International Marketing

14th Edition P h i l i p R. C a t e o r a M a r y C. G i l l y John L. Graham

Cultural Dynamics in Assessing Global Markets

Chapter 4

What Should You Learn?

The importance of culture to an international marketer The origins and elements of culture The impact of cultural borrowing The strategy of planned change and its consequences

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Global Perspective Equities and eBay Culture Gets in the Way

Culture deals with a groups design for living

The successful marketer clearly must be a student of culture

Markets are the result of the three-way interaction of a marketers
Economic conditions Efforts All other elements of culture

The use of something new is the beginning of cultural change

The marketer becomes a change agent
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Cultures Pervasive Impact

Culture affects every part of our lives, every day, from birth to death, and everything in between
Japan the year of the Fire Horse

As countries move from agricultural to industrial to services economies birthrates decline Consequences of consumption
Tobacco

Culture not only affects consumption, it also affects production

Stomach cancer in Japan

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Birthrates (per 1000 women)

Exhibit 4.1

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Patterns of Consumption
(annual per capita)
Exhibit 4.2

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Consequences of Consumption
Exhibit 4.3

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Human Universals Myth of Diversity

Use metaphors

Have a system of status and roles

Are ethnocentric Create art

Consider aspects of sexuality private Express emotions with face Reciprocate Use mood altering drugs

Conceive of success and failure

Create groups antagonistic to outsiders Imitate outside influences Resist outside influences

Overestimate objectivity of thought

Fear of snakes Recognize economic obligations in exchanges of goods and services Trade and transport of goods

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Definitions and Origins of Culture

Traditional definition 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

Humans make adaptations to changing environments through innovation Individuals learn culture from social institutions
Socialization (growing up) Acculturation (adjusting to a new culture) Application (decisions about consumption and production)

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Origins, Elements, and Consequences of Culture

Exhibit 4.4

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Geography
Exercises a profound control
Includes climate, topography, flora, fauna, and microbiology Influenced history, technology, economics, social institutions and way of thinking

The ideas of Jared Diamond and Philip Parker

Jared Diamond

Historically innovations spread faster east to west than north to south Reports strong correlations between latitude (climate) and per capita GDP Empirical data supports climates apparent influence on workers wages Explain social phenomena using principles of physiology

Philip Parker

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We All Love Flowers Why?

Geography History Technology and economics

Social institutions
Cultural values Aesthetics as symbols

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History, the Political Economy, and Technology

History
Impact of specific events can be seen reflected in technology, social institutions, cultural values, and even consumer behavior

Tobacco was the original source of the Virginia colonys economic survival in the 1600s

Political Economy
Three approaches to governance competed for world dominance

Fascism Communism Democracy/free enterprise

Technology
Jet aircraft, air conditioning, televisions, computers, Internet, etc. None more important than the birth control pill

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Social Institutions
Family Religion School

The media
Government Corporations

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Social Institutions
Family
Nepotism Role of extended family Favoritism of boys in some cultures

Religion
First institution infants are exposed to outside the home Impact of values systems Misunderstanding of beliefs

School
Affects all aspects of the culture, from economic development to consumer behavior No country has been successful economically with less than 50% literacy

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Social Institutions
The media
Media time has replaced family time

TV Internet

Government
Influences the thinking and behaviors of adult citizens

Propaganda Passage, promulgation, promotion, and enforce of laws

Corporations
Most innovations are introduced to societies by companies Spread through media Change agents
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Elements of Culture
Cultural values
Individualism/Collectivism Index Power Distance Index Uncertainty Avoidance Index Cultural Values and Consumer Behavior

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Hofstedes Indexes
Language, and Linguistic Distance
Exhibit 4.5

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Elements of Culture
Rituals
Marriage Funerals

Symbols
Language

Linguistic distance Insensitivity to aesthetic values can offend, create a negative impression, and, in general, render marketing efforts ineffective or even damaging

Aesthetics as symbols

Beliefs
To make light of superstitions in other cultures can be an expensive mistake

Thought processes
Difference in perception

Focus vs. big-picture

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Metaphorical Journeys through 23 Nations

Exhibit 4.6

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Cultural Knowledge
Factual knowledge
Has meaning as a straightforward fact about a culture Assumes additional significance when interpreted within the context of the culture

Needs to be learned

Interpretive knowledge
Requires a degree of insight that may best be described as a feeling

Most dependent of past experience for interpretation Most frequently prone to misinterpretation Requires consultation and cooperation with bilingual natives with marketing backgrounds

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Cultural Sensitivity and Tolerance

Being attuned to the nuances of culture so that a new culture can be viewed objectively, evaluated and appreciated
Cultures are not right or wrong, better or worse, they are simply different The more exotic the situation, the more sensitive, tolerant, and flexible one needs to be

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Cultural Change
Dynamic in nature it is a living process Paradoxical because culture is conservative and resists change
Changes caused by war or natural disasters Society seeking ways to solve problems created by changes in environment Culture is the means used in adjusting to the environmental and historical components of human existence

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Cultural Borrowing
Effort to learn from others cultural ways in the quest for better solutions to a societys particular problems
Imitating diversity of other makes cultures unique Contact can make cultures grow closer or further apart

Habits, foods, and customs are adapted to fit each societys needs

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Similarities An Illusion
A common language does not guarantee a similar interpretation of word or phrases
May cause lack of understanding because of apparent and assumed similarities

Just because something sells in one country doesnt mean it will sell in another
Cultural differences among member of European Union a product of centuries of history

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Resistance to Change
Gradual cultural growth does not occur without some resistance
New methods, ideas, and products are held to be suspect before they are accepted, if ever

Resistance to genetically modified (GM) foods

Resisted by Europeans Consumed by Asians Not even labeled in U.S. until 2000

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Planned and Unplanned Cultural Change

Determine which cultural factors conflict with an innovation Change those factors from obstacles to acceptance into stimulants for change Marketers have two options when introducing and innovation to a culture
They can wait They can cause change

Cultural congruence
Marketing products similar to ones already on the market in a manner as congruent as possible with existing cultural norms
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Consequences of Innovation
May inadvertently bring about change that affects very fabric of a social system Consequences of diffusion of an innovation
May be functional or dysfunctional

Depending on whether the effects on the social system are desirable or undesirable

Introduction of a processed feeding formula into the diet of babies in underdeveloped countries ended up being dysfunctional

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Summary
A complete and thorough appreciation of the origins and elements of culture may well be the single most important gain to a foreign marketer in the preparation of marketing plans and strategies Marketers can control the product offered to a market its promotion, price, and eventual distribution methods but they have only limited control over the cultural environment within which these plans must be implemented

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Summary
When a company is operating internationally each new environment that is influenced by elements unfamiliar and sometimes unrecognizable to the marketer complicates the task Special effort and study are needed to absorb enough understanding of the foreign culture to cope with the uncontrollable features

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