International Marketing

Unit 4

Cultural Dynamics in Assessing Global Markets

© 2005 John Wiley & Sons

PPT 1-1
 Definition & Origin of Culture
• Software of minds Geert Hofstede

• Provides a guide for humans on how to

think and behave.
• Sum of Values, rituals, symbols, beliefs, &
thought processes.

International Markeitng by Sana-ur-Rehman PPT 1-2

 Definition & Origin of Culture
• Geography
– Climate, topography, flora, fauna and
microbiology
• History
• Political Economy
• Colonialism, Communism, Democracy, Monarchy
• Technology
• Social Institutions.

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 Learning of Culture
• Social Institutions
– Family
– Family Size, How Children think & Behave? Individualism, Egalitarianism,
Gender Divide
– Religion
– 1st institution exposed outside home.
– Religion affects what, how & when people buy, use, and read.
– Most of us don’t understand other’s religion
– School
• Education ∞ Economic Growth, communication becomes easier,
• US kids in Schools 180 days/year Vs 251days/year in China
– Media
• Media ownership
– Govt.
• Day care facility, One child policy, Birth Bonus in France.
– Corporations

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 Culture
• Rituals
– Pattern of behavior and interactions that are
learned and repeated.
– Religious ceremonies consisting of a series
of actions performed according to a
prescribed order.

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 Culture
• Symbols
– Language
• 851 languages in Papua New Guinea
– Aesthetics
• Wonderful symbolic system represents aesthetics
• Arts, folk, Dance, drama, song, dress, cosmetics.
• A picture is worth a thousand words

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 Culture
• Beliefs
– Faith
– Spirituality
– Superstition
• Ghosts, Fortune telling, Palmistry,
• Thought Processes
– Consumer Impatience
– Asian Vs Western Thinking
– Whole Picture Vs Focused

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 Geert Hofstede National
Cultural Dimensions
• Dutch social psychologist, former IBM employee, and Professor
Emeritus of Organizational Anthropology and International
Management at Maastricht University in the Netherlands
• According to him Cultures of Nations differs along four
primary dimensions given below
• Power Distance Index (PDI)
• Individualism versus Collectivism (IDV)
• Masculinity versus Femininity (MAS)
• Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI)

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 Power Distance Index
• This dimension expresses the degree to which the
less powerful members of a society accept and
expect that power is distributed unequally.
• The fundamental issue here is how a society handles
inequalities among people.
• People in some societies exhibiting a large degree of Power
Distance.

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 Individualism versus
Collectivism
• Individualism can be defined as a preference for a loosely-
knit social framework in which individuals are expected to
take care of only themselves and their immediate families.
• Collectivism represents a preference for a tightly-knit
framework in society in which individuals can expect their
relatives or members of a particular in-group to look after
them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty.
• A society's position on this dimension is reflected by
whether people’s self-image is defined in terms of “I” or
“we.”

International Markeitng by Sana-ur-Rehman PPT 1-10

 Masculinity versus
Femininity
• Masculinity represents a preference in society for
achievement, heroism, assertiveness and material
rewards for success. Society at large is more
competitive.
• Femininity stands for a preference for cooperation,
modesty, caring for the weak and quality of life.
Society at large is more consensus-oriented.
• In the business context Masculinity versus
Femininity is sometimes also related to as "tough
versus tender" cultures.

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 Uncertainty Avoidance
Index
• The Uncertainty Avoidance dimension expresses the
degree to which the members of a society feel
uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity.
• The fundamental issue here is how a society deals with the
fact that the future can never be known: should we try to
control the future or just let it happen?
• Countries exhibiting strong UAI maintain rigid codes of
belief and behaviour and are intolerant of unorthodox
behaviour and ideas. Weak UAI societies maintain a more
relaxed attitude in which practice counts more than
principles.

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 Culture
• Cultural Change
• Cultural Borrowing
• Resistance to Change

International Markeitng by Sana-ur-Rehman PPT 1-13