Culture

Culture, although there is no standard definition can be described as,

"The system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviours, and artefacts that the members of society use to cope with their world and one another, and that are transmitted from generation to generation through learning". Bates and Plog

Ralph Linton defines culture as "the configuration of learned behaviour and results of those behaviours whose component elements are shared and transmitted by members of a particular society."

Culture is global, shared, transmissable and constantly evolving. It is buit up from people's perceptions of right and wrong (marriage, religion, law etc), family values, society's values and attitudes, community learning and communal or collective memory.

Cultural differences manifest themselves in different ways and differing levels of depth. Symbols represent the most superficial and values the deepest manifestations of culture, with heroes and rituals falling inbetween the two.

Because different cultures have such vast differences in beliefs and ways of life, it can be very hard for a marketer to appeal to a potential audience across a number of cultural boundaries. An article looking at international market research suggests that there are 5 factors that need to be considered when marketing to different cultures. These are:

• Personality - it is important to adjust your message to suit the personality of the chosen target market.


• Wealth - the average household income varies dramatically across cultures and this has a huge impact on consumer habits. Is important to evaluate how consumer wealth impacts your target market’s habits for your product or service? This often explains why something does not sell well in a particular country, but will be extremely popular in another.


• Consumer habits - these can be affected by a number of different factors which the marketer would need to thoroughly research to see what makes certain cultures buy and others not.


• Language - If the target market for your product/service is aimed across cultures, the language barrier will be one of the biggest issues to conquer. Some marketers may only use music and imagery to show their message, this means the visuals have to be extremely strong in getting the desired message across which may be difficult as different cultres will interpret messages in different ways according to their ways of thinking. HSBC are a worldwide company, therefore needing to appeal across many cultures. One of their ways to do this is the use of advertising and symbols used across the world meaning the same thing, this therefore eliminates confusion as to the message being given.

• Age - the age of your ideal clients in one market may be different in another market. Different generations also act differently in different countries. Each age group will have different characteristis and roles in each country and culture.

Culture is made up of 3 different components, these being beliefs, values and customs, marketers need to be aware of how these 3 aspects affect different cultures and respond accordingly. One example could be that of Macdonalds responding to the fact that in India cows are said to be sacred, therefore they have adapted to the culture by selling "no beef" hamburgers. Amit Jatiya from the restaurant industry in India comments, "McDonald’s has respected our local culture. Meat and vegetarian processing and cooking are segregated."

A recent article from Marketing Week looks at hows the current recession is affecting different countries and their purchasing habits. They also carried out a number of surveys to determine what it is that makes a consumer choose their shops. It seems from this graph that marketers for all countries and cultures need to focus on promoting how the shops provide value for money rather than their quality or image.

Hofstede carried out IBM based research to look into finding an explanation for the variations in culture across national boundaries. He used factors to base his findings on. These were; power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity/femininity and indiviualism/collectivism. The results for Great Britain came back as being predominantly focused on masculinity and individualism. This suggests that the ability for change is a lot easier and faster than across other countries and cultures.

Hofstede comments, "for those who work in international business, it is sometimes amazing how different people in other cultures behave. We tend to have a human instinct that 'deep inside' all people are the same - but they are not. Therefore, if we go into another country and make decisions based on how we operate in our own home country - the chances are we'll make some very bad decisions."

This is very a important concept for marketers to consider. Looking at Macdonalds again, if they went to India and did not take into consideration the fact that beef and pork are meats that are not eaten, their attempt to expand their worldwide empire into that culture would more than likely fail, bringing bad publicity with it for not being considerate of the cultural beliefs.

One factor that needs to be taken into consideration for selling products and services is where they are going to be placed in the market. In England for example, it is easy for us to click onto the internet and buy flight tickets, or get in the car and drive to the local travel agents. In India however, the luxury of a car and internet access that we take for granted are not so easy to come by. This is why certain airlines sell their plane tickets in grocery stores; places which are both easy to reach and frequently visited by the public.

Some of the key differences across cultures are, the concept of language and meaning. For marketers this can mean vast amounts of research is needed, colours, symbols and actions are amongst many things that can all be interpreted in different ways by different cultures; in one country you could be complimenting someone, whereas in another, you could be portraying a sign of upmost rudeness. Non verbals are also important to consider when dealing with different cultures, for some, the shaking of hands is seen as an act of being polite, in others, it is an insult to be touched by anyone but your husband/wife. This again is imporant for marketers to consider when trying to place their produt or service globally. If a marketer goes to a meeting to discuss their product and their mannerisms are inappropriate for that culture, it could jeopardise the success of their produt in that country.