1: Sooner or later, everyone sneezes. In many parts of the world, the response will be to reach for a facial tissue. Numerous international marketing opportunities accompany the manufacture, distribution, and sale of facial tissues.
When marketing facial tissues products, each of the elements present in the international marketing context should be addressed. With regard to culture, facial tissue is used in a variety of ways, dependent on the country or region where it is sold. In Taiwan, paper towel products are not widely available.
Spills are cleaned up with facial tissue. In other nations, citizens use facial tissue as toilet paper, even though technically the two are different. Toilet paper should be designed to decompose in a sewer system or septic tank, but some nations such as Iraq often do not have such systems. In Western culture, facial tissue may be for more than sniffles: women employ it to remove make-up. In less-developed countries, bottom-of-the-pyramid customers may not even be acquainted with the product.
The language of facial tissue also varies. The French call them mouchoirs.
The Swedish version is ansiksservetter. At the same time, the term “Kleenex”
remains the same in France or Sweden. A person in China might be confused by the concept of a facial tissue, even though the person has purchased an equivalent product, but for alternate uses.
Governments often regulate the ingredients used to create facial tissue. As greater environmental concerns emerge regarding deforestation, an impact on harvesting trees to produce facial tissues may occur. Some facial tissues carry ingredients such as lotions or perfumes, which might subject them to additional regulations, including those associated with medical and cosmetic products.
Economic conditions influence the patterns of the distribution of facial tissue.
In developed and Western cultures, such products are widely distributed convenience items made available in a variety of packages. For bottom-ofthe-
pyramid markets or for least-developed economies, the same product may receive limited or no distribution support.
Infrastructure affects the delivery and price of facial tissue. The products are light, but packages do take up some space. Modes of transportation as well as the information technology that might be used to market facial tissue will be tailored to individual countries.
Numerous international marketing opportunities accompany the manufacture, distribution, and sale of facial tissues.

Questions

1. Describe how the use of sales promotions would vary in terms of the actual use of facial tissues, depending on the nation and region involved.
2. Describe how the type of sales promotion would change for facial tissues, based on local cultural differences in international markets.
3. Describe the manner in which local conditions such as distribution channels and types of retail outlets would affect the selection of sales promotion tactics.
4. Describe the manner in which local conditions (culture and governmental forces in particular) would influence the selection of trade promotion tactics.