I think the belief that the studios were influenced to appeal to foreign audiences is overstated. Usually that argument includes references to a few series like
Cowboy Bebop followed by a wave of the hand when it comes to all the rest of the shows produced in that period. I do think there have been shows where foreign appeal may have mattered,
Black Lagoon for example, but in general I think that, even then, most anime was made by Japanese studios for Japanese audiences. Geneon was probably one firm that paid attention to foreign tastes, given that it had a US subsidiary at the time, and we know that I.G had some Hollywood ties that came to the fore in the
Kill Bill movies.
On the other hand, foreign licensors like ADV did pay some
ridiculously high rights fees back in the days of the anime boom.
Kurau Phantom Memory topped the list at nearly a million dollars. So I'd imagine the studios gave some attention to what the foreign licensors wanted, but not as much as the "where have all the Bebops gone" crowd seems to think.