Tasmanian Export Readiness & Research

This assignment analyzes Tasmania's growing export sector, focusing on its seafood, education, and agricultural products. It examines government initiatives supporting exporters and emphasizes the importance of research methodologies like QuestionPro and Liveminds for understanding market trends and risks associated with exporting. The document concludes by highlighting the benefits of efficient research tools for achieving profitability in international markets.

Running Head: International Marketing
International Marketing
Market research tools

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Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Research Methods......................................................................................................................2
Bottom up forecasting............................................................................................................2
Delphi technique.....................................................................................................................2
Model Building.......................................................................................................................2
Projection................................................................................................................................3
Scenario Planning...................................................................................................................3
Surveys of intentions..............................................................................................................3
Top down forecasting.............................................................................................................4
Research tools and software.......................................................................................................4
QuestionPro............................................................................................................................4
Liveminds...............................................................................................................................4
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................4
References..................................................................................................................................5

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Introduction
Research methods are used extensively by every organization. They can be used to forecast
demand, decide on selling price and hence gain an estimate on the profits of the business.
Various research methods are beneficial in different situations. This report throws light on
seven different methods of conducting research and examples have been taken to elaborate
the same. Examples are from the export industry of Tasmania in order to gain an insight on
international marketing.
Research Methods
Bottom up forecasting
This method is in contrast with top down research approach. As the name suggests, this
method calculates the expected revenue of different products in different product lines in
order to calculate the sales forecast of the entire firm. In case of exporting Tasmanian
products, bottom up forecasting would include computing revenue that can be generated from
various products that can be exported by different firms and thence calculating total revenue
earned by Tasmania exports.
This method can be applied to Tasmanian export of seafood in china. 24.6% of total exports
from Tasmania have been to China (ABC news, 2016). Seafood is a very large product line
and using bottom up forecasting will make it easy to get an idea of overall demand. For
example, Rock lobster is the highest in demand seafood item in china followed by Salmon
and oysters. Calculating individual demands for these products will lead to an understanding
of overall demand from China.
Delphi technique
Delphi method of forecasting can help gain an insight on the demand of Tasmania products in
the international markets. This technique involves sending questionnaires to a panel and
receiving answers anonymously. The panel selected usually consists of experts on the matter.
Several rounds of questions are sent out and the results of them help understand what the
group thinks. Delphi technique can particularly help in establishing which product has a
buying market and in which international country.

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For Example USA consumes a very high quantity of beer but at the same time, they require to
import over 13% of the beer that they consumer. The US beer is a $107.6 billion market
(Brewer Association, 2016). In this scenario Delphi technique can be used to gain an insight
of how much demand can be filled by Tasmania beer. Questionnaires can be sent to beer
sellers in US and get an idea on the kinds of beer consumed by US citizens. If there is a
supply gap, this research can help fill it.
Model Building
A model is an abstract representation of a real world object or solution. Since it is an abstract,
it is less complex than the actual situation. Models can be used to demonstrate the procedure
of exporting Tasmanian products to a different country. List of manufacturers and suppliers
in Tasmania and list of buyers, dealers and brokers in the importing country can be modelled
and relationships between these can be shown with the help of flowcharts. The model will
depict other relationships like government officers, PR agencies, customs agents and
transportation companies. This will help in providing the blueprint of the entire procedure
from procuring to selling products in international market.
Model building technique is extremely effective in selling new products to a country or
selling existing products to a new country. Tasmania is in talks with China to begin the
exports of blueberries. The proposal is on the verge of being finalized (The advocate, 2017).
This is when a model building technique will help Tasmania understand the demand in
China, Contact suppliers, government agencies, marketing teams and other brokers. In order
to understand the relationship between them, model building can be used.
Projective technique
Projective technique is a tool for undergoing a qualitative market research which
predominantly helps in establishing the emotions, feelings and thoughts that the consumers
have about a particular brand. This assists in understanding the clear positioning of the brand
in the minds of the consumers.
One example of performing a projective technique is to do an association test. In this test, the
subject is given a word or clue and is asked to state the first thing that comes to the mind of
the consumer. This helps in understanding the thought process of the subject better and will
eventually assist the brand in gaining a deeper insight of the consumer thought.

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Another example of this technique is to complete pictures of sentences wherein the subject is
provided with an incomplete picture or sentence and is asked to complete the same. This is
done to understand consumer needs and thinking ability.
This technique can be effectively used in tourism exports. Tasmania is slowly gaining
ground. In fact the exports from international tourism have risen by 4% in 2015 (UN WTO,
2016). There are lot of tourists who visit Tasmania every year (Discover Tasmania, 2017).
Researchers can organize games where the subjects would be asked to name their favourite
tourist spot, where did they see the Tasmania tourism advertisement. Those tourists can be
invited to participate in these games which would help in firstly engaging tourists and getting
first-hand feedback from them. This way, the country can work towards marketing tourist
spots that are most in demand and work to improve the ones that are not.
Scenario Planning
Scenario planning is a strategy used by various firms in order to predict their future
performance. Since various macro-environmental factors that the firm may have to face are
unknown, organizations prepare themselves by doing a scenario planning for various
unexpected situations that may occur. This strategy will help get an idea about how the
demand for Tasmania products will change if the importing country is faced with inflation,
recession, low growth, low consumption and/or change in interest rates. This will assist in
preparing for such unforeseen circumstances in advance and will help avoid losses.
Australian education exports is a $21.8bn dollar industry (University of Australia, 2017).
Scenario planning will help Tasmanian universities gain insight about how many students are
applying and for which course. This method will consider the status of importing universities
and their curriculum. For example, if Management graduate students are increasing in India,
then it is safe to expect that post graduate applications in Tasmania will rise from Indian
students. This scenario planning will help universities with the number and quality of
applicants and hence they can prepare themselves for the same.
Surveys of intentions
Surveys of intentions give the most realistic results to expected demands of the consumer in
the near future. These surveys are done to analyse which product the consumer is expected to
buy, in how much time and in what quantity. However, this is a tedious task and not much

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advised for firms exporting in international waters as it becomes very difficult to contact final
consumers. On the other hand, what an organization can do is take an expected sales forecast
from various dealers in the country and export products according to that analysis.
This method is used when the market is niche and it is easy to contact consumers. Australian
service industry is on an increasing trend. Service exports are growing at a pace of 9.4%
annually (Australian trade and investment commission, 2016). Education and tourism are
major service exports. But financial services exports are gaining ground. Since the final
consumers are large firms, it is easy to do a survey of intentions where information can be
gathered about how many and exactly what services are required in the upcoming year.
Top down forecasting
This is exactly opposite to bottom up approach. In this technique, firstly the entire market is
taken into consideration and then segmented as per the needs and demands of the consumers.
Based on this segmentation, target market is defined and then by researching in that particular
market, the demand of the product is forecasted. This will help to comprehend how many
goods from Tasmania need to be exported and in turn what would be the costs incurred by the
firm.
Top down approach can be used in order to research the market for precious and semi-
precious items. The reason why we use top down approach is because their selling price and
their market is dependent on the supply rather than the demand. Semiprecious ores exported
from Tasmania every year are based on their availability. Once data has been collected on
available resources overall, they can be distributed to different countries and to different
dealers efficiently in a top down approach.
Research tools and software
There are various research tools available in the market. Many organizations also build their
own tools in order to conduct their research. Two of the recently used tools are explained
below.
QuestionPro
This is an online survey software designed specifically to design, circulate and analyse
questionnaires. This is effective when we need to collect data from individuals or firms. This

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software will make a questionnaire as per the needs, circulate to a target audience as specific
by the user and later analyse the answers filled by them and provide recommendations.
Liveminds
This is qualitative research tool which brings experts on a single online platform and allows
discussion amongst them. The host can put forward a question and invite panellists. Every
participant can write 300 words per day and share images or other links on the same platform.
Conclusion
Tasmanian companies have shown their export readiness in the recent years and they are
hence able to gain support from the Tasmanian government in order to reduce time, cost and
risks associated with exporting (Tasmanian government, 2017). Whenever any country is
exporting, research methodology becomes very important as they help gain an insight on
what the future might hold and help be prepared for the same. Different research
methodologies come handy in different situations and must be used accordingly. Efficient use
of these research tools can help exporters gain profitability in their top line.

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References
ABC News, (2016), ‘Tasmanian seafood suppliers’, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-
08/tasmanian-seafood-suppliers-celebrate-export-value-jump/7075948?pfmredir=sm, viewed
on 19 September, 2017.
Australian trade and investment, (2016), ‘Australia’s services exports by trade’,
https://www.austrade.gov.au/news/economic-analysis/australias-services-exports-by-state,
viewed on 19 September, 2017.
Australian University, (2017), ‘Australia’s education exports at a record high’,
https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/Media-and-Events/media-releases/Australia-s-
education-exports-at-record-high#.WcDf88gjHIU, viewed on 19 September, 2017.
Brewer Association, (2016), ‘National beer sales and production data’,
https://www.brewersassociation.org/statistics/national-beer-sales-production-data/, viewed on
19 September, 2017.
Discover Tasmania, (2017), ‘About Tasmania’, http://www.discovertasmania.com.au/about,
viewed on 19 September, 2017.
Tasmanian Government, (2017), ‘Exporting your product’,
https://www.business.tas.gov.au/growing-and-improving-your-business/exporting-your-
product, viewed on 19 September, 2017.
The advocate, (2017), ‘Tasmanian blueberry exports back on agenda’,
http://www.theadvocate.com.au/story/4924189/keay-takes-blueberry-export-campaign-to-
federal-parliament/, viewed on 19 September, 2017.
UN WTO, (2016), ‘Exports from international tourism rise 4% in 2015’,
http://media.unwto.org/press-release/2016-05-03/exports-international-tourism-rise-4-2015,
viewed on 19 September, 2017.