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Chapter 9 Consumer Culture What Do You Think Polling Question Men should always pay for their date’s dinner. _____ Strongly Disagree _____ Disagree _____ Somewhat Disagree _____ Neither Agree not Disagree _____ Somewhat Agree _____ Agree _____Strongly Agree Have students access Course Mate at www.cengagebrain.com to answer the polling questions for each chapter of CB. Ask them to take the online poll to see how their answers compare with other students taking a consumer behavior course across the country. Then turn to the last page of the chapter to find the “What Others Have Thought” box feature. This graph is a snapshot of how other consumer behavior students have answered this polling question so far. Learning Objectives After studying this chapter, the student should be able to: 9-1 Understand how culture provides the true meaning of objects and activities. 9-2 Use the key dimensions of core societal values to apply the concept of cultural distance. 9-3 Define acculturation and enculturation. 9-4 List fundamental elements of verbal and nonverbal communication. 9-5 Discuss current emerging consumer markets and scan for opportunities. Lecture Example The use of pop culture in selling products is hardly a novel concept. Pepsi’s latest campaign featuring the hip-hop artist Nicki Minaj is in line with the trend that rolled out ads such as the “the choice of a new generation” in the 1980s and “had the right one, baby” in the 1990s. Minaj will feature in Pepsi’s “Live for Now” campaign. The campaign indicates a renewed focus on marketing, a drive probably initiated by Wall Street, and focuses on improving beverage sales in North America. Brad Jakeman, president of the company’s Global Enjoyment Brands and chief creative officer of PepsiCo Global Beverages Group, wants the brand to win back its position as a true pop culture icon. Consequently, the campaign in the coming years will feature entertainers and artists. Source: “Using Pop Culture to Sell Cola,” Sowetan Live, May 2, 2012, http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/business/2012/05/02/using-pop-culture-to-sell-cola Lecture Outline with PowerPoint® Slides LO 9-1: Understand how culture provides the true meaning of objects and activities. I. Culture and Meaning are Inseparable No matter where one gets married, a wedding typically involves an elaborate celebration. The way consumers find mates, however, is not so universal. In Western cultures, romantic marriage rules so much that other concepts come across as strange, unusual, or even illegal. Consumers in other cultures often do not have so much say in exactly whom they marry. For example, Arab and Eastern consumers often end up getting married based on arrangements between families. Although spending on wedding ceremonies is a near constant, culture drives differences in the customs associated with weddings, marriages and the family life that follows. [Instructor PPT Slide 4] A. What is Culture? In all cases, what a person consumes helps determine how accepted one is by other consumers in society. Likewise, the consumption act itself generally has no absolute meaning, only meaning relative to the environment in which the act takes place. Culture, therefore, embodies meaning. Consumer culture represents the commonly held societal beliefs that define what is socially gratifying within a specific society. Culture shapes value by framing everyday life in terms of these commonly held beliefs. Culture ultimately determines what consumption behaviors are acceptable. Exhibit 9.1 lists some consumption behaviors that vary in meaning, value, and acceptability from culture to culture. Q: What is consumer culture? A: Consumer culture represents the commonly held societal beliefs that define what is socially gratifying within a specific society. B. Culture, Meaning, and Value Today’s marketplace is truly global. Modern technology has greatly reduced the geographic barriers that prevented consumers from doing business with marketers in other parts of the world. Without culture, consumers would have little guidance as to the appropriate actions in many common consumer situations. These functions shape the value of consumer activities and include: Giving meaning to objects: Consider how much culture defines the meaning of furniture, religious objects, and everyday items like food and drink. For instance, Dunkin Donuts sells more cups of coffee in the United States with the slogan “America Runs on Dunkin.” But in India, that slogan doesn’t work, because breakfast on the run is not part of the Indian diet. Giving meaning to activities: Consider, for example, the role of things as simple as recreational activities and even washing (hygiene). A daily shower still is not a universally accepted norm. Facilitating communication: The shared meaning of things facilitates communication. When strangers meet, culture indicates whether a handshake, hug, or kiss is most appropriate. Things as simple as making eye contact can take on dramatically different meanings from one culture to another. [Instructor PPT Slide 5] C. Cultural Norms Culture, meaning, and value are very closely intertwined. For this reason, culture determines things that are socially rewarding (valuable) or socially unrewarding (not valuable).The term cultural norm refers to a rule that specifies the appropriate behavior in a given situation within a specific culture. Most, but not all, cultural norms are unwritten and simply understood by members of a cultural group. D. Cultural Sanctions A consumer who performs an act inconsistent with cultural norms is likely to experience a culture sanction. A cultural sanction refers to the penalties associated with performing a nongratifying or culturally inconsistent behavior. Cultural sanctions often are relatively innocuous. In other instances however, a consumer performing a culturally inconsistent act may be shunned or suffer banishment from a group. Q: Ask students to explain cultural norms and cultural sanctions with an example. A: Students’ answers will vary. In the United States, depositing litter in a particular bin is a social norm. Someone littering on the roads would incur a cultural sanction that includes penalties. Popular Culture Popular culture captures cultural trends and shapes norms and sanctions within society. Pop icons such as Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber help determine acceptable style for many groups of admirers who desire to fit in with today’s popular culture. Role Expectations Every consumer plays various roles within society. Culture expects people to play these roles in a culturally rewarding fashion. Role expectations are the specific expectations that are associated with each type of person. One’s sex, one’s occupation, one’s social class, one’s age: All are relevant bases for forming societal role expectations. Role expectations become a primary basis for cultural norms and sanctions. They define not only the way one should act to play the role but also the types of products that are appropriate for a person within a role. As a result, the consumption activities associated with roles can also vary from culture to culture. LO 9-2: Use the key dimensions of core societal values to apply the concept of cultural distance. II. Using Core Societal Values A. Where Does Culture Come from? Cultural beliefs define what religion is acceptable, what types of art and recreation are preferred, what manners are considered polite, the roles for different types of individuals including expectations for men and women in a society, and much more. The causes of culture involves two important components. First, ecological factors cause differences in culture because they change the relative value of objects. Ecological factors are the physical characteristics that describe the physical environment and habitat of a particular place. For example, consumers from groups that have traditionally lived in desert areas place a great value on water relative to consumers from areas filled with freshwater lakes. Second, over time tradition develops among groups of peoples, and these traditions carry forward to structure society. Tradition in this sense refers to the customs and accepted ways of structuring society. Traditions include things like the family and political structures of a society. In the United States, Australia, Canada, and much of Europe, families traditionally consist of two generations (parents and children) living in a household. In India, more than two generations (grandparents, parents, and children) may share a household, and the key decision maker is the oldest male living in the house. Exhibit 9.2 illustrates how tradition and ecology come together to influence culture, with each culture being described by different amounts of core societal values, and these values driving differences in consumer behaviors and the value derived from them. Over time, traditions become embedded in culture and become relatively stable. Q: Is climate an ecological factor? If yes, given an example of an industry where marketers can use climate as an ecological factor to target consumers. A: Climate is an ecological factor. Student answers for the second part of the question will vary. The clothing industry can target customers by producing apparel for specific climatic conditions. [Instructor PPT Slide 6] B. Dimensions of Cultural Values Although conflicting views exist on what exactly are the best dimensions to describe differences in cultural values, the most widely applied dimensions are those developed by Geert Hofstede. This theory of value-based differences in cultures is based on multiple dimensions, with each representing an identifiable core societal value aspect. Core societal values (CSV), or cultural values, represent a commonly agreed upon consensus about the most preferable ways of living within a society. Exhibit 9.2 illustrates how core societal values serve as the mechanism by which culture affects value. In some cases, the core societal value dimensions relate to or overlap with each other. Thus, some dimensions share some meaning. Core societal values can be described along seven dimensions. Exhibit 9.3 provides a summary of each dimension. Individualism The first CSV dimension contrasts cultures based on relative amounts of individualism and collectivism. Individualism as a CSV means the extent to which people expect each other to take responsibility for themselves and their immediate family. Highly individualistic societies place high value on self-reliance, individual initiative, and personal achievement. In contrast, nations with low individualism are high in collectivism, which refers to the extent to which an individual’s life is intertwined with a large cohesive group. Highly collectivistic societies tend to live in extended families, take their identity from the groups to which they belong, and be very loyal to these groups. Clearly, this dimension has important implications for the way consumers make decisions and the way that consumers extract value from consumption. Masculinity The masculinity CSV dimension captures societal distinctions based on mannerisms typically associated with Western male traits such as valuing assertiveness and control over traditional feminine traits such as caring, conciliation, and community. Femininity represents the opposite end of the scale, but in this case, the term does not refer to the prominence that women have within a society. In a culture with low masculinity, men also tend to share some feminine traits. Power Distance Power distance is the extent to which people accept as fact the principle of the division of authority and privilege among different groups within society. Low-power-distance nations tend to be more egalitarian. In high-power-distance nations, those with less status must show deference to those with greater status. Uncertainty Avoidance A culture high in uncertainty avoidance is uncomfortable with things that are ambiguous or unknown. Consumers high in uncertainty avoidance prefer the known, avoid taking risks, and like life to be structured and routine. Nations that are high in uncertainty avoidance will be slower to adopt product innovations. Superstitions and myths also play a bigger role among cultures high in uncertainty avoidance. Long-Term Orientation Long-term orientation reflects values consistent with Confucian philosophy and a prioritization of future rewards over short-term benefits. High long-term orientation means that a consumer value thriftiness and perseverance as well as the maintenance of long-term relationships. Guanxi (pronounced gawn-zeye) is the Chinese term for a way of doing business in which parties must first invest time and resources in getting to know one another and becoming comfortable with one another before consummating any important deal. Guanxi is a common mode of operation among cultures with high long-term orientation—as with many nations in the Far East. Renquing is the idea that when someone does a good deed for a person, that person is expected to return that good deed. In fact, the expectation of reciprocation at some point in the future fosters long-term relationships, since individuals are forever trying to balance the renquing score with each other. Q: What is the difference between high-power-distance nations and low-power-distance nations? A: In high-power-distance nations, distinctions among consumers go beyond social class and affect relationships between supervisory and subordinate employees and even between students and teachers. The nations with low-power-distance tend to be more egalitarian. Pragmatic Orientation Hofstede’s cultural theory adopts the pragmatic-normative dimension to capture how a society deals with things that cannot be explained. Consumers from nations with high pragmatic orientation tend to be thrifty and eager to save and invest. Conversely, people from nations with high normative orientation are motivated to explain and understand all things and value personal stability, tradition, and societal conventions. Indulgence-Restraint Indulgent cultures value immediate gratification particularly for natural human needs associated with fun and enjoyment. Low scores on indulgent are associated with restraint. Restrained cultures tend to be reserved and regulate such desires through the means of societal norms. [Instructor PPT Slide 7] C. The CSV Scoreboard A CSV scoreboard can be put together using historical CSV dimension scores found in many resources, including the Hofstede website (www.geert-hofstede.com). The CSV scores for a given country can be essential information for marketers to appeal to consumers in another country. BRIC Exhibit 9.4 shows a CSV scoreboard for a few select nations. Brazil, Russia, India, and China often are considered emerging economies. The acronym BRIC refers to the collective economies of these nations. Each nation’s large population makes it impossible to ignore as a potential consumer market. CSV Leaders Among all nations with CSV scores, Austria has the lowest power-distance scores, and Malaysia has the highest. The United States has relatively low power distance with only 15 nations reporting lower scores. [Instructor PPT Slide 8] D. Cultural Distance Two approaches can be considered when a company has to decide to expand internationally and where it will be successful. The most intuitive response is to look to countries with which the home country shares a border. Geographic distance forms the basis for international expansion. Countries are attractive because they are nearby and easily reached in terms of both marketing communications and physical distribution. The second approach looks more at how similar a target nation’s consumers are to the home consumers. The cultural distance (CD) approach represents how disparate one nation is from another in terms of their CSVs. Thus, with this approach, consumers can be compared by using scores available in a CSV scoreboard. Exhibit 9.5 shows the different scores for all nations in the previous exhibit. Exhibits 9.5 and 9.6 show the total CD from the United States for each of these countries. Countries with relatively low CD scores are more similar, and thus they tend to value the same types of consumption experiences. The term CANZUS is sometimes used to refer to the close similarity in values between Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. International expansion decisions should consider CD as well as geography. LO 9-3: Define acculturation and enculturation. [Instructor PPT Slide 9] III. How Is Culture Learned? Culture is a learned process. Socialization involves learning through observation and the active processing of information about lived, everyday experience. The process takes place in a sequence something like this: Social interaction ⤅ Modeling ⤅ Reinforcement As consumers interact they begin to model (meaning enact) behaviors learned or seen. Reinforcement occurs through the process of rewarding reactions or sanctions. A. Enculturation Enculturation represents the way people learn the native culture. In other words, enculturation represents the way in which consumers learn and develop shared understandings of things with their families. B. Acculturation Acculturation is the process by which consumers come to learn a culture other than their natural, native culture—that is, the culture to which one may adapt when exposed to a new set of CSVs. When a consumer becomes acculturated, chances are that old beliefs have been re-placed by new beliefs. However, several factors can inhibit acculturation. Strong ethnic identification, the degree to which consumers feel a sense of belonging to the culture of their ethnic origins, can make consumers feel close-minded about adopting products from a different culture. Consumer ethnocentrism is a belief among consumers that their ethnic group is superior to others and that the products that come their native land are superior to other products. Exhibit 9.7 illustrates factors that either inhibit or encourage consumer acculturation. C. Quartet of Institutions A quartet of institutions are largely responsible for communicating CSVs through both formal and informal processes. The four institutions comprising the quartet are (see Exhibit 9.7): 1. Family 2. School 3. Church 4. Media Sociology theory long recognizes family, school, and church are the primary acculturation and enculturation agents. In more recent times, the influence of popular media, including electronic media, also merits consideration as an influential institution. Media, thus, offers another channel through which consumers learn. Many consumers, particularly young consumers, spend a lot of time interacting with media ranging from magazines, television and radio to web-based social networks and sites like Tumblr and Habbo Hotel. Here, they observe behavior (sometimes acted out in fiction), receive information about celebrities and pop culture, and exchange ideas, likes, and thoughts with both real and virtual acquaintances. Culture and Policy-Related Consumer Communication Differences in CSVs may have public policy implications as well. A study of teen consumers in countries including Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Uzbekistan, Russia, and the United States found that antismoking ads were not equally effective. The results suggest that antismoking ads targeted toward countries high in individualism should emphasize the ill effects of smoking to one’s self. In contrast, in countries with high collectivism, antismoking ads that emphasize the negative effects of smoking on other consumers are more effective. Modeling Modeling is an important way in which consumers are socialized into a specific culture either through acculturation or enculturation. Modeling is precisely a process of imitating other’s behavior. In fact, the noun model captures the this concept’s essence. When it comes to fashion, designers hope that consumers will want to model their fashion models by selecting the clothes these models wear on the runway. Exhibit 9.8 displays ways institutions facilitate modeling. Shaping Shaping is a socialization process by which consumer behaviors slowly adapt to a culture through a series of rewards and sanctions. The CSV profile of a culture can influence the effectiveness of cultural shaping. Consumers from highly individualistic societies may not alter their behavior so readily just to fit in. In collectivistic cultures, complaining can be a sign of disrespect and may be looked at as inappropriate for minor inconveniences. LO 9-4: List fundamental elements of verbal and nonverbal communication. [Instructor PPT Slides 10–12] IV. Fundamental Elements of Communication A. Verbal Communication Verbal communication refers to the transfer of information through the literal spoken or written word. Consumers will have difficulty finding value in things they cannot understand. Marketers have long wrestled with the problem of translating advertisements, research instruments, product labels, and promotional materials into foreign languages for foreign markets. Verbal communication can even be difficult within a single language. Every language is spoken slightly differently from place to place- or with several unique dialects. Thus, translation alone is insufficient to guarantee effective communication. Exhibit 9.9 provides some examples of difficulties in communicating even simple ideas through spoken or written word. Translation Equivalence Bilingual speakers often may think of more than one way to try to express the meaning of something from one language in another. In some cases, words exist in one language that have no precise equivalent in another. In other instances, even when the same word may exist, people in other cultures do not use the word the same way. Thus, interpretation errors and blunders occur unless one takes great care. Translation equivalence exists when two phrases share the same precise meaning in two different cultures. Translation–back translation is a way to try to produce translational equivalence. With this process, one bilingual speaker takes the original phrase and translates it from the original language into the new language. Then, a second, independent bilingual speaker translates the phrase from the new language back into the original language. Assuming the retranslated phrase matches the first, translational equivalence exists. Metric Equivalence Metric equivalence refers to using numbers to represent quantities in the same way across cultures. Metric equivalence is necessary to draw basic comparisons about consumers from different countries concerning important consumer relationships. Comparing average scores for consumer attitudes from one culture to the next requires another form of equivalence known as scalar equivalence. Globish Through history, different languages have emerged as the international language of business communication. Today most would consider English the language of international business. But English grammar can be difficult as illustrated by Chinglish—and some linguists believe a new form of English with simpler rules is developing. Globish reduces the English vocabulary to around 1500 words and gets rid of nasty complications like contractions and silent letters. Grammatically incorrect but easily recognized, Globish slogans and advertising are spreading through developing countries. [Instructor PPT Slide 13] B. Nonverbal Communication Nonverbal communication refers to information passed through some unspoken act–in other words, communication not involving the literal word. Many nonverbal communication cues are culturally laden so that the meaning depends on culture. Exhibit 9.10 depicts several aspects of nonverbal communication and the way they come together to create effective communication. High-context cultures emphasize communication through nonverbal elements. In contrast, low-context cultures emphasize the spoken word. Q: Explain globish with an example. A: Globish reduces the English vocabulary to around 1500 words and gets rid of nasty complications like contractions and silent letters. Examples can vary. For instance, “He is fine” can be written as “hee is fain” to simplify the pronunciation of English for Eastern countries. Time Americans typically place a high value on time and timeliness. The high value placed on timeliness may be due to the importance of individualism and achievement as core values. Consumers from some other cultures do not value timeliness in the same way. Mannerisms/Body Language Body language refers to the nonverbal communication cues signaled by somatic (uncontrollable biological) responses. These cues can be more telling than words. The mannerisms that reveal meaning include the following characteristics: Facial expressions Posture Arm/leg position Skin conditions Voice tone Space Relative to many parts of the world, like Japan or Western Europe, the United States and Australia are sparsely populated. Thus, space varies in importance. The value that consumers place on space affects communication styles, too. The differing approaches to space have implications for sales approaches, the way other consumers are depicted in advertising, and the design of retail environments. Etiquette/Manners Different cultures have different etiquettes for handling various social situations. Etiquette represents the customary mannerisms consumers use in common social situations. Service providers need to be sensitive to the various differences in etiquette. When consumers are unaware or lack concern for the proper etiquette in a given situation, result can be awkward and diminish the value of experience. Relationships There are different ways how consumers respond to marketers when they attempt to build a personal relationship. The differing CSVs have other implications for consumer-brand or consumer-service provider relationships. Marketing appeals aimed at building personal relationships should emphasize the collective preference of different groups rather than the individual. Agreement Similar to other nonverbal elements, indication of agreement depends on the culture. Marketers must be aware of these variations. The extent to which a contract binds varies from place to place. Symbols Because different cultures have different value profiles, objects and activities take on different symbolic or semiotic meaning. The symbolic meaning of objects also affects gift- giving from culture to culture. Marketers need to take care not to unintentionally promote offensive items based on cultural symbolism. LO 9-5: Discuss current emerging consumer markets and scan for opportunities. [Instructor PPT Slides 14, 15] V. Emerging Cultures Marketing traditionally directed most efforts at consumers from developed nations. However, less-developed nations can offer attractive markets and many may represent emerging economies. Market segments in developing nations offer tremendous opportunities, but communicating and delivering value in the segments means that marketers must know and understand the nuances of culture. Exhibit 9.11 displays the most attractive national consumer markets. Sociopolitical changes have allowed these markets to emerge. A. BRIC Markets The acronym BRIC stands for Brazil, Russia, India, and China. These four nations are often singled out as having economies that are growing very rapidly. In each market, the large middle classes are emerging as consumers who formerly would have had little opportunity for a good job have benefited from corporate capital investments. As a result, consumers in these nations have rising standards of living and have become the attractive markets for goods and services. B. Chindia The term Chindia refers to the combined market and business potential of China and India. The consumer demographics of India today compare favorably to those of the United States in 1970. The market potential for India and China is made clear in the fact that population is assessed in billions rather than millions. C. Glocalization The term glocalization represents one alternative that allows flexibility in responding to the unique value profiles of consumers. Glocalization represents the idea that the marketing strategy may be global, but the implementation of that strategy at the marketing tactics level should be local. Q: Explain the concept of glocalization with an example. A: Glocalization represents the idea that a marketing strategy may be global, but the implementation of that strategy at the marketing tactics level should be local. For example, Yahoo! markets web portals across the world. The content and language settings will vary depending on the location. What’s Next? The advancement of free market economies has led to increased standards of living in many corners of the globe. Marketers today are looking to middle-class markets in places like Chile, Mexico, Turkey, and Nigeria as new emerging markets. Cultural barriers go beyond dealing with consumers, but they also are ingrained in the sociopolitical environment. Therefore, changes in government institutions will probably be needed before many companies will feel comfortable doing business there. Video material for this chapter is starting on page 24 of the IM Instructor Manual for CB Consumer Behaviour Barry J. Babin, Eric G. Harris 9781305403222, 9781305577244
