Challenges of Reliable Information for Decision Making in Indonesia

This essay delves into the challenges of obtaining reliable market information in emerging and developing economies (EDMEs), specifically focusing on Indonesia. It identifies three key pitfalls: language translation issues, data collection methods, and the impact of culture on response styles. The essay discusses how language nuances can affect data quality, the need for adapting data collection methods to suit local technological adoption (such as mobile-based surveys), and how cultural factors influence response styles, particularly the tendency towards collectivist cultures to provide agreeable answers. It recommends hiring local market researchers, adapting survey methods, and benchmarking new product studies against historical data to mitigate these challenges and improve the reliability of market research data in Indonesia. The paper concludes by emphasizing the importance of addressing these pitfalls for international businesses seeking to make informed decisions in the Indonesian market.

Running head: MARKET RESEARCH CHALLENGES IN EDMEs
Challenges of Reliable Information for International Decision Making
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

1MARKET RESEARCH CHALLENGES IN EDMEs
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Discussion........................................................................................................................................2
Pitfall 1: Translation Issue...........................................................................................................2
Pitfall 2: Data Collection Method................................................................................................4
Pitfall 3: Impact of Culture on Response Styles..........................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................7

2MARKET RESEARCH CHALLENGES IN EDMEs
Introduction
Doing business at international locations is always challenging due to the several external
forces such as market forces, competitive forces etc. Getting access to reliable data is even more
challenging. The level of the challenge gets increased when such things are related to emerging
and developing economies. This can be due to a number of pitfalls which do not just affect the
reliability of data but are also full of risks that can potentially harm the business (Terjesen,
Hessels & Li 2016, p. 302). There can be many barriers to accessing the reliable data such as
availability & reliability of data, inappropriate method for the data collection and reliability of
primary data suppliers. International managers can face these barriers due to various reasons like
basic infrastructures, cultural differences, political & legislative issues, accessibility and
communication barriers (Gorodnichenko & Talavera 2017, p. 257). The main purpose of this
study is to understand why international managers face challenges to get the reliable data from
emerging and developing economies such as Indonesia.
Discussion
Pitfall 1: Translation Issue
Language translation into the local language is one of the biggest pitfalls of doing market
research in emerging economy like Indonesia. There can be a few words missing from the
dictionary of other regions. For example, Russian people use many variants for the word “fresh”.
Each of the variants has a notable difference than the others. Such differences are lost when a
foreign language is translated into the Russian language (Sousa & Tan 2015, p. 89). ‘Thank you’
is used in America and the European countries as a matter of routine; however, in other parts of
the world, things can be different. For example, ‘thank you’ in India is often seen as ironic and

3MARKET RESEARCH CHALLENGES IN EDMEs
sarcasm. These few examples suggest one evident fact that language translation in terms of a
market survey is a potential challenge.
Such issues can affect the quality of data and also cause the adverse consequences. There
are various modes to enter a foreign location. Few of such options are merger & acquisition, joint
venturing, outsourcing and imports & exports. Imports & exports mode is the most
recommended form considering that minimal investments will be made. Exporting quality should
be good to get more orders in the future. Such requirements can be affected if the data lacks in
quality. A quality data is much more important than large-scale data to export the relevant
products (Cunha et al. 2014, p. 206).
Considering the above-mentioned challenge, it is advisable to hire local market
researchers who could help to convert the language and answer the data. This can possibly help
to overcome the issue which is quite probable with the international market research. However, it
is important for the local researchers to have the adequate tools and resources to conduct a deep
market research. It is particularly more a problem to get the data from rural customers than from
urban. It is, therefore, necessary for researchers to constantly innovate with strategies to get more
data. Reliability of the data should also be ensured (Cyr 2016, p. 241).
The market research industry in Indonesia is at its stagnant stage which means that the
recommended strategy to approach to local researchers will not work. The Indonesian
government has taken some positive moves to improve the business efficiency of the market
research industry. Efforts are also being given to align the practice with the global business
standard. However, it has not worked so far. Research agencies have so far struggled to
understand the needs of their clients. Moreover, recommendations were also not very effective.

4MARKET RESEARCH CHALLENGES IN EDMEs
These are due to the undetailed analysis of the data. Hence, businesses in Indonesia are desperate
for new research agencies (Asia-research.net 2018).
Pitfall 2: Data Collection Method
There was a time when the research was used to be done with pencil and paper or by the
telephone. Those days have gone now with the advent of digital surveys to conduct the internal
market research. However, it is also full of challenges as well as there are evident differences in
the worldwide adoption of digital technologies. Platform variance poses pressure on researchers
to design universal questions. Universal questionnaire and visual materials are designed
especially for laptops or PCs. However, there are regions where people are accessing the internet
for the first time on their mobile phones. Such facts make it necessary to also use mobile phones
for conducting the survey. Market researcher will need to design the questions in a way that it is
both accessible and less time consuming (Busnaina & Woodall 2015, p. 788).
In emerging and developing economies such as Indonesia, India, Turkey etc. people use
their laptops or PCs to access to market research. However, in few other parts of world mobile
phones are used. In those regions, the best way to generate the data and also reach to more
people can be effectively attained by doing a mobile-based survey. It is already happening in
developing nations like India and Africa. However, a mobile-based survey can also suffer a
failure while interacting with the Germans. Germans have a tendency to use the long words
which means that the questionnaire will easily make up a couple of pages. Moreover, participants
will need to invest a fair amount of time to go through the entire set of questions. It may test their
patience and can possibly encourage them to quit the survey half-way or even do not head for it
at all (Stromeyer et al. 2015, p.508).

5MARKET RESEARCH CHALLENGES IN EDMEs
However, Indonesia being the Asian countries should not have that much of an issue as
that in Germany. It is recommended to use the mobile phone based survey with people living in
Indonesia. It is advisable to use less text for a mobile-based survey. As stated earlier, a mobile
survey may not be that handful in Germany as people use the long words which will make the
survey paper a bit lengthier. Hence, it appears as if there are no such formats available to market
researchers which could be translated effectively between different regions. It is, therefore,
recommended to use the variety of versions of digital surveys to suit the feasibility of regions
(Chatterji et al. 2016, p.123).
Pitfall 3: Impact of Culture on Response Styles
Culture influences the response style. In certain cases, respondents are more susceptible
to indicating the strongest approval or disapproval on questions they are asked about. At their
disposal, they often seem like being bias to answering the questions. They tend to have a separate
response pattern which compels for making answers in either ‘yes’ or ‘no’. They make such
answers irrespective of what their feelings are. Such a tendency is very specific with a
collectivist culture which is commonly being found in the Asian countries. They are fuelled with
a feeling or tendency to maintain a healthy interpersonal harmony. They do it so because the
group is more important to them than individuals. This is why they intentionally try to keep the
group in harmony while sacrificing their personal opinion. That leads the Asian people to agree
on what they are asked about (Adeleye et al. 2015, p. 7).
Such places like Indonesia can be challenging at a time when it is needed to identify why
a particular product has failed to succeed. It is also difficult to test new innovations because the
international business has the unreliable data. It is like committing the mistake by relying on data

6MARKET RESEARCH CHALLENGES IN EDMEs
which has respondents intentionally making the invalid responses. When these people are asked
about a new product, they tend to give a very solid response to it with phrases like “it is truly a
very good idea”. They probably do it only to make a prompt ignorance of that new product
(Yang & Kang 2015, p. 94).
There have been methodological advances in recent decades in regards to dealing with
such tendency. One of such ways is simply to benchmark new product study against the
historical data of past launches. Historical data will consist of past releases and the pre-launch
responses of people. This can also help to know the discrepancy that is there in the responses and
what actually they did. The strategy can help international managers to conduct a detailed
statistical analysis in Indonesia about a future performance of a new product. Positive responses
can then be analyzed to know that higher ratings are of fewer values in countries like Indonesia
than that are in the United States and Western Europe. Going for relative rather than the absolute
differences will help to identify the response nature and the data reliability (Chatterji et al. 2016,
p. 127).
Conclusion
In summary, it can be concluded that language translation, data collection method and the
response styles are three pitfalls which will affect the market research in EDMEs like Indonesia.
Language translation can be made free from flaws by hiring the local market research agency;
however, Indonesia is struggling to have a reliable firm. A mobile application can be more
effective than online surveys made for laptops and PCs. However, this strategy might fail as well
in others parts of the world like Germany. For response styles, international managers must
conduct a detailed statistical analysis of the past products’ launches.

7MARKET RESEARCH CHALLENGES IN EDMEs

8MARKET RESEARCH CHALLENGES IN EDMEs
References
Adeleye, I., White, L., Ibeh, K. & Kinoti, A., 2015. The changing dynamics of international
business in Africa: Emerging trends and key issues. In The changing dynamics of international
business in Africa (pp. 1-12). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Asia-research.net 2018. Perspective: The Future of Market Research in Indonesia – ASIA
RESEARCH Magazine. [online] Asia-research.net. Available at:
https://asia-research.net/perspective-future-market-research-indonesia/ [Accessed 15 Aug. 2018].
Busnaina, I., & Woodall, T. 2015. Doing business in Libya: Assessing the nature and
effectiveness of international marketing programs in an evolving economy. International
Business Review, 24(5), pp.781-797.
Chatterji, A.K., Findley, M., Jensen, N.M., Meier, S. & Nielson, D., 2016. Field experiments in
strategy research. Strategic Management Journal, 37(1), pp.116-132.
Cunha, M.P.E., Rego, A., Oliveira, P., Rosado, P. & Habib, N., 2014. Product innovation in
resource‐poor environments: Three research streams. Journal of Product Innovation
Management, 31(2), pp.202-210.
Cyr, J., 2016. The pitfalls and promise of focus groups as a data collection method. Sociological
methods & research, 45(2), pp.231-259.
Gorodnichenko, Y. & Talavera, O., 2017. Price setting in online markets: Basic facts,
international comparisons, and cross-border integration. American Economic Review, 107(1),
pp.249-82.

9MARKET RESEARCH CHALLENGES IN EDMEs
Sousa, C.M. & Tan, Q., 2015. Exit from a foreign market: Do poor performance, strategic fit,
cultural distance, and international experience matter? Journal of International Marketing, 23(4),
pp.84-104.
Stromeyer, W.R., Miller, J.W., Sriramachandramurthy, R. & DeMartino, R., 2015. The prowess
and pitfalls of Bayesian structural equation modeling: Important considerations for management
research. Journal of Management, 41(2), pp.491-520.
Terjesen, S., Hessels, J. & Li, D., 2016. Comparative international entrepreneurship: A review
and research agenda. Journal of Management, 42(1), pp.299-344.
Yang, K.C. & Kang, Y., 2015. Exploring big data and privacy in strategic communication
campaigns: A cross-cultural study of mobile social media users’ daily experiences. International
Journal of Strategic Communication, 9(2), pp.87-101.