Chapter 14

Culture

CONSUMER
BEHAVIOR, 10e
Michael R. Solomon

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 Chapter Objectives
When you finish this chapter, you should
understand why:
1. A culture is a society’s personality; it
shapes our identities as individuals.
2. Myths are stories that express a culture’s
values, and in modern times marketing
messages convey these values.

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 Chapter Objectives (continued)
3. Many of our consumption activities
including holiday observances, grooming,
and gift giving are rituals.
4. We describe products as either sacred or
profane, and it’s not unusual for some
products to move back and forth between
the two categories.

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 Chapter Objectives
5. Styles act as a mirror to reflect underlying
cultural conditions.
6. We distinguish between high and low
culture.
7. Many modern marketers are reality
engineers.

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 Chapter Objectives (continued)

8. New products, services, and ideas

spread through a population. Different
types of people are more or less likely to
adopt them.
9. Many people and organizations play a
role in the fashion system that creates
and communicates symbolic meaning to
consumers.
10.Fashions follow cycles.
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 Culture: Overview
• A culture is a society’s personality; it
shapes our identities as individuals.

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 What is Culture?
• Culture is the accumulation of shared meanings, rituals, norms, and
traditions among society members
• Culture is a society’s personality
• The following general points must be noted about culture:
 It is the lens through which we view products
 It determines overall product priorities and mandates a product’s
success/failure (i.e. a product may be successful in one culture, and yet
unaccepted in another culture)
 Products that people use can show up cultural ideals of the society at
any given time in the history.
 It is passed down from generation to generation

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 Understanding Culture
A culture has three main features: 1) functional; 2) learned, and 3) dynamic
1. Functional: culture guides people’s behavior and how they relate to
each others (it provides a framework for people to operate). In that,
we always assume (and expect) that people will behave according to
cultural expectations (according to cultural values, norms, traditions,
customs, …etc). In other words, culture is a function of people’s
behavior.

2. Learned: culture passes down from generation to generation. We

learn from others (i.e. family members, friends, schools, … etc).
 Learning comes through a process called “enculturation”
(learning one’s own culture). We can also learn from other
cultures through “acculturation” (learning from foreign cultures)

3. Dynamic: Culture is not static. It is continually evolving, integrating

old ideas with new ones. It changes as we get exposed to media
and interact with people from other cultures. In other words, it keeps
up with changes in our dynamic environment.
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 Cultural Dimensions
• A culture is characterized by four dimensions (Hofstede Dimensions):
1. Power distance: how interpersonal relationships form when power
differences exist. For example, some cultures emphasize strict vertical
relationships (i.e. employee/boss, student/teacher relationships), such as in
Japan, While other cultures show greater flexibility and informality, such as
in USA & UK.
2. Uncertainty avoidance: the degree to which people feel threatened by
ambiguous situations, thus the tendency to avoid uncertainty.
3. Masculinity/femininity: degree to which sex roles are clearly defined. For
example, traditional societies impose strict rules relating to the acceptable
behavior of men and women in the society.
4. Individualism: the degree to which a culture values individualism versus
collectivism. Cultures differ in their emphasis on individualism versus
collectivism.
 In collectivist cultures, people subordinate their personal goals to
those of the group (i.e. Japanese culture).
 In individualist cultures, personal goals are more important than
group goals (i.e. most western cultures).

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Culture dimensions (variables)

Power Way members perceive differences in power

Distance when they form interpersonal relationships

Uncertainty Degree to which people feel threatened by

Avoidance ambiguous situations

Masculine
versus Degree to which sex roles are clearly delineated
Feminine

Individualism
Extent to which culture values the welfare of the
versus individual versus that of the group
Collectivism

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Components of Culture
Culture has four main components: values, customs, myths, rituals

• Values: are underlying cultural beliefs about the way of life.

 They represent cultural rules dictating what is right or wrong (i.e. showing
a woman’s body in ads in conservative cultures is not acceptable,
hospitality is well established value in Arab cultures, “Sharaf” is an
important value in most Arab cultures).
 Marketers are concerned about values that relate to buying behavior.

• Customs: norms handed down from the past that control basic behavior (i.e.
division of labor in the house, the way we treat visitors, … etc.).
 They represent culturally accepted pattern of routinized behavior,
exercised in particular situations. (Customs are guided by values).
 They relate to the conduct of everyday life (i.e. the way we dress, eat,
visit each others, behave when we visit others or invite others).
 Again, marketers are concerned with customs relating to buying habits

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 Myths
• Myths are stories that illustrate shared values. In modern times, marketing
messages convey and enhance these values.
• Every culture develops stories and ceremonies that help members make sense
of the world
• A myth is a cultural story containing symbolic elements that show shared
emotions/ideals of a culture.
• A myth is used to teach some values of a culture.
• A mythical story may include a conflict between opposing forces, where an
outcome is a moral guide for people. It also reduces anxiety by providing
guidelines.
• Other cultures’ myths may seem bizarre to us, though make much sense to
them.
• Common myths in many cultures include Superman, Fairy tales, Ali Baba, Santa
Claus adventures, Halloween
• Some marketers use mythical stories in their ads to show up values in buying
their products (Arabian coffee that symbolizes hospitality).

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Functions of Myths

Metaphysical Help explain origins of existence

Emphasize that all components of the

Cosmological
universe are part of a single picture

Maintain social order by authorizing a

Sociological social code to be followed by members of a
culture

Psychological Provide models for personal conduct

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 Rituals
• Rituals: are sets of multiple, symbolic behaviors that occur in a fixed sequence,
and repeat periodically.
• These rituals have a symbolic meaning within a culture.
• Many consumer activities are ritualistic, such as buying sweets in the Eid,
slaughtering sheeps on certain occasions (i.e. Eid Al-Adha), funeral rituals, … etc.
• Businesses supply ritual artifacts (items needed to perform rituals) to consumers,
such as birthday candles, special sweets offered in certain rituals, … etc.
• All consumers have private grooming rituals, that reflect transformation from
private to public self or vice versa (i.e. going to a wedding party)

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Example: Gift-Giving Rituals
• Gift-giving ritual: consumers get a desired object, meticulously
remove price tag, carefully wrap it, then deliver it to recipient with
respect.
• Gift giving can be a form of:
• Economic exchange
• Symbolic exchange
• Social expression
• Every culture prescribes certain occasions and ceremonies for
giving gifts (i.e. Eid, Christmas, … etc)
• In Japan, gift-giving has special symbolic meaning….
• See next slide…

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Example: Gift-Giving Rituals in Japan
Symbolic meaning of gifts:
duty to others in social
group
giving is moral imperative
reciprocal gift-giving
obligations to relatives and
friends
Self-gifts also have symbolic
meaning as:
Socially acceptable way to
reward ourselves
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Example: Rituals and Brands
Consider these rituals:
 Getting ready for bed
 Checking e-mail
 Shaving
 Putting on makeup
 Getting ready for wedding
 Paying condolences
 Attending a wedding
 Attending Birthdays
 Attending Graduations
Do you use the same brands every time you perform a ritual?

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Discussion
• Have you ever given yourself a gift?
• If so, why did you do it and how did you decide
what to get?

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Marketers and gift-giving rituals
• Often, marketers find ways to encourage gift giving
• They try to capitalize on certain occasions for gift-giving. Examples include
Valentine’s day, father’s day, mother’s day, Grandparents’ Day, Christmas
day, … etc.
• Another example is an expensive gift (i.e. toy) to be bought for your child. The
gift appeals to children as a reward when they are good (i.e. we get what we
deserve)

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Sacred and Profane Consumption

• Sacred consumption: involves objects and

events that are set apart from normal activities
and treated with respect and sacredness
• Profane consumption: involves consumer
objects and events that are ordinary and not
special (do not share the “specialness” of
sacred ones).

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 Domains of Sacred Consumption:
• Sacred places: are set apart by a society because they have religious or
mystical significance or because they reflect a country’s heritage.
 The sacredness of these places stem from containing important events that
happened in the past (i.e. Mecca).
 Other sacred places are created from the profane world and given special
sacred qualities.

• Sacred people: People themselves can also be sacred. We idolize certain

people and set them apart from masses (i.e. movie stars, sport stars,
celebrities, royal members)

• Sacred events: Many consumers’ activities (events) have also taken on a

special status (i.e. public events, sports (Olympics, football world cup, religious
ceremonies).

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From Sacred to Profane and Back Again
• Sacred things may become profane and profane things may also
become sacred.
• Desacralization: occurs when a sacred item or symbol is removed
from its special meaning (i.e. removed from its special place, or
duplicated in mass quantities so that it becomes profane). (Mike
Tyson may be an example)
• Sacralization: occurs when ordinary objects, events, or even people
take on sacred meaning within a culture (i.e. World boxer-
Mohammed Ali, Jarash festival in Jordan).
Can we think of more examples?

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