2. Chapter 16:
Culture and cross-cultural
variations in consumer behaviour
1. Concept of culture
2. How culture is shared and acquired
3. Cultural values classified into 3 categories
4. Culture also involves non-verbal
communications
5. Consumption practices are influenced by
cultural content
6. Considerations before undertaking cross-
cultural or ethnic marketing
16-2
4. Definition of culture
• Complex concept that includes knowledge,
beliefs, art, law, morals, custom, and any
other capabilities acquired by humans as
members of society.
• Culture includes almost everything that
influences an individual’s thought
processes and behaviours.
16-4
5. The Concept of Culture
Culture is the
complex whole that
includes knowledge,
belief, art, law,
morals, customs,
and any other
capabilities and
habits acquired by
humans as members
of society.
16-5
7. Culture
• Is a comprehensive concept
• Influences our preferences
• Is acquired from our experiences and
learning
• Supplies the boundaries for behaviour
in modern societies
• Consumers are seldom aware of
cultural influences
16-7
9. Culture and change
• Cultures are not static and evolve and
change slowly over time
• Sometimes changes can be rapid
– Technological advances
– Dramatic events e.g. war
• Marketers need to monitor changes
16-9
11. Classification of cultural values
• Three broad classifications are used:
– Other-oriented
– Environment-oriented
– Self-oriented
16-11
12. Variations in Cultural Values
Other-Oriented Values
Reflect a society’s view
of the appropriate
relationships between
individuals and groups
within that society.
16-12
13. Variations in Cultural Values
Environment-Oriented Values
Prescribe a society’s
relationship to its
economic and technical
as well as its physical
environment.
16-13
14. Variations in Cultural Values
Self-Oriented Values
Reflect the objectives and approaches to life that
the individual members of society find desirable.
16-14
15. Other-oriented values
• Individual vs collective (initiative,
conformity)
• Romantic orientation (love)
• Adult vs child (child’s place)
• Masculine vs feminine (male role)
• Competition vs cooperation (excel or
not?)
• Youth vs age (wisdom of elders)
16-15
16. Variations in Cultural Values
Other-Oriented Values
Individual/Collective
Are individual activity and initiative valued more highly
than collective activity and conformity?
Asian cultures more
collective
U.S. culture more
individualistic
16-16
17. Variations in Cultural Values
Other-Oriented Values
Youth/Age
Is family life organized
to meet the needs of
the children or the
adults?
Are younger or older
people viewed as
leaders and role
models?
16-17
18. Variations in Cultural Values
Other-Oriented Values
Extended/Limited Family
To what extent does
one have a life-long
obligation to
numerous family
members?
Extended family
critical in South/
Central America
16-18
19. Variations in Cultural Values
Other-Oriented Values
Masculine/Feminine
To what extend does social power automatically go to
males?
16-19
20. Variations in Cultural Values
Other-Oriented Values
Competitive/Cooperative
Does one obtain
success by excelling
over others or by
cooperating with
them?
16-20
21. Variations in Cultural Values
Other-Oriented Values
Diversity/Uniformity
Does the culture embrace variation in religious belief,
ethnic background, political views, and other important
behaviors and attitudes?
16-21
22. Environment-oriented values
• Cleanliness (extent of)
• Performance vs status (performance or
class)
• Tradition vs change (new behaviours?)
• Risk-taking vs security (risk encouraged?)
• Problem-solving vs fatalism (problem-
solving or acceptance encouraged?)
• Nature (admired or overcome?)
16-22
23. Variations in Cultural Values
Environment-Oriented Values
Cleanliness
To what extent is
cleanliness pursued
beyond the minimum
needed for health?
U.S. very high on personal
hygiene – some think to an
extreme!
16-23
24. Variations in Cultural Values
Environment-Oriented Values
Performance/Status
Is the culture’s reward system based on performance or on
inherited factors such as family or class?
Closely related to the concept of
power distance, which refers to
the degree to which people
accept inequality in power,
authority, status, and wealth as
natural or inherent in society.
16-24
25. Variations in Cultural Values
Environment-Oriented Values
Tradition/Change
Is tradition valued simply for the sake of tradition? Is
change or “progress” an acceptable reason for altering
established patterns?
16-25
26. Variations in Cultural Values
Environment-Oriented Values
Tradition/Change (Cont.)
A focus on technology as an indicator of change illustrates
some dramatic differences across cultures that show the
following:
The above represent Internet users and cell phones as a percent of total population
16-26
27. Variations in Cultural Values
Environment-Oriented Values
Risk taking/Security
Are those who risk their established positions to
overcome obstacles or achieve high goals admired more
than those who do not?
A society that does not admire risk taking is unlikely to
develop enough entrepreneurs to achieve economic
change and growth.
16-27
28. Variations in Cultural Values
Environment-Oriented Values
Problem solving/Fatalistic
Are people encouraged to overcome all problems,
or do they take a “what will be, well be” attitude?
Is there an optimistic, “we can do it” orientation?
Mexico and Middle-East Countries tend to fall
toward the fatalistic end of the continuum.
16-28
29. Variations in Cultural Values
Environment-Oriented Values
Nature
Is nature regarded as something to be admired or
overcome?
16-29
30. Self-oriented values
• Active vs passive (physical activity)
• Material vs non-material approach
(acquisition?)
• Hard work vs leisure (admire hard work?)
• Postponed vs immediate gratification
(save/enjoy now)
• Sensual gratification vs abstinence (food,
drink)
• Humour vs seriousness (is life serious?)
16-30
31. Variations in Cultural Values
Self-Oriented Values
Active/Passive
Is a physically active approach to life valued more
highly than a less active orientation?
16-31
32. Variations in Cultural Values
Self-Oriented Values
Sensual gratification/Abstinence
To what extent is it acceptable to enjoy sensual pleasures
such as food, drink, and sex?
Cultures differ in their acceptance of sensual gratification.
16-32
33. Applications in Consumer Behavior
Ad for Calvin Klein
underwear:
OK in U.S. and
France.
Not appropriate in
cultures that place a
high value on
abstinence.
16-33
34. Variations in Cultural Values
Self-Oriented Values
Material/Nonmaterial
How much importance is attached to the acquisition of
material wealth?
Two types of materialism:
1. Instrumental materialism – is the acquisition of
things to enable one to do something.
2. Terminal materialism – is the acquisition of items for
the sake of owning the item itself.
16-34
35. Variations in Cultural Values
Self-Oriented Values
Hard work/Leisure
Is a person who works harder than economically
necessary admired more than one who does not?
16-35
36. Variations in Cultural Values
Self-Oriented Values
Postponed gratification/Immediate gratification
Are people encouraged to “save for a rainy day” or to
“live for today”?
16-36
37. Variations in Cultural Values
Self-Oriented Values
Religious/Secular
To what extent are behaviors and attitudes based on
the rules specified by a religious doctrine?
16-37
39. Australasian self-oriented values
• Hard work valued
• Strong bias for action
• May be a lessening of self-gratification
–But very high personal debt
• Material orientation
• Humorous outlook
16-39
40. Australasian environment-oriented
values
Traditionally have admired:
• Cleanliness
• Change
• Performance
• Risk taking
• Conquest of nature
How have these changed?
16-40
41. Australasian other-orientated
values
• Traditionally (Aust-NZ) have been
individualistic, competitive, romantic,
masculine, youthful, and parent-
oriented societies
How are these changing?
16-41
47. Cultural Variations in Nonverbal
Communications
Time
The meaning of time varies
between cultures in two major
ways:
• Time perspective—the
culture’s overall orientation
toward time (monochronic
monochronic
vs. polychronic
polychronic)
• Interpretations assigned to
specific uses of time
16-47
49. Non-verbal communications
(cont.)
• Space
• Friendship
• Agreements
• Things
• Symbols
• Etiquette
16-49
50. Cultural Variations in Nonverbal
Communications
Space
• Overall use and meanings
assigned to space vary widely
among different cultures
-how office space is
allocated
-Personal space
16-50
51. Cultural Variations in Nonverbal
Communications
Symbols
Colors, animals, shapes,
numbers, and music have
varying meanings across
cultures.
Failure to recognize the
meaning assigned to a symbol
can cause serious problems!
16-51
52. Meaning of numbers, colours and other
symbols, in different cultures – Part 1
16-52
53. Meaning of numbers, colours and other
symbols, in different cultures - Part 2
16-53
54. Cultural Variations in Nonverbal
Communications
Relationships
How quickly and easily do cultures
form relationships and make friends?
•Americans tend to form relationships
and friends quickly and easily.
•Chinese relationships are much more
complex. Under the concept of guanxi,
an individual can draw upon personal
connections/relationships to secure
resources or advantages when doing
business as well as in the course of
social life.
16-54
55. Cultural Variations in Nonverbal
Communications
Agreements
How does a culture ensure
business obligations are
honored? How are
disagreements resolved?
Some cultures rely on a legal
system; others rely on
relationships, friendships, kinship,
local moral principles, or informal
customs to guide business
conduct.
16-55
56. Cultural Variations in Nonverbal
Communications
Things
The cultural meaning of things leads
to purchase patterns that one would
not otherwise predict.
The differing meanings that cultures
attach to things, including products,
make gift-giving a particularly difficult
task.
For example, what type of gift is
appropriate and when does receipt
of a gift “require” a gift in return?
16-56
57. Cultural Variations in Nonverbal
Communications
Etiquette
Meishi is an important aspect of Japanese
business etiquette…”a man without a Meishi has
no identity in Japan.” What is Meishi? It is the
exchange of business cards!
16-57
58. Cultural Variations in Nonverbal
Communications
Etiquette
The generally accepted ways of behaving in
social situations.
Behaviors considered rude or obnoxious in one
culture may be quite acceptable in another!
Normal voice tone, pitch, and speed of speech
differ between cultures and languages, as do the
use of gestures.
16-58
59. Etiquette
• Eye contact with business clients
• Touching a customer on the arm or
shoulder
• Contact between males
16-59
60. Developing a cross-cultural
marketing strategy
Seven questions:
1. Is it a homogenous culture?
2. What needs will the product fill?
3. Can enough afford the product?
4. What values are relevant to this product?
5. What are the distribution, political and legal
structures?
6. How can the firm communicate about the
product?
7. What are the ethical implications?
16-60
