CHAPTER 2: Cross-Cultural Variations in CB

The aspects of CULTURE influence CB:

- Language => how we speak, the words we use and their meaning
- Demographics => physical characteristics, describes people in terms of what they
look like/ they live
- Values => the things that are important to cultures
America = hard work
- Nonverbal comm => body language differs between cultures
These factors influence the marketing strategy for the consumer segment => what does
the product look like, what is ok to MK in the culture, how do we communicate the benefits of
our product to the customer
Globalisation: “Going global” with our marketing
- Changing from 1-way influence from the US to other countries to a MUTUAL
INFLUENCE => NO LONGER just exporting products, needs to understand what the
culture needs in terms of the product itself and how best to communicate that to
them.
- Major types of world citizens =>
1. Global citizens => open to products from other countries, actively seeking to
know what is out there
2. Global dreamers => NOT as into it, but wonder what it is all about, future
global citizens
3. Antiglobals => All they want to do is buy domestic, NO value for products
from other countries and often reject those products
4. Global agnostics => do NOT care about where products come from just care
about max value
Culture: the collective knowledge, the belief system of society, their customs, behaviours in
terms of how to act and what is acceptable (what is cool and what is NOT) => includes art,
music, laws, behaviours, personality of the society
- Cultural values give rise to NORMS and associated SANCTIONS which influence
CONSUMPTION PATTERNS
1) Norms: specific ranges of appropriate behaviour
2) Sanctions: penalties for violating norms
- Cultures are NOT STATIC => typically evolve and change slowly over time because
people change
Variations in Cultural Values:
- Other oriented values => society’s relationship to other members of the society
1) Individual/collective => How focused are we on individuals getting ahead vs
doing what is good for everyone
- America = individual
- Eastern countries = collective
2) Youth/age => is the energy of youth valued or is the wisdom of age valued
- America=youth
- Eastern countries=collective

3) Extended/limited family => Do households contain more than one

generation or just the nuclear family
4) Masculine/feminine
 5) Competitive// cooperative => Do individuals compete against one another
or cooperate well for the common goal
6) Diversity/uniformity
- Environment-oriented values => society’s relationship to its tech, economic,
political/legal systems, and physical (natural) environment.
1) Cleanliness => is an emphasis placed on cleanliness
2) Performance/status => is an emphasis placed on success in work or more
on family status.
3) Tradition/change
4) Risk/ taking/security => open to risk/new ideas or favour the tried and true
5) Problem-solving/ fatalistic => Do they actively try to do something about the
situation or chalk it up to fate and deal with it silently
6) Nature
- Self-oriented values => What do individuals think are desirable traits for themselves
1) Active/passive => make active decisions or wait and sê
2) Sensual gratification/ abstinence => go for it now or save up for it later
3) Material/ nonmaterial => material goods and spiritual/cognitive aspects of
life
4) Hard work/leisure => Is hard work looked at for the value in and of itself or is
hard work merely a means to an end so you can live a life of leisure
5) Postponed gratification/immediate gratification
6) Religious/ secular => Is religion a focus of the society or more secular in
practices
Cultural Variations in Nonverbal Comm:
- Time=> time perspective vs time interpretations
1) Monochronic => In America gotta be on time, time is money, something of value
2) Polychronic => In South America time is flexible, and time is better spent building
relationships
- Space => overall use and meanings assigned to space
1) Personal space = how close is it acceptable to stand up to someone
- Symbols => colours, animals, shapes, numbers, and music
1) What meanings are associated with these different elements that we need to be
aware of
2) Failure to recognize the assigned meanings can cause SERIOUS problems
- Relationships => How quickly and easily do cultures form relationships and make
friends
1) Americans tend to form relationships and make friends QUICKLY and EASILY
2) Chinese relationships are much more complex and characterized by GUANXI
- Agreements => How does a culture ensure business obligations are honoured? How
are disagreements resolved?
1) Is it an interpersonal handshake or a formal contract
2) Some cultures rely on the legal system
3) Others rely on relationships, friendships, etc
- Things=> the cultural meaning of things leads to purchase patterns that one would
NOT otherwise predict
1) What should you give to people in different cultures? How does this influence
purchase patterns?
2) The differing meanings that cultures attach to things, including products, make gìt
 giving a DIFFICULT task
- Etiquette => generally accepted ways of behaving in social situations
1) Behaviour considered rude or obnoxious in one culture might be acceptable in
another
2) Normal voice tone, pitch, and speed of speech differ between cultures and languages
as do the use of gestures
Cross-cultural MK strategy => Considerations in Approaching Foreign Market
1) Homogeneous vs heterogeneous concerning culture => Are they different from the
US or similar
2) What needs can products fill in this culture
3) Can enough people afford the products
4) What are the distributions, political, and legal structures for the product
5) In what ways can we communicate about the products => how do we develop our
message to be effective
6) What are the ethical implications of marketing this product to countries?

Chapter 3: The Changing American Society

Changing in American Cultural Values

Green Marketing:
1. Developing products whose production, use, or disposal is less harmful to the
environment than the traditional versions of the products
2. Developing products that have a positive impact on the environment
3. Tying the purchase of a product to an environmental organization and event
Green Marketing Regulation
- The FTC has updated its Green Guides relating to environmental claims to include
changes to => Qualifying claims and 3rd party certifications and seals
 - Firms must avoid greenwashing => promoting environmental benefits that are
unsubstantiated and on which they do not deliver
Cause-Related Marketing (CRM): marketing that ties a co and its products to an issue or
causes with the goal of improving sales or corporate image while providing benefits to the
cause.
Marketing to the LGBTQ Community:
- The gay market is estimated to be 4% of the adult US population (10 million people
over 18 years old)
- The purchasing power of the gay market is estimated at over $900 million
- How are their needs different/similar to other consumer segments
Gender-Based Marketing:
- Gender roles in the US are shifting with both genders making many purchase
decisions => shifting from women being caretakers and men working to everybody
being in the workforce
+ This changes how household decisions are made and how we market
products to families
- Today women influence 80% of all vehicles sold
- Market Segmentation =>
+ Traditional housewife => stays at home, takes care of the kids and the
home< content to do this
=> Technology is allowing lots of people to work at home, Many are
working from home but wish they could work.
+ Trapped housewife => stays at home but wishes she could work
=> Cannot afford childcare
+Trapped working woman => married or single women who would prefer to
stay at home but work because they need the paycheck
+ Career working woman=> always been in the workforce, is content to work
and finds a balance between work and home life
- Product Strategy => Moving beyond stereotypes
+ Rather than adapting colours to fit stereotypes, cos are adapting their
features in ways that make their products more functional (ie to “fit” women’s
hands)
- Marketing Comm Strategies => if I am targeting a certain gender, which site should
I advertise on
 - Retail Strategy =>
+ Men and women have different purchasing habits
+ Differences in loyalty, brand switching, coupon usage, and shopping style
must be considered as more men take on the task of grocery shopping
Chapter 4: The Changing American Society => Demographics and
Social Stratifications
Demographic factors that describe population in terms of age, size, density, structure (how
do people live together)
- Age => MOST INFLUENTIAL on consumer needs and wants: as consumers age
products may need to evolve to meet changing needs in a unique way
+ US age distribution => age cohorts are the different groups of people around
the same age that share similar characteristics as consumers due to their
closeness in age
+ Key growth categories => lots of growth in older cohorts ( Baby Boomers)

Understanding American Generations:

MATURE MARKET: PRE-DEPRESSION, DEPRESSION, BABY BOOM GENERATION
- Pre-Depression
- Depression
- Baby Boom
- Generation X
- Generation Y
- Generation Z
- Generation Alpha
Cuspers => born on the cusp of two generations may share characteristics or buying
patterns of both generations
These are the age of cohorts marketers have ID => target them as a group to be more
efficient
Baby Boom Generation:
- Compared to prior generations they are => Higher income, higher educated, more
tech-savvy ( many members of this group started the technological revolution),
defining retirement differently (active retirement)
- Strong market for “anti-aging” products, travel, and financial services.
- Often alienated by overly “youth-oriented” appeals in the advertisement
Segmenting the Boomer Market => Stereotypes
 1. Boomers all have the same values and outlook => and encompass a large population
over a large period, older ones do not have the same values as younger ones
2. Self-centred
3. NOT tech-savvy
4. Married empty nesters who are downsizing =>kids and grandkids moving back in
5. All retiring early and wealthy
Generation Xers ( AKA Older Millennials)
- Smaller than the previous generations
- Highly educated => more college attendance and graduates than the previous
generations, women more highly educated than men
- Entrepreneurial in approach to jobs => less prone to devote life to a large corporation
- More diverse and open to diversity than previous generations
- Cynical and sophisticated about products, advisement and shopping
- Tech savvier than previous generations

Generation Yers (AKA Younger Millennials)

- 2 Sub-Markets = Young Gen Y, Older Gen Y
- expected to have at least as high of an education level as the previous generation
- Factors they believe make their generation unique => Technological use, music and
pop culture, tolerance, intelligence, and clothes.
Generation Z
- Digital Natives, Generation @, Net Generation
- $200 billion purchase power
- Buying patterns formed as a young teen will follow through life
- Reaching them can be challenging for brands => Easily get bored, use more digital
platforms than older generations, known to switch between 6 screens simultaneously
Generation Alpha
- Likely to be an only child in Millennial parents
- Tech-savvy
- Buying power of $18 billion => have a say in the types of products their parents buy
them
Social Stratification
- Social rank and social class system => based on income and education
- Status crystallization => how consistent is an individual in all status dimensions
+ People in society have certain expectations about various kinds (or
dimensions) of social status that should correlate with one another (ie education and
income).
Social Structure in the US
- Social standing is derived and influences behaviour
- Socioeconomic factors => occupation, education, ownership, income, heritage
- Social standing => upper class, middle class, working class, lower class.
+ THIS IS BASED ON THE COLEMAN RAINWATER HIERARCHY
+ Upper-upper = the “capital S society” world of inherited wealth, aristocratic
names
+ Lower-Upper= newer social elite, drawn from current professional and
corporate leadership
+ Upper-middle = the rest of the college, grad managers and professionals
=> Lifestyle centres on careers, private clubs, causes, and the arts
 +Middle = average pay white=collar workers and their blue-collar friends
=> Live on the “better” side of town
=> Try to do the “proper” things
+ Working = average pay for blue-collar workers and their blue-collar friends
=> Lead “working-class” lifestyle regardless of income, education, and job
+ Upper-lower = “a lower group of people but the lowest”
=> Working, not on welfare
=> Living standard is just above poverty
+Lower-lower = on welfare, visibly poverty-stricken, usually out of work or have
the “dirties jobs”

- Unique behaviours => preferences, purchases, consumption, communication.

Measurement of Social Class.
- Social status => largely derived from demographics (income, education, occupation)
+ Demographic factors go a long way toward determining one’s social class or status
- Single-item indexes = estimates social status based on single dimensions such as
edu, income, or occupation
Chapter 5: The changing American society => Subcultures
CHAPTER 6: The Changing American => Families Households
CHAPTER 7: GROUP INFLUENCES ON CONSUMER BEHAVIORS
Factors Affecting Rate of Innovation Diffusion
Chapter 8: Perception
CHAPTER 9: LEARNING, MEMORY, PRODUCT POSITIONING
CHAPTER 10: Motivation, Personality & Emotion
CHAPTER 11: ATTITUDES, INFLUENCING ATTITUDES
CHAPTER 12: SELF-CONCEPT & LIFESTYLE
CHAPTER 13: SITUATIONAL INFLUENCES
CHAPTER 14: CONSUMER DECISION PROGRESS & PROBLEM RECOGNITION
CHAPTER 15: INFORMATION SEARCH
CHAPTER 16: ALTERNATIVE EVALUATION AND SELECTION
CHAPTER 17 OUTLET SELECTION & PURCHASE
CHAPTER 18: POSTPURCHASE PROCESSES, CUSTOMER SATISFACTION &
CUSTOMER COMMITMENT
CHAPTER 19: ORGANIZATIONAL BUYER BEHAVIOR
CHAPTER 20: MARKETING REGULATION & CONSUMER BEHAVIOR