 |  International Business : The Challenge of Global Competition, 8/e Donald Ball
Wendell H. McCulloch,
California State University Long Beach
Paul L. Frantz,
California State University Long Beach
Michael Geringer,
California Polytechnic State University
Michael S. Minor,
University of Texas Pan American
Marketing Internationally
Internet AssignmentsStudents: Included here are some internet/case assignments that you can use to review
or that your instructor may give as assignments. Your instructors have been
given the answers to these questions and may choose to give them out to you
or not.
This case is designed to:
- Provide you with more exposure to the marketing concept of total product;
- Allow you to experience total product similarities and differences of a
virtual product; and
- Compare and contrast total product similarities and differences between
Amazon.com in the United States and Amazon.co.uk in the United Kingdom.
Chapter 16 of the text, "Marketing Internationally," deals in part with
product strategies that international marketing managers must deal with. The product
is the central focus of the marketing mix. Promotion, price-cutting and distribution
are of no use if the product fails to satisfy the needs of consumers. In formulating
product strategies, however, the international marketing manager must be cognizant
of the fact that the product is not just one item. The international marketing
manager must focus on the total product. The total product is what the customer
buys, including the physical product, brand name, accessories, after-sales service,
warranty, instructions for use, company image and package.
To illustrate this point, consider Amazon.com. You might think that Amazon.com
is not a product, but rather an outlet that sells products. In some ways, you're
right. In other ways, however, Amazon.com has blurred the distinction between
products per se and providers of products, especially when one considers the concept
of total product.
Amazon.com has become a model for E-Commerce by putting market share ahead of
profits and making acquisitions funded by meteoric market capitalization. In doing
so, it has fundamentally changed some of the rules of the game. In other ways,
the rules of the game are the same - the consumer still must buy the product!
Amazon.com began as the "Earth's biggest book store." It is rapidly
becoming the "Earth's biggest anything store," at least in the United
States. Its main site offers millions of books, CDs, DVDs, videos, toys, tools
and electronics. In addition, Amazon.com conducts auctions for items ranging from
art to real estate. It also offers services including a scheduler, address book
and a comparison-shopping tool.
In addition to its US site, Amazon.com has a United Kingdom site http://www.amazon.co.uk
, a German site ;lt;http://www.amazon.de;gt;, a French site http://www.amazon.fr,
and a Japanese site http://www.amazon.co.jp
. Notice the differences in the URLs!
Case Instructions:
Examine the home page of Amazon.com in the United States http://www.amazon.com
and the home page of Amazon.co.uk in the United Kingdom http://www.amazon.co.uk
.
Answer the following:
- List ten similarities between the US site and the UK site.
- List ten differences between the US site and UK site.
- What could be some of the reasons for the differences?
- Go to the French site http://www.amazon.fr
, the German site http://www.amazon.de
and the Japanese site http://www.amazon.co.jp
. Does it appear that Amazon standardized the basic appearance of its sites,
i.e., product, across countries? Explain your answer.
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2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education