Social and Cultural Environments Chapter 4 Global Marketing

Tasks of the Global Marketers Study and understand the country cultures in which they will be doing business Incorporate this understanding into the marketing planning process Keegan and Green, Chapter 4

Conceptual Frameworks Hall’s high and low context cultures Maslow’s hierarchy Hofstede’s cultural typology Self-reference criterion Diffusion theory Keegan and Green, Chapter 4

Keegan and Green, Chapter 4 Culture Ways of living, built up by a group of human beings, transmitted from one generation to another Social institutions Family Education Religion Government Business Keegan and Green, Chapter 4

Material vs. Nonmaterial Culture Physical components of culture Objects Artifacts Clothing Tools Pictures Homes Subjective or abstract culture Religion Perceptions Attitudes Beliefs Values Keegan and Green, Chapter 4

Keegan and Green, Chapter 4 Cultural Universals Athletics Body adornment Cooking Courtship Decorative arts Education Ethics Property rights Religious rituals Etiquette Family feasting Food taboos Language Marriage Mealtime Mourning Music Status differentiation Keegan and Green, Chapter 4

Attitudes, Beliefs, Values Attitudes - learned tendency to respond in a consistent way to a given object or entity Belief - an organized pattern of knowledge that an individual holds to be true about the world Value - enduring belief or feeling that a specific mode of conduct is personally or socially preferable to another mode of conduct Keegan and Green, Chapter 4

Keegan and Green, Chapter 4 Aesthetics and Color What do you associate with Red? Active, hot, vibrant Weddings in some Asian cultures Poorly received in African countries With white? Purity, cleanliness Death in parts of Asia Keegan and Green, Chapter 4

Keegan and Green, Chapter 4 Dietary Preferences Would you eat….. Reindeer (Finland) Rabbit (France) Rice, soup, and grilled fish for breakfast (Japan) Kimchi - Korea Blood sausage (Germany) Keegan and Green, Chapter 4

Language and Communication Verbal Cues Nonverbal cues or body language Keegan and Green, Chapter 4

Language and Communication Language Example English has fixed word order; Russian has free word order Japanese words convey nuances of feeling Japanese does not distinguish between the sounds l and r; English and Russian have both l and r sounds Russian is highly inflected compared to English Linguistic Category Syntax Semantics Phonology Morphology Keegan and Green, Chapter 4

High and Low Context Cultures High Context Information resides in context Emphasis on background, basic values Less emphasis on legal paperwork Focus on personal reputation Saudi Arabia, Japan Low Context Messages are explicit and specific Words carry all information Reliance on legal paperwork Focus on non-personal documentation of credibility Switzerland, US, Germany Keegan and Green, Chapter 4

Keegan and Green, Chapter 4 Factors High Context Low Context Lawyers Less important Very important A person’s word His or her bond Still must “get it in writing” Responsibility for organizational error Accepted at Pushed to lowest level highest level Space Close Private space maintained Time Polychronic Monochronic Negotiations Lengthy Proceed quickly Competitive bidding Infrequent Common Keegan and Green, Chapter 4

Hofstede’s Cultural Typology Power Distance Individualism / Collectivism Masculinity Uncertainty Avoidance Long-term Orientation Keegan and Green, Chapter 4

Self-Reference Criterion Unconscious reference to one’s own cultural values; creates cultural myopia How to Reduce Cultural Myopia Define the problem or goal in terms of home country cultural traits Define the problem in terms of host-country cultural traits; make no value judgements Isolate the SRC influence and examine it Redefine the problem without the SRC influence and solve Keegan and Green, Chapter 4

Keegan and Green, Chapter 4 Diffusion Theory Adoption process Characteristics of Innovations Adopter categories Keegan and Green, Chapter 4

Keegan and Green, Chapter 4 The Adoption Process 1. Awareness 2. Interest 3. Evaluation 4. Trial 5. Adoption Keegan and Green, Chapter 4

Keegan and Green, Chapter 4 Rate of Adoption can be explained by these characteristics Relative Advantage Compatibility Complexity Divisibility Communicability Keegan and Green, Chapter 4

Adopter Categories (Fig. 4-1) Keegan and Green, Chapter 4

Environmental Sensitivity (Fig. 4-3) Keegan and Green, Chapter 4