International product positioning: An illustration using perceptual mapping techniques

In their recent work, Ries and Trout (1993) have attributed many market failures to marketers inaccurate assumption that they are fighting a product battle based on reality. They urge marketers to adjust their positioning practices by considering marketing as a battle of perceptions-consumers’ perceptions. While this topic has attracted much attention both among academics and practitioners in the domestic market, little work has been done to suggest how this line of thinking can be applied in an international context. This study illustrates the application of perceptual mapping to help marketers formulate positioning strategies for consumer nondurables (deodorants) across country markets (US and Mexico).