MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

2020-22

Term – IV
2021-2022

Consumer Behavior

Course Instructor

Prof. Prantosh Banerjee

Reading Summary

Submitted by: Group 10

Section: B

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT UDAIPUR

 Summary: Dimensions of Indian Culture, Core Values and Marketing Implications

With globalization is becomes extremely important to understand the importance of culture and
core values in marketing to do the branding of the products and sell the products in different
geographies.

Literature Review: Role of culture and values in consumer marketing

Definition of culture has two schools of thought, the old school of thought describes culture as
‘people with some specific characteristics’ which may be defined as specific boundaries,
whereas the new school of thoughts describes it as an active process of meaning-making and
contestation over definition, including of itself and in its hegemonic form, culture appears
coherent, systematic and consensual like an object, beyond human agency.
Marketers must gain unique dimensions of consumer culture to finalize their strategies relating to
segmentation, position and marketing mix.

Verbal Model of Cultural and value dimensions of Indian Consumers

India as a country is highly diversified and there exist various sub-cultures in Indian society and
in India people are socialized by getting input from their cultures and core values.
The verbal model of culture and value dimensions of Indian consumers talks about two
dimensions: Culture and Value. Cultural dimensions consist of four categories- languages,
symbols and signs, rituals and costumes, and traditions. Value dimension has six categories-
individual and family, society through conformity, success and growth, age and youthfulness,
happiness and adaptability and religion spirituality.

Cultural Dimensions of Indian Consumers

Languages: In India three-fourth of the population communicate through different languages, but
Hindi is spoken by 40% of the population. As communication plays an important role in
marketing language becomes a major thing to take into consideration while communicating to
the target audience.
Symbols and Signs: India is rich in ceremonial greetings, and there is the meaning associated
with each symbol and sign, and marketers can use these symbols to establish a direct connection
with the target audience.
Rituals and Customs: Rituals and customs are the set of actions practised by society to follow
cultural norms. The purpose of rituals and customs include maintaining social bondage, gaining
social acceptance, the satisfaction of different levels of need. Marketers can use these rituals to
anticipate the behavior of the target audience.
Traditions: Traditions play a significant role to control the behavior of the individual and over
time these traditions also evolve and take different forms. Marketers often try to identify these
traditions and incorporate them into market offerings to ensure a positive response from the
target audience.

Value Dimensions of Indian Society: Analysis and Marketing Implications

Individual and Family: In India, people try to make a balance between independent self and
interdependent self-concept. Marketers can try to touch on these points to make a direct
connection with the target audience.
Society Through Conformity: In India people are more harmonious and less comparative in
nature and people believe in group performance. We can see cloth markets tries to capture this
core value of culture through their communication.
Success and Growth: In India recognition or social acceptability has more importance than
individual achievement. And Femina has developed communication in tune with ‘believe’ to
indulge in this core value of India.
Age and Youthfulness: In India, the older generation are much more socially engaged and open to
renovating and the value system is ‘health is wealth’, so this value was tapped by Nestle India by
launching ‘Maggie vegetable Atta Noodles’ and it gained lots of appreciation.
Happiness and Adaptability: In India, materialistic gain is not the prime route of ensuring
happiness and Indians generally take calculated risks. Brands like ‘Moov’, ‘Horlicks’ tried to
touch this unique value system of society.
Religion and Spirituality: In India, irrespective of social hierarchy people are spiritually
conscious and more inclined towards religion. And sanctity is a prime concern to all religions in
India that gives a vital clue to marketers also to market their brands.