Develop an understanding of what culture is and how the main components of a culture impact on a culture’s way of life

Explain the intimate relationships between cultural influences, consumer needs and consumer behaviour

Discuss the approaches which can be used to conduct cross-cultural analysis

Examine the nature of business-to-business marketing and buyer behaviour

Examine the effect of culture on ethical decision making

Cultural factors are often linked together› Social Class, status, family & roles influence cultural

values

Affect the ways in which consumers perceive a product and affect:› The willingness to pay › How it should be packaged, priced, promoted and

distributed› E.g. Bicycle in China is a major means of transport, in

Britain a leisure activity

“The collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one human group from another…Culture, in a sense, includes systems of values; and values are among the building blocks of culture”

Hofstede (1980)

“The sum total of learned beliefs, values and customs that serve to direct customer behaviour in a particular country market”

Doole and Lowe

Invisible elements are the underlying causes of what manifest on the visible side

Visible - dress, dance, architecture, language, food, gestures, greetings, behaviours, devotional practices, art and more. In addition it can also relate to behaviours such as seeing people ignoring red traffic lights, spitting on the floor, smoking in public or queuing for a bus, etc

Invisible - religious beliefs, worldviews, rules of relationships, approach to the family, motivations, tolerance for change, attitudes to rules, communication styles, modes of thinking, comfort with risk, the difference between public and private, gender differences and more

Who is he?Who is he?› Author of “The Silent Language” (1959) and “The

Hidden Dimension” (1969)› The foundation for his lifelong research on cultural

perceptions of space was laid during World War II when he served in the U.S. Army in Europe and the Philippines

› When he was Director of Foreign Service Institute training program for technicians assigned to overseas duty, Hall observed the many difficulties created by failures of intercultural communication

His contribution:His contribution:› Basic differences in the way that members of

different cultures perceived reality were responsible for miscommunications of the most fundamental kind

› Identified two classic dimensionstwo classic dimensions of culture

Concerns with the way in which information is transmitted or communicated

All ‘information transactions’ can be characterised as ‘High’, ‘Middle’ or ‘Low’ Context

High Context transaction feature pre-programmed information that is in the receiver and in the setting, with only minimal information in the transmitted message - Implicit

For Low Context transactions, most of the information must be in the transmitted message in order to make up for what is missing in the context - Explicit

India??

The ball whizzes past like a bumblebee and the Indians are in the sea!!

Japanese hotel notice to hotel guests:“You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid”.

Acapulco hotel notice regarding drinking water:“The manager has personally passed all the water served here”

An announcement in the class to tell students to keep quiet while their director was passing by:“We will maintain a 2 min silence as the director of ITM has just passed away”

A Bangkok dry cleaner to potential customers:“Drop your trousers here for best results”

An Italian laundry innocently suggested:“Ladies leave your clothes here and spend the afternoon having a good time”

in Taiwan Pepsi’s slogan ‘Come alive with the Pepsi generation’ was translated as ‘Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead’.

When General Motors introduced the Chevy Nova in South America, it was apparently unaware that "nova" means "it won't go." After the company figured out why it wasn't selling any cars, it renamed the car in its Spanish markets to the Caribe.

Ford had a similar problem in Brazil when the Pinto flopped. The company found out that Pinto was Brazilian slang for "tiny male genitals". Ford pried all the nameplates off and substituted Corcel, which means horse.

Toyota’s Fiera car did not take off as expected in Puerto Rico, where ‘fiera’ translates to ‘ugly old woman’.

Who is he?Who is he?› Dutch organisational Anthropologist – the most cited

author

His Contribution:His Contribution:› Provided a universally applicable framework for

classifying cultural patterns › Derived his culture dimensions from examining work-

related values in IBM employees in 40 countries during 1970s

› Subsequent studies validating the earlier results commercial airline pilots and students in 23

countries, civil service managers in 14 counties, 'up-market' consumers in 15 countries 'elites' in 19 countries.

Power DistancePower Distance › The extent to which the less powerful members of

institutions/organisations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally

High Power Distance = More Hierarchical, Accepts inequality in wealth and power

Attitudes towards fear of expressing disagreement with managers or authority

India, the Philippines and China have high PDI score; Austria, Denmark, Finland and Sweden score relatively lower

Uncertainty AvoidanceUncertainty Avoidance › the extent to which the members of the culture feels

threatened by uncertain or unknown future situations

High Uncertainty Avoidance = High need for written and unwritten rules

Cultures that have a low UAI score (e.g. Denmark, Sweden and HK) tend to accept each day as it comes and willing to take risks.

Cultures with high UAI score (such as Japan, France and Belgium) tend to be less risk-taking

Individualism Vs. CollectivismIndividualism Vs. Collectivism › the degree of horizontal dependence of individuals upon the

group

Individualism = ties between individuals are loose; everyone is expected to look after themselves

Collectivism = people are integrated into strong, cohesive groups in exchange for unquestioning loyalty

In a high IDV score culture (UK), consumers make individual decisions, whereas in low IDV score culture (China), family tend to be central to decision making and expected to look after one another

Masculinity-Femininity Masculinity-Femininity › The degree to which society subscribes to the typical

stereotypes associated with males and females

Masculine = assertive, competitve, tough, results/performance oriented

Feminine = modest, co-operative, nurturing, tender, equity oriented

Masculine cultures stress making money and the pursuit of visible individual achievements (Austria, Japan and Italy). Feminine cultures tend to emphasise on the harmony of the wider society rather than individual material possessions (Denmark, Sweden and Finland)

A fifth Dimension added after conducting an international study with Chinese employees and managers 

Long-Term OrientationLong-Term Orientation, based on Confucian Dynamism, applied to 23 countries

High LTO score = persistence, ordering relationships by status and observing this order

Low LTO score = personal steadiness and stability

Author of “Riding the Waves of Culture” – Classified cultures along a mix of behavioural and value patterns

Research focus on cultural dimensions of business executives

Identified SEVEN Value Orientations

The degree to which a culture emphasises individual freedoms and responsibilities in relationships, or focuses more on group interests and consensus

Almost identical to Hofstede's dimension – Individualism Vs. Collectivism

The degree to which a culture emphasises earned or performance-based status, or status based on social standing and non-performance factors –

Achieving Status is:› accorded on the basis of achievement› promotion on merit and outcome regardless of age

Ascribing status – is:› accorded on the basis of durable characteristics, such as

age› achievement in Ascriptive cultures is less on individual

and more of a collective concern › organisations in these societies justify a high power

distance and the resulting hierarchy as requisite Almost identical to Hofstede’s Power Distance

The degree to which feelings are openly expressed

Neutral Cultures - emphasises objectivity and reserved detachment in relationships

Emotional Cultures- allows more opened emotionality and expressed feelings

Southern Countries e.g. Mediterranean, Central & South America more Emotional

Anglo Saxon cultures e.g. USA, UK, Northern Europe more Neutral

The degree to which a culture emphasises rules and consistency in relationships, or accepts flexibility and the bending of rules to fit circumstances

Universalist cultures: prefers clear rules and believe that personal relationship should not interfere in business decisions

Particularist cultures: accepts flexibility of rules and believe that institutionalised obligations to friendship and kinship are considered "moral" requirements

The degree to which a culture emphasises focused and in-depth relationships, or displays broader and more superficial ones

Diffuse relationships - Diffuse cultures (Germany, France, China) are concerned with keeping people's face. › This is why in diffuse cultures so much more time is taken to

get to the point. › It is about avoiding private confrontations so others won't feel

offended and won't take disagreements personally

Specific relationships - are those separated by the role of each party or transaction› Less time is spent on building relationships› Getting straight to the point and focus is on “getting the job

done as soon as possible”

Different attitudes towards time (past, present and future) are reflected by the contrast between notions of time › Linear and Sequential, OR› Circular and Synchronic

Pressures to resolve problems quickly so that time won’t be "lost" are more likely in synchronic than sequential cultures

Cultures which are synchronic are more collectivist and particularist

This is about how a culture sees the natural environment and the extent that it should be controlled

Inner directed cultures - wish to subdue nature › Cultures which try to guide and control their lives by

themselves on a high scale like the USA and to a lower extent France

› The origin might be related to their history and the discovery of a new continent. The great enforcement was to fight against the nature and create a new nation

Outer directed cultures - feel more dependent upon the environment› Go along with the nature and live in harmony as well as to

your whole environment › The French see themselves as the "Grand Nation" with a

centralized state. They have fought already many battles and wars and resisted natural forces

Developed Schwartz Value Inventory (SVI, 1994) to analyse value differences on culture as well as individual levels

Asked 60,000 respondents to assess 57 values as to how important they are as “guiding principles of one’s life”› Openness to change: Stimulation, self-direction and

some hedonism. › Self-enhancement: Achievement, power and self-

direction › Conservation: Security, tradition and conformity. › Self-transcendence: Universalism and benevolence.

Organizations collaborate in procurement to compete

Governments cooperate to provide public services

New technologies enable global design, manufacture, supply chain management and marketing

Organizational buyers are becoming more ‘rational’, and buying situations more complex

Components are more globally standardized Increasing attention to CSR and ethics

Once it so happened in a flight that, James bond was sitting besides a Telugu guy..

Both were traveling to US.

Telugu Guy : "Hello, May I know ur name please?"

James Bond : "I am Bond.. James Bond."

James Bond: "and you?"

Telugu Guy :

Siva Venkata Sai...Laxminarayana Siva Venkata Sai....Srinivasula Laxminarayana Siva Venkata Sai...Rajasekhara Srinivasula Laxminarayana Siva Venkata Sai...Sitaramanjaneyula Rajasekhara Srinivasula Laxminarayana Siva Venkata Sai ...Bommiraju Sitaramanjaneyula Rajasekhara Srinivasula Laxminarayana Siva Venkata Sai……..."

"I am Sai... Venkata Sai...