Chapter 4 Cultural Dynamics in Assessing global Markets

1. International Marketing 15th edition Chapter 4 Cultural Dynamics in Assessing global Markets Philip R. Cateora, Mary C. Gilly, and John L. Graham

2. Overview • The importance of culture to an international marketer • Definition and origins of culture • The elements of culture • The impact of cultural change and cultural borrowing • Strategies of planned and unplanned change Roy Philip

3. 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. • Individuals learn culture in three ways • Socialization (growing up) • Acculturation (adjusting to a new culture) • Application (decisions about consumption and production) Roy Philip

4. Origins, Elements, and Consequences of Culture Exhibit 4.4 Roy Philip

5. 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 • Philip Parker • Reports strong correlations between latitude (climate) and per capita GDP Roy Philip

6. History • 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 colony’s economic survival in the 1600s • American values and institutions influenced by Adam Smith’s book The Wealth of Nations • Military conflicts in the Middle East brought about new cola alternatives such as Mecca Cola, Muslim Up, and Arab Cola. Roy Philip

7. Social Institutions • School – the most important social institution • Direct link between a nation’s literacy rate and its economic development • Difficult to communicate with a market when a company must depend on symbols and pictures • The media – it has replaced family time • TV and the Internet • American educational system produces a lower percentage of college graduates than 12 other countries including Russia, Japan, and France Roy Philip

8. Social Institutions • Government - influences the thinking and behaviors of adult citizens • Propaganda through media • Passage, promulgation, promotion, and enforcement of laws • Corporations - most innovations are introduced to societies by companies • Spread through media • Change agents Roy Philip

9. Elements of Culture (1 of 4) • Values • Rituals • Symbols • Beliefs • Thought processes Roy Philip

10. Elements of Culture (2 of 4) • Cultural values – Geert Hofstede • Individualism/Collectivism Index • Reflects the preference of behavior that promotes one’s self interest • Power Distance Index • Measures the tolerance of social inequality • Uncertainty Avoidance Index • Measures the tolerance of uncertainty and ambiguity • Cultural Values and Consumer Behavior Roy Philip

11. Hofstede’s Indexes Language, and Linguistic Distance Exhibit 4.6 Roy Philip

12. Elements of Culture (3 of 4) • Rituals – patterns of behavior and interaction that are learned and repeated • Marriages , funerals, baptisms, graduations • Symbols • Language • Linguistic distance – relationship between language and international marketing • Aesthetics as symbols • Insensitivity to aesthetic values can offend, create a negative impression, and, in general, render marketing efforts ineffective or even damaging Next Roy Philip

13. Language • According to www.ethnologue.com: • A total of 7,413 known living languages exist in the world • 311 being spoken in the U.S.; 297 in Mexico, 13 in Finland, and 241 in China • EU has 20 official languages • India alone has 452 known languages! Back Roy Philip

14. Elements of Culture (4 of 4) • Beliefs • Superstitions play a large role in a society’s belief system and therefore, to make light of superstitions in other cultures can be an expensive mistake • The number 13 in the western hemisphere is considered unlucky, where as the number 8 in China connotes “prosperity” • The practice of “Feng Shui” • Thought processes • Difference in perception between the East and the West • Focus vs. big-picture Roy Philip

15. Similarities – An Illusion • A common language does not guarantee a similar interpretation of word or phrases • Difference between British and American English • http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/americanbritish/index.html • Just because something sells in one country doesn’t mean it will sell in another • Cultural differences among member of European Union a product of centuries of history Roy Philip