2-5 A U.S. fertilizer manufacturer headquartered in Minneapolis decided to venture into the vast potential of third-world markets. The company sent a team of agricultural researchers into an East African country to test soils, weather conditions, and topo- graphical conditions in order to develop locally effective fertilizers. Once the research and manufacturing of these fertilizer products had been completed, one of the initial mar- keting strategies was to distribute, free of charge, one hundred-pound bags of the fertil- izer to selected areas of rural farmers. It was thought that those using the free fertilizer would be so impressed with the dramatic increase in crop productivity that they would spread the word to their friends, relatives, and neighbors. Teams of salespeople went from hut to hut in those designated areas, offering each male head of household a free bag of fertilizer along with an explanation of its capacity to increase crop output. Although each head of household was very polite, they all turned down the offer of free fertilizer. The marketing staff concluded that these local people were either uninterested in helping themselves grow more food and eat better or so ignorant that they couldn't understand the benefits of the new product. Why was this an ethnocentric conclusion