Evaluation of Consumer Preferences in the Consumer Decision-Making Process of Foreign Goods

Increasing competition in global markets and consequent increase in marketing costs has made essential the improvement of effectiveness of marketing activities and strategies. On the other hand, the attractiveness of the Iran market, increasing competition among foreign products, and lack of enough investigation in this area, has made unavoidable the need to do such research in Iran. Through the gap analysis method, this research evaluated Iranian consumers’ product attitudes, associated marketing practices, and buying preferences concerning products made in Germany and Japan. The results show that consumers evaluate such products differently. In addition, by determining the priority of effective factors on buying preferences, active companies in the Iran market can apply the results to optimize their marketing strategies.