3Cultural and Social Forces

Chapter Overview

Defining culture• Religion• The family• Education• Attitudes toward time• The Hofstede measures of culture• Language and communication• Social Relationships• Overcoming the language barrier• Adapting to cultural differences

What’s Wrong With This Picture?

• In some ways, there is a cultural fit– Demand for books about hope, self-esteem

and common social ills, like teen pregnancy, divorce, coping with AIDS

Chicken Soup for the African Soul

Kenyans Seek Answers to Problems in U.S. Self-Help Books

Chicken Soup for the African Soul (cont.)

• But cultural differences cause much to be “lost in translation”– Books about family issues take for granted a small,

nuclear family not the normative large, extended families of Kenya

– How-to-get-a-marriage-proposal books are not necessary in an arranged-marriage context

– Kenyans, who associate physical heaviness with wealth and happiness, can’t understand why Americans worry about putting on weight and why some suffer from eating disorders

Culture

• Culture encompasses the entire heritage of a society:1. Traditions2. Morals3. Habits4. Religion5. Art6. Social systems7. Language

Culture Defined

Culture is the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one category of people from another.

--Geert Hofstede

Cultural Analysis

Layers of Culture

• National• Regional and/or ethnic and/or religious

and/or linguistic• Gender• Generation• Social class• Organization or corporate

• Shaping: Good analogy of culture– a “tree” is a product of its environmental conditions– uprooting can result in “transplant shock”

• Subjectivity of culture– hygiene– affection– time– space

• Danger of stereotyping/generalization– culture is an “average” response but there is also a “variance”– must always allow for individual difference

• Importance of language and communication pattern

• Must maintain curiosity– about one’s own culture: self-reference criterion– about other cultures as to “why” they behave differently

Videotape on Culture

Three Dimensions of Culture

IDEAS NORMS MATERIAL CULTURE

McDonaldsUSA

McDonaldsSaudi Arabia

“When we go out to eat, which of us wants to go through the cumbersome process of trying to insert the food into our mouths by lifting the veil a crack, smearing ketchup and sauce over our clothes and faces? We appreciate our own eating sections, which most restaurants have, not just McDonald's, because we can be comfortable there without men glimpsing our faces.”

-- Susan Aykurt, Woman living in Saudi Arabia

Cultural Influences on Buyer Behavior

Culture Clash

WesternOrthodoxConfucianIslamic

HinduLatin AmericanAfricanBuddhist

Will future conflicts occur between cultures not countries?

© P

hoto

Dis

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rope

Or will increasing interaction among cultures lead to cross-stimulation and

creative change?

© Corbis, Pacific Rim

Religion and Marketing

• Western religions– Gift-giving and Christmas

• December 25 or December 6?

– Kosher in Israel• Elite chocolate targets the Orthodox

– Buying matzo: tradition versus price?

Christmas as a Global Phenomenon

• China– Bars charge $25 for entrance on Christmas

Eve, hotels charge $180 for a Christmas function

• Turkey– Children stand in line in shopping centers,

waiting to sit on Santa’s lap and ask him for gifts

– Stores sell Santa suits and statues

• NPR's Beijing Correspondent Rob Gifford reports on how China is embracing the concept of Valentine's Day. With the economic reforms of the mid 1980s and contact with the West, romance in China has been transformed. Approximately 1.3 billion Chinese are among those celebrating Valentine's Day. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1

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NPR Segment: Chinese Valentine’s Day

Marketing and Islam

• An important cultural force in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa– Coke’s Malaysian

Ramadan commercial 20 countries

• Islam– Forbids interest– Encourages modest dress– Requires food to be halal

• No alcohol or pork products• Adhere to ritual cleanliness• Halal certification

AP Im

ages

Ramadan Takes on a New Look

• Ramadan celebration norms in Jordan have been influenced by Christmas celebration norms common in the West– Crescent and star lights– Ramadan cards– Tents set up in restaurants for Ramadan parties– Companies have special Ramadan promotions

Marketing and Eastern Religions

• Hinduism and Buddhism– Vegetarians

• Shinto – Prayers open the first

Starbucks abroad (Tokyo)

The Family

• Nuclear families– Household sizes down in U.S. and Europe

• Extended families– More important in developing world – The importance of the Chinese clan

• Male-female roles– House cleaning in Japan

Percent Female Population in Labor Force

Beyond the Family…

• High-trust versus low-trust societies

In many countries, such asTurkey, the traditionaland modern coexist—presenting marketers withboth challenges andopportunities.

Education

• Levels of participation• Impact on consumers

and employees

© Corbis, Pacific Rim

Adult Illiteracy Rates for Selected Countries (in Percentages)

Attitudes Toward Time

• Monochronic versus polychronic• Temporal orientations

– Past orientation• Europe and Middle East

– Present orientation• Mexico

– Future orientation• USA

• Work and leisure time© Corbis, Pacific Rim

• For past 25 years, German unions successfully push for shorter work week– German labor costs have become highest in the

world– As a result, many companies have left Germany

for lower-labor-cost countries

Will German workers decide to extend the work week for the same pay to lower

German labor costs like they have done in France?

Globalization and Work Hour Convergence?

Hofstede Measures of Culture

• Power distance• Individualism-collectivism• Masculinity-feminity• Uncertainty avoidance

Power Distance

• The extent to which less powerful members within a society accept that power is unevenly distributed

• High power distance societies– Children expected to be obedient to parents– Subordinates are less likely to contradict

bosses

Individualism-Collectivism

• The world is viewed as in-groups and out-groups

• Individuals are identified by group allegiance and role

• Groups are established, strong, and cohesive –You don’t just choose which group to join!– Non-group members may eventually become

“trusted” outsiders• Individualistic cultures are more open to

outsiders and foreign ideas

Masculinity- Femininity

• Masculinity is associated with assertiveness• Masculine societies value ambition,

competitiveness, and high earnings• Femininity is associated with modesty and

nurturing• Feminine societies are concerned with public

welfare and caring for the underdog

Uncertainty Avoidance

• The state of being uneasy or worried about what may happen in the future– Anxious in general

• Uncertainty avoidant societies– Don’t like ambiguity– Consider the different to be threatening– Tend to be better implementers than

innovators

Hofstede Scores Are Relative

• Compared to USA, Japan is collectivist– USA = 91 on Individualism– Japan = 46 on Individualism

• Compared to South Korea, Japan is individualistic– Japan = 46 on Individualism– South Korea = 18 on Individualism

Hofstede Scores

Country/region

Power distance

Individualism Masculinity Uncertainty avoidance

USA 40 91 62 46

Canada 39 80 52 48

United Kingdom

35 89 66 35

Country/region

Power distance

Individualism Masculinity Uncertainty avoidance

France 68 71 43 86

Germany 35 67 66 65

Hungary 46 80 88 82

Romania 90 30 42 90

Hofstede Scores (cont.)

Country/region

Power distance

Individualism Masculinity Uncertainty avoidance

Arab countries

80 38 53 68

Israel 13 54 47 81Mexico 70 46 53 68Chile 63 23 28 86

Hofstede Scores (cont.)

Power Distance and Individualism Dimensions

How can the Hofstede scores be useful?

What are the limitations of the Hofstede scores?

Cultural Paradox

• Japanese score higher than Americans on uncertainty avoidance

• BUT Americans incorporate every contingency into a business contract while the Japanese are more comfortable with ambiguous clauses

What Is Communication?

• Messages are encoded:– Nonverbally– Linguistically (diction, syntax)– Contextually

MessageEncoding

MessageDecoding

Official Languages of Selected Countries

Translation Challenges

• In Spanish, Colgate means “Go hang yourself.”• In German the word probe means test or rehearsal, so

buyers thought the Ford Probe was a used car.• In the U.K. Mars originally labeled Snickers as

Marathon so as not to be confused with knickers (woman’s underwear).

• In German, Puff tissues refer to a whorehouse.

Cross-Cultural Communication

• We are born embedded into cultural context

• Socialization in cultural context shapes managers’ worldviews, impacting beliefs, values, and behavior– Primary socialization– Secondary socialization– Tertiary socialization

Language and Communication

• Forms of address• Context of language

– Low-context cultures

– High-context cultures

• Showing emotion– Affective cultures– Neutral cultures

Noboru Hashimoto

The Importance of LanguageTranslations found in hotels across the world…

France“Please leave your values at the desk.”

Mexico“The manager has personally passed all the water served here.”

Japan“You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid.”

Norway“Ladies are required not to have children at the bar.”

Greece“We will execute customers in strict rotation.”

Overcoming the Language Barrier

• Translating and translators

• Translation problems

• Which language to learn?

Dealing with Culture Shock

• Be culturally prepared• Be aware of local communication

complexities• Mix with host nationals• Be creative and experimental• Be culturally sensitive

Dealing with Culture Shock (cont)

• Recognize complexities in host cultures• See yourself as a culture bearer• Be patient, understanding, and accepting

of yourself and your hosts• Be realistic in your expectations• Accept the challenge of intercultural

experiences

Banning Barbie

Case Review• Why is Barbie popular in the Middle East?• Should Muslim countries ban Barbie?

Sacred Work, Sacred Leisure

Case Review• What cultural factors influence a society’s

attitudes toward work and leisure?• How can different attitudes towards leisure

affect the marketing of products?