Culture plays a big role in shaping consumer behavior. This article will help you understand what marketing means in a different culture, the impact it has on consumer buying decisions, and tips on how to conduct your consumer research to improve your cultural influence.
Cultural Differences Can Turn a Simple Marketing Strategy Into a Catastrophic Failure
When planning a marketing strategy, it’s important to consider the cultural background, cultural identity, and psychological factors of a nation. While a marketing strategy that works in one country may work in another, that’s not always the case.
Even if two different countries have many similarities, there are likely enough differences that the same strategy can’t simply be applied to both.
Some Cultures Are Very Individualistic, While Others Are More Collectivistic
In North America, individualism is a core cultural value. In the West, we’re taught from an early age that we should focus on our own needs and interests and that it’s okay to put ourselves first. We may even be rewarded for our own hard work as individuals – for example, with a promotion at work or praise for a good grade on an exam.
In the Chinese culture, and in many Asian countries, on the other hand, collectivism is a core cultural value. This means that it’s important to consider the needs of your family members and others in your community when making a purchasing decision, rather than choosing the option that benefits you the most at the moment.
For example, if your company offers you $10,000 more money if you move somewhere else, but that means moving away from your family who live nearby and you won’t be able to see them as often – it makes sense that someone who cares about being part of their community (collectivism) might turn down that offer, while someone who cares about career success (individualism) might take it right away.
In Some Countries, the Cultural Factor of Pop Culture Isn’t Understood and Vice Versa
The most obvious examples of this can be found in advertising. Since most commercials are made in the United States, many commercials assume that their audience understands allusions to American culture.
Take the time to get to know your audience on a deeper level. Pay attention to what they like and don’t like, what they’re passionate about, where they eat lunch, who their friends are, and more.
This is especially important if you’re trying to market a company or product to the general public. In some countries, certain elements of pop culture aren’t understood and vice versa. The most obvious examples of this can be found in advertising. Since most commercials are made in the United States, many commercials assume that their target audience understands references to American culture.
If you try to appeal to a group of people whose language and culture you don’t understand, it can lead to big problems.
One example is Apple’s voice assistant Siri, which was launched in 2011. Siri was designed with an American accent and personality to be familiar to American consumers. However, in 2011, Siri received mixed reviews many people had difficulty understanding certain English accents.
Clothing Is One of the Most Culturally Sensitive Elements in Marketing Campaigns
As you can see, cultural differences matter. They affect consumer behavior, the way consumers perceive products and marketing messages, and the way they process information. So if you’re a marketer or entrepreneur who wants to reach consumers in other countries, take the time to learn about cultural sensitivities.
Learn about cultural differences in marketing and understand how to make your marketing as culturally sensitive as possible. If you’re an e-commerce company that operates globally, you should learn about each culture before creating a marketing campaign for them.
The way you dress says a lot about you. This is another reason why cultural sensitivity is so important. You should make sure that your clothing fits the culture of the people you’re targeting.
Even within a country, there are cultural differences and psychological factors, whether it’s social class, age, gender, etc. When you’re dealing with different countries, the cultural and personal factors that influence a buying decision are even greater.
For example, if you’re addressing a group of people in a suit and tie, it mightn’t be a good idea to show up in a T-shirt and jeans. If you’re addressing a group of teenagers in the summer, it’s probably not a good idea to wear a long coat either.
Clothing is one of the most culturally sensitive elements in marketing campaigns. For example, in some cultures, it’s considered rude to bare the neck, and many people in the Middle East consider it rude for women to show their knees. Things like that need to be taken into account, especially when you’re dealing with global marketing.
The same goes for body language. In the U.S., for example, a handshake is a common greeting and is usually considered polite unless it’s exaggerated or too firm. In Japan, on the other hand, a bow is the standard greeting. In China, a handshake is common, but it shouldn’t be too firm; a handshake that’s too firm can be interpreted as a sign of aggression.
Certain Cultural Taboos Have Different Meanings in Different Markets
Many companies have made similar mistakes by not understanding cultural taboos – or not even knowing they exist. In many cultures, for example, it’s considered inappropriate to show an adult smearing food on his or her face. In ads aimed at children, however, it’s perfectly normal.
Some taboos are obvious, but many are subtle and vary from culture to culture. In some countries, it’s taboo to show women in revealing clothing, but in others, it’s not. In one culture it may be offensive to show someone who’s lost a limb, in another, it’s not offensive at all. What’s acceptable to you may be considered shocking or highly offensive in another market – and vice versa.
Before you place ads abroad, you should learn about the cultural taboos of the markets in which you plan to advertise. This is especially true if you need to translate ads from your home market into other languages – which is often the case.
If you’re operating in a foreign market, you need to know the cultural taboos that might affect your company’s approach.
In the U.S., the color white is associated with purity and innocence, which is why we wear white at weddings. But in some Asian countries, white represents death.
What’s considered culturally appropriate in one country may be offensive or objectionable in another. For example, giving watches as gifts is considered taboo in China because they symbolize running out of time. So it’s important to do your homework before making a presentation in a foreign market. You don’t want to inadvertently offend your hosts or cause them to lose face.
Companies Need to Know the Worldview of Their Target Audience Before They Try to Sell Them Anything
You don’t need to be told that there are a variety of cultures, subcultures, and communities in this world. What you may not know is that these differences can significantly affect consumer behavior. In order for a company to successfully sell its product, it’s important that it truly understands the target audience of its marketing campaign.
Consumers From Different Cultures See Products Differently
The same product may mean something completely different to someone from another culture.
Consumers from different cultures have different needs – people around the world need food, shelter, and clothing – but which products fit into these categories can vary greatly depending on where you live.
For example, tacos aren’t very common in China, but fast food hamburgers have become very popular. Chinese consumers find hamburgers delicious and easy to eat on the go (an important consideration for workers with busy schedules). However, the Chinese already have their own ‘Roujiamo’ burgers.
Consumers from different cultures have different understandings of value – when considering what purchases they’ll make in the next quarter or fiscal year, companies need to take into account how their customers perceive value based on their beliefs and experiences.
For example, in most European countries, people prefer to buy high-quality products that last longer, even if they’re more expensive than inferior ones, because Europeans feel that you get what you pay for in terms of quality – and this belief significantly influences their buying habits
You Also Need to Understand the Trends That Already Exist in the Market
It’s important to know the differences between cultural trends and consumer behavior. Understanding the difference between these two aspects will help you make your business successful.
First, you need to understand that cultural differences have many meanings.
When a company does a survey or does an analysis of their culture, they look at the entire culture as a whole. They don’t look at the individual cultures. That’s because to find out if there’s an underlying trend in their culture, they also have to look at the trends that already exist in the marketplace.
When you’re looking at cultural differences, you need to find out how people behave and what they do when it comes to buying your company’s products and services. You’ll also want to find out how people behave when they make their purchases and how they behave in different situations with other people.
For example, if you go to a store where most of the customers are women, you’ll want to note what kind of clothes women wear when they store in such a store. If you found out that most women wear skirts or jeans when shopping in such stores, it might be best to change your marketing strategies so that more men store in that store instead of having them store elsewhere where there’s not much competition from other stores like yours.
Failure to Take Cultural Differences Into Account Can Make the Difference Between the Success or Failure of a Marketing Campaign
That’s because there are different cultural norms in each country, such as the age of people who use social media or the time of day customers typically store at an online store. Your business needs to adapt its marketing strategy to these differences if you want your campaign to be successful.
There are many other cultural differences that can affect consumer behavior.
- The age at which people start using social media
- The average age of your target audience
- Whether people expect products and services to be advertised in a certain language (e.g., swear words)
- How often customers are likely to purchase through your website
- When they’re likely to visit your website (e.g., during their lunch break or when they get home after work)
- What devices do they use to access your website (e.g., cell phones, tablets, or desktop computers).
Specific Cultural Factors in North America:
- Historical events in the region
- Political factors in the region
- Cultural factors in the region
- Religious factors in the region
- Economic factors in the region
- Business factors in the region
- Social factors in the region
What’s Changing in Business Culture
Culture
Culture isn’t static, it’s dynamic. If you think of culture as a system of shared meaning, it makes sense that the system changes over time.
This is why culture is often referred to as dynamic: It doesn’t stagnate but evolves with its members – the people who make up and influence the organization. Sometimes this process is slow and gradual; other times change occurs quickly or in response to specific events.
Changing Consumer Behavior
With the help of social media, the Internet is a catalyst for cultural change by increasing our awareness and understanding of other cultures. Increasing awareness is also driving a desire for brands that are more socially conscious and environmentally friendly. In fact, studies show that consumers are increasingly buying products whose companies have an environmentally friendly reputation. Many companies have taken note of this trend and have begun to take steps to promote positive environmental change.
Consumer Behavior and Culture
It should come as no surprise that culture has a major impact on consumer behavior. After all, advertising and marketing campaigns are often created with the target audience in mind. But it’s important to understand how culture affects consumer behavior beyond the obvious – for example, how does religion affect whether someone chooses a particular product?
In this topic, you’ll learn how cultural differences can affect consumer behavior. You’ll learn about examples of cultural differences and their impact on consumer behavior. You’ll also learn how marketers can use awareness of cultural differences to their advantage to craft effective messages for consumers around the world.
You may be wondering what exactly we mean when we talk about culture in relation to people and communities. In this topic, we use the term culture in its broadest sense to mean the common values, beliefs, and norms shared by members of a community or society. Culture determines what behaviors are acceptable in a particular society or community, which means that it can have a major impact on consumer behavior within those societies or communities.
Cultural Change
Cultural change is the change in culture over time. Cultural change can refer to the innovation of ideas, beliefs, technologies, and even entire social systems. Cultural change drives cultural evolution and is the result of invention, diffusion, and cultural migration.
Culture Isn’t Static and Changes Over Time, Adapting to New Social Situations and Other Forces
With the advent of new technologies and social media, the “culture” of business is also changing. This is especially true for younger generations who’ve grown up with these new technologies and expect them to be a part of their work. But what’s this “culture” that seems to be so important?
In general, culture refers to the way things are done in an organization. For example, many companies have a “sales-driven culture” where increasing revenue is the number one priority.
Other companies have a “learning culture” in which employees are encouraged to try new things and take risks. Still others have a “politically charged culture” where it’s not uncommon for people to be promoted or fired based on acquaintance rather than performance.
So What’s Changing?
Culture isn’t static and changes over time, adapting to new social situations and other forces. Many traditional “corporate cultures” are being turned on their head as companies adjust to Millennials entering the workforce and bringing with them different expectations for work-life balance, compensation practices, and more.
There Are Also Global Factors That Are Bringing Cultures Together, Such as Climate Change and Technology
Technology and climate change aren’t the only global factors bringing cultures together. The challenges facing global society, whether economic, political, or environmental, are increasingly felt by all of us.
We live in a global world where the effects of what we do in one place are felt on the other side of the planet. And there’s a growing sense of common humanity and shared purpose that transcends what’s unique to individual cultures.
This emerging “global culture” is expressed through common experiences and values shared by people around the world.
The idea that there are universal traits that make up human nature may lead some to argue for homogeneity- that all people ultimately have more in common with each other than what makes them different. But is that really the case? It often depends on how you look at things: Even as globalization leads to more commonality among societies around the world, each society has its own ideas about how it should adapt to new circumstances and technologies.
Globalization Has Changed Consumer Behavior
Globalization has had a major impact in recent decades. It’s opened up the world and given us access to other cultures, business opportunities, and people. Globalization has impacted a number of industries and here we’ll look at how it’s changed consumer behavior in general.
Globalization Means That We Can Now Source Our Products From All Over the World
We no longer have to go to our local supermarket for something as simple as clothes or food.
We can now buy everything online and have it delivered to our homes within a few days, if not faster! The result is that consumers save time when shopping while having more choices than ever before – thanks to the impact of globalization on consumer behavior.
Increasing globalization also means that more and more companies are looking overseas for their employees. This means they’re hiring people from around the world who speak English fluently, which has led to an increase in the international communication skills of these professionals. This can only be a good thing for companies looking to expand into new markets if they can find employees who already know their way around those markets!