U.S. Products Aren’t Tops for East Europeans : Marketing: A survey shows a preference for Western European goods.
Eastern Europe may not be the boundless market for U.S. products that many manufacturers envision, a new study suggests.
Consumers in the region want U.S. fast food and Japanese electronics but hope to buy most other goods from Western European producers, according to a survey of 600 people in Czechoslovakia, eastern Germany, Hungary, Poland, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia.
The study conducted by MAI, a London-based market researcher, contradicts a widespread notion that Eastern Europeans are eager to buy almost anything made in America, an official for the research firm said Wednesday.
“The point is that people there are not just sitting with bated breath waiting for products from U.S. sources,” said Robert Kaden, president of MAI’s Goldring & Co. division in Chicago. “It will be necessary for most U.S. brands to build both goodwill and awareness before they begin selling.”
Some trade experts said the MAI study reflects an overly simplistic view of the pan-European market, but they generally agreed with its conclusion that U.S. firms should look closely before leaping into Eastern Europe.
“It’s very much a niche market,” said management professor Michael Radnor, executive director of Northwestern University’s International Business Development Program. “There are opportunities there, but you have to really have done your homework to see where there are possibilities.”
The MAI survey quizzed people on brand-name recognition and product preferences.
Kaden said Pepsi-Cola and Coca-Cola were the most recognized brands at 99% and 97% respectively. Levi jeans, McDonald’s hamburgers and the Gillette and Palmolive brands also were widely recognized, he said.
But when asked, “Which of the following types of consumer products would you like to see more of in the shops and where would you like them to have been produced?” North America dominated only in the fast-food category, Kaden said.
Soft drinks were not included in the section of the survey on desired products, nor were Russians polled on product desires “because they need everything,” Kaden said.
When asked where they would prefer to have their cars produced, Western Europe was the top choice of all countries except Yugoslavia, where Western Europe tied with Japan, Kaden said.
People in all five countries indicated that they would prefer major appliances--washers, dryers and dishwashers--from Western Europe.
Western Europe also was the unanimous top choice as a source of clothing and as a producer of small appliances, although Polish subjects indicated an equal preference for Polish-made small appliances.
East Europeans’ Wish List Interviewers asked 100 consumers in each of six East European countries to pick three Western-made products that they would most like to buy in the near future from a list of several dozen items. Listed below are the most frequently chosen items. DURABLE GOODS Automobile: 58% VCR: 42% Microwave oven: 35% Dishwasher: 22% Color TV: 20% OTHER GOODS Leather shoes: 34% Athletic shoes: 29% Suits or dresses: 24% Overcoat: 22% Jewelry: 19% Countries surveyed: Czechosolovakia, Hungary, Poland, Russian Republic, Yugoslavia and easternGermany. Source: Signal International
