Igm Social Cultural Issues

Giulio Valmasoni ID 12105895

2012/2013

International and Global Marketing Assignment

Social and Cultural Issues that affect
International or Global Marketing Approaches

Hofstede (1980) defines culture as the “Collective mindset which distinguishes a group from another”. This definition is probably the most comprehensive, yet each one highlights one aspect of this elusive concept, for example: a problem-solving attitude (Kluckholn and Strodtbeck, 1961), an interrelated set of beliefs and standards (Goodenough, 1971), a learned and shared behaviour (Useem et al., 1963). Hofstede (1991) represents cultural expressions as an onion where values are the core and rituals, heroes, and symbols the layers. Cultural borders are even more blurred, but are generally identified within the boundaries of a collectivity that shows some homogeneity: it can thus be a region as well as a nation or ethnicity. The rationale for cultural analysis resides in the interrelated and pervasive affections culture brings about in all layers of a society. National culture affects the culture of an industry, which influences the culture of a company, which eventually has a bearing on individuals, both as organizational actors and as consumers. Culture is greatly responsible for social behaviours. Therefore, evaluating cultural congruence effectively means minimizing cultural resistance, thus positively affecting international and global management, negotiations, and consumers.
Hofstede’s cultural dimensions model (1983) proves to be useful to grasp the main tenets of a culture and its social consequences. Despite criticism for being too simplistic and unproven (McSweeney, 2002), the evaluation of power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism, masculinity, and time perspective allows a basic comprehension of a culture.
Individualism refers to the degree to which people are self-centred and do not act as members of a collectivity (Hofestede, 1983). Culture shapes values in two ways (de Mooij, 2010): the principle or the desirable, and the actual wish or the desired. Although in every culture fostering family and children is a desirable behaviour, the actual desired might be very different. A glaring example of leveraging individualism and people’s actual desires is the 2011 Renault advertising campaign. In the Renault Scenic commercial a couple is looking at a maternity shop window when the woman says “ Do you know what I’d really like?”. The man is frightened by what he imagines, but is eventually relieved when she adds she just wants to buy the same shoes as the shop assistant’s and hence thinks “ Everything else can wait”. In the Clio advertisement, there are some men waiting outside an primary school. When the bell rings, all children run towards their fathers, who then look at the ‘lucky one’ who was not there for a child but for the teacher. Against this backdrop the ad slogan “Expect more from Life” is launched. Renault conceived this advertising campaign only for a few European nations, in fact, it appears evident that in most countries in the world the message conveyed would not have been effective and probably would have even damaged the company’s respectability. The likely reason is the importance that family as society core plays in many cultures around the world, for example in south America.
In 1960, Hall conceived a useful dyad for the comparative understanding of culture. He placed cultures on a high-context versus low-context scale, referring to the degree to which elements surrounding the mere spoken or written message are relevant for effective communication. European countries are generally referred to as low-context and individualistic (Hall and reed, 1990), though some European nations, such as Italy, are rather high-context ones, since the use of implicit messages is wide and is a clear example of the limitations that a strict categorization entails.
Culture affects mindsets and behaviours, consequently influencing eating habits as well: in high-context countries, eating is a social event and, for instance in Italy, day is punctuated by meal times. It is, therefore, likely that cultural traditions and habits also affect the perceived value of products.
After opening its first cafeterias in Seattle in the ‘80s, in less than 30 years Starbucks has become widespread all over the world, especially in the US and Europe. For example, 743 Starbucks stores are at present located throughout the UK . Howard Schultz, the founder, built the company concept after being inspired by a trip to Milan. Since the Italian coffee tradition is strong and deep-rooted, and coffee consumption is high, it might seem a paradox that it is the only European market in which Starbucks has decided not to enter, despite its success in other countries that have a long coffee tradition, such as France and Turkey. However, it is not, for several reasons. First, In Italy, cappuccino costs 1 € on average – almost a third than at Starbucks, thereby making it hard for Starbucks price policy to be competitive. Furthermore, coffee shops in Italy already represent ‘the public living room’ that Starbucks aims to offer. Many people have friendly relationships with bartenders, especially due to the number of cups of coffee consumed, often up to three times a day, and usually drunk in no longer than a minute. Finally, in Italy great attention is paid to the consumption of genuine food and drinks, as both an authentic quality experience and healthy nourishment: the mass-production and uniformity of Starbucks offer just does not fit Italians’ expectations. The difficulties in entering the Italian market seem to be widely shared, since also other coffee shop chains, for example Caffè Nero, are absent.
Another major element affected by culture is aesthetics. Defining beauty and good taste in art, music, architecture, and any other aspect of life is probably one of the most relative categorizations created by human cultures. Aesthetics are not only a strategic tool in today’s marketing, but, in certain industries, are increasingly becoming the major means of brand identity communication (Schmitt, 1997), as sensory experience plays a major role in the age of experiential marketing (Schmitt, 1999).
Before shifting the focus on cross-cultural issues, it was common opinion that colours had a universal meaning (Jacobs et al., 1990); red, for example, indicates warmth and passion. However, research findings, especially in the last three decades, point out that in certain cases colours might even have opposite meanings. Blue, for example, is associated with warmth and femininity in Germany, but with coldness and maliciousness in many southeastern Asian contries (Aslam, 2006). The issue falls into the more generic trade-off between standardization and adaptation that affects international and global marketing, as using the same colours to represent the company might be useful to achieve a globally consistent image, but might not convey the intended emotional states.
The strategy of a global company like McDonald’s is now oriented on colour differentiation in order to implement a ‘glocalization’ strategy also from the aesthetics standpoint. Historically, the corporate McDonald’s logo has always been the golden M on a red background. Yellow and red universally represent positive feelings: the former is associated with happiness and purity, the latter with happiness, love, and warmth (Jacobs et al., 1990). Nevertheless, the company colours in both restaurants and websites are now highly differentiated. In the US, UK, and Germany, McDonald’s is still using its original colours in both restaurants and websites, whereas, for example in France and Italy, the transition to white and green has been completely implemented. In China, the American fast food giant makes a great use of black, in Russia of grey and black, in Brazil of grey and, finally, in Japan the selected background colour is brown. It is evident that McDonald’s marketers employ colour as a tool for producing the desired sensations: in countries such as Italy and France the concern on consuming healthy and genuine food is much higher than in the US or UK thus making it necessary to convey an idea of purity and nature through white and green. In other countries, the desired effect might be different: in Japan, where life can be really expensive, brown is associated with inexpensiveness, besides being a symbol of strength and nature, in China, on the other hand, black is often associated with sophistication and expensiveness. Therefore, McDonald’s use of colour does not serve the same purpose across the world, but are rather a means for aligning the perceived message to the desired one: the fact that McDonald’s value is considered differently across countries is evident when taking into account the different price policies. This is a good example of ‘glocalization’ strategy as McDonald’s strives to make its global low-cost production as close as possible to the consumer culture.
Religion is probably the strongest cultural element, as it often still plays a major role in shaping social behaviour, guiding people to identify what is proper and fitting, affecting moral standards and behaviour, and creating the desirable society. If a product is deemed to be somehow violating these or other related issues it is generally referred to as controversial product, in Wilson and West’s words (1981) “products, services, or concepts that for reasons of delicacy, decency, morality, or even fear tend to elicit reactions of distaste, disgust, offence, or outrage when mentioned or when only presented”. These include, for example, alcoholic or sexually-related products, abortion or artificial insemination services, and political or lifestyle concepts such as sexual preferences. Religion is the society foundation in all Countries with Muslim majority and in some, for instance Iran or Pakistan, it is even the basis of the Constitution and State Institutions in compliance with the Shari’ah, the Islamic law.
Condoms can be definitely defined as controversial products. Many religions condemn the use of preservatives, and contraceptives in general, as means of birth control and sexual immorality. Islam is certainly among these and it is therefore not surprising that a worldwide company like Durex has entered very few markets with a strong Muslim influence. In some of them, for example Somalia, selling condoms is legally forbidden. However, Durex is present even in most Islamic Countries, because, though not well-regarded, condoms represent a large and growing market. Durex market share is, however, weak, because these markets are now dominated by the Malaysian company Karex, that has become the first world condom manufacturer despite being founded only in 1988. Besides controlling the home market, Karex has expanded especially in Asian and African countries, being the first supplier of the UN and many other governmental agencies around the world. Karex predominance in these areas of the world is probably due to the expertise in managing the marketing of a controversial product as condoms in a culturally difficult environment. In an interview held on 12 November 2012, the executive director of Karex, Goh, stated: “When we got into condoms, it was pretty much a dirty word. Today, things have changed. Asia is going to create a lot of demand because our population is very young.” This statement suggests that the development of a condom company in an Islamic Country was possible because led by management belonging to the same cultural environment of the developing market.

Ethics are defined an “informal public system applying to all rational persons, governing behavior that affects others” (Gert, 1998). However, If culture is referred as a set of values and beliefs that shape our behavior, what is the difference between ethics and culture? And are they independent or is one affected by the other? And, if the latter, which affects which?
At first glance, it might seem logical to consider ethics simply as a result of culture. For example, a deontological mindset should be related to a collectivistic society, whereas a utilitarian approach should be paramount in an individualistic culture. Trompenaar’s dualism between universalism and particularism (1997) is probably even more appropriate in discerning the point, when referring to a universalistic society as one in which people give priority to rules rather than personal relationships. However, theoretical and empirical research findings demonstrate that, in most cases, ethics are detached from culture (Abratt et al., 1992), thus confirming that “the particular moral rules of all societies would all be particular interpretations of general moral rules” (Gert, 1998).
This suggests that, although socio-cultural issues are highly relevant in international and global marketing, on the other hand it is conversely essential for a global company to have a general strategic overview and try to keep the emphasis on the shared values rather than the differences.

References * Abratt, R., Nel, D. and Higgs, N. S. (1992).An examination of the ethical beliefs of managers using selected scenarios in a cross-cultural environment, Journal of Business Ethics. * Aslam, M. M. (2006). Are you selling the right colour? A cross‐cultural review of colour as a marketing cue, Journal of Marketing Communications. * Cateora, G. and Graham, J. (2009). International Marketing, 13th ed., McGraw-Hill. * De Mooj, M. (2010). Global marketing and Advertising: Understanding Cultural Paradoxes, Sage Publications, 3rd ed.. * De Mooj, M. (2011). Consumer Behavior and Culture: consequences for global marketing and advertising, Sage Publications,2nd ed.. * Gert, B. (1998). Morality: Its Nature and Justification, Oxford University Press. * Goodenough, W. H. (1971). Culture, language and Society, Modular Publications, Addison Wesley. * Hall, E. T. (1960). The silent language in overseas business, Harvard Business Review, May-June, pp. 87-97. * Hall, E. T. and Reed, M. (1990). Understanding Cultural Differences. Germans, French and Americans, Nicolas Brealey. * Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in work-related Values. Sage Publications. * Hofstede, G. (1983). The Cultural Relativity of Organizational Practices and Theories, Journal of International Business Studies, fall. * Hofstede, G. and G. F. (1991). Cultures and Organizations, McGraw-Hill. * Hollensen, S. (2011). Global marketing, 5th ed., FT Prentice Hall. * Jacobs, L., Keown, C. and Worthley, R. (1990). Cross-cultural Colour Comparisons: Global Marketers Beware!, International Marketing Review, Vol. 8. * Kluckholn, F. R. and Strodtbeck, F. L. (1961). Variations in Value Orientations, Greenwood Press. * McSweeney (2002). Hofstede 's model of national cultural differences and their consequences: A triumph of faith - a failure of analysis, Human Relations. * Schmitt, B. (1999). Experiential Marketing, Journal of Marketing. * Schmitt, B. and Simonson A. (1997). Marketing Aesthetics: The Strategic Management of Brands, Identity and Image, Free Press. * Trompenaar, A. and Hampden-Turner, C. (1997). Riding The Waves of Culture: Understanding Diversity in Global Business, Nicholas Brealey, 2nd ed.. * Useem, J. and R., and Donoughue, J. (1963). Men in the middle of the third culture: The roles of American and non-Western people in cross-cultural administration, Human Organization. * Usunier, J-C. (2005). Marketing across culture, Prentice Hall, 4th ed.. * Wilson, A. and West, C. (1981), “The marketing of ‘unmentionables’”, Harvard Business Review, January/February, pp. 91-102 * Bloomberg.com

References: * Abratt, R., Nel, D. and Higgs, N. S. (1992).An examination of the ethical beliefs of managers using selected scenarios in a cross-cultural environment, Journal of Business Ethics. * Aslam, M. M. (2006). Are you selling the right colour? A cross‐cultural review of colour as a marketing cue, Journal of Marketing Communications. * Cateora, G. and Graham, J. (2009). International Marketing, 13th ed., McGraw-Hill. * De Mooj, M. (2010). Global marketing and Advertising: Understanding Cultural Paradoxes, Sage Publications, 3rd ed.. * De Mooj, M. (2011). Consumer Behavior and Culture: consequences for global marketing and advertising, Sage Publications,2nd ed.. * Gert, B. (1998). Morality: Its Nature and Justification, Oxford University Press. * Goodenough, W. H. (1971). Culture, language and Society, Modular Publications, Addison Wesley. * Hall, E * Hall, E. T. and Reed, M. (1990). Understanding Cultural Differences. Germans, French and Americans, Nicolas Brealey. * Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in work-related Values. Sage Publications. * Hofstede, G. (1983). The Cultural Relativity of Organizational Practices and Theories, Journal of International Business Studies, fall. * Hofstede, G. and G. F. (1991). Cultures and Organizations, McGraw-Hill. * Hollensen, S. (2011). Global marketing, 5th ed., FT Prentice Hall. * Jacobs, L., Keown, C. and Worthley, R. (1990). Cross-cultural Colour Comparisons: Global Marketers Beware!, International Marketing Review, Vol. 8. * Kluckholn, F. R. and Strodtbeck, F. L. (1961). Variations in Value Orientations, Greenwood Press. * McSweeney (2002). Hofstede 's model of national cultural differences and their consequences: A triumph of faith - a failure of analysis, Human Relations. * Schmitt, B. (1999). Experiential Marketing, Journal of Marketing. * Schmitt, B. and Simonson A. (1997). Marketing Aesthetics: The Strategic Management of Brands, Identity and Image, Free Press. * Trompenaar, A. and Hampden-Turner, C. (1997). Riding The Waves of Culture: Understanding Diversity in Global Business, Nicholas Brealey, 2nd ed.. * Useem, J. and R., and Donoughue, J. (1963). Men in the middle of the third culture: The roles of American and non-Western people in cross-cultural administration, Human Organization. * Usunier, J-C. (2005). Marketing across culture, Prentice Hall, 4th ed.. * Wilson, A. and West, C. (1981), “The marketing of ‘unmentionables’”, Harvard Business Review, January/February, pp. 91-102 * Bloomberg.com