Preventing Failures in International Markets

The aftermath of companies having failed abroad – Starbucks in Australia (US$ 105 million), Walmart in Germany (US$ 3 billion), Uber in China (US$ 2.4 billion), Best Buy in the UK (US$ 133 million), and Target in Canada (US $2.5 billion) – is an invitation to consider better ways of assessing companies’ compatibility with foreign cultures. An exploratory study testing the acceptance of a new product in the food industry demonstrated that cultural communities in the domestic markets could help companies to reduce the likelihood of rejection from foreign consumers by revealing the needed adaptations of their marketing strategies.