crosscultural issues

7/30/2019 Crosscultural Issues

1/31

The International Consumer


2/31

Key Concepts

Cross-culturalsymbols

Values of Japan andthe U.S.

Back translation

Differences in timeperception

Nonverbal behavior

Ethnocentricity andanimosity

Binational products The matchup

hypothesis

Standardized globalmarketing

Pattern advertising


3/31

Introduction No matter how hard man tries, it is

impossible for him to divest himself of

his own culture, for it has penetrated tothe roots of his nervous system anddetermines how he perceives the

worldPeople cannot act or interact atall in any meaningful way exceptthrough the medium of culture.

Hall and Hall (1987),Hidden Differences: Doing Business With the Japanese.

New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday, p. 188.


4/31

Cross-Cultural Use of Symbols Meaning of symbols differs across cultures.

Symbolic meaning of nonverbal

communication can also create problems. It is important to know the implicit meaning

of a symbol when a company begins tomarket its products or servicesinternationally.


5/31

International Business Cultural

Factors

Language

Values

Politics

Technologyand MaterialCulture

SocialOrganization

Education

Religion


6/31

The East Asian Consumer How the societies view the individual

How employees and customers are viewed

Values in Japan are beginning to change with

an increased desire for leisure time

Karoshi (death by overwork) still an issue


7/31

The Latin American Consumer NAFTA has

increased U.S.-

Mexico trade. U.S. products

viewed favorably.

Spanish languagevariations possiblyimportant.


8/31

The East European Consumer Western products are in huge demand

Income is less than in western Europe, but

productivity is rising after political turmoil inthe early 1990s.

Marketing requires an understanding of thedifferent cultures and business practices.


9/31

The West European Consumer The EU contains

many nations,

cultures, andlanguages

There is no

Euroconsumer


10/31

The African Consumer Africa is changing rapidly. Africans are often

bilingual, speaking their own language andthat of former European colonialadministrators.

The culture and business climate is stronglyinfluenced by Europe with Francophone

(former French colony)countries liking Frenchproducts. Anglophone countries give highmarks to British and German goods.

American products are highly regarded but

only the well-to-do can afford them.


11/31

Cross-Cultural Problem Areas Translation

National Languages

and Dialects Time perception

Symbols

Friendship Etiquette

Nonverbal Behavior

Country-of-Origin

Issues Ethnocentricity

Animosity

Bi-national products


12/31

Translation Promotional messages must be accurately translated.

The method used to avoid mistakes is backtranslation. The process involves translating themessage back and forth by different translators. Inthis way differences in meaning can be identified.

Back translation may solve the translation issue,there is the question of whether the context is the

same, even if the words are translated accurately. National languages, local dialects: lingua franca


13/31

National Languages and

Dialects China, India, and Africa present the greatest

linguistic challenges to Westerners.

China is slowly moving towards a commonlanguage.

India has even more languages than does China.Coverage of India for marketers is lesscomplicated because the states have three official

languages: English, Hindi, and the predominantstate language. Advertisers place the same in adin newspapers in these three languages.

In Africa there are over 1,000 mutuallyunintelligible languages, making marketing a

major challenge.


14/31

Time perception Time is precious for Americans : in many

other countries, time is much less important.

A study was performed on the accuracy ofbank clocks, the average walking speed ofpedestrians on a city street, and how long ittook postal clerks to sell a stamp in severalcultures: On all three measures, Japan had the most

accurate and fastest times.

United States and England were either second orthird on each.

Indonesia tended to have the most relaxed pace.


15/31

Symbols 7 is unlucky in Ghana, Kenya, lucky in India

and the Czech Republic.

4 is unlucky in Japan, China. 8, 3, 2 sound good in Hong Kong.


16/31

Friendship In China & Japan friendship is a substitute for

a legal system.

We view friendships as more disposable. Guanxi (personal relationships and pull)are

seen as critical.


17/31

Etiquette

Hugging and kissing

More prevalent in Latin America than here:

less prevalent in Asia than here. Eating habits

Chinese slurp noodles: some Europeanswont eat any food with their fingers.


18/31

Non-verbal Behavior Actions, movements and utterances that

communicate.

In some Russian villages, boys dance withchairs until a girl indicates interest. So inRussia, It Takes One to Tango.

Spacing issues

Context


19/31

Country-of-Origin Issues Bi-national products

assembled in X using materials from Y.

Made in Mexico by a Japanese company. Ethnocentrism

Assumption that own group is center of universe.

Match-Up Hypothesis

Animosity


20/31

Ethnocentricity It is a common tendency for people to:

Interpret others from the perspective of their own

group. Reject those who are culturally dissimilar.


21/31

Binational Products The current trend is manufacturing product

components in one country and assembling in

another, or designing in one andmanufacturing in another.

Firms should consider the effects of multiplenational origins on product quality

evaluations.


22/31

Matchup Hypothesis Consumers have preferences for goods that

match their notion of the country of origin. Mexican tequila is good, Russian vodka is good,

but not the obverse.


23/31

Animosity Some people may prefer not to buy products

from a certain country. Chinese consumers have been found to hold

animosity towards Japanese products in general.

Older Mexican consumers are less likely to buyU.S. products than younger Mexicans.


24/31

Adapting or Standardizing

Products and Services Adapting products to the needs of local

consumers is closer to the marketing concept.

Standardizing products may result in savings

to the consumer.


25/31

Tangible Products vs. Services

Generally, services

and industrialproducts are lesslikely than consumerproducts to need

adaptation to localmarkets.


26/31


27/31

Research in International

Marketing To identify taste preferences, companies

must engage in marketing research acrosscultures.

A main problem is how to standardizemeasures of consumption values.

Technical problems (e.g. the ability to do mailsurveys) are also important.


28/31

Country vs. Segment Targets

Two Approaches to

GlobalSegmentation:

Countries

Market Segments


29/31

Country vs. Market Targets Managers of firms doing business in several

countries can choose two broad segmentationapproaches: Country segments or marketsegments. In the the first approach, Brazil is viewed as a

target market segment.

Using the second approach, although Brazil is the

physical location of a large group of consumers,the important variables for segmentation arecommonalities in needs and wants amongconsumers across nationalities.


30/31

Managerial Implications Positioning. The origin of the product should

usually be clear to help differentiate it fromits competitors.

Research. Firms must perform cross-culturalresearch before venturing into anothercountry. The Internet has made international marketing

research easier, but it has introduced another setof issues: Penetration of the Internet varies from country to country.

Marketers using the Internet restrict themselves to those withinternet access!


31/31

Implications continued Marketing Mix. Products should be

appropriate for local conditions. A recent study showed that men in Eastern

Europe are more fashionable than women becausemen have been more exposed to outsideinfluences. So male clothing should be moreflamboyant than female clothing.

Segmentation. The main segmentation issueis determining whether national borders areuseful segmentation variables. Concentrating on cross-border segments that

share commonalities may make more sense

crosscultural issues

Documents