Blog Post 3: What People Value in Every Country of the World

Deciding the price of a new product or service is not an easy task. Knowing the cost and your competitors’ price is not enough. You also need to understand how your potential customer value your new product or service. Basically, the right price is located at the intersection of these three components. However, it is difficult to determine especially for those who target the international market as what people value differs from country to country. If you would like to know what matters most to people in different countries for the purpose of pricing, this map will help you to understand it.

The “What Matters Most Map” was created by Movehub, an international moving company. The company was created based on the data from the OECD Better Life Index that has collected the information on what matters most to people all over the world since 2011 with more than 60,000 respondents.

The map provides us with an alternative way of interpreting the world. For instance, even though Cuba and the U.S. have different social and political systems, life satisfaction matters the most to people in both countries. China and India are two most rapidly growing countries and companies are interested to expand their businesses in these countries. However, while health is the No.1 concern for the Chinese, life satisfaction is the most important for the Indian. African countries are also growing rapidly, and many companies are interested in the markets there. However, the map of the continent is so colorful, which means that there might not be a single product that can be valued in the same way in all African countries.

This map gives an insight on which countries can be the target of your product or service when you start your venture. For instance, the target foreign market of a crime prevention device or service highly valued in Japan might not be a developed country with similar social and political systems such as the U.S and the U.K. Rather, the next target might be Venezuela, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Mauritania, Congo, or Guinea. If your product is to protect environment and with a high price, that might be well perceived in Slovenia but not in many other countries.

It is true that political and social systems in a country affect the sales of a product. However, don’t assume your product has the same value in all countries with similar political and social systems. Investigate foreign markets beyond that. Use this map to understand what matters to people in countries and find your next target market!