Pricing strategies in the international markets: The case of medical sector

In the globalizing markets, competing in the international markets and achieving targeted profits are getting harder day by day for international companies. For this reason, it is essential for companies to analyze international markets and to determine appropriate strategies. Pricing strategies are among the most important one of international marketing strategies. In order to reach targets in an efficient and fast method, companies have to determine international pricing strategies accurately. Thus, the aim of this study is to determine pricing strategies, to analyze the problems encountered in this process and to suggest solutions for medical companies operating in international markets. For this purpose, in the first and second parts; the concepts of international marketing and pricing strategies are explained theoretically. In the third part general overview of medical sector is provided and in the fourth part, the analysis and results of the field research which is applied to international medical companies in Turkey are reported. Data is collected by surveys those are posted by e-mails. Questions in the four page long surveys are information about managers and personnel, information about companies, the importance of pricing criteria applied by companies, and the methods of international pricing. Data is analyzed and tested by descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, and correlation and results are reported. It is identified that there are important differences between international medical companies in terms of strategies used for international pricing. Therefore, solutions and suggestions are provided according to these differences.