Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002 Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Cultural Influences
on International Marketing


Dana-Nicoleta Lascu
Chapter 5
Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002 Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002
Chapter Objectives
Identify the elements of culture and examine how they affect
marketing practices around the world
Describe national and regional character based on dimensions
such as time orientation, business practices, gift giving,
socializing, gender roles, and materialism
Discuss cultural variability in terms of the Hofstede dimensions
with appropriate examples and address cultural change in a
marketing context
Address the self-reference criterion and ethnocentrism and
describe how they impeded mutual understanding and
cooperation, with direct negative effects on marketing practices
Describe the global consumer culture as it manifests itself
around the world
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The Importance of Understanding
Many companies find that their new foreign firm is
about to collapse because they have failed to learn
that countrys customs, cultures, and laws
Two out of every three U.S. executives sent to Saudi
Arabia are promptly repatriated due to difficulties in
adapting to the local culture
The costs associated with premature returns
(repatriation) negatively affects the bottom-line of
international companies
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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
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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
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Elements of Culture
Nonverbal communication
Proxemics
Postures
Orientations
Oculesics
Chronemics
Haptics
Kinesics
Paralinguistics
Appearances
Olfactions
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High vs. Low Context Cultures
Low-Context cultures:
What is said is precisely what
is meant
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 languageare
all meaningful
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Religion and Its Impact on Marketing
Practice
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
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Religion
Business days
Gender roles
Gift giving
Marketing practices
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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

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Cultural Values
Enculturation
Process by which individuals learn the beliefs and
behaviors endorsed by ones own culture
Acculturation
Learning a new culture
Assimilation
Maintenance of the new culture, and resistance to
new cultures and to ones old culture
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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
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National/Regional Character
Time Orientation
Business Hours
Gift Giving
Socializing
Gender Roles
Status Concern and Materialism
Other for example, access
(transportation by bicycle,
personal automobile, public
transportation
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Cultural Variability
Power Distance
Uncertainty Avoidance
Masculinity Versus
Femininity
Individualism Versus
Collectivism
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Cultural Change & Marketing
In an advertisement, if the above
are perceived as faces, censors
might erase them; if they are
perceived as a vase, they would
not be altered.
Marketers need to identify
the symbolic elements that
are important to a market
segment and use them
effectively in creating the
marketing mix.
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Obstacles to Cultural Understanding
Ethnocentrism
A related belief that a particular culture is superior to
another and that strategies that are used in the home
country will work just as well abroad.
The Self-Reference Criterion:
The unconscious reference to ones own value system
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Dealing with the Self-Reference
Criterion
1) Define the marketing goal in terms of ones home
countrys cultural traits, norms, and values
2) Define the marketing goal in terms of the host
countrys cultural traits, norms, and values
3) Isolate the self-reference criterion influence and
evaluate it to understand how it affects the
marketing issue
4) Solve the marketing problem based solely on the
unique conditions of the host country.
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Global Consumer Culture
Shared consumption-
related symbols and
activities that are
meaningful to segments
Often attributed to the
diffusion of entertainment
from the US to the rest
of the world
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Global Consumer Culture Trends
Proliferation of transnational firms and the related
globalized capitalism
Global brands
Globalized consumerism and the desire for material
possessions
Homogenization of global consumption
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Chapter Summary
Identified elements of culture and examined how
they affect marketing practices
Described national and regional character and
cultural variability worldwide
Discussed impediments to mutual understanding
and cooperation
Analyzed the global consumer culture
Examined the depth and effect of different cultural
influences on consumer behavior