Book excerpt: Social, economic, political, business, and cultural environmental factors affect the international marketing operation and performance of international firms. This highly insightful volume focuses on four of the most significant forces with which companies must deal on an international level--macro international marketing issues, sociopolitical international marketing issues, international marketing strategies, and special international marketing topics. Within this framework, experts examine the impact of two major environmental factors, namely the social and political conditions, on international companies to adopt corresponding marketing techniques and practices in different international markets. They also explore how specific details of a country, such as income level, cultural attributes, consumer characteristics, laws, and politics, influence the market potential of international firms and thus the scale of the company operations. Indispensable reading for scholars, economists, and business people who are interested in marketing on a global scale.