Cultural factors are of essential significance and exert the greatest influ-ence on consumer behavior (Kotler & Keller, 2009). The factors include mainly culture, subcultures, and social classes. Culture is a fundamental factor deter-mining buyer's needs and behavior and is made up of subcultures (e.g., na-tionality, profession, race, geographic region) that also play a significant role in developing a buyer's behavior, as they have direct effect on identification and the socialization of their members. The societies of particular countries are characterized by social stratification, most commonly revealed in the form of social classes. The latter also constitutes an essential factor of a cultural nature that conditions consumer behavior.
According to Hofstede (2000), culture is a term that defines the program-ming of the human brain and is comprised of three levels: universal, collective, and individual. The universal level of the programming stems from human nature – elements that are hereditary and common to all people. These are feelings related to happiness, fear, sadness, or love. The way these feelings are expressed comes from the influence of the second, collective level of pro-gramming and is a characteristic of certain social groups (e.g., nations, inhab-itants of a given region, members of a given profession). The individual level of culture is closely related to the individual and to his/her hierarchy of values, interests, and behavior (Neymann, 2005). Culture is acquired, which means it is passed from generation to generation in a biological and non-hereditary way. Hofstede (2000) recalls four dimensions that distinguish one culture from another, i.e., distance to authority, individualism and collectivism, femininity and masculinity, avoidance of uncertainty).
DEFINITION CULTURE – the values, attitudes, beliefs, ideas, artefacts and other meaningful symbols represented in the pattern of life adopted by people that help them interpret, evaluate and communicate as members of a society.
Culture can be represented graphically as in Figure 8.1. Influences from in-stitutions and other elements of society (such as education, politics, and the
law) combine in complex ways to provide us with culture, customs and rituals which are expressed as attitudes and behaviors.
Figure 8.1. Elements of culture
Source: Phipps & Simmons (2008)
As we can recognised, culture is exhibited mostly by the customs, language, symbols and rituals within a society. These are the observable elements of the culture (Kieżel, 2011):
Customs are the established 'rules' of behavior within a society. They de-fine what is, and what is not, acceptable.
Language and symbols are the means by which members of a particular culture communicate with one another. This communication can be verbal (using words) or non-verbal (using images which convey ideas directly or indirectly).
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Rituals are patterns of behavior, often quite complex, which a society shares. Ritual behaviors include religious services, attainment parties (18th birthday, retirement, engagement, etc.) and private routines such as the Saturday morning shopping or the Sunday participation in church service.
Customes – Williams (1990) defines four classes of customs:
Folkways – these are the everyday customs of the culture. Greetings are one such example.
Conventions – these are formally observed folkways, ones which might start to cause more long-term offence if ignored. For example, the sending of Christmas presents.
Mores – these are formally recognized rules of behavior such as respect for your parents. Adherence to them is seen as being of wider significance within a culture.
Laws – those mores which society wishes to control are governed by laws.
Languages – marketers involved in multi-lingual operations must be aware of the implications of selling their products to speakers whose native language is different. The use of language in advertising copy also requires attention.
The use of language 'tricks' is extremely common in advertising where a short phrase or ‘word play’ is used to convey the promotional message.
Symbols – the word-plays described are very much surface features of a language. It is also common for language, and objects, to have other meanings and associations other than those that might appear in a dictionary. For in-stance, a crudely drawn heart (♥) conveys a meaning of innocent love. The phrase 'he fought like a tiger' only makes sense because of the symbolism we associate with the word 'tiger' (courage, cunning, stealth). Such words and objects are said to be 'symbolic'. Symbols add richness to communication within a culture. Symbols can be simple and blunt or subtle and complex. The richness of symbolic meaning can be used in marketing to associate certain qualities with your product or convey more complex meanings in a shorthand form (which can thus be understood and absorbed more quickly). For exam-ple, the ING Group used the lion as a symbol to represent the qualities of nobil-ity, power and sovereignty in the hope that these values would enhance their public image.
Table 8.1. Some common symbols and their associations in European culture
Symbol Associations
Dolphin Intelligence
Tick Correctness
Gold Wealth
Crown Superiority
Swan Grace
Owl Wisdom
Rituals – from a marketing perspective, rituals and rites represent a sub-stantial opportunity. In particular if it is possible to associate an object or oth-er event, known as artefacts, with a ritual then the poth-ersistence of the ritual will ensure the continuing use of the artefact. One example is the red and white Santa Claus costume. This has become so closely associated with Christmas that many people believe it to be historic. In fact, the red and white costume was 'invented' by Coca Cola as a marketing promotion. It has ensured that the combination of red and white (the Coca Cola colours) has a continuing positive association with fun and jollity.
Table 8.2. Common rituals and typical artifacts
Rituals Typical artifacts
18th birthday Card, presents
Valentine’s day Red rose, card
Mother’s Day Flowers, sweets
Saturday night out Meal, cinema/theatere/disco/concert The end of education Award ceremony, diploma
Christmas Christmas tree, gifts
New Year’s Ave Champagne
ACTIVITY If you have ever been abroad, think of the things you found strange about the host country's culture. Try to list 5 things.
Were these customs, language/ symbols or rituals?
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National cultural characteristics are frequently used to market products, not just within that culture, but to other cultures:
The German reputation for quality engineering has been used to market a range of products from cars to cans of beer.
The Japanese reputation for producing value-for-money consumer electri-cal goods has been exploited by one clever European manufacturer who gave themselves a Japanese- sounding brand name ('Matsui').
French 'chic' has been used in marketing make-up, fashion and food.
Culture is also important in the conduct of business dealings. Business eti-quette in Japan, for instance, is very different to that in the West It is consid-ered polite in Japan to exchange gifts with a new business colleague, exchange business cards as part of an introductory ritual and for the chair of any meet-ing to sit facmeet-ing the door. Many Western companies provide trainmeet-ing for those executives undertaking business abroad.
Williams (1990) describes five main characteristics of culture:
1) It exists to serve the needs of a society. For example, most cultures have some form of wedding' ceremony.
2) It is acquired socially. That is, we are not born with any cultural knowledge but acquire it throughout our lifetime.
3) It is learned by interacting with other members of the culture.
4) It is cumulative. Culture is transferred from generation to generation with new influences constantly being added to the cultural 'soup'.
5) It is adaptive. Culture changes in response to the needs of the society.
As has been stated, all culture is learned. The process of learning one's native cul-ture is termed socialization. The learning of a new culcul-ture is termed acculturation.
DEFINITION SOCIALIZATION is the process by which the culture of a society is transmitted from generation to generation so that each indi-vidual not only understands and follows the 'rules' of their cul-ture but is able to pass these on to others.
There are three main mechanisms by which culture is learned (Cohen, 2003):
Social modelling – where a culture is learned by copying an existing member of the culture. It may be that this learning is direct (i.e. from a peer
or family member) or indirectly from media (i.e. from television or a maga-zine). Fashion, for example, is often adopted from the pages of a magazine and rarely from other members of the family.
Role playing – a form of social modelling where imitation is allowed to develop further.
Conditioning – whereby certain behaviors are rewarded or punished ac-cording to their conformance with the rules of the culture. Eating food without cutlery is likely to be admonished by parents.
Social modelling is the mechanism of most use to marketers in gaining ac-ceptance of their product. Showing a prominent member of a culture behaving in a certain manner (Brad Pitt wearing a new fashion, for example) can in-crease the acceptability of this behavior amongst other members of the cul-ture. However conditioning can also be used. If purchasers are rewarded for buying a product, through discount vouchers or cash-back offers, the purchas-ing behavior is more likely to be repeated.
Culture is constantly changing but we are so much part of it that these changes often go unnoticed. It is only when we compare our current culture with that of the past that the differences become apparent. Marketers should be aware of cultural trends so that they do not get 'left behind' or, conversely, do not miss the opportunity to be the first in the field to market based on a emerging cultural characteristic. Promotions aimed at young people must be particularly careful in this respect.
We have already seen many mistakes made, and benefits gained, from an understanding of the cultural differences between markets. Basically, the aim of cross-cultural marketing is, as with all customer-driven marketing, to give the customer what they require. Some products, such as televisions and com-puters, have an almost worldwide appeal whereas other products, such as many foodstuffs, require the marketing activity to be tailored to local cultures.
There are two strategic approaches to cross-cultural marketing:
Global marketing – which uses common cultural characteristics of con-sumers.
Local marketing – which makes uses of differences in consumers from different cultures.
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At its most extreme, global marketing is the selling of world brands using the same marketing strategy worldwide. Ohmae (1989) suggests that the products most amenable to such treatment are 'modern' electronic products which, because of their novelty, transcend traditional cultural boundaries. It is easier to create a global cultural innate for a product which has not existed before than one which has already become ingrained in the individual cul-tures. Similarly, those products that appeal to a specific world micro-culture, such as the very rich or younger generation, are also amenable to global mar-keting. Examples of these include expensive designer clothes and accessories (Versache, Gucci) for the rich and music for the young (artists such as Lady Gaga) have been marketed in this way.
Examples of truly local marketing, where both the product and message are modified, are more difficult to find. One example is the way in which many foreign lagers are marketed in the Ireland. With their history of drinking draught bitter and stout, the Irish have a very different perception of ‘light' beers to many of other European countries. Much of the promotion of lagers within the Ireland is aimed at establishing a market position for lasers, a form of marketing not required abroad where lager drinking already predominates.
Figure 8.2. Product types more suitable for both global and local marketing
In support of the scheme presented here, some marketers label the prod-ucts most suitable for global marketing as 'high tech' and 'high touch' (Schiffman & Kanuk, 2010). By this they mean that high technology products (such as computers and cameras) and high touch products (perfumes, wrist watches) are more likely to transcend cultural differences and are thus more amenable to global marketing. In contrast, products which are low technology or low touch are more suitable, it is claimed, for a local marketing strategy.
ACTIVITY
Which of the following are suitable for global marketing and which are better suited to local marketing?
– photocopiers – mobile phones – electric guitars – work clothes – MP4 players – camera film – pre-cooked meals – gold, precious jewellery
Integration and globalization processes have great impact on the mixing of cultures and may contribute to the disappearance of cultural differences in the area of consumption. This is partly explained by the convergence theory, ac-cording to which patterns of consumption behavior are becoming more similar through unification of the market systems among societies. However, the pro-cess of unification of consumer behavior is not occurring at a very fast pace.
Convergence is accompanied by the opposite phenomenon of divergence, in which cultures distance themselves from one another and strive to preserve their identity (Raymond, 2003). Although symptoms of these phenomena can be observed at some analytical levels, there is no explicit proof either for cultural convergence or divergence. In the conditions created by globalization and inte-gration processes, the encounters and confrontations of cultures as well as inclu-sion of particular countries into the system of the open economy appear as fore-runners of, but without a guarantee of, total convergence (cultural, economic).
Cultural factors are very potent in shaping the decision-making processes of all market subjects, but keeping track of the tendencies of cultural changes is significant both from a theoretical and a practical point of view. The majori-ty of change tendencies in a cultural environment revolve around two ap-proaches (Harcar, Spillan & Kucukemiroglu, 2005):
observation of changes within particular national cultures leading either to cultural assimilation or serious cultural differentiation and
identification of changes on an intercultural level in terms of cultural inter-relations with special focus on the analysis of globalization tendencies.
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The study into tendencies of cultural changes is difficult not only due to the multidimensional and multi-directional character of the tendencies, but due to their diverse dynamics. International cultural changes result from intensified international transfers and consist of the following processes (Doole, Lancas-ter & Lowe, 2005):
mutual culture penetration – elements of one culture penetrate another, culture coexistence;
shrinkage of the territorial dimension of cultures – it is getting increasingly difficult to define culture on the basis of its territorial boundaries, national culture gets separated from a country’s territory;
culture contamination – the cultural identity of a nation undergoes specific transformations;
cultural pluralism – combining home, local, and transnational customs; and
hybridization – foreign influences are assimilated into a local culture, re-sulting in a fusion-type culture, hybridization is additionally reinforced by the marketing activity of global firms.
Intensified interpersonal contacts on an international scale contribute to the spread of cultural patterns across countries through the mechanism of intergroup imitation. Nowadays, a person is faced with separate cultural sys-tems: some are determined by national and regional traditions that affect con-sumer tastes and preferences, and some are universal patterns determined by mass culture and brought about by the disappearance of cultural differences and globalization of consumption. A global culture or the so-called ethics of global consumption consists in identification of sets of common values re-spected by consumers on a global scale (i.e., pressure toward modernity, tech-nology, freedom, individual choice, health, environmental protection, en-forcement or observance of consumer rights) (Schiffman & Kanuk, 2010).
Subculture
Each culture is made up of many subcultures, which appear as patterns and norms of functioning in a social group that is part of a larger population.
A subculture defines some life segment, and its culture may be distinguished on the basis of a certain criterion (ethnic, professional, religious,
demograph-ic) (Harris, 2010). The most common subcultures are racial, national, demo-graphic, and religious subcultures. They form separate cultural groups, which function as separate market segments within a larger and more complex soci-ety, affecting consumer behavior in a direct and more significant way than culture itself. Subculture identification exerts strong and noticeable influence on the daily behavior of a consumer, defining consumer preferences with re-spect to diet, clothing, leisure, work ambitions, and so on. Knowledge of the needs and tendencies of subcultures makes it possible for a company to select an appropriate marketing strategy, whose effectiveness is expressed in ac-ceptance of the values and style of living of a definite group (Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard & Hogg, 2010).
There are few broad sub-cultures in each country based on ethnicity, age, geography, religion, gender, occupational and social class:
Ethnicity – this includes not only indigenous population groups, such as the Indians in USA, but also from those groups that have settled in this country.
Age – within society there are certain values and attitudes which are shared by persons of a similar age. For instance, people brought up during the war years shared some very extreme changes in society such as rationing and life-threatening situations which few persons have since experienced.
Geography – the physical separation of people can lead to the development of distinct cultures in different regions.
Religion – those who subscribe to a particular religion are strongly influ-enced by its customs and practices. Most religions dictate rules which their followers must abide. These often include dietary, social and ethical re-quirements.
Gender – traditionally, in our culture, women have been considered 'home makers' whilst men have been considered the 'bread winners'. Whilst the-se descriptions are no longer accurate or relevant, many advertithe-sers per-petuate, or otherwise use these stereotypes, and other gender differences to market products.
Occupation – people with similar occupations tend to share similar life-styles and incomes. It is common for insurance companies, for instance, to target specific occupations which have been proven to be of a lower risk.
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