1. Kardan University
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2. International Marketing 15th edition
Chapter 4
Cultural Dynamics in
Assessing global Markets
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3. Overview The importance of culture to an international marketer
Definition and origins of culture
The elements of culture
The impact of cultural change and cultural borrowing
Strategies of planned and unplanned change
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4. Definitions and Origins of Culture
Traditional definition of culture
Culture is the sum of the values, rituals, symbols, beliefs, and thought processes that are learned, shared by a group of people, and transmitted from generation to generation.
Individuals learn culture in three ways
Socialization (growing up)
Acculturation (adjusting to a new culture)
Application (decisions about consumption and production)
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5. Origins, Elements, and Consequences of Culture
Exhibit 4.4
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6. Geography Exercises a profound control
Includes climate, topography, flora, fauna, and microbiology
Influenced history, technology, economics, social institutions and way of thinking
The ideas of Jared Diamond and Philip Parker
Jared Diamond
Historically innovations spread faster east to west than north to south
Philip Parker
Reports strong correlations between latitude (climate) and per capita GDP
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7. History
History - Impact of specific events can be seen reflected in technology, social institutions, cultural values, and even consumer behavior
Tobacco was the original source of the Virginia colony’s economic survival in the 1600s
American values and institutions influenced by Adam Smith’s book The Wealth of Nations
Military conflicts in the Middle East brought about new cola alternatives such as Mecca Cola, Muslim Up, and Arab Cola.
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8. Social Institutions School – the most important social institution
Direct link between a nation’s literacy rate and its economic development
Difficult to communicate with a market when a company must depend on symbols and pictures
The media – it has replaced family time
TV and the Internet
American educational system produces a lower percentage of college graduates than 12 other countries including Russia, Japan, and France
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9. Social Institutions
Government - influences the thinking and behaviors of adult citizens
Propaganda through media
Passage, promulgation, promotion, and enforcement of laws
Corporations - most innovations are introduced to societies by companies
Spread through media
Change agents

10. Elements of Culture (1 of 4)
Values
Rituals
Symbols
Beliefs
Thought processes
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11. Elements of Culture (2 of 4)
Cultural values – Geert Hofstede
Individualism/Collectivism Index
Reflects the preference of behavior that promotes one’s self interest
Power Distance Index
Measures the tolerance of social inequality
Uncertainty Avoidance Index
Measures the tolerance of uncertainty and ambiguity
Cultural Values and Consumer Behavior
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12. Hofstede’s Indexes Language, and Linguistic Distance
Exhibit 4.6
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13. Elements of Culture (3 of 4)
Rituals – patterns of behavior and interaction that are learned and repeated
Marriages , funerals, baptisms, graduations
Symbols
Language
Linguistic distance – relationship between language and international marketing
Aesthetics as symbols
Insensitivity to aesthetic values can offend, create a negative impression, and, in general, render marketing efforts ineffective or even damaging
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14. Language According to www.ethnologue.com:
A total of 7,413 known living languages exist in the world
311 being spoken in the U.S.; 297 in Mexico, 13 in Finland, and 241 in China
EU has 20 official languages
India alone has 452 known languages!
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15. Elements of Culture (4 of 4)
Beliefs
Superstitions play a large role in a society’s belief system and therefore, to make light of superstitions in other cultures can be an expensive mistake
The number 13 in the western hemisphere is considered unlucky, where as the number 8 in China connotes “prosperity”
The practice of “Feng Shui”
Thought processes
Difference in perception between the East and the West
Focus vs. big-picture
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16. Similarities – An Illusion
A common language does not guarantee a similar interpretation of word or phrases
Difference between British and American English
Just because something sells in one country doesn’t mean it will sell in another
Cultural differences among member of European Union a product of centuries of history
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