Cultural Dynamics in Assessing Global Markets

Introduction
Culture refers to “the human-made part of human environment—
the sum total of knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, laws, customs, and
any other capabilities and habits acquired by humans as members
of society”

Importance of culture in international marketing

A successful marketer must be a student of

culture

Culture is pervasive in all marketing activities—

in pricing, promotion, channels of distribution,
product, packaging, and styling

Understanding culture can determine success or failure in

international marketing
 Culture’s Pervasive Impact
• Culture influences every part of
our lives
• Cultures impact on birth rates in
Taiwan, Japan, and Singapore

• Birthrates have implications for sellers of diapers, toys,

schools, and colleges

• Consumption of different types of food influence is culture:

Chocolate by Swiss, seafood by Japanese preference, beef by
British, wine by France and Italy
• Even diseases are influenced by culture: stomach cancer in
Japan, and lung cancer in Spain
 Definitions and Origins of Culture

Culture is the sum of the “values, rituals, symbols, beliefs, and thought processes
that are learned, shared by a group of people, and transmitted from generation to
generation”

Culture has been conceptualized as:

1. “Software of the mind” culture is a guide for

humans on how to think and behave; it is a
problem-solving tool (Hofstede)
2. An invisible barrier… a completely different way
of organizing life, of thinking, and of conceiving
the underlying assumptions about the family and
the state, the economic system, and even Man
himself” (Hall)
3. A “thicket” (U.S. Ambassador Hodgson)
 Origins of Culture: Geography

1. Geography, which includes climate, topography, flora, fauna,

and microbiology, influences our social institutions

2. Two researchers 3. First, Jared

suggest that Diamond states
geography that historically
influences innovations
everything from spread faster
history to present- east-to-west than
day cultural north-to-south
values

4. Second, Philip Parker reports strong correlations between the

latitude (climate) and the per capita GDP of countries
 Origins of Culture: Social Institutions
• Social institutions including family, religion, school, the media,
government, and corporations all affect culture

• The family, social classes, group behavior, age groups, and

how societies define decency and civility are interpreted
differently within every culture
(1) Family behavior varies across the world, e.g., extended
families living together to Dad washing dishes
(2) Religious value systems differ across the world, e.g.,
Muslims not allowed to eat pork to Hindus not allowed to
consume beef
 Origins of Culture: Social Institutions

(3) School and education, and literacy rates affect

culture and economic growth
(4) Media (magazines, TV, the Internet) influences
culture and behavior
(5) Government policies influence the thinking and
behaviors citizens of adult citizens, e.g., the French
government offers new “birth bonuses” of $800
given to women as an incentive to increase family
size
(6) Corporations influence culture via the products
they market, e.g., MTV
Elements of Culture

1. Cultural values

2. Rituals

3. Symbols

4. Beliefs, and

5. Thought processes
 Elements of Culture: Cultural Values
• Differences in cultural values, which is found to exist among
countries, affects consumer behavior

• Hofstede, who studied over 90,000 people in 66 countries,

found that the cultures differed along four primary dimensions:

1. Individualism/Collective Index (IDV), which focuses on

self-orientation
2. Power Distance Index (PDI), which focuses on authority
orientation
3. Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI), which focuses on risk
orientation; and
4. Masculinity/Femininity Index (MAS), which focuses on
assertiveness and achievement
 Elements of Culture: Rituals, and Symbols

• Rituals are patterns of behavior and interaction that are learned

and repeated vary from country to country, e.g., extended lunch
hours in Spain and Greece

• Language as Symbols: the

“languages” of time, space, things,
friendships, and agreements

• French attempting to preserve the

purity of their language
 Elements of Culture: Rituals, and Symbols

• In Canada, language has been the focus of political disputes

including secession

• Differences in language vocabulary

varies widely

• Aesthetics as Symbols: the arts,

folklore, music, drama, and dance
of a culture influences marketing
 Elements of Culture:
Beliefs and Thought Processes
Beliefs, which stem from religious training, vary from culture to
culture
• The western aversion to the number 13 or refusing
to walk under a ladder
Examples: • Japanese concern about Year of the Fire Horse
• The Chinese practice of Feng Shui in designing
buildings

Thought processes also vary across cultures

Examples: “Asian and Western” thinking

In summary, marketers must consider larger cultural consequences
of marketing actions
 Resistance to Change

Although some cultures embrace change,

others are resistant to it

Examples of cultures that resist change:

Working women in Masculine societies like

Saudi Arabia

Acceptance of genetically modified foods

(or “Frankenfood”) in Europe
 Planned and Unplanned Cultural Change
• Cultures that are resistant to change represent a major hurdle in
marketing products

Cultural change can be accomplished by:

• First, determine which cultural factors conflict with an
innovation, thus creating resistance to its acceptance
• Second, change those factors from obstacles to acceptance into
stimulants for change
• Third, marketers can cause change by introducing an idea or
product and deliberately setting about to overcome resistance and
to cause change that accelerates the rate of acceptance
• Firms can use a strategy of planned change by deliberately
changing those aspects of the culture offering resistance to
predetermined marketing goals, e.g., introducing western foods
and baseball into Japan