How Culture Affects Consumer Behaviour?

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1 How Culture Affects Consumer Behaviour? Department of commerce M.M.P.G.College, Fatehabad Abstract This study investigates how cultural factors affect consumer behaviour? Consumer buying behaviour determines how our consumers decide to buy our product and what are the various factors responsible for this decision? Consumer behaviour deals with the study of buying behaviour of consumers. This paper is an attempt to study how culture affect consumer behaviour? This study is conceptual and based on secondary data. Secondary data is collected from various journals, government reports and books written by different authors. There are several factors which influence the buying decisions of buyers viz. cultural, social, personal and psychological. But this study relates to cultural factor only, which can be of three types viz. culture, sub culture and social class. This study finds out what are the cultural factors and the affect on consumer behaviour, how they work and can better understand them. Key words- culture, sub culture and social class. Introduction Consumer behaviour deals with the study of buying behaviour of consumers. Consumer behaviour helps us to understand why or why not an individual purchases goods and services from market. Consumer purchases are not just simple one and done affairs, because the behavior of the consumers remains not same in all the time the consumers behavior change with the passage of time. The behavior of consumer is temporary for short time not permanently. They are affected strongly by cultural factors, social factors, personal factors and psychological factors. Out of these, cultural factor being one of the most important factor. Culture is the most basic cause of a person's wants and behaviour. Marketers are always trying to spot cultural shifts which might point to new products that might be wanted by consumers or to increased demand. The purpose of the research is how the cultural factors affect consumer behaviour and the other purpose of the research is to gain the more knowledge about consumer behavior. Culture factor consist of culture, sub culture and social class. Review of Literature Sr.No. Writer Name Literature Heading About Literature 1. Asifo Shah(2010) Factors affecting Study the impact of all the four factors on consumer behaviour consumer behaviour 2. A.A.Brosekhan & Consumer buying Consumer behavior refer all the mental and Dr.C.M.Velayutham behaviour physical activities that consumer performs to fulfill their needs and wants and all these mental and physical activities use for the product. 3 Ahmad Chaudhery(2014) Does Culture Influence our consumer behavior? If so how? Study of impact of cultural factor Culture, sub culture and social class on consumer behavior. 4. Pinki Rani(2014) Factors influencing consumer behaviour 5. D.Yakyp,C.Mucahit & Reyhan(2011) The Impact of Cultural Factors on the Consumer Buying Behaviors Study the impact of cultural factor, social factor, Personal factor and psychological factor on consumer behavior. Study the culture factor and its effect, sub culture factor and its effect and social class and its effect on consumer buying behavior. 146

2 Consumer and the Importance of Consumer Behavior in Marketing Consumer is a person who desires, needs and requires goods and services.consumer behavior refer all the mental and physical activities that consumer performs to fulfill their needs and wants and all these mental and physical activities use for the product. Here the question is arise what is consumer, how is consumer? Consumer means anyone who uses the product. So marketers are defined to have the ability to control the behaviours of customers, but actually they have neither power nor information about consumers. Marketer may influence their buying behavior but not control. Because several factors affect consumer behaviours viz. Motives, perceptions, attitudes, experiences, self concept, values, income, economic situations, culture, profession, family, reference groups, sub culture, social class, age, life style etc. These factors can be shown by the following figure- Figure showing factors affecting consumer buying behaviour Objectives of the study 1) To study the different cultural factors. 2) To gain understanding the difference in consumer behaviour with reference to cultural factors. 3) To review the academic construct used for analyzing culture and the implications for consumer behaviour. 4) To present the results to international marketers for taking decisions regarding their products & services. Cultural factors affecting consumer behaviour Cultural factors comprise of set of values and ideologies of a particular community or group of individuals. It is the culture of an individual which decides the way he/she behaves. In other words, culture is nothing but values of an individual. When an individual learns from his parents and relatives as a child becomes his culture. Cultural factors have significant effect on an individual s buying decisions. Every individual has different sets of habits, beliefs and principles which he develops from his family status and background, what they seen from their childhood becomes their culture. Example- In India, people still value joint family system. Children in India are conditioned to stay with their parents till they get married. 147

3 Let us understand the influence of cultural factors on buying decision of individual with the help of some more examples- Girls in South India wear skirts and blouses as compared to girls in North India who are more into salwar kameez. Female staying in West Bengal and Assam would prefer buying saris as compared to westerns. Similarly a male consumer would prefer a dhoti kurta during ceremonies in eastern India as this is what their culture is. Our culture says that we need to wear traditional attire on marriages and this is what we have been following since years. People in North India prefer breads over rice which is favourite with people in South India and East India. For Hindu eating cow is considered as a sin whereas Christians and Muslims do not mind eating it. Similarly, eating of pork is against Muslims religion while Hindu does not mind eating it. People in India, make fun when males buy fairness creams as in our culture females are expected to buy and use beauty products. Males are perceived to more strong and tough who look good as they are. And white colour is preferred by Christians at the time of wedding but in India white colour is the sign of peace and wear at the time of death by Hindus. Tamilians prefer to wear a white shirt and dhoti and women are very fond of wearing bright colour silk saris. Types of cultural factors Cultural factors can be examined under three headings. It consists of a) culture b) sub culture and c) social class. These factors are briefly discussed. A) Culture: Culture is a very important concept to understand consumer behavior and that needs to be examined. Culture is the set of beliefs and values that are shared by most people within a group. Culture is passed down from one generation to the next, it is learned, Culture is different from one society to other society or one country to other country on the basis of their norms, values, tradition, beliefs, custom, behavior and their thoughts. For example the culture of Pakistan and India is different. Effect of culture on consumer behavior International marketers believe that consumers are very resemble each other and that they will eat the same food, wear same clothes, and watch the same television programs. But the reality is very different. If an organization wants to be a market leader in international market then organization must be design their products according to the other country s culture not according to own culture. So to trade in international markets, marketer must overcome the cultural and economic boundaries. Culture involves society's thoughts, words, their traditions, language, norms, symbols, attitudes and feelings. Belief Beliefs of the people in a community can show similarities. These beliefs are responsible for the spiritual fulfillment of needs and wants. Muslims believe in god, holy Quran, the day of judgment, hajj etc. Sikh wears a bangle in one hand, a turban on their head and bears a long beard and cross for Christians. Tradition Another element of culture is tradition, is related with non-verbal behaviour of individuals. In France the men use more cosmetic products than the women, but in India women use more than men. Language Language is a system of words and symbols used to communicate with other people. This includes all languages like English, Hindi, and French etc. But it also includes body language. Values Values are what we like and what we say will in our society. Values are the good idea and thinking of a person. Culture varies from society to society so values are different in every social situation. Some values are hereditary which we gain from our parents, elders and books. The culture is full of values and can transmit from one generation to another. 148

4 Norms Norms are the rules and guidelines which specify the behaviour of an individual. Norms keep a person with in the boundary of society and culture. It gives us restrictions and about something which to do and which not to do. It gives us knowledge about right and wrong. Symbol A symbol is anything that is used for something else. For Example a cross is a significant symbol to Christians. A red light is used to stop a vehicle. As a result, learning of cultural factor in the analysis of consumer behavior has been an important variable in marketing. B) Sub- culture: The culture of a country or society has different subcultures. Under culture there are smaller group of people or subculture. A society is composed of several sub cultures in which people can identified. Sub cultures are groups of people who share the same values based on a common experience or a similar life style. Sub culture refers to a set of beliefs shared by a subgroup of the main culture, which include nationalities, religions, racial groups, and age groups, gender of the individual and geographic regions. For example the subculture of India according to geographical regions are Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western and according to religion Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsi, Jain, etc. In India each state and religion has got its own traditional style of dressing, wearing ornaments, food preferences, etc. In North India wheat and wheat products are consumed more, where as in South fish, rice and rice products are consumed more. The norms, values, clothes, behavior, talking style, custom are also different in subcultures. It means the individual who live very close to each other can be different on the behalf of the sub culture. Effect of sub culture on consumer behaviour Geographical regions, racial, religious and nationality groups are essential in the formation of sub-culture. Geography can influence the type of food people consume and dresses they wear. Brahmin families in India are generally vegetarian. However; Kashmiri Brahmins are basically non vegetarian. Woolens and other warm clothes are worn by North Indians during winters but South Indians have no need for warm clothes. Following table show the Census Report 2011 by Government of India about religious groups. Religious groups in India Proportion of population in % Population in 2011(cr.) Hindu Muslim Christian Sikhs Buddhist Jain Others Religion not stated Source- Census Report,

5 Following figure can help International marketers to use these groups for segmenting the market into various small portions and also design their products according to the needs of the particular geographical groups Proportion of population in % Hindu Muslim Christian Sikhs Buddhist Jain Others Religion not stated Figure showing the Indian Religious groups in percentage The preference of individuals who live very close to each other can be different. Individuals belonging to different have different subculture values, attitudes and social structures of the members of other sub-culture. Because of these differences, sub cultural made an important variable for segmentation of the market activity. It is important to know the sub-culture in creating the marketing mix price, brand name identification, promotional activities and product positioning. C) Social Class Consumer behaviour is determined by the social class to which they belong. Social class is relatively a permanent and ordered division of society whose members share similar values, interest and behaviour. Social class is not shared by a single factor, such as income but it is measured as a combination of various factors such as income, occupation, education, authority, power, property, life style, consumption pattern etc. Effect of social class in Consumer Behaviour We often assume three types of social classes viz. Upper class, Middle class and lower class. These classes are differing in their buying behaviour. People from different social classes tend to have different consumption patterns and desires. They do not always buy the same product, do not watch the same TV shows, do not always read the same news papers, do not have the same hobbies and do not go in the same type of stores. Some marketers are focusing their efforts on only one social class. Social classes are also different in their choice of media. Upper class Upper class consumer wants higher class or luxury goods to maintain their status. They prefer books and magazines. Upper class consumers prefer news and dramas as TV programs. These comprise royal families, industrialists and top executives. Middle class Middle class consumers buy those products which would make their future secure and they collect more information before any purchasing. These comprise executives or middle level managers of companies. This section is very large in size in India. Lower class Lower class consumers buy only necessity goods. They live on per day wages. They are labour class, farmers and clerks of lower level. 150

6 Marketers should appeal communication channels and communication styles by determining by social class. So marketing managers are required to study carefully the relationship between social class and their consumption pattern and take appropriate measures. Significance of the study The results of the study will aware all the international marketers about the impact of cultural factors on consumer behaviour. The study will suggest to marketers to keep in mind different cultural factor for analyzing the demand of goods & services by consumers. It will also help for review the academic construct to analyzing culture and implications for consumer behaviour. Conclusion In present research I give my points of view related to the consumer behaviour and also describe those factors that can change the consumer s behaviour and choice. Consumer behaviour refer all the mental and physical activities that consumer performs to fulfill their needs and wants and all these mental and physical activities use for the product. Consumer behaviour can affect by so many factors. Cultural factors, social factors, personal factors and psychological factors influence the consumer behaviour. Present study is used to examine the impact of cultural factors on consumer behavior.cultural factors comprise of set of values and ideologies of a particular community or group of individual. If international marketers keep in mind these cultural factors that influence consumer behaviour then automatically increase sale and industry achieve their goals easily. The results further suggest that the cultural factors namely culture, sub culture and social class also influence the consumer behavior. We can say that if any international industry put their focus upon these cultural factors which affects consumer behavior and produce their products according to their customer demand and satisfy their needs then it will leaders towards a positive increase in growth of firms. Because today consumer prefer the place which satisfy them in every aspect. In this case to know the impact of cultural factors means a lot, if businesses want that consumers not shift to their competitors and neighboring cities. References Shah Asifo, (2010): Factors Affecting Consumer Behavior, http: //www. aipmm.com/ html/ newsletter/archives/ php, Brosekhan,A.& Velayutham, M. Consumer Buying Behaviour A Literature Review: IOSR Journal of Business and Management (IOSR-JBM) e-issn: X, p-issn: Batra Satish K. & Kazmi S H H (2010). Consumer Behaviour, second edition, ISBN: Census Report, 2011 List of Indian Religious Population retrieved from as on 07 Nov.2015 Chaudhary Ahmad (2014). Does Culture Influence our consumer behavior? If so how?,http; on 06 Nov.2015 Cultural factors affecting Consumer Behaviour retrieved from http;/ as on 08 Nov.2015 Rani Pinki (2014) Factors influencing Consumer Behaviour A Literature Review. Yakup, D. Mücahit, C. &Reyhan, O. (2011). The Impact of Cultural Factors on the Consumer Buying Behaviors Examined through An Impirical Study: International Journal of Business and Social Science, Vol. 2 No