Exploring the Suitability of Direct Marketing to East Bloc Distributional Systems

Although East bloc economies have made great strides in mobilizing their production capabilities, they are found to be lagging in their distribution capabilites. East bloc policy makers have only recently begun to focus their efforts on the development of the distribution sector. However, synchronization of East bloc distribution and production systems will require more than arbitrary transplantation of Western trade practices. Western trade practices and marketing institutions should be evaluated in terms of their unique appropriateness to the East bloc context. This paper examines the appropriateness of introducing direct marketing to the East bloc environment by evaluating the likely impact of such an introduction on the various distributional flows of a specific East bloc country (Hungary). It is concluded that direct marketing is likely to have a positive impact on the Hungarian distribution system, particularly as a means of synchronizing Hungary's productive and distributional systems in a timely m...