Marketing is a complex term which has been defined differently in various segments of the modern society, and whose meaning varies greatly from one country to another. Definition of the term would range from philosophical to business approaches whereby a different observation is perceived in each setting.
In business, marketing is based on thinking more about the needs of consumers and satisfaction of those needs. In that case, marketing refers to the management procedure or process by which goods and services are made available to the consumer in diverse settings of life. In other words, this is an integral part of business which refers to the policies and plans that have been adopted in ensuring that the players in the broad business world reach out easily to their potential customers.
There are two main settings under which marketing takes place in the contemporary business world; domestic and international. Domestic marketing refers to those marketing strategies that are applied to attract customers within the political boundaries of a particular country while international marketing would refer to business strategies that are taken beyond the home market and to the international scenes.
The fundamental concepts of the marketing strategy would just be the same whether at a local setting or at the international level. However, the concept of marketing would tend to vary greatly from one country to another owing to political, cultural, economic, and legal influences among other aspects. This paper is a comparative marketing for China and the U.S. which provides a deeper insight of the concept of marketing as it is perceived in different regions of the world.
This paper examines some of the major differences and similarities of marketing strategies applied by the Peoples’ Republic of China and the U.S. based on a number of key aspects. Both China and the U.S. are major players in the current global market, apart from the two countries being the leading economies in the world.
For these specific reasons, the two countries are observed to be on a neck and neck competition with each other in the competitive market system. In that case, marketing, which is the backbone of economy in all settings, is a rampant practice in both Chinese and American business environments.
While the idea of a complex marketing strategy has existed in the U.S. for many years now, owing to their enduring economical stability, the trend has just started gaining momentum in China as they become increasingly attentive to complex marketing strategies, both locally and internationally (Allen, 2005). The recent economical authority of China has greatly increased the country’s market potential almost putting it at the same level with that of the U.S.
Economic and political factors are indeed the most significant elements upon which countries must set their marketing strategies and plans. As it would be observed, both the U.S. and the Chinese have been major players in domestic and international marketing due to their strong economical strengths. The two countries have been the driving force of the global economy in the recent years and this advantage places them ahead of other developed and developing nations in the world.
The U.S. is reputed to have the strongest economy globally, while China follows closely in the second position, followed in the third position by their neighbors, Japan. However, China’s economy continues to take a rapid turning point towards the top while that of the U.S. remains slightly stagnant, owing to the financial turbulences of the recent past (Sin & Tse, 2003). This gives China a great potential to increase their economical strength without much competition from their biggest rival in business and technological matters.
The political and economical influences of both countries have played a significant role in enhancing attractive marketing strategies as well as intensifying the regional production networks for both China and the U.S. For instance, economical and political influences combined have continued to exert a lot of emphasis in ensuring that China maintains its high economic stability at the global levels.
China’s political situation is particularly significant in promoting the country’s economical strength through domestic and international marketing strategies. The biggest political control of the Chinese marketing strategies, as it would be observed, is maintained by the Communist Party of China (CPC). Presently, China offers attractive marketing scenarios for other developed and developing countries, owing to its supportive political factors such as the CPC, among other key policies e.g. the pro-growth economic policy.
Cultural influences of a country do play a significant role in its marketing environments, both locally and internationally. Culture is observed to be a comprehensive aspect whose influence in the human life can’t be underestimated. Cultural differences and similarities in any setting would tend to determine the underlying objectives in those settings and the strategies that would apply appropriately in addressing those objectives.
Both China and the U.S. are defined through their cultural differences which often present in the business behaviors of the two countries domestically and internationally. This impacts a contrasting impact in the marketing strategies of the two countries. America is a country of diverse culture as a result of its immigration policy, while China is still under the domination of philosophical schools of thought as perceived by its ancient philosophers and thinkers.
While the American cultural characteristics provides a free and diverse marketing environment, things are completely difference with the Chinese, whose business ties are often restricted to cultural regulations of its bulging population (Craig & Douglas, 2005). More importantly, the cross-cultural environment offered by the U.S. offers a wide choice for marketing strategies in the country, in both domestic and foreign business activities.
China and USA are governed by different laws and legal systems. However, marketing affairs just like other activities are designed to follow certain formalities and regulations, as it is required by the legal systems. In both the U.S. and China, marketing strategies, especially the international marketing are highly influenced and regulated by the legal systems of the two countries. The international business practices in the two countries remain to be controllable elements in the legal systems of the two countries.
For instance, America is a constitution-based federal government whose foreign activities are governed by strict legal systems. On the other hand, Chinese markets have attracted significant regulations of the country’s legal systems, owing to their advancing economical stability. All these factors are different in both China and the U.S. thus presenting varied influences which affect the overall implementation of marketing in the countries. However, both China and the U.S. are giant economical powers in the world who are likely to cause great impacts in the future global markets.
References
Allen, F. (2005). Law, finance, and economic growth in China. Journal of Financial Economics, 77 (1), 57-116.
Craig, C. and Douglas, S. (2005). International marketing research. New Jersey: Wiley.
Sin, L. & Tse, A. (2003). Market orientation and business performance: A comparative study of firms in mainland China and Hong Kong. European journal of , 37 (5/6), 910-936.