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CHAPTER 2
CROSS-CULTURAL
VARIATIONS IN CONSUMER
BEHAVIOR

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• L1: Define the concept of culture
• L2: Describe core values that vary across culture and influence
behaviors
• L3: Understand cross-cultural variations in nonverbal
communications
• L4: Summarize key aspects of the global youth culture
• L5: Understand the role of global demographics
• L6: List the key dimensions in deciding to enter a foreign market

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GLOBALISATION
• Globalization means more than product exports and
imports.
• Globalization can involve exporting and importing values,
lifestyles, and attitudes
• Globalization means mutual influence as products,
brands, cultures, and values move back and forth across
the world

THE CONCEPT CULTURE

• Culture is the complex whole that includes knowledge, belief,
art, law, morals, customs, and any other capabilities and habits
acquired by humans as members of society.
• Culture is a comprehensive concept
• It influences not only our preferences but how we make
decisions and even how we perceive the world around us
• Culture is acquired
• The complexity of modern societies is such that culture seldom
provides detailed prescriptions for appropriate behavior

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THE CONCEPT CULTURE (CONT.)

Cultural values give rise to

norms and associated
sanctions, which in turn
influence consumption patterns.
Cultures are not static. They
typically evolve and change
slowly over time.

VARIATIONS IN CULTURAL VALUES

• The numerous values that differ across cultures and affect

consumption include:
• Other-Oriented Values reflect a society’s view of the
appropriate relationships between individuals and groups within
that society
• Environment-Oriented Values prescribe a society’s
relationship to its economic and technical as well as its physical
environment.
• Self-Oriented Values reflect the objectives and approaches to
life that the individual members of society find desirable

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VARIATIONS IN CULTURAL VALUES (CONT.)

• Other-Oriented Values
✓Individual/Collective
✓Youth/Age
✓Extended/Limited Family
✓Masculine/Feminine
✓Competitive/Cooperative
✓Diversity/Uniformity

VARIATIONS IN CULTURAL VALUES (CONT.)

• Environment-oriented Values
✓Cleanliness
✓Performance/Status
✓Tradition/Change
✓Risk taking/Security
✓Problem solving/Fatalistic
✓Nature

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VARIATIONS IN CULTURAL VALUES (CONT.)

• Self-Oriented Values
✓Active/Passive
✓Sensual gratification/Abstinence
✓Material/Nonmaterial
✓Hard work/Leisure
✓Postponed gratification/Immediate gratification
✓Religious/Secular

CULTURAL VARIATIONS IN NONVERBAL

COMMUNICATIONS

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CULTURAL VARIATIONS IN NONVERBAL

COMMUNICATIONS (CONT.)

• Time
• The meaning of time varies between cultures in two major
ways:
• Time perspective (monochronic vs. polychronic culture)
• Time Interpretations

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CULTURAL VARIATIONS IN NONVERBAL

COMMUNICATIONS (CONT.)

• Space
✓Overall use and meanings assigned to space vary
widely among different cultures
✓Personal space

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CULTURAL VARIATIONS IN NONVERBAL

COMMUNICATIONS (CONT.)
• Symbols
✓Colors, animals, shapes, numbers, and music have
varying meanings across cultures.
✓Failure to recognize the meaning assigned to a symbol
can cause serious problems

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CULTURAL VARIATIONS IN NONVERBAL

COMMUNICATIONS (CONT.)
• Relationships
✓How quickly and easily do cultures form relationships
and make friends?
• Americans tend to form relationships and friends quickly and easily.
• Chinese relationships are much more complex and characterized by
guanxi.

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CULTURAL VARIATIONS IN NONVERBAL

COMMUNICATIONS (CONT.)

• Agreements:
• How does a culture ensure business obligations are
honored? How are disagreements resolved?
• Some cultures rely on a legal system; others rely on
relationships, friendships, etc

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CULTURAL VARIATIONS IN NONVERBAL

COMMUNICATIONS (CONT.)

• Things:
✓The cultural meaning of things leads to purchase patterns
that one would not otherwise predict.
✓The differing meanings that cultures attach to things,
including products, make gift giving a particularly difficult
task.

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CULTURAL VARIATIONS IN NONVERBAL

COMMUNICATIONS (CONT.)
• Etiquette
✓The generally accepted ways of behaving in social
situations.
✓Behaviors considered rude or obnoxious in one culture
may be quite acceptable in another!
✓Normal voice tone, pitch, and speed of speech differ
between cultures and languages, as do the use of
gestures

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GLOBAL CULTURE

• Mass media and the Internet have had an impact of

uniformity among teens around the world.
• They tend to watch many of the same shows, movies and
videos, listen to the same music, and dress alike.
• Technology is important factor but U.S. youth and brands
no longer lead the way

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GLOBAL DEMOGRAPHICS

• Demographics describe a population in terms of its size, structure,

and distribution.
• Demographics are both a result and a cause of cultural values.
• For example, densely populated societies, such as China, are
likely to have more of a collective orientation than an
individualistic one.
• Disposable income is one aspect of demographics--the rapid growth
in personal income in parts of China has led to an overall market
explosion.

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CROSS CULTURAL MARKETING STRATEGY

• Considerations in Approaching a Foreign Market
1. Homogeneous versus Heterogeneous with Respect to Culture?
2. What Needs Can the Product Fill in this Culture?
3. Can Enough People Afford the Product?
4. What Values are Relevant to the Purchase and Use of the
Product?
5. What are the Distribution, Political and Legal Structures for the
Product?
6. In What Ways Can We Communicate About the Product?
7. What are the Ethical Implications of Marketing This Product in This
Country?

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SUMMARY
LO1: Define the concept of culture
• Culture is defined as the complex whole that includes knowledge,
beliefs, art, law, morals, customs, and any other capabilities
acquired by humans as members of society.
• It includes almost everything that influences an individual’s thought
processes and behaviors.
• Culture operates primarily by setting boundaries for individual
behavior and by influencing the functioning of such institutions as
the family and mass media.
• The boundaries, or norms, are derived from cultural values. Values
are widely held beliefs that affirm what is desirable.

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THE CONCEPT CULTURE

Cultural values give rise to

norms and associated
sanctions, which in turn
influence consumption patterns.
Cultures are not static. They
typically evolve and change
slowly over time.

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SUMMARY
LO2: Describe core values that vary across culture and influence behaviors
• Cultural values are classified into three categories: other, environment, and self
• Other-oriented values reflect a society’s view of the appropriate
relationships between individuals and groups within that society.
✓Individual/collective, youth/age, extended/limited family,
masculine/feminine, competitive/cooperative, and diversity/uniformity
• Environment-oriented values prescribe a society’s relationships with its
economic, technical, and physical environments
✓Cleanliness, performance/status, tradition/change, risk taking/security,
problem solving/fatalistic, and nature.
• Self-oriented values reflect the objectives and approaches to life that
individual members of society find desirable
✓Active/passive, sensual gratification/abstinence, material/nonmaterial, hard
work/leisure, postponed gratification/immediate gratification, and
religious/secular.

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SUMMARY

LO3: Understand cross-cultural variations in nonverbal

communications
• Nonverbal communication systems are the arbitrary
meanings a culture assigns actions, events, and things
other than words
✓Time, space, symbols, relationships, agreements,
things, and etiquette.

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SUMMARY
LO4: Summarize key aspects of the global youth culture
• There is evidence that urban youth around the world share at
least some aspects of a common culture. This culture is
driven by worldwide mass media and common music and
sports stars.

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SUMMARY

LO5: Understand the role of global demographics

• Demographics describe a population in terms of its size,
structure, and distribution
• Demographics differ widely across cultures and
influence cultural values (and are influenced by them)
as well as consumption patterns.

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SUMMARY
LO6: List the key dimensions in deciding to enter a foreign market
• Seven questions are relevant for developing a cross-cultural marketing strategy:
(1) Is the geographic area homogeneous or heterogeneous with respect to culture?
(2) What needs can this product fill in this culture?
(3) Can enough of the people needing the product afford the product?
(4) What values or patterns of values are relevant to the purchase and use of this
product?
(5) What are the distribution, political, and legal structures for the product?
(6) In what ways can we communicate about the product?
(7) What are the ethical implications of marketing this product in this country?

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REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Give an example of marketing campaign/activity/strategy designed for
each culture value in VN.
2. The text provides a seven-step procedure for analyzing a foreign market.
Using this procedure, analyze Vietnam as a market for:
• Automobiles from Korea
• Wine from France

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