Cross-Cultural Consumer Behavior: An International Perspective

The Imperative To Be Multinational

Global Trade Agreements Acquiring Exposure to Other Cultures Country-of-origin Effects

GLOBAL AGREEMENTS
EU (European Union) :- the movements of goods and

services among its 27 members (as of January 1, 2007) has been eased, it is unclear whether this device market will really be transformed into a single market of almost 495 million homogeneous Euroconsumers with the same or very similar needs and want. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which currently consists of the United States , Canada and Mexico, provides free market access to more than 440 million consumers. Some other trade associations include the Association of the Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN), the Central America Trade Agreement (CAFTA) etc.

The Worlds Most Valuable Brands

1 Coca-Cola 2 Microsoft 3 IBM 4 GE 5 Nokia

6 Intel 7 Disney 8 Ford 9 McDonalds 10 AT&T

ACOUIRING EXPOSURE TO OTHER CULTURE

How consumers in one culture secure exposure to

the goods of other people living in other cultures is an important part of consumer behavior. It impact the well being of consumers worldwide and of marketers trying to gain acceptance for their products in countries that are often quite different from their home country. For example, Turkish migrant workers to Germany and Netherlands have introduced the Donor Kebab, a Turkish sandwich of roasted meat and pide, Turkish flat bread, into those countries.

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN EFFECTS

Researchers have shown that consumers use their knowledge of where products are made in the evaluation of their purchase option. Such country of origin seems to come about because consumers are often aware that a particular firm or brand name is associated with a particular country.
In General, many consumers associate France with wine, fashion clothing, perfume; Italy with pasta; Germany with cars, tools and machinery.

CROSS CULTURE CONSUMER ANALYSIS

To determine whether an how to enter a foreign market, marketers need to conduct some form of cross cultural consumer analysis. Cross cultural consumer analysis is defined as the effort to determine to what extant the consumers of two or more nations are similar or different. Such analysis ca provide marketers with an understanding of the psychological, social, and cultural characteristics of the foreign consumers they wish to target, so that they can design effective marketing strategies for the specific natio

Issues in Cross-Cultural Consumer Analysis

Similarities and Differences Among People Time Effects The Growing Global Middle Class Acculturation
Research Techniques

SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERNCES AMONG PEOPLE

A major objective of cross cultural analysis is to determine how consumers in two or more societies are similar and how they are

different. For example, Australian subjects were more internally oriented, while Singaporean subjects were more externally oriented. This result in Australians attributing more responsibility to themselves for the good or bad outcome of a buying decision.

THE GLOBAL GROWING MIDDLE CLASS

Recent projections state that while the worlds population will grow by about 1 billion people over next 12 years, the middle class will increase by 1.8 billion people, of which 600 million will be in China. The growing middle class in developing countries is a phenomenon that is very attractive to global marketers who are often eager to identify new customers for their products. The news media has given considerable coverage to the idea that the rapidly expanding middle class in countries of Asia, South America, and Eastern Europe.

ACCULURATION
Cross cultural acculturation is a dual process for marketers. First, marketers must thoroughly orient themselves to the values, beliefs, and customs of the new society to appropriately position and market their products. Second, to gain acceptance for a culturally new product in a foreign society, they must develop a strategy that encourages members of that society to modify or even break with their own traditions

Table 14.4 Basic Research Issues in Cross-Cultural Analysis

FACTORS Differences in language and meaning Differences in market segmentation opportunities EXAMPLES Words or concepts may not mean the same in two different countries. The income, social class, age, and sex of target customers may differ dramatically in two different countries.

Differences in consumption patterns

Two countries may differ substantially in the level of consumption or use of products or services.

Differences in the perceived benefits of products and services

Two nations may use or consume the same product in very different ways.

Table 14.4 continued

FACTORS EXAMPLES

Differences in the criteria for evaluating products and services

Differences in economic and social conditions and family structure

The benefits sought from a service may differ from country to country.
The style of family decision making may vary significantly from country to country. The types and quality of retail outlets and direct-mail lists may vary greatly among countries. The availability of professional consumer researchers may vary considerably from country to country.

Differences in marketing research and conditions

Differences in marketing research possibilities

Alternative Multinational Strategies: Global Versus Local

Favoring a World Brand Adaptive Global Marketing Framework for Assessing Multinational

Strategies
Global Local Mixed

Leading Wrist-Watch Manufacturer Uses Global Advertising Strategy

World Brands

Products that are manufactured, packaged, and positioned the same way regardless of the country in which they are sold.

Table 14.6 A Framework for Alternative Global Marketing Strategies

PRODUCT STRATEGY COMMUNICATON STRATEGY STANDARDIZED COMMUNICATIONS STANDARDIZED PRODUCT Global strategy: Uniform Product/ Uniform Message Mixed strategy: Customized Product/ Uniform Message LOCALIZED COMMUNICATIONS Mixed Strategy: Uniform Product/ Customized Message Local Strategy: Customized Product/ Customized Message

LOCALIZED PRODUCT

Marketing Mistakes: A Failure to Understand Differences

Product Problems Promotional Problems Pricing and Distribution Problems

Consider Color
Meanings of Blue
Holland - warmth Iran - death Sweden - coldness India - purity

Meanings of Yellow
U.S. - warmth France - fidelity