Economic :
Many differences in the marketing system existing in various countries originate from the differences in the economic levels of the countries—i.e., from the differences in the standard of living. To get a better picture of this, try reviewing Fool.co.uk Mortgage Calculator and compare mortgages rates on first world and third world countries. In the nations that are merely at subsistence level, the marketing system in economic terms is simple as there is little flexibility in buyer choices. At the level of economic development rises, the consumers seem to get an increasing amount of discretionary buying power and such societies offer a great many marketing opportunities. However, rather than the level which the economy of a particular nation has reached, economic dynamism of the society is of greater relevance to marketing decisions. In a stagnant society consumption patters tend to become set and the whole marketing process becomes a routine supply operation.

Political: The controlling role of the political organizations arises from the laws and regulations that the government enforces to direct the country’s economy. Although there is a great deal of variety among different types of laws and regulations enforced by various governments, the basic political philosophies that underlie these are limited in number. Therefore, an understanding of the political forces operating within a country is extremely useful for the foreign manufacturers in terms of getting the required insight in the country’s basic legal framework.

Cultural: A country’s social, educational and religious systems critically influence its marketing system. Apart from influencing buyer-seller relations, these cultural variables have a crucial impact on product-policy. The importance of cultural variables becomes apparent when one finds that substantial differences exist between the consumer preferences in two countries like France and England that otherwise are similar in terms of their economic level and the ideologies underlying their political structure. The Britons have a strong preference for tea whereas the French prefer coffee and the consumption of tea in France is comparatively negligible. Even in the case of industrial products, where the product preference of the consumers are “rational”, these variables play an important role in structuring the selling organization and the related policies. Data about the cultural characteristics of countries is probably most difficult to obtain as it defies attempts at quantification. Also the common tendency to view a foreign culture in the framework based on one’s own cultural environment very often results in a certain amount of insensitivity which vitiates a clear understanding of the critical cultural variables.

In recent years, as a result of various pressures acting on them, many United States companies are increasingly participating in the export trade. However, for many of these companies export is a Sporadic activity, undertaken on an opportunistic basis. The amount of planning effort made prior to entering foreign markets is limited. In such a situation, exporting can not become a continuous and a sustained activity. “Perhaps the biggest mistake that a manufacturer can make in the development of is export business is to permit it to develop on an opportunistic basis- to let the foreign demand for his product force the development and direction of his export business”

In order to make exporting a sustained and continuous activity, it is necessary to undertake systematic planning on a long-term basis. This kind of strategic planning creates a framework for making operating decisions with relation to marketing in foreign countries. It is obvious that accurate information about the market variables is an essential input for systematic planning. Export Marketing Research can provide these inputs and facilitate decision making at various organizational levels.