Ibahrine Chapter 1 The Paradoxes In Global Marketing Communication
Multicultural marketing session 2 student version
1. Multicultural Marketing
2nd Session
Cross culture consumer behavior & Local Consumer and
Globalization of Consumption
2. Cross-Cultural Consumer Behavior
Universal or Specific Consumers?
Culture and Consumer behavior
Hierarchy of Needs (Maslow)
Culture Based Values
Institutions, social conventions, habits, and customs
The Influence of Culture on selected aspects of
consumer behavior
Loyalty
Consumer Involvement
Perceived risk
Marketing as an exchange of “Meanings”
3. Is consumer behavior universal or specific
to its group
• One view is that all consumers can be approached as being similar
• Everyone gets hungry, they sleep, eat breakfast… etc
• 2nd perspective is that all consumers have adapted foreign traits
• McDonalds in Kuwait, Japan
• 3rd is that consumers (a) of a certain ethnicity have modified consumption patterns
in those countries (b) and some ethnic products have reached world class status
by being adopted in most countries
• Asian cuisines (Sushi)
• The 4th is the opposite of Global Perspective
Marketing is a process involving communication and exchange: consumers buy
meanings as well as objects.
4. Hierarchy of Needs
Self • Rank order?
actualization • Criteria for satisfaction?
• Needs vs. Desires
• Economic influences?
Esteem
Social
Safety
Physiological
5. Culture and Consumer Behavior
Hierarchy of needs is not true in every culture
In some economies, people focus more on basic survival
needs
Hindu culture encourage the need for self actualization without
materialistic desires
Individualism and Collectivism
Does an individual makes his own decision or is he/she
influenced socially (shared / social intentions)
Korean students have lunch together or go to the same college
abroad. (Obligation to belong to a certain group)
Asian families restrict autonomous behavior amongst their
children
Independent / Interdependence
Be Yourself (More western culture based value)
Affect on marketing studies – Impulse buying, consumption
patterns, emotional appeal.
6. Culture and Consumer Behavior
Institutions: The State, the Church and Trade
Unions
French Catholic hierarchy has generally opposes to
Sunday trading.
German trade unions oppose an extension of
opening hours.
Stores at 2 p.m. on Saturdays
Closed on Sundays.
The result is that many German consumers must shop
quickly on Saturday mornings.
Catalogue-based mail order and online shopping are good
substitutes
As a result, mail order sales are highly developed in
Germany such as Neckermann, Bertelsmann and Quelle.
7. Culture and Consumer Behavior
Social conventions, habits and customs:
Other products are in a sense institution dependent,
whatever their mode of distribution or consumption:
Marriage-related goods such as a wedding dress or the
products featured on wedding lists, or many kinds of traditional
gift that are offered for specific occasions
Eating habits
„Food is both substance and symbol; providing both physical
nourishment and a key form of communication that carries
many kinds of meanings.‟
Cultural variations, in addition to the social interpretation of
eating habits, include the following:
1. The number of meals consumed each day.
2. The standard duration of a meal, and the positionof meals in the daily
schedule.
9. Influence of Culture on aspects of CB
Psychological Process
Motivation
to own, buy, spend, consume, show, share, give?
Perception
Perception of shapes, colours and space? (Red is lucky in
Chinese)
Learning and Memory
Familiarity with product classes?
Attitude
Resistance to change (Resistance to FAST FOOD in France)
Decision Making
Individual or social influences
Loyalty
Value of certainty?
Consumer Complaint
Perceptions of quality?
10. Influence of Culture on aspects of CB
Loyalty
USA – Value Opportunity
Assumed disloyal
Enjoy change more than stability
Price competition
Asian – Value Certainty
High level of single brand dominance
Rely on information from reference groups – WOM is important
Follow group consensus until proved wrong
11. Influence of Culture on aspects of CB
Consumer Involvement
Higher in Asians with regard to purchasing for social and
symbolic values (buying a car)
Low in Asians if product is for private use (Price and
Quality)
Perceived Risk
Can be separated to financial, physical, social risk … etc
Buying a car where road safety is not an issue (Physical risk)
petrol is cheap (financial risk) but if the car breaks down on the
highway and there is no mechanic available (reliability risk)
12. Marketing as an Exchange of Meanings
Consumers buy meanings and marketers
communicate meanings through products and
advertisements.
Many of the meanings in M.Exc are culture based
Therefore in the process of exchange through buyer–
seller relations, marketing communications or product
consumption, interpretations are made spontaneously,
The Role of Emotions in Japanese marketing
Affect on sales team regarding compensation
In Japan, the husband is supposed to hand all his income over
to his wife. If he doesn‟t, he is criticized by people around him.
13. Class Group Assignment
Please write on an A4 sheet of paper.
Write all group member names clearly.
Write the title as Assignment no. 1
All write down the question which is below
Why can 'word-of-mouth communication' among
people be considered as a fairly robust consumer
behavior concept cross-culturally?
14. Local Consumers &
The Globalization of Consumption
Free Trade
Diversity in Global Markets
The Global Convergence of Consumption Patterns
At the Macro Level
At Micro Level
Emergence of a Global Consumer Culture
Standardized World Package
McDonald-ization
Local Products and Consumption Experience
Culture Bound Products
Habits and Shared Meaning
Local Consumer Culture and Resistance to Change
15. Free Trade
All countries benefit from exports and imports
Cultural exchange usually happened through trade
Industries can develop around a certain product (western
pharmaceuticals) giving rise to jobs
Countries that import heavily are not at a
disadvantage
They can charge on duties, taxes
They can provide subsidies and levies for local importers
Tax Free Economies
Allow for market entry
But marketers may face difficulties in entering a market
due to competition
16. Free Trade
Pricing
A commodity in one nation maybe a luxury item in another
nation
Toyota Camry in India is a luxury but in Dubai (its considered a
Taxi)
Standardization of products
Voltage in USA is 110V but in other countries its 220V
Halal (for Muslims) or Kosher (for Jews) products.
Left hand drive Vs. Right hand drive (some people in the
world drive on the wrong side of the road)
In Globalization, Diversity presents
An opportunity to create a differentiation strategy,
And to gain competitive advantage
17. Convergence of Consumption Patterns
At the Macro Level
Removing barriers to trade helps in globalization of
industries
This leads to demographic convergence such as age,
income, household with consumptions
Wine consumption has decreased and beer consumption has
increased in the south (in France, Greece, Italy,)
The opposite pattern has evolved in the north of Europe (in
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany) leading to macro-level
convergence
Beef consumption in Japan, traditionally a fish-eating country,
has developed considerably while there has been a rise in fish
consumption in traditionally meat eating countries.
In this sense, globalization increases, not decreases,
diversity in everyone‟s experience.
18. Convergence of Consumption Patterns
At the micro level, researches have found culture
influences consumption patterns
1. For product type durable, household and functional
products varied more by culture than non-durable,
sensory and personal products.
2. For product/service category, restaurants, air travel and
hair shampoo are more influenced by culture than beer,
jeans, going to the cinema, soft drinks and stereos.
3. For situational frequency, time of day, where consumers
shopped, the length of time and the reason varied by
culture for food, but not for clothing.
4. For reasons for purchase maintenance, enjoyment and
defense reasons differed by country.
19. Emergence of a Global Consumer Culture
Standard world package
A consumer culture guides people in defining their
aspirations towards a certain set of possessions.
The standard US package of goods has developed into a
standard world package that includes a car and a home
with electric lighting, a refrigerator and a television.
The same holds true for services, since the fast-food
restaurant has become part of the standard world
package.
„Standard‟ has three meanings:
(1) the same for everybody;
(2) the same everywhere in the world;
(3) the same for alltime. e.g., Coca Cola
20. Emergence of a Global Consumer Culture
McDonald‟s (standardization) has led to globalization of
fast food through four points
1. Efficiency:
The McDonaldized service offers the optimum method for
getting from one point (being hungry) to another (being fed).
2. Systematic quantification and calculation:
McDonald‟s offers more „bang for the buck‟ and provides its
customers with „value‟ meals.
3. Predictability
Whether in Chicago, Moscow or Tokyo, we find the same Big Mac
and French Fries. Consumers find great comfort in this
predictability which reduces perceived risk.
4. Control through use of technology
Rules are fairly strict and automatic systems (e.g. soft drinks or
ice-cream dispensers) control the exact quantity, in line with point
2.
This also facilitates predictability by reassuring customers about
the service to be obtained from McDonald‟s.
21. Local Products & Consumption Experience
If consumer culture matters, then it is likely that consumers will
invest more meaning in products that are more bound to
cultural interpretation.
The question is therefore: what is more culture-free and what more
culture-bound, in terms of product and service categories on the one
hand, and consumer behavior on the other?
Culture Bound Products:
Some aspects to examine are
Rich (or poor) cultural context – Shopping, consuming, and
disposing
Relationship to the physical environment – Climate, population,
agriculture
Cultural or National identity – Use of local products and
craftsmanship (Italian suits, Egyptian cotton, French fashion
designers)
Language - Songs, soap operas, films and novels. Ikea uses
pictures to avoid language barriers in its instruction manual
22. Local Products & Consumption Experience
Habits and shared meanings
Habits are ways of doing and behaving that have
been reinforced by authorization and gratification,
Once the programming is forgotten they appear
legitimate.
Examples
Kaffeetrinken
The special relationship of Germans to coffee & cakes (Kuchen) has
much to do with happy hours experienced since childhood when
people relax in a tight society with an internalized pressure for
conforming to rules.
Drinking Beer
Shape and size of beer glasses
Flavor (bitterness, froth, bubbles, sweetness, alcohol levels)
23. End of Lecture
See you after two weeks
baber_mirza@hotmail.com
Groups to be formed in the next session.
Final Group project to be given next week
Notas del editor
1. The number of meals consumed each day.2. The standard duration of a meal, and the position of meals in the daily schedule.3. The composition of each meal. The portions may differ in size, comprising various kinds of food (local ingredients or cooking style); the nutritional content may be composed so that the eater can cope with long or short time periods without further calorific input during the day.4. Which beverages accompany the meal (water, coffee, tea, wine, beer, and so on) and what their ‘status’ is – refresher, energizer, coolant, relaxer, etc. 5. The social function, whether ‘fuel’ or daily ‘social event’. The meal may be a communal event where people entertain themselves by eating and chatting together, or it may simply be a means of feeding oneself without any symbolic, personal or collective connotation.6. Is the food ready-made or is it prepared from basic ingredients? Do servants help prepare the meal? What is the cultural meaning of the meal being prepared by the housewife or by her husband, for whom, in which particular situations?