Social and Cultural Environments

1
Social and Cultural Environments

• Basic aspects of culture
• it is not innate, but learned
• the various facets of culture are interrelated -
  touch a culture in one place and everything is
  affected
• it is shared by group members, and defines
  boundaries between different groups
• Edward T. Hall, Beyond Culture (1977)

2
General Motors

• Ad should read Body by Fischer
• It actually read Corpse by Fischer

3
Hertz strap-line

• Let Hertz put you in the driving
  seat(liberation and action)
• Let Hertz make you a chauffeur (change your
  occupation or status)

4
Cultures across countries

• High context culture
• the meaning of individual behaviour and speech
  changes depending on the situation
• nonverbal messages are full of important meaning
  (Read between the lines)
• e.g. Saudi Arabia and Japan, written contracts
  are not always enforceable as new people move
  into executive positions (Chile, Mexico)

5

• Low context culture
• intentions are expressed verbally
• the situation does not change the meaning of
  words
• e.g. India, China, Australia, New Zealand

6
Social and cultural influences on the
international buyer

• Cultural differences
• language, spoken and silent
• mental processes and learning
• values and norms
• rewards and recognition
• Type of buyer behaviour
• consumer
• business
• government

7

• The influence of others in the buying process
• decision-making unit
• family
• peers
• SLEPT influences on buyer behaviour
• Specific cultural influences
• religion
• education
• family
• reference groups

8

• The influence of the market
• distribution channels
• manufacturer
• service provider
• Phillips, Doole and Lowe (1994)

9
Self-Reference Criteria

• 1. Define problem or goals in terms of
  home-country cultural traits, habits and norms
• 2. Define problem or goals in terms of foreign
  cultural traits, habits and norms
• 3. Isolate the SRC influence in the problem and
  examine it carefully to see how it complicates
  the problem
• 4. Redefine the problem without the SRC
  influence and solve for the foreign market
• James Lee (1966)

10
Written English but what does it mean?

• Japanese hotel notice to guests
• You are invited to take advantage of the
  chambermaid
• Bangkok dry cleaner to potential customers
• Drop you trousers here for best results
• A Roman laundry innocently suggests
• Ladies, leave your clothes here and spend the
  afternoon having a good time

11

• A Copenhagen Airline promises to
• Take your bags and send them in all directions
• A Hong Kong dentist claims to extract teeth
• By the latest Methodists

12
An outline of cross-cultural analysis of
consumer behaviour

• Determine the relevant motivations of the culture
• Determine the characteristic behaviour patterns
• Determine what broad cultural patterns are
  relevant to this product
• Determine the characteristic forms of decions
  making

13

• Evaluate promotion methods appropriate to the
  culture
• Determine appropriate institutions for this
  product in the mind of the consumer