World markets in construction: I. A regional analysis

The role of marketing has seldom been extolled in construction, let alone international contracting. Even where marketing has been endorsed in the process, it has been taken for granted and regarded at a passive, self-adjusting and self-generating level. This paper demonstrates that this need not be so and that the function of marketing research can be exploited and employed gainfully in the context of international construction to find out where the markets are in the world. Absolute measures (volume) and relative measures (growth) can be used in the main for this purpose. The results of a marketing research project are presented in the form of graphically distorted world maps at both the regional and national levels. While Part I of this paper deals with the results of 19 global regions, Part II concerns itself with the construction industries of 180 different countries and territories. It is hoped that international construction marketing opportunities may be identified in the process.