Consumer Behavior and Culture

The Influence of Culture on Consumer Behavior

BY NARENDRA BABU

The influence of Culture on consumer Behavior

Culture is society’s personality. The study of culture required a detailed examination of the character of total society, including such factors as language, knowledge, laws, religions, food customs, music, art, technology, work patterns, products, and other artifacts that give a society its distinct flavor.

We define culture as the sum total of learned beliefs, values, and customs that serve to direct the consumer behavior of members of a particular society.


Beliefs consist of the very large number of mental or verbal statements that reflect a person’s particular knowledge and assessment of something. Values also are beliefs. Values differ from other beliefs, however, because they meet the following criteria:1) They are relatively few in numbers; 2) They serve as a guide for culturally appropriate behavior: 3) They are enduring or difficult to change; 4) they are not tied to specific objects or situations; and 5) they are widely accepted by the members of the society.


Therefore, in a broad sense, both values and beliefs are mental images that affect a wide range of specific attitudes that, in turn, influence the way a person is likely to respond in a specific situation. For example, the criteria a person uses to evaluate alternative brands in a product category, or his or her eventual preference for one of these brands over the other.In contrast to beliefs and values, customs are overt modes of behavior that constitute culturally approved or acceptable ways of behaving in specific situations.


The invisible hands of culture“ Consumers both view themselves in the context of their

culture and react to their environment based upon the cultural framework that they bring to that experience. Each individuals perceives the world through his own cultural lens”

Supranational level: reflects the underlying dimensions of culture that impact multi cultures or different societies ( cross national or cross cultural boundaries).

National level factors: such as shared core values, customs, personalities, and factors that tend to capture the essence of the “national character” of the citizens of a particular country.

Group level factors: are concerned with various subdivisions of a country or society.


Culture satisfies needs: Culture exists to satisfy the needs of the people within a society. It offers order, direction, and guidance in all phases of human problem solving by providing “ tried and true” methods of satisfying physiological, personal, and social needs. For example culture provides standards and rules about when to eat: where to eat; what is appropriate to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner; and what to serve to guests at a dinner party.Culture is also associated with what a society’s members consider to be a necessity and what they view as a luxury.Similarly, culture also provides insights as to suitable dress for specific occasions ( such as what to wear around the house, what to wear to school, to work, to temple etc.


Culture is learned; Unlike innate biological characteristics, culture is learned. At an early age, we begin to acquire from our social environment a set of beliefs, values and customs that make up our culture. For children, the learning of these acceptable cultural values and customs is reinforced by the process of playing with their toys.

As children play, they act our and rehearse important cultural lessons and situations. This cultural learning prepares them for later real-life circumstances.


How is culture is learned:Culture is learned is three different forms;1) Formal learning, 2) Informal learning 3) technical learning

Formal learning in which adults and other siblings teach a young family members how to behaveInformal learning, in which a child learns primarily by imitating the behavior of selected others, such as family, friend, or TV heroes.Technical learning, in which the teachers instruct the child in an educational environment about what should be done, how should it be done and why it should be done.


Enculturation and acculturationThe learning of one’s own culture is known as enculturation.

The learning of a new or foreign culture is known as acculturation.

Language and symbols: To acquire a common culture, the members of a society must be able to communicate with each other through a common language. Without a common language, shared meaning could not exist and true communication would not take place.

To communicate effectively with their audiences, marketers must use appropriate symbols to convey desired product images or characteristics. These symbols can be verbal or nonverbal


Rituals: A ritual is a type of symbolic activity consisting of a series of steps occurring in a fixed sequence and repeated overtime.

In practice, rituals extend over the human life cycle from birth to death, including a host of intermediate events ( such as confirmation, graduations and marriage)These rituals can be very public, elaborate, religious, or civil ceremonies, or they can be as mundane as an individual’s grooming behavior or flossing.


Culture is shared: To be considered a cultural, a particular belief, value, or practice must be shared by a significant portion of the society. Thus, culture frequently is viewed as a group customs that link together the member of a society. Of course, common language is the critical cultural component that makes it possible for people to share value, experiences and customs.Family which serves as the primary agents for enculturation –the passing along of basic cultural beliefs, values, and customs to society’s newest members.In addition to Family, two other institutions traditionally share much of the responsibility for the transfer of selected aspects of culture: educational institutions and houses of worship.


Culture is dynamic: To fulfill its need-gratifying role, culture continually must evolve if it is to function in the best interest of a society. For this reason, the marketer must carefully monitor the socio cultural environment in order to market an exiting product more effectively or to develop promising new products.

This is not an easy task because many factors are likely to produce cultural changes within a given society (new technology, population shifts, resource shortages, wars, changing values, and customs borrowed from other cultures). The changing nature of culture means that marketers have to consistently reconsider why consumers are now doing what they do, who the purchasers and the users of their products are , when they do their shopping, how and where they can be reached by the media, and what new service needs are emerging.


In addition to segmenting in terms of cultural factors, marketers also segment overall societies into smaller subgroups that consist of people who are similar in terms of their ethnic origin, their customs, and the ways they behave. These subcultures provide important marketing opportunities for astute marketing strategists.The members of a specific subculture possess beliefs, values, and customs that set them apart from other members of the same society. In addition, they adhere to most of the dominant cultural beliefs, values, and behavioral patterns of the larger segment within a larger, more complex society.


Thus, the cultural profile of a society or nation is a composite of two distinct elements: 1) the unique beliefs, values and customs subscribed to by members of specific subcultures ; and 2) the central or core cultural themes that are shared by most of the population, regardless of specific subcultural membership.Subcultural analysis enables the marketing manager to focus on sizable and natural market segments. We carrying out such analysis , the marketer must determine whether the beliefs, values, and customs shared by members of specific subgroup make them desirable candidates for special marketing attention.


Nationality subcultures: For many people, nationality is an important subcultural reference that guides what they value and what they buy.

When it comes to consumer behavior, this ancestral pride is manifested most strongly in the consumption of ethnic foods, in purchase of numerous cultural artifacts ( ethnic clothing, art, music, foreign-language newspapers).


Religious subcultures: The members of all these religious groups at times are likely to make purchase decisions that are influenced by their religious identity. Commonly, consumer behavior is directly affected by religion in terms of products that are symbolically and ritualistically associated with the celebration of various religious holidays. For example, Christmas has become the major gift-purchasing season of the year.


Geographic and regional subculture: Regional differences in consumption patterns in product purchase, ownership or usage levels occur between major metropolitan areas. This distribution helps redefine local markets in terms of specific urban lifestyles. There fore it is very important to take geographic consumption patterns into account when planning marketing and promotional efforts.

THE END

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Consumer Behavior and Culture