International marketing assignment 1 PDF

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THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING AND KNOWLEDGE OF CULTURE IN INTERNATIONAL MARKETING International marketing is the performance of business activities designed to plan, promote and direct the flow of a company’s goods and services to consumers or users in more than one nation for a profit (cateora, Graham and Salwan 2008). According to Brassington and Pettitt (2006) it is concerned with marketing across national boundaries. Correspondingly, Czinkota and Ronkainen (2002) state that it involves planning and conducting transactions across countries to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives. In all these definitions one thing that is common is that international marketing involves the marketing of a company’s products across national boundaries between two or more nations. It involves conducting business, in more than one country for a profit, with buyers around the world with different needs that require an understanding of their culture. Therefore, culture can be defined as behaviours and attitudes of a group of people in society; distinguishing one group from another (Hofstede 1991). Thus, culture differs from one to another. Similarly, Gary (1994) states that it is part and parcel of everyone’s day to day activities and one’s decisions is mainly influenced by the culture that he or she was brought in. Furthermore, it is made up of beliefs, values, knowledge, art, morals, laws, customs and traditions, and habits acquired by people as members of society. Guillaumin (1979) argues that culture encompasses everything around us as people from dressing to mass media and politeness and it influences what people consume whether be it food or knowledge. Chisnall (1985) thinks of it as a total way of life in society, passed on from one generation to another, deriving from a group of people sharing and transmitting beliefs, values, attitudes, and forms of behaviour that are common to that society and considered worth of retention. Institutions such as schools, churches, family and government may be responsible the transmission and retention of such cultural factors. In all these definitions, culture is seen as embedded in elements of society such as religion, language, history, education, value and attitudes and symbols among others. But despite the fact that cultures are different from one group of people to another, none of them is right or wrong, better or worse (Cateora and Graham 2002). Since, international marketing involves conducting business in more than one country with buyers with different culture and needs it is important for marketers to understand the culture of these

buyers. This is because it is an important factor that affects trade across nations as it affects marketing activities such as pricing, promotion, distribution, product packaging and design (Czinkota and Ronkainen 2002). In addition to that, culture affects demand levels-product types and functional features (Ghauri and Cateora 2010). For instance, Coca-Cola in 2010 had to withdraw its two litre bottle in Spain after discovering that few Spaniards had refrigerators with large compartments to accommodate it (Coy 2010). This is a clear indication that culture has an impact on international marketing. As Cateora and Graham (2002) suggest, a company’s efforts and products are judged in a cultural context for acceptance, resistance or rejection and that how such efforts interact with culture determines the degree of success or failure of international marketing. Therefore, it is very important for international marketers to understand and appreciate the complexity of cultures different from their own if they are to be effective in foreign markets. During cross border marketing, a marketer encounters different cultural environment with unfamiliar language, custom, values, beliefs and so on. A deep understanding of culture is required by marketers in dealing with other cultural traits because they are crucial in international marketing especially when it comes to developing and designing products, interacting with foreign business partners, selecting foreign distributors, dealing with customers, preparing for trade deals and preparing promotional materials (Keagan and Bodo 2000). Another reason to have a deep understanding of culture is that marketing across cultures results into numerous challenges that arise from cultural distinctions that in turn, influences the selling efforts of a company. Thus, a need to develop proficiency in understanding foreign culture and use such cultural skills arising thereof to maximize the performance of both domestic and foreign operators (Reid 1995). Ricks (1994) points out that a failure to take cultural differences between countries into account has been behind many international business failures. Thus, in order to understand and influence the customer’s wants and needs, marketers must understand the culture they are operating in. Besides, it has been found that that consumers from different cultures have different attitudes, perceptions, tastes, preferences and values and they remain reluctant to purchase foreign products (Suh and Kwon 2002). Moreover, Kotler (1986) concurs by suggesting that consumer behaviour remains diverse, consumers are not always rational and they are not

willing to change their consumption habits in favour of cheaper products that are increasingly available on the world market. The understanding of language as a cultural factor is important for international marketers. According to Ricks (1994) language is the most important means of cultural identity as such its role in international marketing must not be taken lightly. It is necessary for them to understand the verbal and non-verbal language of the market they are operating in and notice that languages are different depending on the group of people involved. Similarly, Usunier and Lee (2005) mentioned that language is a major element of culture as it defines the culture of nations. Therefore, has a significant impact on international marketing. Czinkota, Ronkainen and Moffet (2009) argue that international marketing communications are affected by existence of language barrier. Marketers should have an understanding of language of the people where their marketing activity is taking place. This will ensure that customers identify with the products as their own. Ricks (1994) further states that all other means of communication must be understood by them. Marketers must understand their own culture and appreciate and tolerate the culture of people from other cultures so to improve communication, and build relationships with the people to buy into their products or services (Czinkota and Ronkainen, 2002). According to Robinson and Clarke-Hill (1991) a classic example is the withdraw of Mark’s and Spencer’s ‘St Michael’ brand name from the Canadian market in 1999. The company did not recognize that the St Michael image and product so loved by its domestic consumers was not appealing to Canadians which was a clear indication of cultural misunderstanding. Religion is another important element of culture that has an impact of international marketing. It has an impact on lifestyle, beliefs, values and attitudes of a certain group of people. So, an understanding of religion as a cultural factor may help an international marketer to launch products that are not prohibited by the religion of that country otherwise, the product may be a failure. For instance, in Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia the consumption of pork is prohibited therefore if one were to conduct such business in such a place, they will not be successful because the Islam faith is strongly against pork. Again, Starbucks franchisee was forced in Saudi Arabia was forced to remove the face under the crown in Starbucks’ logo because they felt that public display of a woman’s face was religiously immoral (Sullivan et al 2004). Sullivan et al (2004) also observed that charging of interest and purchase of accident insurance are strictly against Islamic laws and

beliefs in Quran teachings. Another case is that of McDonalds and Coca-Cola who unfortunately offended Muslims in the past by putting the Saudi Arabian flag on their packaging as its design contains a passage from the Quran and the Muslims felt their holy writ should never be wadded up and thrown away (Nickels, McHugh and McHugh 1991). Also, Muslims do not allow the consumption of alcohol just as it is the case with pork because it is considered a ‘haram’ product. Lastly, Sullivan et al. (2004) state, a Saudi importer of children’s toys once tried to import a toy by the name ‘Pokémon’ but was ceased by Saudi authorities because they considered it to be affront to Islamic religion for it is likely encourage gambling- an immoral act in Islam. Another element of culture is the aesthetics theme which includes arts of different forms such as music, dances, folklores (Guillaumin 1979). An understanding and knowledge of such things may help a marketer in interpreting signs and symbols of artistic expression such as colour, numbers and designs. For example, most parts of non-islamic African countries associate black, brown and red colours with death or danger hence, usually worn at funerals while in Islamic African nations same colours represent happiness and Joy (Ghauri and Cateora 2010). An understanding and knowledge of this cultural theme will inform the international marketer about product packaging and advertisement strategies. According to Ghauri and Cateora (2010) a marketer must always be in constant interaction with culture of the people so that the promotional message is crafted within local setting with recognizable symbols which is meaningful to the market (Ghauri amd Cateora 2010). Ghauri and Cateora (2010) argue that not respecting and without appropriately interpreting the cultural aesthetic values of culture can create a negative impression and thus render marketing efforts futile. Beliefs, just like religion has an impact on lifestyle, perception, values and attitude just to mention some. Sitkin et al (1992) posits that there is a strong evidence that cultural values and beliefs influence the use of communication. Therefore, having and understanding and knowledge of such things is very important in international marketing. For instance, Ghauri and Cateora (2010) observed that in some countries especially in Africa when an advert of a product is done by a female exposing her sensitive body parts, it is considered immoral and improper hence, the product is likely to be rejected. Education level in a country is also a cultural factor that has an impact on international marketing efforts. As Ghauri and Cateora (2010) suggest, it is important for an international marketer to

assess cultural education level of a particular market since it has an influence on the marketing strategies and techniques in areas of advertisement and communication. For instance, Hallmark cards failed in France because the French dislike overly sentiments and prefer writing their own cards (Miller 2007). In conclusion, the above-mentioned points explain the reasons an understanding of culture is important in international marketing activities. The examples given also illustrate why a lack of understanding different cultures can be detrimental to marketing efforts. Thus, for marketers to be successful in the international market, they have to know and understand the different cultures in which they operate.

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