Abstract:

The logic of marketing which launched the decision makers to be conscious of the entire environment of their areas of operation., is now encouraging companies to surpass the boundaries of these areas and become international,- inter-sectorial, etc. To what extent does this development demand that the research worker prepare new research structures and tools ? And of what type ? These are the main questions which are worth contemplating, keeping in mind that developments in a series of markets make it more difficult than before for managements to interpret: and control what is actually happening in these new circumstances. The researcher is asked to play an active role by immediately adapting his own methodological and organisational tools to the subjects under review and to the operational demands of who is responsible for choosing the subject of the research. The international dimension is identified the moment the company starts to operate on a comprehensive basis in a particular segment of demand, so that all the markets are included in this single segment. To say that the various national markets can be considered of the same standard as those of regional areas in a given country is certainly a simplified statement, even although the regional differences are in many cases equivalent to national ones.