GROUP 12: Key to Online Consumer Receptivity

ICE BREAKER:

CULTURE- ONLINE - MARKETING – TARGETING - CONSUMER

INTRODUCTION:
(INSERT PICTURE) As is widely known, great marketers have recognized the
significance of consumer research from the beginning of advertising. It has also long been
recognized that consumer research should be used to discover how advertising can satisfy the
needs of customers in certain target markets. This presentation will show how cultural
background, such as the social, technical, political, economic, and physical environment of
customers, could serve as the starting point for figuring out how to meet their needs and
desires. Another is on how and why analyzing cultural target market research will be
important for increasing online customer receptivity.

First, let us define cultural targeting.

CULTURAL TARGETING - Cultural targeting is a type of targeting in which a message is conveyed

to a specific group of potential customers who belong to a specific culture or demography.
Cultural targeting may and should be local, regional, national, or international, depending on
the cultural composition of a target group. However, multicultural marketing occasionally
takes advantage of ethnic groups' different cultural attributions, such as language, customs,
events, religion, and any other notions. (TAGALOG PWEDE SABIHIN)

NEXT,

What is ONLINE MARKETING? Online marketing or advertising is sometimes known as internet

marketing, web marketing, digital marketing and search engine marketing since it uses the
internet to convey promotional marketing messages to consumers. AS I MENTIONED EARLIER,
Successful marketers have understood the significance of customer research from the
beginning of advertising.

To put it simply, online marketing is a collection of tools and strategies used to advertise
goods and services through online. Due to the additional channels and marketing methods
made available by the internet, online marketing covers a larger variety of marketing
components than traditional corporate marketing. (INSERT PICTURE)

Online marketing can provide advantages such as:

 Growth in potential
 Reduced expenses
 Elegant communications
 Better control
 Improved customer service
 Competitive advantage

NOW FOR THE NEXT PART, let’s find out what relationship exists between cultural to online
marketing?

Why is cultural awareness important in online marketing?

Culture is important in online marketing because it influences how customers think,

communicate, and digest information. Cultural target market research establishes the
framework for strategic targeted marketing and serves as the basis for online promotional
material by supplying contextual knowledge about potential customers.

Chaffey (2009) contends that understanding the cultural background of prospects and customers is
fundamental to traditional marketing and is equally important online. The culture of online consumers
should be embodied in promotional content that is consistent with cultural expectations. Online marketers
(Chaffey 2009, Singh and Pereira 2005) have begun to recognize the importance of this cultural
connection by advocating localization and customization based on the location and cultural background of
their clients' target audience.

If we consider how we might disconnect online content from culture and attempt to communicate with
consumers without a cultural foundation, we will quickly conclude that this is a futile exercise. In other
words, it's impossible to disconnect the Web from culture because online content is generated via the
cultural filter of the folks who produce content (designers, marketers, advertisers, corporations,
governments, etc.).
In fact, contemporary researchers assert that the entire Web represents a cultural document that
emulates cultural values and ideals, as well as cultural standards of economic exchange and
communication (Singh, Furrer, and Massimilaino: 2004). By including cultural research as a component of
target market research, online marketers and their clients have an opportunity to embrace and capitalize
on cultural variation by producing culturally relevant content that is consistent with the ideals and
expectations of a specific cultural group.

After all, traditional advertisements (TV, radio, and print) in American culture resonate with you because
they are designed to be consistent with your cultural expectations. One can easily take that for granted,
since, as Americans, we are consistently and effectively targeted by "Americanized" marketing initiatives
with familiar imagery, symbols, jargon, references, language, etc.

Contemporary research indicates that online promotional content is most effective when it is consistent
with the cultural expectations of consumers. Those findings also confirm that target market research that
facilitates this cultural connection with consumers is both necessary and profitable (Chaffey 2009). This
approach to target market research has been applied since the 1950s, when successful international
corporations began marketing in earnest in contexts other than their native culture. Of course, some
notable cultural blunders come to mind.

For example, in 1970, American Motors marketed a car named Matador (which means killer in Spanish)
in Puerto Rico. That was a monumental cultural error because in Puerto Rico bullfighting had been
outlawed for more than 100 years and was considered inhumane and offensive. That example
demonstrates how the translation of the car's name and the behavior that the name inferred were
both culturally offensive and certainly led to a lack of return on investment (ROI) for American Motors.
That is one of many such cultural errors companies have made because of a lack of cultural target market
research. Companies such as American Motors quickly learned the importance of tailoring content
(language, colors, symbols, behavioral expectations, etc.) to the cultural expectations of a target market.
 
Despite such lessons from the international marketing efforts of brick-and-mortar companies, a review of
current marketing industry standards about consumer research indicates that the importance of culture as
a means of qualifying online consumers is not yet fully recognized and integrated into industry lexicon.

For example, the American Marketing Association defines Environmental Analysis as follows: "The
gathering and analyzing of data about a company's or nation's external environment to identify trends and
their impact upon an organization or country. Included among the environmental forces considered are
the political, cultural, social, demographic, economic, legal, international, and ecological factors."

Rather than considering an environmental analysis from the perspective of a corporation, one might
instead prioritize the environment from the perspective of potential consumers. Culture should also be
recognized as part of the internal environment, and the AMA's definition could apply to cultural target
market analysis so long as we recognize that cultural research for targeting is done within and across
national borders. Therefore, analyzing the status quo reveals that cultural research might fall under the
umbrella heading of an environmental analysis if it is understood that all the components of an
environmental analysis are cultural variables.

On the other hand, just because we can squeeze cultural analysis for marketing applications into a model,
will doing so account for the holistic nature of this culturally qualifying approach? Rather than re-inventing
this outdated and incomplete contextual model, marketers may find it more productive to refer differently
to the cultural approach advocated here.  READ
WITH THAT, Having a single source for prioritizing cultural research in an online
marketing setting may also be more beneficial. Some of analysis advocates
applying the term cultural qualification to characterize the use of cultural
knowledge as the foundation for understanding the relationship between
promotional offerings and the cultural environment of a target audience.

Later, we’ll address what is CULTURAL QUALIFICATION relation in our topic,

prior to the conclusion of this presentation. But before that, let’s look

How should cultural understanding affect the practice of online marketing?

Understanding the cultural context of a local, regional, or national target audience

provides context for engaging the research topic of a given marketing strategy. Just
because a potential customer may access your client's internet material does not imply
that the offer or information is relevant.

Online marketers and their clients must therefore recognize that just because a website is accessible
worldwide doesn't mean that the content is relevant to a global audience. Though your clients' content
can be accessed across the world, your clients' target population is not the world population.

Unfortunately, without cultural target market research, consumers with different backgrounds are being
culturally disqualified because content is perceived as foreign and unfamiliar to them. Rather than
becoming culturally qualified via culturally customized content, these potential consumers will most likely
continue searching for content that resonates with their cultural expectations.

Elements of specific cultures provide the contextual framework for how consumers with different cultural
backgrounds interpret and perceive the world, including Web content. Companies and online marketing
consultants should maximize relevance and consumer receptivity by prioritizing cultural research as a
component of their initial target market analysis.

Contemporary empirical research (Singh and Pereira 2005) has shown that consumers with different
cultural backgrounds demonstrate different consumer behaviors and are most receptive to content that is
consistent with cultural expectations. Therefore, to maximize relevance, receptivity, and ROI, companies
should customize Web design and promotional content based on cultural expectations of their target
market. READ

AND NOW LET’S TACKLED,

How is cultural qualification applied as an online marketing strategy?

If the idea of cultural qualification is viewed as a marketing funnel, then culture is

the first filter that establishes the context for culturally specific marketing
strategies intended to influence customers to engage.

Cultural knowledge offers the basis for promotional material that is congruent with the
expectations and perceptions of customers from various cultural backgrounds. When
customers are culturally qualified at the beginning of a marketing funnel, recognized
cultural expectations influence their decisions as they progress down the funnel toward
conversion.
When performing target market research to culturally qualify content and customers for
online marketing, the following are some questions to consider:

 What cultural design aspects (language, color, imagery and their implied
meanings, symbols, gender portrayals, etc.) may be included to strengthen your
relationship with your customers?

 How can you adapt content for culturally qualified search engine marketing (PPC,
display advertisements, and granular message aspects such as phraseology) to
match those values?

Contemporary research demonstrates that purchase intentions are higher with websites containing
culturally customized content and design elements (Singh and Periera 2005), and cultural
qualification starts with the goal of understanding customers and providing them with content from the
perspective of their cultural context. That qualifying step toward cultural marketing relevance represents
the process of researching and designing marketing initiatives to maximize relevance to a specific cultural
or ethnic group.

Cultural qualification as a goal of target market research should consider whether your company is
seeking to satisfy the needs of a local, regional, national, or multinational customer base. Define the
locations of the most-likely consumers of your clients' products or services. Next, identify how the cultural
and geographic context of the target market should affect promotional content and synthesize cultural
context with promotional content, thereby connecting culturally qualified consumers with culturally
qualified offers.

Ideally, cultural qualification research should be combined with geotargeting to synthesize content for the
people and places inside a targeted geographic area, thereby creating more relevant content across
and within national boundaries. Cultural targeting can and should be local, regional, national, or
multinational depending on the cultural makeup of a target population. Therefore, cultural qualification
(and cultural relevance) is significant when marketing to multiethnic target markets within the same
country. READ

AND WERE DONE, WITH ALL OF THOSE THAT WE TACKLED, INDICATES

THAT CULTURAL TARGETING IS THE KEY TO ONLINE CUSTOMER
RECEPTIVITY.
REFERENCES:

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/culture-
marketing#:~:text=Culture%20marketing%20refers%20to%20promotional,that%20appeal
%20to%20this%20audience.

https://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2012/8001/cultural-targeting-the-key-to-online-
consumer-receptivity