Cross-National and Cross-Cultural Issues in Food Marketing

Abstract

Summary The present economic crisis and cost efficiency considerations in countries around the world at varying levels of economic development makes marketing and distribution related decisions and policies both at micro (individual company level) and at macro (sector or country level) of paramount importance. In studying the food marketing systems around the world, one has to take environmental differences in these countries into consideration. That is the reason why marketing institutions and processes are structured to respond to the most important environmental dimensions of the countries. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the current state and likely developments of food marketing and distribution systems. As well, constructs and conceptual frameworks were also developed for the study of food marketing and distribution practices. An attempt is made to use a typology of economic systems for less-developed countries to illustrate how current food marketing and distribution systems are affected by the current economic systems of the countries at a different level of development.