1. Global Marketing Management, 5e
Chapter 4
Global Cultural Environment and Buying Behavior
Copyright (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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2. Chapter Overview
1. Definition of Culture 2. Elements of Culture 3. Cross-Cultural Comparisons 4. Adapting to Cultures 5. Cultures and the Marketing Mix 6. Organizational Cultures 7. Global Account Management (GAM) 8. Global Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Copyright (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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3. Introduction
Buyer behavior and consumer needs are largely driven by cultural norms.
Global business means dealing with consumers, strategic partners, distributors, and competitors with different cultural mindsets.
Within a given culture, consumption processes can include four stages: access, buying behavior, consumption characteristics, and disposal (Exhibit 4- 1).
Each of these stages is heavily influenced by the culture in which the consumer thrives.
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4. Exhibit 4-1: The A-B-C-D Paradigm
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5. 1. Definition of Culture
There are numerous definitions of culture. In this text, culture (in a business setting) is defined as being a learned, shared, compelling, interrelated set of symbols whose meanings provide a set of orientations for members of society.
Cultures may be defined by national borders, especially when countries are isolated by natural barriers.
Cultures contain subcultures that have little in common with one another.
Copyright (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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6. 2. Elements of Culture
Culture consists of many interrelated components. Knowledge of a culture requires a deep understanding of its different parts. Following are the elements of culture:
Material life (technologies that are used to produce, distribute, and consume goods and services)
Language (language has two parts: the spoken and the silent language)
Blunders of translation are common either direction
(Exhibit 4-2)
Back-translation can help avoid problems
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7. Exhibit 4-2: Notice to Guests
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8. 2. Elements of Culture
Social Interaction (social interactions among people; nuclear family, extended family; reference groups) (Exhibit 4-3).
Aesthetics (ideas and perceptions that a culture upholds in terms of beauty and good taste) (Exhibit 4-4).
Religion (community’s set of beliefs relating to a reality that cannot be verified empirically) (Exhibit 4-5).
Education (One of the major vehicles to channel from one generation to the next) (Exhibit 4-6).
Value System (values shape people’s norms and standards) (Exhibit 4-7).
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9. Exhibit 4-3: Rules to Start Cracking the Guanxi Code in China
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10. Exhibit 4-4: The Meaning of Color
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11. Exhibit 4-5: Higher Education Achievement
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12. Exhibit 4-6: Dentsu Lifestyle Survey
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13. 3. Cross-Cultural Comparisons
Cultures differ from one another, but usually share certain aspects. Recent social psychology research reveal key cultural differences between East (high) and West (low) context cultures in how people perceive reality and reasoning (see below).
High-context cultures: Interpretation of messages rests on contextual cues; e.g., China, Korea, Japan.
Low-context cultures: Put the most emphasis on written or spoken words; e.g., USA, Scandinavia, Germany.
Copyright (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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14. 3. Cross-Cultural Comparisons
Japanese
High context
IMPLICIT
Arabian
Latin American
Spanish
Italian
English (UK)
French
English (US)
Scandinavian
German
Low context
EXPLICIT
Swiss
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15. 3. Cross-Cultural Comparisons
Geert Hofstede’s Cultural Classification Scheme:
Power distance: The degree of inequality among people that is viewed as being equitable
Uncertainty avoidance: The extent to which people in a given culture prefer structured situations with clear rules over unstructured ones
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16. 3. Cross-Cultural Comparisons
Individualism: The degree to which people prefer to act as individuals rather than group members.
Masculinity: The importance of “male” values (assertiveness, success, competitive drive, achievement) versus “female” values (solidarity, quality of life).
Long-term orientation versus short-term focus: Future versus past and present orientations
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17. 3. Cross-Cultural Comparisons
Project GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness)
Project GLOBE is a large-scale ongoing research project that explores cultural values and their impact on organizational leadership in 62 countries (Exhibit 4-9).
The first three dimensions (uncertainty avoidance, power distance, and collectivism) are the same as Hofstede’s constructs.
Copyright (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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18. 3. Cross-Cultural Comparisons
The remaining six dimensions include: collectivism II, gender egalitarianism, assertiveness, future orientation, performance orientation, and humane orientation.
World Value Survey:
The WVS is organized by the University of Michigan.
The WVS has been conducted multiple times and the population covered is much broader than in other similar studies.
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19. 3. Cross-Cultural Comparisons
The WVS encompasses two broad categories: traditional versus secular values, and the quality of life (Exhibit 4-9).
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20. Exhibit 4-9: World Value Survey
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21. 4. Adaptation to Cultures
Global marketers need to become sensitive to cultural biases that influence their thinking, behavior, and decision making.
Self-reference criterion (SRC): Refers to the people’s unconscious tendency to resort to their own cultural experience and value systems to interpret a given business situation.
Ethnocentrism refers to the feeling of one’s own cultural superiority.
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22. 5. Culture and the Marketing Mix
Culture is a key pillar of the marketplace.
Product Policy: Certain products are more culture- bound than other products. Food, beverages, and clothing products tend to be very culture-bound.
Pricing: Pricing policies are driven by four Cs:
Customers
Company (costs, objectives, strategy)
Competition
Collaborators (e.g., distributors)
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23. 5. Culture and the Marketing Mix
Distribution: Cultural variables may also dictate distribution strategies.
Promotion: Promotion is the most visible element of the marketing mix. Culture will typically have a major influence on a firm’s communication strategy. Local cultural taboos and norms also influence advertising styles.
(See Exhibit 4-10.)
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24. Exhibit 4-10: McDonald’s Chinese New Year Promotion (Hong Kong)
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25. 6. Organizational Cultures
Organizational Culture: Most companies are characterized by their organizational (corporate) culture.
A model of organizational culture types includes the following four cultures (Exhibit 4-11):
Clan culture
Adhocracy culture
Hierarchy culture
Market culture
Additional business cultures exist in countries as well (Exhibit 4-12).
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26. Exhibit 4-11: Model of Organizational Culture Types
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27. Exhibit 4-12: Seven Distinctive Business Cultures
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28. 7. Global Account Management (GAM)
The coordination of the management of customer accounts across national boundaries are referred to as global account management (GAM).
Global Accounts’ Requirements:
May require a single point of contact
May demand coordination of resources for serving customers
May push for uniform prices and terms of trade
May have standardized products and service
May require a high degree of consistency in service quality and performance
May require support in countries where the company has no presence
Copyright (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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29. 7. Global Account Management (GAM)
Managing Global Account Relationships:
Clarify the role of the global account management team.
Make incentive structure realistic.
Pick the right global account managers.
Create a strong support network.
Make sure that the customer relationship operates at more than one level.
GAM should be flexible and dynamic.
Copyright (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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30. 8. Global Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
The process of managing interaction between the company and its customers is called customer relationship management (CRM):
Helps in customer retention
Helps in richer communication and interactive marketing
Helps in tailored services
Helps to maintain a closer contact with the customers
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31. 8. Global Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Benefits of CRM:
A better understanding of customers’ expectations and behavior
Ability to measure the customers’ value to the company
Lower customer acquisition and retention costs
Ability to interact and communicate with customers in countries where access to traditional channels is limited
Copyright (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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32. 8. Global Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Guidelines for Successful CRM Implementation:
Make the program business-driven rather than IT-driven
Monitor and keep track of data protection and privacy laws in those countries where CRM systems are being used or are in the planning stage
A good database is the main pre-requisite.
Rewards being sent out to customers are relevant, targeted, and personal.
Copyright (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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