Conceptual Framework

Abstract

This chapter intends to present the main concepts and contingency factors pertaining to marketing-mix standardization/adaptation on international markets, their conceptual status in relation to each other as well as, based on previous theoretical and empirical works, to develop hypotheses to be tested on empirical grounds. In Chapter 3.1, the marketing-mix elements are introduced conceptually from an international marketing standardization perspective. Additionally, empirical findings are reviewed. In Chapter 3.2, four categories of contingency factors of standardization, identified in past research, will be presented: macro-environmental, micro-environmental, product related and organizational factors, while performance implications of marketing-mix standardization will be drawn in Chapter 3.3 (see Figure 5).