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International Marketing15th edition

Chapter 4

Cultural Dynamics in Assessing global Markets


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Overview• The importance of culture to an

international marketer• Definition and origins of culture• The elements of culture• The impact of cultural change and

cultural borrowing• Strategies of planned and unplanned

change


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Definitions and Origins of Culture

• Traditional definition of culture – Culture is the sum of the values, rituals,

symbols, beliefs, and thought processes that are learned, shared by a group of people, and transmitted from generation to generation.

• Individuals learn culture in three ways– Socialization (growing up)– Acculturation (adjusting to a new culture)– Application (decisions about consumption

and production)


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Origins, Elements, and Consequences of Culture

Exhibit 4.4


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Geography• Exercises a profound control

– Includes climate, topography, flora, fauna, and microbiology

– Influenced history, technology, economics, social institutions and way of thinking

• The ideas of Jared Diamond and Philip Parker– Jared Diamond

• Historically innovations spread faster east to west than north to south

– Philip Parker• Reports strong correlations between

latitude (climate) and per capita GDP


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History• History - Impact of specific events can be seen

reflected in technology, social institutions, cultural values, and even consumer behavior – Tobacco was the original source of the

Virginia colony’s economic survival in the 1600s

– American values and institutions influenced by Adam Smith’s book The Wealth of Nations

– Military conflicts in the Middle East brought about new cola alternatives such as Mecca Cola, Muslim Up, and Arab Cola.


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Social Institutions• School – the most important social institution

– Direct link between a nation’s literacy rate and its economic development

– Difficult to communicate with a market when a company must depend on symbols and pictures

• The media – it has replaced family time• TV and the Internet• American educational system produces a

lower percentage of college graduates than 12 other countries including Russia, Japan, and France


Social Institutions• Government - influences the thinking and

behaviors of adult citizens– Propaganda through media– Passage, promulgation, promotion, and

enforcement of laws• Corporations - most innovations are

introduced to societies by companies– Spread through media– Change agents


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Elements of Culture (1 of 4)

• Values• Rituals• Symbols• Beliefs• Thought processes


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• Cultural values – Geert Hofstede– Individualism/Collectivism Index

• Reflects the preference of behavior that promotes one’s self interest

– Power Distance Index• Measures the tolerance of social inequality

– Uncertainty Avoidance Index• Measures the tolerance of uncertainty and

ambiguity– Cultural Values and Consumer Behavior


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Hofstede’s Indexes Language, and Linguistic Distance

Exhibit 4.6


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• Rituals – patterns of behavior and interaction that are learned and repeated– Marriages , funerals, baptisms, graduations

• Symbols– Language

• Linguistic distance – relationship between language and international marketing

– Aesthetics as symbols• Insensitivity to aesthetic values can offend,

create a negative impression, and, in general, render marketing efforts ineffective or even damaging


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Language• According to www.ethnologue.com:

– A total of 7,413 known living languages exist in the world

– 311 being spoken in the U.S.; 297 in Mexico, 13 in Finland, and 241 in China

– EU has 20 official languages – India alone has 452 known languages!

http://www.ethnologue.com/


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• Beliefs– Superstitions play a large role in a society’s belief

system and therefore, to make light of superstitions in other cultures can be an expensive mistake

– The number 13 in the western hemisphere is considered unlucky, where as the number 8 in China connotes “prosperity”

– The practice of “Feng Shui”• Thought processes

– Difference in perception between the East and the West

• Focus vs. big-picture


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Similarities – An Illusion• A common language does not guarantee a

similar interpretation of word or phrases– Difference between British and American

English– http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/cu

stoms/questions/americanbritish/index.html• Just because something sells in one

country doesn’t mean it will sell in another– Cultural differences among member of

European Union a product of centuries of history

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/americanbritish.html

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/americanbritish.html

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