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INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

Susan Simei-Cunningham

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INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT ON COMMUNICATIONS

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The Cultural Environment

The cultural environment has influences on some of the other environments: • The labour environment • The socio-economic environment • The politics   • The Regulatory / Legal Environment..

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The Cultural Environment....

....is in turn influenced by some of the other environments:

the economic environment is the standard of living comfortable, the technological environment, do people walk to work, drive

can they use a phone, access the internet the geographic environment effects weather growing food ,housing and living conditions

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The Cultural Environment

Is composed of institutions and social forces such as basic values, beliefs & attitudes that affect a society’s preferred life styles, perceptions and personal values influence what, where, when & how one buys & uses products.

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Culture

Social Class

Reference Groups

Family Values

Individual

Styles

Values Are Acquired Through a Complex Socialization Process

• Core values & beliefs are persistent. Passed from parents to children; reinforced by society to shape attitudes and behaviour.

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A reference group is a sociological concept referring to a group to which another group is compared. Reference groups are used in order to evaluate and determine the nature of a given individual or other group's characteristics and sociological attributes.

Reference Groups

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Reference Groups

Normative

Comparative

Informative

Groups

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Buyer Information Process

Situational influences

Culture

Communication context

Groups

Social Class

Usage

Influences on buyer decision making

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SITUATIONAL INFLUENCES

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Situational Influences

Situational variables describe characteristics of a situation or environment that have the potential to influence our behaviour.

They are the various changeable stimuli that affect our choice of language in any particular situation.

One way of classifying situational variables is to use the categories proposed by Belk (1975).

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Belk and Situational InfluencesHis categories can usefully be applied to communicative behaviour and what influences a speaker to make particular language choices.

Physical surroundings

Social surroundings

Time

Task definition

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SOCIAL CLASS

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Social Class

All societies have a class system based on power, wealth, and prestige.

Marketer use these groups to segment the market place.

Designers use symbols to reflect lifestyle and values of the class. But the class system is not as relevant as before.

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Video on Social Class

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0DUsGSMwZY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkmS-jTGN1A

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USAGE

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Usage

Culture influences how a product or service is used.

Kelloggs have tried to influence how cereal’s are consumed and at what times.

Communications needs to encapsulate the situation in which consumption occurs.

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COMMUNICATIONS SITUATION

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Communications situation

The setting in which marketing communications are received will affect the degree to which the message is understood and acted upon.

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PRUCAHSE SITUATION

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Purchase Situation

The act of purchase can have an influence on the behaviour of the target individual.

This could be due the to the amount of time available for the purchase.

The amount of information

How information is presented

How the target audience or culture likes to shop

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Why is the above of interest?

Understanding these influences will provide the marketing communications planner with fresh inputs for the exercise of positioning the product appropriately.

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GENERAL DISCUSSION ON CULTURAL AND SOCIAL DIFFERENCES

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Exam questionThe target market for an Integrated Communications Campaign for University courses is defined as young people (aged 15-19 years) living in European Union countries*. Critically evaluate how different social and cultural environments in the European Union will affect the communications plan. In discussing this topic you should cover such aspects as different languages, different educational experiences and different financial situations. Incorporate three recommendations for the plan in your answer.

Key elements:

Perceptions of the University will differ depending on the country, city, reputation and so on. It is hard to “satisfy” all of these perceptions, so a choice needs to be made whether to standardise communications worldwide or to “go local”

Expect a discussion of the many different social and cultural environments in the EU. These must highlight differences in language, diet, ideology, entertainment, leisure, work choices etc.)

We expect specific sections on how differing languages, education and income can influence University choice or Attitude

3 clear recommendations must be there. These could cover the choice of techniques (marketing mix elements and sub categories) or to further segment. There will be other aspects identified by stronger students.

Relevant examples

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Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOCqv1WcqBM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnKhlymHcu0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUCODUvKbzE