Culture, Tradition & Customer Behavior Menekşe Uçaroğlu Istanbul, May 25th 2011 III. Istanbul International Insurance Conference

The Role of Culture in Customer Behavior The Role of Tradition in Customer Behavior Regional Characteristics & The Role of Culture in Customer Behavior 5 Stages of Buying Process Turkish Market Insurance Buying Process in Turkey - Industrialised versus Emerging Markets Content

The Role of Culture in Customer Behavior The culture a person is born into goes a long way toward determining that individual's behavior patterns, beliefs and values Culture is defined as a shared set of practices or beliefs among a group of people in a particular place and time Marketers, analysts and customers themselves use an awareness of culture to learn how and why customers in a particular culture behave the way they do.

Culture is an important factor in determining customer behavior. Besides purchasing decisions, culture also affects how customers use the products they buy and how they dispose of them. Culture exerts different levels of influence on members. Age, language, ethnicity, gender and education level all affect which customer behaviors a member of a given culture demonstrates The Role of Culture in Customer Behavior

The Role of Tradition in Customer Behavior Traditions are central to the ways that culture influences customer behavior. Traditional patterns change over time as a culture evolves, but marketers who study and understand such patterns have an advantage Young people may not adopt cultural practices that are common for adults, and may develop practices unique to their own subculture, this can involve everything from new buying trends to new product use trends

Regional Characteristics & The Role of Culture in Customer Behavior Culture explains why some products sell well in certain regions or among specific groups, but not as well elsewhere. Marketers spend a great deal of time and money studying the effects of culture on consumer behavior. This is especially true for multinational companies that have customers from a diverse series of cultural backgrounds. A strong marketing strategy in one culture might be unappealing, or even offensive, to members of another culture. Religion must be taken under consideration because we are living in a diverse region, both in terms of business culture and religion. This will affect the way that we handle our business.

5 Stages of Buying Process * Problem Recognition (awareness of need)--difference between the desired state and the actual condition. Can be stimulated by the marketer through product information Information search Evaluation of Alternatives--need to establish criteria for evaluation, features the buyer wants or does not want Purchase decision Post-Purchase Evaluation--outcome: Satisfaction or Dissatisfaction Cognitive Dissonance, have you made the right decision * Kotler

Turkey is an example of Emerging Market Turkey is the largest market in the region of the Middle East & Central Asia, (Swiss Re, sigma No:2-2010) Insurance Density : Premiums per capita in Usd in 2009 is 106 Usd, 90 Usd Non-life, 16 Usd life (Swiss Re, sigma No:2-2010) Insurance Penetration : Premium as of % of GDP in 2009 is 1,3 % 1,1 % Non-life, 0,2 Lİfe (Swiss Re, sigma No:2-2010) Turkish Market

Turkish Market has Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Characteristics with well established cultural & traditional habits Turkish Market is dominated by agents Almost each family has a favorite agent, emotional clients Young people are more open to buy from internet, but strong influence from parents Turkish Market

Insurance Buying Process in Turkey Industrialised versus Emerging Markets Problem Recognition awareness of need vs need creation Information search internet, friends & relatives, Evaluation of Alternatives online pricing tools, agents, price cutting, Purchase decision concerns about claims collection, anonymous client vs agent’s client collection options we hate deductible personal trust Post-Purchase Evaluation no claim ! no problem ! real evaluation is done in case of a claim claim is the product unmet expectations lack of training

Conclusion Social psychologists say : ‘we need to analyse everything within its own context’ This is a key element in understanding cultural and traditional characteristics of a country. Which is also a paramount necessity for reaching succesful results.

Culture, Tradition & Customer Behavior Menekşe Uçaroğlu Istanbul, May 25th 2011 III. Istanbul International Insurance Conference