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Why Is It Important To Study Culture – Why is it important for international marketers to study culture? Explain the main techniques available for carrying out cultural analysis?
Once marketers of goods or services targeted consumers in their domestic market, the globalization of the business environment through improved technology, the lowering of trade barriers and the emergence of large multinational corporations (Palmer and Hartley, 2002), means that marketers today may have the option to consider marketing internationally. It is argued that an international organization expands from its domestic market into new markets using its existing capabilities and is different from a multinational corporation (MNC), which may have autonomously operating units in several countries (Miroshnik, 2002). Globalization is not a new concept, and has been seen as a norm for some time (Levitt, 1983). Entry into a new international market is both an opportunity and a risk and can be achieved through a number of means, including exporting, direct investment, licensing, joint ventures and strategic alliances, each of which has a different level of risk that the company must first weigh. to access (Palmer & Hartley, 2002). Once an entry decision has been made, a cultural analysis of the target country is imperative to carry it out successfully (Morden, 1995). Management styles, techniques, technologies and structures that are appropriate for one culture may be detrimental to the brand when used in a different culture (Miroshnik, 2002). An international marketer must consider what adaptation is needed to its marketing mix (Palmer and Hartley, 2002) and use cultural analyzes to determine the extent to which current marketing programs can be utilized or how appropriate they are for new ones. market (Kotabe & Helsen, 2001). Indeed, recent studies tend to adapt to a new culture, thus international marketers’ interest in culture and its effects continues to increase (de Mooij & Hofstede, 2010). It has been suggested that a person’s patterns of behavior are the result of the cultural values prevailing in their society, their social class, reference groups (e.g. family and friends) and their individual physical and psychological characteristics (Palmer & Hartley, 2002, p. 382). Among the notable contributors to the field of cultural cognition are Hofstede, Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars included (Marden, 1995). International marketers who wish to analyze the culture of a new country and its domestic market use conceptual models that identify, categorize and measure culture into specific dimensions, allowing comparisons to be made (Miroshnik, 2002). Herskovits (1989) five dimensions of culture are material culture, social institutions, men and the world, aesthetics and language, and language (Miroshnik, 2002). Material culture is concerned with consumer demand, including the quality and characteristics of goods/services required and encompasses both economics and technology; The first is how a country utilizes its capabilities and technology related to its goods production and development strategies (Miroshnik, 2002). An understanding of material culture is imperative for the international marketer in its marketing mix decisions; When considering whether the product/service meets local demands for quality and attributes or whether the product/service has potential to be produced in the country. Many brands adapt their product to suit the culture of that country, even slightly, Coca Cola and McDonald’s adapt their products/menus to local tastes; McDonald’s also considers the experience, for example, that fast food in France is not consistent with a culture of enjoying food and taking time (Palmer & Hartley, 2002). Social institutions include decision making, leadership styles, and social class (Miroshnik, 2002). Social class may be particularly important to international marketing, for example the Hindu caste system is relatively stable throughout a Hindu’s life, movement between social classes is less likely than in Western societies, and the whole is said to be shared by those within a particular class. general attitudes and behavior patterns (Palmer and Hartley, 2002). An understanding of the class system in the target country, and its similarities/differences to current countries is paramount. Man and the universe include religion and superstition, which is very important for marketing because religions, beliefs and practices can vary greatly between countries, for example superstitions are integral to Russian culture and religion is inherent to Arab and Asian businesses (Miroshnik, 2002). Being unaware of the cultural sensitivities surrounding this region can be detrimental to any international marketer. Aesthetics includes folklore, music, arts and visual/aesthetic/symbolic norms and although this dimension can be described simply or superficially, aesthetics can be so important to a culture and therefore to international marketing that it is not appropriate to use it for example. A bat in branding is considered bad luck in Russia (Miroshnik, 2002). Finally, language is one dimension considering the nuances of spoken, unspoken, and non-verbal communication (Miroshnik, 2002).
Why Is It Important To Study Culture
The assumption that an employee working for a multinational organization with its own organizational culture adopts that culture rather than retaining its personal pre-existing culture has not been found since Hofstede (1983), Miroshnik, 2002. Hofstede’s four-dimensional model of national culture, introduced in the 1970s, can be used to analyze cultural differences; It has been argued that this has allowed culture to unfold from a single dimension into multiple dimensions (Minkow and Hofstede, 2011). The dimensions are power distance, individualism-collectivism, masculinity-femininity and uncertainty avoidance (Hofstede, 1983). Hofstede’s cultural model shares similarities with the work of Trompenaars (1993) and the GLOBE study (House et al, 2004), which is a strong motivation for international marketers to use Hofstede’s cultural dimensions to analyze cultural gaps, enabling countries that are easier to measure. Comparison (de Mooij & Hofstede, 2010). Power distance relates to the way a society deals with power distance, the importance and respect given to superiors, and in turn to subordinates (Hosted, 1983), attitudes of inequality (Hofstede, 2006b). Luxury brands may be important in countries with high power distance, as their acquisition demonstrates the need to show respect to others (de Mooij and Hofstede, 2010). Individualism/collectivism relates to individual goals as opposed to collective or group goals (Hosted, 1983). Self-actualization is important for consumers in individualistic cultures and brands that help consumers promote their sense of self may function better than in collectivist cultures, where identity is linked to the social system to which they belong (de Mooij and Hofstede, 2010). A more direct communication style appropriate to an individual culture may be considered unacceptable in a collectivist culture, and they may respond more favorably to marketing that promotes collective benefits and family harmony (de Mooij and Hofstede, 2010). Of the four dimensions, Hofstede states that this dimension is less in its influence, for example Japanese youth are more individualistic than their parents but they continue to mirror their parents in other dimensions (Hofstede, 2006a). Masculinity-femininity categorizes the relative importance of cultures, more masculine attributes such as progress and success, and traditionally feminine attributes such as nurturing (Hosted, 1983). The Netherlands has a highly feminine culture and both men and women value soft skills; More feminine cultures may prefer to communicate differently than masculine cultures (Hofstede, 2006a), such as a tour operator using travel agents or more call centers in feminine cultures allowing more opportunity for direct communication, which may affect marketing strategy. Also, it has been argued that household tasks such as shopping are shared more in feminine cultures, thus the marketer should consider who makes the purchase decision; Perhaps that target audience is different from the domestic market. In masculine cultures, status brands can symbolize success and achievement (de Mooij and Hofstede, 2010). Uncertainty avoidance is the anxiety associated with the unknown and the extent to which consumers within a culture try to avoid this uncertainty (Hosted, 1983); It involves the expression of emotions and the regulation of aggressive behaviors (Minkow and Hofstede, 2011). In high uncertainty avoidance cultures, a ‘stamp of approval’ from experts may be welcome in marketing, additionally it may affect the types of products that are most successful in a country, for example, preventive medicine is more prevalent in high uncertainty avoidance. cultures (de Mooij & Hofstede, 2010). Hofstede added a fifth dimension in 1991, long- and short-term orientation related to postponement of gratification (Hofstede, 2006b) and cultural focus on past, present or future (Minkov & Hofstede, 2011), frugality being more important for long-term orientation. cultures (de Mooij & Hofstede, 2010) which can affect pricing decisions for international marketers. Hofstede’s dimensions are not without their critics; Criticisms include mischaracterization of the dimensions (Jacob, 2005) and the dimensions being out of date with a lack of social scope in the model (McSweeney, 2002) although Hofstede advocates mainstream adoption of his dimensions as a cultural cornerstone. Research (Minkov & Hofstede (2011)) has its disadvantages, namely that they cannot be used as originally intended—as a tool.
Introduction And Key Terms Of Cultural Geography
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