Introduction
Social and cultural aspects of a society form its very nature and
therefore the task of the global marketer is to find the similarities and
differences in culture and account for these in designing and developing
marketing plans. Failure to do so can be disastrous.
Culture, alongside economic factors, is probably one of the most
important environmental variables to consider in global marketing. Culture is
very often hidden from view and can be easily overlooked. Similarly, the need
to overcome cultural myopia is paramount.
Maslow
Approach (1964)
Maslow’s model has been used by international marketers to appreciate how
consumers in different countries behave in response to cultural stimuli.
Maslow hypothesized that people's desires can be arranged into a
hierarchy of needs of relative potency. As soon as the "lower" needs
are filled, other and higher needs emerge immediately to dominate the
individual. When these higher needs are fulfilled, other new and still higher
needs emerge.
Abraham Maslow sought to explain why people are driven by particular
needs at particular times. Why does one person spend considerable time and
energy on personal safety and another on pursuing the high opinion of others?
Cultural Values
Defining culture is always been difficult. Kroeber and Kluckholn (1952)
found 164 definitions of culture. Some of the common characteristics of these
definitions are that:
- Culture is prescriptive, in that it prescribes those forms of behavior that are acceptable to people in a specific community.
- Culture is learned, as people are not born with a culture but are born into a culture. The norms of the culture are acquired as people are raised in and exposed to the culture.
- Culture is dynamic, as not only does it influence our behavior but our behavior influences the culture reflecting its interactive nature.
- Culture is subjective, because people attribute meaning to issues on a subjective basis and these subjective meanings develop within the context of the culture.
Example of multinational
corporations that have been in the forefront of developing international brands
that cut across local cultural differences are:
- Coca-Cola
- IBM
- McDonald’s
- CNN
- Disney
Advertising and marketing campaigns that built these international brands
took a Universalist approach. In most cases business is not conducted in
an identical fashion from culture to culture however, relations are enhanced
when:
- Managerial, Sales and Technical personnel are trained to be aware of areas likely to create communication difficulties and conflicts across cultures.
- International communication is further strengthened when businesspeople can anticipate common areas.
- Problems in business communication conducted across different cultures often arise when participants from one culture are unable to understand culturally determined differences in communication.
Similarly
questions arise regarding what is proper by which culture’s values, what
is wise by which culture’s view of the world and what is right by whose
standards.
International
business practitioners must be especially careful in conducting business
communication across cultures is further strengthen when businesspeople can
anticipate areas of commonality.
Business is
enhanced when people from different cultures find new approaches to old
problems creating solutions by combining cultural perspectives and
examining problems from different cultural perspectives.
Culture directly
affects the communication process in an international business setting
through seven variables;
- Language
- Environmental and Technological considerations
- Social organization
- Contexting and face-saving
- Authority conception
- Nonverbal communication behavior
- Time conception
The seven items
form the acronym LESCANT
LESCANT factors alone do not provide a thorough knowledge of
another culture, however, by being aware of these factors provide an underlying
foundation on which one can construct a framework for understanding the
businesspeople from other cultures.
Language:
The most often
cited barriers to conflict-free cross-cultural business communication is the
use of different languages.
Difficulties
with language fall basically into three categories;
- Gross translation problems
- Gross translation error
- National Prejudices and Class Distinction
Gross Translation Problems - The problems in conveying subtle distinctions from
language to language, and culturally-based variations among speakers of the
same language.
Gross
Translation Error –
Errors likely to cause conflict between parties leads to time wastage.
Dialectical differences etc. E.g. Embarrassed pronounced “embarazada” in Mexican means pregnant in Mexican Spanish.
National
Prejudices and Class distinction
The social patterning of language. E.g. Different accents may reinforce
negative or positive stereotypes.
Culturally Related Factors Affecting Marketing:
Culture is part
of the external influence that impacts the consumer. That is culture represents influences that
are imposed on the consumer by other individuals.
Example: In
the Muslim tradition, the dog is considered a “dirty” animal so portraying it
as “man’s best friend” in an advertisement is counter-productive
When considering
culture in the context of international marketing, the following factors should
be taken into account.
Cultural Knowledge
Knowledge of
another culture can be either Factual or
Interpretive.
Example of Factual
Knowledge – An Australian
wanting to do business in Malaysia or Indonesia would need to recognize that
there are some activities in both countries that are largely controlled by the
Chinese community however, there are some differences.
In Malaysia the
Chinese community makes up a larger percentage of the population, and is more
subject to more government constraints because of official policies to
encourage the economic advancement of the Malay population. This fact may influence decisions like the
appointment of agents.
Interpretive
Knowledge – Is based on feeling and intuition, and is
often influenced by past experiences. One way of acquiring such knowledge is to
develop empathy for the host culture by associating with people from that
country.
Sensitivity
Cultural
sensitivity involves being aware of the nuances of the different culture,
feeling empathy for it, and viewing it objectively rather than subjectively. It
begins with an acceptance that other cultures in themselves are not right or
wrong and one culture is not inferior to another but rather is different. Being culturally sensitive will reduce
disharmony, alleviate aggravation, improve communication and pave the path for
long-term international business relationships.
Collectivism
Collectivism
plays a greater role in decision making in some culture because of strong
family ties, strong affinity with the group to which the individual belongs,
and the sensitivity to the wishes of other members of the network.
Example: Western societies, decisions
are generally made by individual consumers whereas in Asian cultures decisions
are made collectively.
Social Convention
These reflect
the culture and have an effect on effective marketing practices in other
countries.
Example: Eating habits; Number of
meals per day, time to eat, the type of food eaten and food for different
occasions.
Cognitive Styles
Loyalty to brand
names and products varies between cultures. Consumers switch from one brand to
another to test their benefits.
Elements of Culture:
In order to
understand customers in the overseas market, it is necessary to be aware of
their cultural heritage. Appreciating the intricacies of the culture is
imperative in order to be effective in the foreign market. There are elements
of culture that international marketers have to understand;
Material - (Technology – Skills, Ability & Economics –
level of demand, What to produce, How to produce & For whom)
Social - (Family, educational providers, political parties,
social organization)
Religious – (Symbolic and sacred elements, beliefs systems)
Aesthetics (tasteful or sensitive to beauty) – Arts Folklore,
music drama, dance –interpreting symbolic meaning.
Languages – Because of the influence of culture, simple
translation from English into another language rarely convey the meaning
accurately.
Examples: Culture
determines the meaning attribute to words.
“You are invited to take
advantage of the chambermaid” (Japan)
“If this is your first visit to the USSR, you
are welcome to it” (Russia)
“Ladies are requested not to have children in
the bar” (Norway)
Education - Education refers to the transmission of skills,
ideas and attitudes as well as training in particular disciplines. Education
can transmit cultural ideas or be used for change, for example the local
university can build up an economy's performance.
Data collected
on education statistic in different countries by The UN agency UNESCO are a
good method of gathering education information. For example: Education data collected in the early 2000 by
UNESCO showed in Ethiopia only 12% of the viable age group enroll at
secondary school, but the figure is 97% in the USA. Education levels, or
lack of it, affect marketers in a number of ways:
- advertising programs and labelling
- girls and women excluded from formal education (literacy rates)
- conducting market research
- complex products with instructions
- relations with distributors and
- Support sources - finance, advancing agencies etc.
Religious – (Symbolic and sacred elements, beliefs systems)
Religion provides the best insight into a society's behavior and helps answer
the question why people behave rather than how they behave. Religion can affect
marketing in a number of ways:
- Religious holidays - Ramadan cannot get access to consumers as shops are closed.
- Consumption patterns – certain food for certain days
- Economic role of women – Islam
- Caste systems - difficulty in getting to different costs for segmentation/niche marketing
- Joint and extended families - Hinduism and organizational structures
- Institution of the church - Iran and its effect on advertising, "Western" images
- Market segments - Malaysia - Malay, Chinese and Indian cultures making market segmentation
- Sensitivity is needed to be alert to religious differences.
Attitudes and Values
Values often
have a religious foundation, and attitudes relate to economic activities. It is
essential to ascertain attitudes towards marketing activities which lead to
wealth or material gain; in some society these may not be relevant.
- Also "change" may not be needed, or even wanted, and it may be better to relate products to traditional values rather than just new ones.
- Many African societies are risk averse; therefore, entrepreneurialism may not always be relevant.
- Attitudes are always precursors of human behavior and so it is essential that research is done carefully on these.
Expressions of Culture
Culture is
expressed in a number of ways. It can be expressed through symbols - (Words,
Rituals, Gestures, Objects or Pictures) which carry a particular meaning
recognizable only by those who are members of the culture.
Categories – (jargon, dress, clothing, hairstyle and certain
products)
Some elements of
culture are superficial because they are easily developed and quickly disappear
as well as being borrowed from other culture.
High Vs Low Context Culture
In some culture,
“what you see is what you get” The speaker is expected to make his or her
points clear and limit ambiguity.
Example: In the US a
speaker is expected to make his or her points clear and limit ambiguity. If you
have something on your mind, you are expected to say it directly, subject to
some reasonable standard of diplomacy.
Hall2
(1977) has suggested the concept of high and low context cultures as a way of
understanding different cultural orientations. In low context cultures messages have to be explicit, in high context cultures less
information is required in the verbal message.
In low
context cultures, for example like Northern Europe, a person's word is not to be relied on, things
must be written.
On the
other hand, in high context cultures, like Japan and the Middle East, a person's word is
their bond. It is primarily a question of trust.
National Culture
National culture
is reflected in the values on which laws and institutions are based.
National culture
also influence the way the law is applied.
This explains why
in some cultures nepotism and cronyism can result in transgressors
evading punishment, and tacit acceptance of some form of bribery.
One example of
national culture is the insistence on the use of national language as opposed
to the most commonly spoken language among a group.
National culture
also influences the degree to which the practice in the society is to depend on
law as opposed to trust, when business are involved.
Industry Culture
Industry culture
is reflected in the values and norms governing the activities performed by the
industry in the other country.
- This includes credit policies (e.g. Islamic nations)
- Norms of negotiation
- Acceptance of bribery or giving gifts
Nationalism
Nationalism is a
cultural trait which is increasingly surfacing. The break-up of Yugoslavia and
the USSR are witness to the fact.
Culture is a
very powerful variable and cannot be ignored. Whilst "universals" are
sought there is still a need to understand local customs and attitudes. These
are usually no better understood than by the making use of in country
personnel.
In Western,
developed countries a high degree of interdependence exists, so it is not so
easy to be all that independent. In fact, blocs like NAFTA and the EU are, if
anything, becoming more economically independent.
However, less
developed countries do not yet have the same interdependence in general, and so
organizations need to reassess their contribution to the economic development
of nations.
Hofstede's Contribution
One of the most
prolific writers on culture is Hofstede, a Dutchman. Working with two
colleagues Franke and Bond1 (1991) he sought to explain why
"culture" could be a better discriminator than "material"
or "structural conditions" in explaining why some countries gain a
competitive advantage and others do not.
They
hypothesized that differences in cultural values, rather than in material and
structural conditions (the private and state control) are ultimate determinants
of human organization and behavior, and thus of economic growth.
Summary/Conclusions
Along with
"economics", "culture" is another so called "environmental
uncontrollable" which marketers must consider. In fact, it is a very
important one as it is so easy to misread a situation and take decisions which
subsequently can prove disastrous.
The study of
culture has taken many forms including the anthropological approach, Maslow's
hierarchy of needs, the self-reference criterion, diffusion theory, high and
low context culture, and perception approaches.
"Culture"
itself is made up of a number of learned characteristics including aesthetics,
education, religion and attitudes and values.
One of the
principal researchers on culture and its consequences is Hofstede, who, as a
result of his studies, offers many insights and guides to marketers when
dealing with diverse nationalities. Ignoring differences, or even similarities,
in culture can lead to marketers making and executing decisions with possible
disastrous results.
SOURCE:
H. Assael (2005) Consumer Behaviour A Strategic
Approach (Biztantra)
International Business 3rd Edition P. Subba
Rao
Marketing
Management Textbook by Phillip Kotler
International
Economics (McGraw Hill International Editions) Miltiades Chacholoades
Nice article on Socio Cultural Environment.
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