1

Culture and Consumer Behavior

Student’s Name

Institution Affiliation
 2

Culture and Consumer Behavior

Introduction

Culture is defined as the sum of beliefs that have been learned, values and customs which

are fundamental in regulating the behaviors of a particular society. Culture teaches how to adjust

to the biological, environmental historical and psychological parts of our society (The European

Business Review, September 2020). Culture is a fundamental force with deep influence on

people’s lives and things including the taste of the people, the wisdom of the people and the

basic choices people make. Therefore, culture is known to influence the thoughts and behaviors

of the consumers and they tend to make buying decision according to the acceptance of their

culture. Individuals from different cultures tend to consume differently majorly because of their

differences in values and norms of the society. Some cultural values derive norms which are the

widely beliefs that affirm what is not desirable in a society. Also, values show how consumers

from different cultures differs in the reaction of foreign products and their advertisement. The

norms and the values affects the consumer behaviors which leads to differences in the

consumption patterns.

How Culture Influence Consumer Behavior

Culture is an aspect that is known for setting restrictions within which most people think

feel and act. The individuals will act, feel or think like the other members of the same culture as

it seems natural to do so. The values of culture are the widely beliefs by individuals that affirms

them of what is desirable. The cultural values affect the consumer behavior through norms that

are certain on the acceptable and different responses to situations. However, the consumer

behavior differs from culture to culture as values inherited differs with different cultures.
 3

According to Chaudhry (September 2014), consumers from culture with different values differ in

the way they react to foreign products, preferred sources of information and advertising. Besides,

some cultures are more youth oriented than others which means that they become more

individualistic and liberal and they will work hard and spend more money on buying.

Moreover, the attitudes toward work and resting time is different within cultures and this

affects the lifestyle of people and the demand for leisure time. For instance, if a certain culture

belief in spending more on clothing they will tend to change the mind of the consumers around

the society to be more spenders in clothing hence it affects the consumer behavior of the society

(Chaudhry, September 2014). In addition, religion can affect the way the consumer’s behaviors

in their purchasing. For instance, most of the catholic and Islamic people are more oriented to

religion than the people from Chinese culture which mean that the Islamic and catholic culture

people are more likely to buy and consume the religious artifacts and the related materials.

Furthermore, according to Chaudhry (September 2014), some of the cultures pay more

emphasis on family bondage than the others. For instance, in a country like Mexico, more

adolescents are most likely to seek parental advice or have a positive respond to ads with the

parental figures when it comes to purchasing items such as candy, movies and clothing than the

united states. This is because, in the united states family is fairly narrowly defined and it is not as

important as the other cultures. However, in India family has a huge role as compared to

individual’s societies and therefore, purchasing of products is decided with regards to the needs

of the family by making sure they balance the requirements of an individual and a family.

The level of diversity and uniformity amongst different cultures plays a vital role in how

the consumers behave. A culture that is more open to diversity will accept a wide range of array

of behaviors and attitudes and also it will most likely welcome a variety in terms of the
 4

consumptions of products. The cultures that are collective places a strong value on the

uniformity and on the other hand more individualist cultures places their values of diversity. For

instance, according to Chaudhry (September 2014), in china and japan, people consumes

products and use the services that most individuals are using but in the united states, people are

more into making their own individual decisions based on what they prefer or what they like.

Finally, some of the cultures have more emphasis on cleanliness than the others. For instance, in

the united states, people tend to put cleanliness as a high value and therefore they are likely to

purchase the germ fighting detergents as compared to people from poorest countries that haven’t

kept the value of cleanliness as high value for their culture.

Main Cultural Factors That Influence Consumer Behavior

Culture

The culture is defined as the customs, beliefs, rituals and practices of a particular group

of individuals. As individuals grow from childhood they inculcate the decision making patterns

including buying decisions through the ways of the family and the key stakeholders that are

related to an individual growth (Business Jargons, 2021). The culture includes the basic values,

the basic needs, the preferences, the perception, the wants and the behaviors that are absorbed

and learned by the consumers from the different people around them.

Subcultures

The culture is dived into subcultures whereby individuals are classified more specifically

on how they share their customs and beliefs such as geographic regions, religions and

nationalities. Different subcultures tend to form different and a number of segments in the

market that should be well evaluated by the marketer for marketing decision (Business Jargons,
 5

2021). For instance, those people lining in metro city and those living in B grade cities must be

well evaluated before starting a marketing campaigns in these areas.

Social Class

The buying decisions of a consumer is normally affected by the social class of

individuals. Basically, people who are said to be in the same social class tend to have similarities

in their interest, behavior and value. The society is classified into three classes which are the

upper class, the middle class and the lower class which have different buying behaviors

(Business Jargons, 2021). For instance, the upper class is said to buy products that advocates to

their social class while middle and lower classes do the same.

Conclusion

Conclusively, culture is one of the most fundamental influencers of the thoughts and

behaviors of many consumers worldwide. People from different cultures tend to consumer

different products due to the differences in their values and their norms. This is the main

influence and how this culture affects the consumer behavior. Some of the cultures allows

diverse cultures and therefore their consumer behaviors are based on the different cultures in the

group. Finally, the main cultural factors that affects consumer behavior include; the culture,

subculture and social class.

 6

References

Business Jargons. (2021). What are Cultural Factors Influencing Consumer Behavior? -

Business Jargons. Business Jargons. Retrieved 16 June 2021, from

https://businessjargons.com/cultural-factors-influencing-consumer-behavior.html.

Chaudhry, A. (September 2014). Does Culture Influence Our Consumer Behavior? If so, How?.

Linkedin.com. Retrieved 16 June 2021, from

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140908174823-354556068-does-culture-influence-

our-consumer-behavior-if-so-how.

The European Business Review. (September 2020). Impact of Culture on Consumer Buying

Behavior - The European Business Review. The European Business Review. Retrieved 16

June 2021, from https://www.europeanbusinessreview.com/impact-of-culture-on-

consumer-buying-behavior/.