Mart 330 Marketing

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Cultural Influences on selected Aspects of
Consumer Behaviour Learning the Business of
Asian Business PhD Seminar-3
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Force-Process-Outcome (Fam Effective
advertising in China and India, Proceedings of
International Conference on Research in
Advertising, 2005, pp. 161-167)
Force
Outcome
Process
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Impact of Cultural Differences on Consumer
Behaviour Marketing Communications
Aspects of Marketing Communications
Aspects of Consumer Behaviour Words, Symbols
Perception Motivation Age Self-concept Group
Influence Social Class Sex Roles Attitudes to
Change Purchase Decision Making Post-Purchase
Elements of Culture Material Language Aesthetics
Education Religion Social Organization Politics
Law Values Attitudes Ethics Etiquettes
Message decisions (appeal, central
message) Creative approaches (execution casting
activities of people, the settings,
interrelationship) Advertising styles Media
planning approaches
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The Possible Impact of Cultural Differences on
Selected Aspects of Consumer Behaviour

• 1. Symbols Perception
• Symbols work as a powerful means of suggestion
  and evocation.
• The symbolic aspects of consumption are
  important to consumers
• the social meaning of many products is more
  important than their
• functional utility.
• In their capacity as signs with suggestive
  power, symbols rely on
• natural elements colours, shapes,
  locations, materials, everyday
• objects, animals, countryside and elements
  of nature, famous
• characters, etc. (see Omega watch associated
  with Americas Cup)

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Omega Watch and Americas Cup
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• perception of shapes, colours varies across
  cultures. Colours,
• things, numbers and even smells have symbolic
  meanings,
• often not the one you think!

In certain cultures, the lake is a symbol of
love, the blue colour is of virginity, the green
of peace, and white is the colour of birth in the
West and is usually celebrated as a happy event.
In China it symbolizes mourning.

• Chinese consumers living in coastal areas prefer
  loud colours,
• while those living inland prefer gaudy
  colours. Red suggests good
• fortune in China but death in Turkey. The owl
  in India is bad luck,
• like a black cat in Europe. In Japan a fox is
  associated with witches.
• In Singapore the number 7 is unlucky but in
  Japan it is 4.

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The Possible Impact of Cultural Differences on
Selected Aspects of Consumer Behaviour
Associating Symbols

• Chinese consumers attached a high level of
  involvement to the
• purchasing of consumer goods, and this is
  directly attributable to
• the Chinese culture of public and visible
  consumption. (materialism)

• these markers/labels can be seen in possessions
  such as designer-
• labeled goods, expensive jewelry and cars,
  but this apparent
• materialism does not reflect internal
  personal tastes, traits or goals.

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2. Motivation Motivation to own, to buy, to
spend, to consume, to show, to share, to give
differs across cultures. Motivation to spend can
be altered by negative views of money. Motivation
to buy may be low amongst Hindu culture since
they discard objects and material culture.
Motivation to consume may be hindered by a strong
ecological stance like eliminate plastic in
favour of reusable bottles. Similarly motivation
to form relationship often lead to more gift
giving occasions like those widely practiced by
Chinese and Japanese.
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Understanding the variations in what motivates
people is important for positioning brands in
different markets. It explains differences
in brand loyalty, brand preference, brand image,
etc. Differences in sensitivity to certain
product attributes and advertising appeals can
be explained by culturally defined motives. See
the Motives for buying Automobiles.
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Motives for Buying Automobiles Sourcede Mooij,
(1998)
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3
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• Quadrant 2
• Masculine and weak uncertainty
• avoidance
• People have a preference for cars with
• big, powerful motors. They tend to
• have a need for status. So what
• advertising appeal/s to use?

• Quadrant 1
• Feminine and weak uncertainty
• avoidance
• People have preference for safety
• to protect their family for saving money.
• So what advertising appeal/s to use?

• Quadrant 3
• Feminine and strong uncertainty
• avoidance
• People in this culture see the need for sporty
  driving, fast acceleration but not so aggressive.
  A preference for design, but more in the
  art/fashion sphere, pleasure and enjoyment.

• Quadrant 4
• Masculine and strong uncertainty
• avoidance
• People in this culture are aggressive
• drivers, prefer cars with rapid
• acceleration. Because they are often
• stressed up, they driving fast, they can
• release stress. So what advertising
• appeal/s to use?

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Motivation
(Source Schutte and Ciarlante, 1998)
Self Actualisation
Status
Prestige
Admiration
Belonging
Affiliation
Safety
Safety
Physiological
Physiological
Asia
West
Lower level needs
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Power distance vs group/individualism
orientation (Hofstede, 1980)
High power distance
Asia
Individualism
Group orientation
Western Countries
Lower power distance
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• 3. Age
• Do people know their age?/Respective valuation of
  younger and older people in the society/Influence
  processes across age groups for buying
  decisions/How is purchasing power distributed
  across generations?
• Culture based interpretations of
• Young age usually associated with inexperience,
  lack of seriousness and character or with
  openness, creativity, ability to change things
  and undertake new projects
• Old age useless mouths or deadweight and
  should be asked to climb a tree and then let the
  young to shake him/her down from the tree. If
  he/she is old but strong, then should stay
  otherwise the solution is automatic. Or has
  wisdom and therefore should consulted.
• 2. How we value older people will influence the
  way their roles or image be projected/associated?

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4. Self-Concept Self concept may explain why
and/or how consumers are motivated to interact
with reference groups, sales people, and
competing brands. Understanding self-concepts
influence on behaviour may enable marketers to
develop effective methods of appealing to various
target markets by targeting difference
self-concepts.

• Self concept consists of five components
• ideal self model person which one aspires to
  be
• apparent self how one actually view the
  individual
• perceived self how one sees oneself
• social self how a person thinks others
  perceive them
• actual self a composite of all these concepts.

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4. Self-Concept continue
The concept of the self has major implications
like our possessions are a major contributor to
and reflector of our identities by ascribing
meaning to what we buy and consume, our
possessions become the means by which we strive
to assert, complete, or attain our ideal self.
Consumers may purchase goods in order to develop
a particular self-image (self concept) rather
than for functionality.
Asians, on average have lower self-esteem. They
tend to display modest and self-effacing
behaviour versus the usually high
esteem Westerners who tend to demonstrate more
assertiveness and self-assurance. Is this
statement true?
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5. Group Influence To what extent are
individuals influenced in their attitudes and
buying behaviour by their group? How does
consumer behaviour reflect the need to
self-actualise individual identity or to manifest
group belonging?
For example in China, friends and colleagues have
more purchasing influence than advertising. Also
in Asian cultures, the discretion over the use of
income is heavily influenced by the expected
contribution to the family. The tradition
of deference to parental wishes also affects
buying patterns in clothing, leisure expenditure,
etc., especially as it is normal to live at home
until marriage.
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5. Group Influence continue

• In collectivist cultures, consumers tend to be
  more loyal on
• average because they tend to
• rely on word-of-mouth communication found in
  their
• reference group
• tend to follow the group consensus until there is
  significant
• evidence showing that the new product is
  better.

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5. Group Influence continue

• In collectivist cultures, consumers involvement
  in purchasing a
• product will vary according to situation when the
  product is
• purchased for private use low involvement
  surfaced because
• they only favour the physical functions of
  the product and
• mostly concerned with price and quality.
• Purchased for its symbolic value since people
  value social
• harmony and the smoothness of relationships
  within extended
• family, the social significance of a
  product is highly important -
• it may express status, gratitude, approval
  or disapproval.

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6. Social Class Are social classes locally
important? Is social class demonstrated through
consumption? What type of products or services
do social status-minded consumers buy? Are there
exclusive shops? The Americans see ones social
class as reflecting ones personal income and
professional merit. The interdependent Chinese
sees ones social class as belonging to ones
group, usually ones family, relatives, and
kinship clan. Social classes are important for
consumer behaviour as people tend to express
their class differences by consumption.
In China, the use of Hard/Soft Bunk on trains is
more common than the Western concept of
Economy/First Class seating. This is in line
with Chinas egalitarian society.
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7. Sex Roles The sexual division of labour who
makes the decisions? Who stays at home who takes
care of the children who does the cooking,
who does the washing, cleaning and tidying up
and for shopping who shops he or she or both of
them? In Singapore, a husband played a more
dominant role than his US counterpart in family
decision making. In a strict Islamic world, women
are completely dependent on men, whose
authority and command cannot be questioned. A
womans place is always in the home. In HK,
women were often portrayed at home than men, in
dependent roles, and less in occupational
commercial settings (Furnham and Mak, 1999). In
China, a decree by Chairman Mao that both men and
women should be treated equally.
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8. Attitudes to Change Resistance to change in
consumer behaviour (related to strong uncertainty
avoidance), and resistance to change in
particular areas when change could clash with
local values and behaviour (eg. resistance to
fast-food restaurants). Members of a society
with strong uncertainty avoidance are less likely
to seek change/adopt a new product due to the
fear of breakdown, losing face and etc. The
Chinese saying Never make a purchase until you
have compared three shops (Cui, 1997) is very
much alive among Hong Kong consumers.
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9. Purchase Decision Making Family models
(nuclear family versus extended family). Who
makes the decision to purchase and for which
products? In some cultures the woman holds the
purse strings while in others it is the man. In
Japan, the housewife makes most of the major
purchases for the family and buy the familys
food, household supplies and clothing. So who
should the marketers target at in
Japan? Childrens influence and decision making,
in particular, what roles do Chinas single child
plays in family decision making?
Buyers in high-context, collectivist cultures
will seek more social information before making a
purchase decision than those in the low context
cultures.
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9. Purchase Decision Making continue
Will it make a difference to you if the fried
chickens you just bought from KFC were from farms
that did not stun the chickens first before they
are killed? Will it make a difference to you to
eat at McDonalds if the hens laying the eggs were
not given extra water, more wing room in their
cages and fresh air? (see Global boycott aimed at
KFC cutting 7/1/03) People in strong
uncertainty avoidance cultures prefer structured
and detailed information relative to weak
uncertainty avoidance. For example Club Med
provides detailed brochures detailing maps of
airports at both ends of trip, showing toilets,
custom booths and other facilities.
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9. Purchase Decision Making continue
Members of collectivist cultures tend to invest
time in building relationships with their
business partners than individualistic.
In collectivist cultures people do not like to
say no and in large power distance cultures there
is a need to please, resulting in yesmanship.
Additionally, in collectivist societies, fate is
assumed to play a role.
In cultures where power distance is high, that is
decision making is concentrated on the boss, then
the sales person has to target at the top and at
the same time make friends with people at the
intermediate levels. In low power distance
cultures, the contact is roughly proportionate
with the financial amount involved by the sales
contract.
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10. Post-Purchase Perceptions of product
quality. Consumer complaining behaviour/dissatisf
action/consumerism. Does price here include
non-monetary price? Some cultures perceived a
trip to buy a product, or the preparation of
meals as enjoyable. To the French, being served
is negatively valued. They value equality and
therefore, do it yourself market is popular in
countries such as France where there is low
power distance. Is consumerism active in Asian
societies? Do Asian consumers voice their
dissatisfaction? How many of you know about the
return and refund policy of Mark Spencer,
Giordano, etc? Do these shops openly advertise
their refund policy?