Lecture Three The cultural environment Dr Joanna Pokorska

Lecture Objectives To define the concept of culture To explain the impact of culture on marketing decisions To explain the relationships between cultural influences, consumer needs and consumer behaviour To debate the usefulness and limitations of application of cultural frameworks

What is Culture? Culture is “an integrated system of learned behaviour patterns that are distinguishing characteristics of the members of any given society. It includes everything that a group thinks, says, does, and makes - its customs, language, material artifacts, and shared systems of attitudes and feelings” Czinkota & Ronkainen (1998, p. 65)

What is Culture? “The collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one human group from another…Culture, in a sense, includes systems of values; and values are among the building blocks of culture” Hofstede (1980) “The sum total of learned beliefs, values and customs that serve to direct customer behaviour in a particular country market” Doole and Lowe (2012)

The Components of Culture Lee&Carter: Fig. 4.3, p. 115

The Interaction of Culture and Consumer Behaviour

Role of Language 6,912 languages in the world 96% of these languages are spoken by 4% of the population Includes verbal & non-verbal communication Four distinct roles of verbal language Information gathering & evaluation efforts Provides access to local society Important for company communication Allows for interpretation of context Key topics of non-verbal communication Time, space, material possessions, friendship & business agreements 7

Body language

Hall’s communication context Concerns with the way in which information is transmitted or communicated All ‘information transactions’ can be characterised as ‘High’, ‘Middle’ or ‘Low’ Context High Context transaction feature pre-programmed information that is in the receiver and in the setting, with only minimal information in the transmitted message - Implicit For Low Context transactions, most of the information must be in the transmitted message in order to make up for what is missing in the context - Explicit

Hall’s Communication Context Hall, E.T. (1990) The Silent Language, New York: Anchor Books CHARACTERISTIC HIGH CONTEXT LOW CONTEXT COMMUNICATION Implicit & indirect Explicit & direct SPACE Formal hugs, bows, handshakes Informal handshakes FAMILY Extended family, other-oriented Nuclear family, self-oriented TIME Elastic, relative Exact, promptness is valued BUSINESS/WORK HABITS Relationship oriented, hierarchical, gender roles, respect for authority Deal oriented, egalitarian, gender equity, challenge authority FOOD & EATING HABITS Eating is a social event Eating is a necessity, fast food 10

The Contextual Continuum of Cultures

Religion An important source of beliefs, attitudes and values Can dictate what goods and services are purchased Can affect diet Can affect major holidays gift-giving

Aesthetics The sense of what is beautiful and what is not beautiful What represents good taste in a culture Can be embodied in the colour or shape of a product, label or package Need to consider colours and symbolic meanings

Hofstede’s Cultural Framework POWER DISTANCE Degree to which less powerful members within a society accept that power is unevenly distributed INDIVIDUALISM/COLLECTIVISM Degree to which people learn to act as individuals or members of groups MASCULINITY/FEMININITY Preference in society for achievement, assertiveness and material reward UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE Degree to which people prefer formal rules and fixed patterns TIME PERSPECTIVE Future oriented perspective vs short-term point of view 14

The Four Dimensions of Culture Power Distance The extent to which the less powerful members of institutions/organisations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally High Power Distance = More Hierarchical, Accepts inequality in wealth and power Attitudes towards fear of expressing disagreement with managers or authority India, the Philippines and China have high PDI score; Austria, Denmark, Finland and Sweden score relatively lower

The Four Dimensions of Culture Uncertainty Avoidance the extent to which the members of the culture feels threatened by uncertain or unknown future situations High Uncertainty Avoidance = High need for written and unwritten rules Cultures that have a low UAI score (e.g. Denmark, Sweden and HK) tend to accept each day as it comes and willing to take risks. Cultures with high UAI score (such as Japan, France and Belgium) tend to be less risk-taking

The Four Dimensions of Culture Individualism Vs. Collectivism the degree of horizontal dependence of individuals upon the group Individualism = ties between individuals are loose; everyone is expected to look after themselves Collectivism = people are integrated into strong, cohesive groups in exchange for unquestioning loyalty In a high IDV score culture (UK), consumers make individual decisions, whereas in low IDV score culture (China), family tend to be central to decision making and expected to look after one another

The Four Dimensions of Culture Masculinity-Femininity The degree to which society subscribes to the typical stereotypes associated with males and females Masculine = assertive, competitive, tough, results/performance oriented Feminine = co-operative, nurturing, tender, equity oriented Masculine cultures stress making money and the pursuit of visible individual achievements. Feminine cultures tend to emphasise on the harmony of the wider society rather than individual material possessions

Limitations of Hofstede’s Framework Lack of representativeness Perpetuation of national stereotypes Ignorance of complexity Scores are relative 19

Stereotypes “Heaven is where the cooks are French, the mechanics are German, the policemen are English, the lovers are Italian, and it is all organised by the Swiss. Hell is where the cooks are English, the mechanics are French, the policemen are German, the lovers are Swiss, and it is all organised by the Italians” Adapted from Usunier & Lee, 2009