Marketing Programme and Process Standardisation: An Empirical Investigation of Marketing Standardisation and its Contingency Factors in the US Market

This study aims at contributing to the international marketing debate by investigating the issue of standardisation based on the experiences of German firms operating in the US market. The sample was chosen on the basis of research indicating that studies on German firms operating in the US market are rare. Their experiences can provide useful insights as to how companies in this large market can successfully operate. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to examine the degree of marketing standardisation which the studied firms employed in the US market, and to identify the factors of significant impact on the selection of a standardised marketing strategy as experienced by German firms operating in the US in order to provide implications for companies seeking to enter this market. Finally, through statistical analyses it was examined which internal and external environmental factors are key in standardising or adapting the particular elements to a certain degree to achieve an impact on performance.