Yet, before deciding to market internationally, there are several risks that must be contemplated. For example, according to Kotler, a company may not adequately understand foreign customer preferences and could potentially fail to offer a "competitively attractive product- (2000, p. 367). A frequently mentioned example of this type of blunder is when Hallmark cards introduced their greeting cards in France. Hallmark did not take into account that the French dislike syrupy sentiment and prefer to write their own cards (Kotler, 2000, p. 367.) Another example is when Coca-Cola had to remove its two-liter bottles from the market in Spain after learning that few Spaniards owned refrigerators with sections large enough to accommodate the large bottle (Kotler, 2000, p. 367).
Another risk that companies face when contemplating marketing products internationally is that the company might not adequately comprehend the foreign country's business or social culture. This can lead to ineffective dealing with foreign nationals, which can hurt product sales (Kotler, 2000, p. 367). For example, in some Asian cultures it is extremely rude to touch someone on their head. In Arabic countries it is considered unacceptable to point the bottoms of one's feet at another person. In many Latin American countries, it is proper to cultivate a friendly personal relationship before doing business.
Consequently, many companies simply choose to market to neighboring countries because they understand these countries well. Therefore, it is not surprising that the United States' largest foreign market is Canada and that Swedish companies frequently choose to expand internationally only within Scandinavia (Kotler, 2000, p. 373).
In the end, the decision of where to expand is influenced by "the product, geography, income and population, political climate, and other factors- (Kotler, 2000, p.
