Book Reviews
Marketing Issues in Western Europe: Changes and Developments
Kaynak E and Jallat F
ISBN: 0-789028-37-9 2005 xv+171 pages with pages Kaynak E and Jallat F
Mark Farrell
Charles Sturt University, NSW
The purpose of this book is to provide an examination of issues concerning marketing in Western Europe, that are of interest to marketing academics and thoughtful business practitioners. The complexities and challenges of marketing in Europe have long been the subject of research for marketing academics. The European Union (EU) is constantly evolving, and at the time of writing, Turkey has commenced discussion regarding membership of the European Union. This is only after Austria was persuaded to abandon its objections to the inclusion of Turkey. As reported in the media, the quid pro quo for Austria dropping its threatened veto is that the EU must open membership talks with Vienna's close ally, Croatia. Thus, a standoff is averted from predominantly Christian Europe and its large Muslim neighbour to the east. Given the constantly evolving flux of the EU, it is quite timely that Kaynak and Jallat publish this collection of articles concerning marketing issues in Western Europe. The book has been compiled simultaneously as the Journal of Euromarketing, Vol 14, Number 1/2, 2004.
For marketers, this continued expansion of the EU makes the challenge of marketing goods and services in Europe more interesting! This is hardly surprising when one considers that the EU is comprised of currently 25 member countries, over 450 million people, and over 20 different languages (not counting regional dialects). Five main religions are represented, and there are significant variations in the social, economic and political systems. Consequently, given such differences, it is not entirely surprising that Kaynak and Jallat argue that there is little evidence of a unified set of European marketing theories. Indeed, consumer differences exist within countries as much as between countries.
Hinck tackles the issue of consumer differences between countries by focusing on what he terms 'domestic animosity,' (a term describing near hostile feelings among citizens of one nation). Hincks study examines the way in which consumers from the former East Germany reacted to wider product choice from the West. In short, Hinck found that following reunification, locally produced goods practically disappeared from the shelves as they were replaced by Western goods. However, over time, there has been a significant shift in consumer preferences amongst East German consumers, back towards products manufactured by East German companies. This phenomenon, argues Hinck, is 'domestic animosity' and it has implications for other European countries, such as Spain, (Basques), and other Eastern European countries.
Halliburton and Hünerberg investigate how should appropriate pan-European marketing strategies, operations and processes be implemented? Given the increasing heterogeneity of Europe, this is an issue of significance for marketers. In a region such as Europe, with uneven distributions of wealth, both between and within countries, aside from other significant differences, one may expect non standardized marketing approaches. However, Halliburton and Hünerberg argue that in the last ten years the drivers towards European conformity override the tendencies towards divergence, and that standardized European marketing approaches already exist.
This view is echoed by Sciglimpaglia and Saghafi who find that there is a clear move towards unification, harmonization and integration of marketing strategy across Europe. Palmer and Pels investigate issues concerning market orientation, strategy and business performance. Although this study collected data from the UK and Argentina, it did not, in this reviewer's opinion, have enough of a European element to be of particular interest to those concerned with marketing issues in Western Europe. This study, although interesting in its own right, seemed to be out of place amongst this collection. However, the study provides interesting findings for marketing scholars and practitioners.
Given that the articles are written by different authors, there is not the same degree of uniformity of style and theme common to traditional research monographs. However, one could argue that this is a feature of the book, as the reader is presented with a variety of research issues, agendas and methodologies. The result is a book which can be read in sequence, or 'dipped' into; according to the reader's interest. The strength of the book is the rigour and quality of the papers. Each chapter presents a rigorous study of issues which are of interest to marketing scholars and thoughtful business practitioners. Rather than the typical 'cookbook' of 'how to' enter the European market, Kaynak and Jallat have compiled a series of thought provoking articles that generate interesting answers and questions. The book would be useful as a complementary set of readings to a standard text book in international marketing, particularly for advanced undergraduates or MBA students.
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