MKTG 680. Chapter 4 Social and Cultural Environments. Task of Global Marketers. Society, Culture, and Global Consumer Culture

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1 MKTG 680 Chapter 4 Social and Cultural Environments Task of Global Marketers Study and understand the country cultures in which they will be doing business Incorporate this understanding into the marketing planning process not just speaking a common language Society, Culture, and Global Consumer Culture Culture Ways of living, built up by a group of human beings, that are transmitted from one generation to another (formal definition, p. 120) Culture is acted out in social institutions (Family, Education, Religion, Government, Business) Culture has both conscious and unconscious values, ideas and attitudes Culture is both material (material OA) and nonmaterial (judgmental/abstract - RPBVA) Global consumer cultures are emerging fast food, pop, 1

2 Beliefs, Values, and Attitudes Belief - an organized pattern of knowledge that an individual holds to be true about the world; building blocks for attitude Value - enduring belief or feeling that a specific mode of conduct is personally or socially preferable to another mode of conduct Attitudes - learned tendency to respond in a consistent way to a given object or entity Aesthetics The sense of what is/is not beautiful What represents good taste as opposed to tastelessness or even obscenity Visual embodied in the color or shape of a product, label, or package (red, white, purple, gray) Styles various degrees of complexity, for example are perceived differently around the world (music as a product and means to communicate: reggae, hip hop, country, salsa, samba) Dietary Preferences Food preparation and consumption patterns and habits Would you eat.. Reindeer (Finland) Rabbit (France) Rice, soup, and grilled fish for breakfast (Japan) Kimchi - Korea Blood sausage (Germany) Cereal with cold milk? Evolving fast food (busy life, younger consumer more experimental Nationalist backlash. 2

3 Language and Communication : Verbal Linguistic Category Syntax (rules for sentence formation) Semantics (system of meaning) Phonology (system of sound or patterns) Morphology (word formation) Language Example English has relatively fixed word order; Russian has relatively free word order Japanese words convey nuances of feeling for which other languages lack exact correlations; yes and no can be interpreted differently than in other languages. Japanese does not distinguish between the sounds l and r ; English and Russian both have l and r sounds. Colgate is a Spanish command that means go hang yourself Technology implications for Text messages 8282 means hurry up (Korea); 7170 means close friend (Korea); means I Love You (Korea) Russian is a highly inflected language, with six different case endings for nouns and adjectives; English ahs fewer inflections. Language and Communication Nonverbal cues or body language: Using right hand Bowing Use of hand in the crowd Table 4-2 (p. 130) Internet Diffusion of English language Also provides important cross-cultural insights helpful in negotiation (supply chain/value network management) High- and Low-Context Cultures High Context Information resides in context Emphasis on background, basic values Less emphasis on legal paperwork Focus on personal reputation Saudi Arabia, Japan Subcultures in low context cultures Central Banker s Low Context Messages are explicit and specific Words carry all information Reliance on legal paperwork Focus on non-personal documentation of credibility Switzerland, US, Germany 3

4 High- and Low-Context Cultures Factor/Dimension Lawyers A person s word Responsibility for Organizational error Space Time Competitive Bidding High Context Less Important Is his/her bond Taken by highest level People breathe on each other Polychronic Infrequent Very Important Not reliable get it in writing Pushed to the lowest level Private space maintained Monochronic Common Low Context Hofstede s Cultural Typology: 5 Dimensions Expected social behavior: Power Distance (expected/acceptable inequality) Individualism/Collectivism Masculinity (clear role for men?) Man s search for truth: Uncertainty Avoidance (comfortable with ambiguity?) Importance of time: Long-term Orientation (here and now?) Self-Reference Criterion and Perception Unconscious reference to one s own cultural values; creates cultural myopia How to Reduce Cultural Myopia: Define the problem or goal in terms of home country cultural traits Define the problem in terms of host-country cultural traits; make no value judgments Isolate the SRC influence and examine it Redefine the problem without the SRC influence and solve 4

5 Diffusion Theory: The Adoption Process The mental stages through which an individual passes from the time of his or her first knowledge of an innovation to the time of product adoption or purchase Awareness Interest Evaluation Trial Adoption Diffusion Theory: Characteristics of Innovations Innovation is something new, five factors that affect the rate at which innovations are adopted include Relative advantage Compatibility Complexity Divisibility Communicability Categories of Adopters Return 5

6 Marketing Implications The topics in this chapter must be considered when formulating a global marketing plan Environmental Sensitivity reflects the extent to which products must be adapted to the culture-specific needs of different national markets 6