International marketing consumers 1: Culture

Kotabe and Helsen Marketing approach Domestic focus Export focus International interntional Multinational focus Global focus/transnational Orientation Ethnocentric Polycentric (country-based) Regiocentric (regionally-based) Geocentric (Globally coordinated)

Cultural Segmentation The division of the market into groups with similar product needs and cultural characteristics.

E.g. Common cultural characteristics has led to… Emergence of global market segments eg young, urban professional: Nike trainers (US, made in China) Toshiba laptops (Japanese) Nokia mobiles (Finnish) AOL ISP (US) BMW car (German) Creating a global village

Also led to… Growth in standard products to meet the needs of global segments (see Levitt 1983) Growth in ‘global’ brands targeting these segments

Culture (see Keegan chapter 3) Western modernism characterises market segments across the world, but... it is not necessarily the dominant culture in many countries International research must therefore: 1. assess the impact of culture, but also 2. adapt research methods to local culture

Cultural gaffes are nevertheless common When Walmart entered Argentina: It sold electric appliances for 110volt supply, not 200volts! P&G in Japan Showed an advert with a man walking into a bathroom when his wife was taking a shower Husbands are supposed to respect a wife’s privacy in the bathroom in Japan!

Examples of cultural differences Muslims - no pork Hindus - no beef Europeans - front loading washing M/Cs Americans - top loading……………. Japanese - suspicious of foreign products

What is culture? (Schein, 1985) Artifacts and symbols Visible but not often decipherable = Values and norms Greater level of awareness = Beliefs/ Assumptions Taken for granted and invisible =

Developing a cultural profile Low context: emphasis on written or spoken word - what is meant is said. E.g., say “Yes” or “No” Status of less importance

High vs. low context culture (Edward Hall) High context: emphasis on contextual cues e.g. relationship between sender and receiver trust more important than contracts status age gender

Developing a cultural profile 2 main researchers in this area: Hofstede (1991) Trompenaars (1991) Research identifies cultural orientation in around 50 different countries

Hofstede A selection of countries and orientations

Hofstede: Individualism index - how important is the individual?

Hofstede: Power distance -How much inequality is tolerated?

Hofstede:uncertainty avoidance - How important is structure?

Hofstede: Masculinity index - how important are ‘male’ values e. g Hofstede: Masculinity index - how important are ‘male’ values e.g., success vs. female values, e.g., quality of life?

Cultural analysis framework