Analyzing the Role of Market Research in International Buyer Acquisition: Evidence from Export-Oriented Firms in Bangladesh

Abstract

This research paper has studied the role that market research practices play in the acquisition of international buyers to export oriented companies in Bangladesh. The study involved a cross-sectional survey that was quantitative and 220 export professionals were sampled. The results indicate that there are high scores on Market Research Practices (Mean = 4.26, SD = 0.52) and International Buyer Acquisition (Mean = 4.10, SD = 0.54). Buyer acquisition is positively linked to market research (r = 0.78, p = 0.000). The best correlation between buyer acquisition and buyer identification capability is 0.81, 0.000. The results of multiple regression indicate that it has a strong prediction power (R 2 = 0.72, p = 0.000). The best predictor (Beta = 0.41, p = 0.000) is buyer identification ability, then comes market research practices (Beta = 0.32, p = 0.000) and buyer engagement and trust (Beta = 0.28, p = 0.000). The paper concludes that market research in Bangladesh export firms is better when it is structured in terms of buyer targeting, engagement and buyer conversion. The findings also indicate that companies achieve improved results when using research findings in their daily export resolutions as compared to using informal network alone. The research suggests that research competencies and buyer profiling systems should be enhanced to enhance long term international buyer growth and market expansion.