Culture and international marketing Culture Defined • A continuously changing totality of learned and shared meanings, rituals, norms, and traditions among the members of an organization or society. – Ecology – Social Structure – Ideology Culture and??? • Heaven is where the cooks are French, the mechanics are German, the policemen are English, the lovers are Italian, and it is all organized by the Swiss. Hell is where the policemen are German, the mechanics are French, the cooks are British, the lovers are Swiss, and its is all organized by the Italians • Source: Usunier “International Marketing”, Prentice-Hall, 1993, p.44 Elements of Culture • Spoken/Written Language – Differences in meaning in different countries which share the same language – Dealing with multiple dialects – High costs of translation – High costs of translation blunders • Nonverbal communication – Proxemics – Postures – Orientations – Chronemics – Haptics – Kinesics – Paralinguistics – Appearances – + ART (dance, music, pictures, statues…) Comparisons & Contrasts Culture and Decision-making Consumer decisions are culturally influenced - husband and wife - equal roles? - what influence from children? - does one family member dominate in choice? Language and religion affects how markets communicate - grouping countries by language or religion? - grouping markets within a core language? - is religion a useful criterion for grouping? High vs. Low Context Cultures Edward Hall http://edwardthall.com/ • Low-Context cultures: What is said is precisely what is meant – Messages are explicit – Words carry most of the information in communication – Switzerland, Germany, Scandinavia, United States • High-Context cultures: The context of the message— the message source, his or her standing in society or in the negotiating group, level of expertise, tone of voice, and body language—are all meaningful – Less information is contained in the verbal part of the message – More information resides in the context of communication (background, associations, basic values of communicators) – Japan, Saudi Arabia, Latin America, Italy and Spain MONOCHRONIC VS POLYCHRONIC CULTURES: Time is money“ USA, „Those who rush arrive first at the grave (Spain), „Before the time, it is not the time; after the time, it´s too late“ (France) PROXEMIC – DISTANCE, SPACE (in-group, outgroup, physical space…), e.g. frinedship patterns, „size“ of family, guanxi „touch“ coulture – to show intimity in ads Advertising: Europe vs Saudi Arabia „touch culture“ Monochronic/Polychronic Cultures • do one thing at a time • concentrate on the job • take time commitments seriously • are committed to the job • show respect for private property; rarely borrow or lend • are accustomed to short-term relationships • do many things at once • are highly distractible • consider time commitments casually • are committed to people • borrow and lend things often • tend to build lifetime relationships Religion • Protestant Religion – stresses hard work and frugality • Judaism – stresses education and development • Islam – focus on rules for social interaction • Hinduism – encourages family orientation and dictates strict dietary constraints • Buddhism – stresses sufferance and avoidance of worldly desires • Business days • Holidays • Consumption patterns – alcohol, meat… • Gender roles • Gift giving • Marketing practices • Time Orientation • Status Concern and Materialism • Other – Marketing mix Cultural Variability – cult. dimensions (Geert Hofstede) • Power Distance • Uncertainty Avoidance • Masculinity Versus Femininity • Individualism Versus Collectivism • Long-terms versus short term orientation Collectivism vs. individualism. – Collectivism: people integrated into strong groups that protect them in exchange for unbridled loyalty. – Individualism: a person’s strong sense of self and that of his or her immediate blood relations. – A collectivist country would show groups of people in images, – Individualistic countries would most likely find site content and images with a single person accomplishing a challenge more appealing. The United States is an example of an individualistic country. Long-term vs. short-term orientation. Long-term emphasizes practice and practical value. Short-term focus their content on truth and the certainty of beliefs. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions – scores by countries Advertising styles Cultural values • Enduring beliefs about a specific mode of conduct or desirable end-state • Guide the selection or evaluation of behavior • Are ordered by importance in relation to one another to form a system of value priorities • Enculturation Process by which individuals learn the beliefs and behaviors endorsed by one’s own culture • Acculturation Learning a new culture • Assimilation Maintenance of the new culture, and resistance to new cultures and to one’s old culture http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XHioryoMes&feature=related Doing business in China Cultural norms • Norms are derived from values and defined as rules that dictate what is right or wrong, acceptable or unacceptable – Imperative • What an outsider must or must not do – Exclusive • What locals may do but an outsider cannot – Adiaphora • What an outsider may or may not do • http://wps.pearsoned.co.uk/ema_uk_he_hollensen_globalmark_4/64/16424/4204693.cw/index.html