Lecture Global marketing management (7th edition): Chapter 4 - Masaaki Kotabe, Kristiaan Helsenv

Chapter global cultural environment and buying behavior, in chapter 4 are included as important dimensions in understanding cultural and market differences among countries. Not to be overlooked is concern for the deterioration of the global ecological environment and the multinational company’s critical responsibility to protect it.

MARKETING

MANAGEMENT

Seventh Edition MASAAKI KOTABKE | KRISTIAAN HELSEN

Chapter 4 PowerPoint

Global Cultural Environment and Buying

Behavior

• 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

• Each of these stages is heavily influenced by the

culture in which the consumer thrives

Exhibit 4-1: Cultural Variations in Emoticons

1 Definition of Culture

• There are numerous definitions of culture In this

text, culture (in a business setting) is defined as

being learned, shared, and composed of

interrelated parts 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

Exhibit 4-2: How Not To Sell Abroad

2 Elements of Culture

– Social Interactions (social interactions among

people; nuclear family, extended family; reference

groups).

– Aesthetics (ideas and perceptions that a culture

upholds in terms of beauty and good taste).

– Religion (belief in supernatural agents).

– Education (major vehicle for channeling culture from one generation to the next).

– Value System (shape people’s norms and

standards).

Exhibit 4-3: Rules for Cracking

the Guanxi Code in China

Exhibit 4-4: 2011 Car Color Preferences

Exhibit 4-5: Cross-Country Performance Mathematics, Reading, and Science Skills among High-School Students (PISA 2012)

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, Latin America

• Low-context cultures: Put the most emphasis on written or spoken words; e.g., USA, Scandinavia,

Arabian Latin American Spanish

Italian English (UK) French

English (US) Scandinavian

German

IMPLICIT

3 Cross-Cultural Comparisons

• Geert Hofstede’s Cultural Classification Scheme:

– Power distance: The degree of inequality among

people that is viewed as being acceptable.

– Uncertainty avoidance: The way that a culture deals with the fact that the future can never be known.

– Individualism: The degree to which people’s image

is defined in terms of “me” versus “we.”

Continued

3 Cross-Cultural Comparisons

Continued

–Masculinity: The importance of “male” values

(assertiveness, status, success, competitive drive within society, achievement) versus “female” values (being

people-oriented, solidarity, quality of life).

–Long-termism: Oriented primarily on the present and the future.

–Indulgence: The extent to which people try to control their desires and impulses, based on the way they were raised.

3 Cross-Cultural Comparisons

• GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational

Behavior Effectiveness) Research Program

– Project GLOBE is a large-scale ongoing research

program that explores cultural values and their impact

on organizational leadership in 62 countries (Exhibit 4-7).

– Three dimensions (collectivism I, uncertainty

avoidance, and power distance) are the same as

Hofstede’s constructs

3 Cross-Cultural Comparisons

• The remaining six dimensions include: collectivism II, gender egalitarianism, assertiveness, performance

orientation, humane orientation, and future orientation.

• World Value Survey (WVS): World Value Survey (WVS)

• The WVS is conducted by a network of social

scientists at leading universities worldwide.

• The WVS has been done multiple times and the

population covered is much broader than in other

similar studies.

• The WVS encompasses two broad categories:

traditional versus secular values, and survival versus

Exhibit 4-7: Project GLOBE

Exhibit 4-8: World Value Survey (WVS)

4 Adapting 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 people’s unconscious tendency to resort to their own cultural experience and value systems to interpret a given business situation

• Out-group homogeneity bias: Refers to people’s tendency to believe out-group members (e.g.,

members of host culture) are more alike and less

5 Culture and the Marketing Mix

• Culture is a key pillar of the marketplace

• Product Policy: Many products and services must

be tailored to local values and preferences to make them more appealing in the host market, while some can also be banned or restricted due to cultural

reasons

• Pricing: Customers’ willingness to pay for products will vary across cultures; what may be perceived as good value in one culture may have little to no value

in other cultures

5 Culture and the Marketing Mix

dictate distribution strategies.

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.)

Discussion Questions 3 (left), 5 (right)