This study began with the observation that international marketing research (IMR) lacked a human face. A literature search confirmed this view. The review was thus widened to include international marketing (IM) studies of culture, cognition, and communication, since they were thought to underpin all human interactions. This step, it was believed, would help clarify marketing scholars' understanding of these encounters. Analysis established that not only were there few studies in these areas, but they also focused on dyads, prediction, and control. To establish how this research had evolved in this way and how it could best be extended, an exploration of how knowledge is created followed. This culminated in my understanding that the culture in mainstream marketing circles was responsible for the lack of development of IM relationship research. A decision was therefore made to study this area from an alternative perspective to the positivist approach typically adopted. An interpretive study of small business in a developing country and their overseas buyer was undertaken to that end. In total, more than eleven months fieldwork was conducted in Indonesia. The resulting interpretation was compared to the existing IM relationship research. The literature was then again extended to examine non-marketing studies that may help explain field findings that could not be explained by existing IMR. It was suggested that IM scholars needed to question whether the values and assumptions underlying their research, are appropriate in a global context.

No / Sampling in the international environment needs to satisfy the same requirements as sampling in the domestic environment, but there are additional issues to consider, such as the need to balance within-country representativeness with cross-national comparability. However, most international marketing research studies fail to provide theoretical justification for their choice of sampling approach. This is because research design theory and sampling theory have not been well integrated in the context of international research. This paper seeks to fill the gap by developing a framework for determining a sampling approach in international studies. The framework is based on an assessment of the way in which sampling affects the validity of research results, and shows how different research objectives impact upon (a) the desired sampling method and (b) the desired sample characteristics. The aim is to provide researchers with operational guidance in choosing a sampling approach that is theoretically appropriate to their particular research aims.