Objectives:
1. Define culture and identify the various expressions and manifestations of
culture that can impact marketing strategies.
2. Compare and contrast the key aspects of high- and low- context cultures.
3. Identify and briefly explain the major dimensions of Hofstede’s social values
typology.
Taks of Global Marketers
Study and understand the cultures of countries in which they will be doing
business.
Understand how an unconscious reference to their own cultural values, or
self-reference criterion, may influence their perception of the market.
Incorporate this understanding into the marketing planning process.
Society, Culture, and Global Consumer Culture
Culture – “way of living, built up by a group of human beings, that are
transmitted from one generation to another.”
Culture has both conscious and unconscious values, ideas, attitudes, and
symbols.
Culture is acted out in social institutions.
These institutions reinforce cultural norms.
Culture is both physical (clothing and tools) and nonphysical (religion,
attitudes, beliefs, and values).
“Culture is the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes
the members of one category of people from those of another.” Geert
Hofstede
oA nation, an ethnic group, a gender group, an organization, or a family
may be considered as a category.
Social Institutions
Family
Education
Religion
Government
Business
These institutions function to reinforce cultural norms.
High- and Low-Context Cultures
High Context (nonverbal cues /
use a lot of hand gestures)
oInformation resides in
context.
oEmphasis on background,
basic values, societal
status.
oLess emphasis on legal
paperwork.
oFocus on personal
reputation.
oSaudi Arabia, Japan
Low Context (makes no
assumptions)
