consumer.”  Success for a product will often depend on the marketers’ ability to exploit similarities and differences in consumer motivations.  And global research provides the understanding that marketers need to make informed decisions around the world.

Global research, however, is not easy.  Challenges confronted in any one region of the world are often quite different and unique to that geography.  Working with our clients across a range of product categories and countries, we at Forbes have developed a set of guidelines to successfully execute global research initiatives.  Here are some guidelines that should be taken into consideration when conducting global research:

• UNDERSTAND THE CULTURE – it is well-known that cultural idiosyncrasies influence how consumers think and act.  The better one understands these issues, the better one is equipped to design the research.  At Forbes, we have “Cultural Partners” in all leading international markets that provide background context on the consumers in general, as well as in how they relate to the research product category in particular.
• “TRANSCREATE,” DON’T TRANSLATE – transcreation ensures the true meaning and feeling of the text is not lost across cultures and languages.  Transcreation recreates the original English concept in another language by capturing the intent and meaning (connotation), as opposed to merely translating literal meaning (denotation).  For instance, informal phrases or sayings should not necessarily be translated, but substituted with more culturally appropriate ones.
• KNOW THE SAMPLING CHALLENGE – knowledge of sampling issues and implications related to use of online, in-person, or telephone data collection will ensure that the study sample is an unbiased representation of your target population.
• TAKE RESPONSE STYLE INTO ACCOUNT – cultural norms can influence the way respondents in some countries respond to survey questions, and especially those involving scales.  Use of scale neutral responses should be considered in such cases.  At Forbes, we have developed techniques that successfully overcome such scale biases.

These are a small sampling of the many considerations to plan for in successfully conducting your next global research project.