DR.

VISHWANATH KARAD MIT WORLD PEACE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS (PG)

FAT 1: Individual Assignment

BATCH 2022-24

Course Name: Managing Global Business

Name of Student: Neeraj Thombre

PRN No: 1062222072
(Finance B)

Submitted to: Dr. Shashank Divekar

CROSS-CULTURAL CHALLENGES IN GLOBAL MARKETING

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Cross Cultural Communication in Workplace:

Cross-cultural communication is the communication between people who have cultural differences
due to nationality, age, working style, gender, ethnicity, race, etc. It can be verbal and non-verbal
and can include the use of words, gestures, eye contact, or body language when interacting cross-
culturally.

It is an essential soft skill because it can make or break personal and business relationships. It
is also critical for improving international relations and furthering a vision of achieving
global peace.

The importance of cross-cultural communication in an organisation:

Communication and trust - Communication with people of diverse cultures can be

improved when each person understands the other's customs, building a higher level of
trust. When staff and clients know and accept one another's cultural backgrounds, they can
develop trust, fostering a sense of belonging to a group and improving teamwork and
relationships.

Improved profitability and productivity - Trust and communication can lead to increased
productivity in several ways, including fewer misunderstandings and a better grasp of tactics,
procedures and objectives. Team members are able to concentrate more on their share of the
collective effort when they can trust their colleagues without wondering whether other people
are meeting required standards.

Incentives - Another reason for effective cross-cultural communication is to influence the

overall understanding of corporate incentive schemes. When managers adequately reward
employees, output rises.

Creativity - Creativity can improve in a bigger pool of cultural diversity. Cultural diversity
contributes to greater creativity when there is a wider variety of background influences and
viewpoints. These cultural differences broaden the range of workable alternatives to any
professional issue or obstacle.

Human resources - Cross-cultural communication and collaboration are also important in a

company's human resources department. For example, a company can employ talented
individuals from overseas who could integrate well whatever their cultural background.

Potential for growth - Connecting diverse cultures presents many opportunities for growth.
Managers can choose to develop and implement cross-cultural communication at all levels in
the company. Managers who act as role models and display understanding and agility open
the way for the rest of the organisation to follow.

The key Cross-Cultural challenges in Global Marketing include:

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● Language barriers: Different languages spoken in various regions can hinder
effective communication with customers and stakeholders. Localization of marketing
materials, such as advertisements, product labels, and websites, is essential to
overcome language barriers.
● Cultural differences: Cultural variations in values, customs, and traditions influence
consumer behaviour and perceptions of products and brands. Companies need to
adapt their marketing strategies to align with local cultural norms and preferences to
avoid cultural misunderstandings or offense.
● Consumer behaviour: Consumer buying behaviour varies across cultures, affecting
product preferences, purchasing habits, and decision-making processes.
Understanding cultural nuances in consumer behaviour is crucial for developing
targeted marketing campaigns and products that resonate with the local audience.
● Ethical considerations: What may be acceptable marketing practices in one culture
could be considered unethical or offensive in another. Companies must navigate
cultural sensitivities and adhere to ethical standards to avoid backlash and damage to
their reputation.
● Legal and regulatory differences: Each country has its own set of laws and
regulations governing marketing practices, product labeling, advertising, and
consumer protection. Companies must ensure compliance with local legal
requirements to avoid legal issues and fines.
● Communication challenges: Communication styles and preferences vary across
cultures, affecting how marketing messages are perceived and interpreted. Effective
communication requires an understanding of cultural communication norms and the
use of appropriate language and imagery.
● Brand localization: Brands need to adapt their messaging, branding elements, and
product offerings to resonate with local consumers while maintaining a consistent
brand identity globally. This requires careful consideration of cultural values and
preferences in brand positioning and communication.
● Distribution channels: Cultural differences may impact distribution channels and
retail formats preferred by consumers in different regions. Companies need to tailor
their distribution strategies to suit local market dynamics and consumer preferences.
● Managing multicultural teams: Operating in global markets often involves working
with teams from diverse cultural backgrounds. Effective leadership and
communication strategies are essential for managing multicultural teams and
leveraging their diverse perspectives and skills.

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CROSS-CULTURAL MARKETING: REALWORLD EXAMPLES

a) Product Adaptation: Cross-cultural product advertising presents a single product or

brand to people in different cultures at once. To be most effective in advertising to
different cultures, it can be necessary to tweak ads or create separate messages for
each targeted culture or subculture.
Example - Nestlé’s Maggi Noodles in India
Noodles were alright for dinner once in a while, and it is accepted in other countries
as well, but it was unsuccessful in India. Since Indians consider idly, dosa, chappathi,
etc., as their dinner menu. Then Maggi wanted another marketing strategy to sell its
product, and it marketed Maggi as a snack, not as a dinner and succeeded in the
market. This also reveals how culturally bounded practices impact marketing
strategies. They also went along with curry flavour, tomato flavour, etc., in India.

b) Price Adaptation: Pricing a product based on strict market conditions might not be
enough to see sales soar. Businesses looking to maximize their overseas sales have to
consider cultural preferences, traditions and biases if they want to make waves in
global commerce.
Example - KFC and McDonalds in Sri Lanka
MNCs like KFC and McDonalds are giving their primary concern to the price they
charge from Sri Lankans since people in Sri Lanka are more conscious about the
prices of the product than the quality. Even the displays they use to show their
products specifically display the price of each product. This proves that these MNCs
are amending their marketing strategies regarding price to suit Sri Lankan markets
and consumer psychology.

c) Promotion Adaptation: Promotions, in a sense, mainly includes advertisements, and

the cultural issues relating to those advertisements should be precisely dealt with in
order to capture the market through a healthy relationship with the target market. For
this purpose, most of the MNCs utilize the technique called “Advertising
Localization”. It is not a mere change of designation stemming from computer science
vocabulary but a radical change of perspective concerning the real nature and modes
of linguistic and cultural transfer from one language into another.
Example - Coke Advertisements in India
Coca-Cola uses different celebrities in each region of India to communicate more
effectively with the target market by considering their cultural variability’s. They use
Amir Khan in North India, Vijay in Tamil Nadu, Jyothika in Andhra Pradesh and
Aishwarya Rai in the rest of India, endorsing the same Coca-Cola. This shows the
perspective of marketers that people will feel more comfortable when they see a
person from their own cultural background in advertisements and feel positive toward
their products. In the Sri Lankan context, Santhosh and Bathiya endorse Coke, and the

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concept of the advertisement is carefully designed to reflect the local culture in each
frame.