2. Cultural And Social Environment

Question 1

How does culture influence how we market?

Answer 1

Marketing is to earn profits from satisfying human wants and needs —> in order to understand and influence consumers’ wants and needs —> we must understand their culture.

Question 2

What is culture?

Answer 2

The collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one category of people from another

Question 3

What are the pieces of Cultural Analysis? What does cultural analysis provoke?

Answer 3

The components of cultural analysis: education, family, religion, law and government, language, social relationships and attitudes towards time.

Cultural Analysis provokes cultural change

Question 4

What are the three steps in Cultural Influences on Buyer Behaviour

Answer 4

Cultural Forces (Religion, family, education, language, attitudes towards time) ———>

Cultural Messages (Symbols, morals, rules of behaviour, knowledge) ———>

Consumer Decision Process (Selecting and prioritizing wants for goods and services) ———>

BEHAVIOUR

Question 5

How does religion affect marketing activities?

Answer 5

Marketing and Christmas
- Gift giving, Dec 25/6
- China, charge extra for entrance on Christmas Eve

Marketing and Islam
- Ramadan, special TV programming, higher ad prices
- Islam - forbids interest, modest dressing, hala (no forbidden ingredients, prepared in permission ways)

Marketing and Judaism
- Kosher - fit and proper, no pork, meat and milk not eaten together

Marketing and Eastern Religions
-Hinduism and Buddhism - vegetarians, most at least abstain from beef. Cow=caretaker in Hindu society. Ex. No beef or pork at Indian McDonald’s.
- Shinto = Tokyo - first starbucks prayer

Question 6

How does family affect marketing activities?

Answer 6

• Nuclear (household sizes in America and Europe) vs extended families
• Male-email roles (Female population in the Labour force)

Question 7

What is the difference between high-trust and low trust societies?

Answer 7

Low-trust society a society in which trust is extended only to immediate family member

High-trust society trust extended beyond immediate family. Encouraging emergence of various voluntary organizations such as civic groups or modern corporations.

Question 8

How does Education effect marketing?

Answer 8

Impacts consumers and employees. Literacy rates affect packing and sales!

Global Literacy rate for all people over 15 in 2022 is 87.01% (90.31% for males and 83.78% for females).

Question 9

What are the three ways attitudes toward time affect marketing activities?

Answer 9

1. Monochronic versus polychronic
2. Temporal orientations
3. Work and leisure

Question 10

What is the difference between monochronic and polychronic?

Answer 10

monochronic: activities undertaken one at a time, and people respect schedules.

polychronic: multitasking is common schedules and agendas bend to needs of people, interruptions common.

Question 11

What are the three temporal orientation?

Answer 11

Past orientation: emphasis on historical achievement and relationships (Europe and the Middle East)

Present Orientation: life is enjoyed for the moment (Mexico)

Future Orientation: efforts are focused more on working to achieve a future goal (USA)

Question 12

How do different countries manage work and leisure time?

Answer 12

European companies: 25-30 vacation days
US, Japan, Mexico, and the Philippines: 5-10 vacation days

Canada: minimum of 2 weeks vacation after completing 1 year of employment. 5 years increase to 3 weeks.

Question 13

What did the Hofstede IBM Research incorporate?

Answer 13

72 national subsidiaries, 20 languages, 38 occupations.

100,000 participants between 1967 and 1973.

**most extensive cross-national studies ever conducted

Question 14

What were the Hofstede Measure of Culture in 1973?

Answer 14

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

Question 15

What were the Hofstede Measure of Culture that were added in 2010?

Answer 15

• Long term orientation (added)
• Indulgence versus restraint (added)

Question 16

What were some changes made to the Hofstede measure of culture in 2023?

Answer 16

• Individualism-collectivism (scores updated)
• Masculinity-femininity changed to Motivation towards
achievement and success
• Long-term orientation (scores updated)

And the list of countries was extended

Question 17

What is individualism-collectivism? Where does Canada score relative to other countries?

Answer 17

A measure of culture capturing the extent to which a
society evaluates a person as an individual rather than
as a member of the group.

Individualistic cultures are more open to outsiders and
foreign ideas than collectivistic cultures.

Canada: 80 - more individualistic

Question 18

What is uncertainty avoidance? Where does Canada score relative to other countries?

Answer 18

A measure of culture relating to general worry about the
future.

Uncertainty avoidant societies:
• Don’t like ambiguity
• Consider what is different is potentially dangerous
• Tend to be better implementers than innovators

Canada 48 (lower end, not as worried about the future)

Question 19

What is power distance? Where does Canada score relative to other countries?

Answer 19

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

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

Canada 39 (low power-distance)

Question 20

How does power distance effect social and political norms?

Answer 20

Social norms: high power - those in power have privileges, inequality is normal, powerful people try to look as powerful as possible, respect for authority. low power - equal right, powerful people try to look less powerful, inequality minimized, respect for individuality.

Political norms: high power military government, little discussion, violence common. low power government based on majority, much discussion, little violence.

Question 21

How does power distance effect work and school?

Answer 21

Work: high power tall organizational pyramids, wide salary range from top to bottom, subordinates expect to be told
low power short organizational pyramids, narrow salary range, subordinate are consulted.

School: high power student depend on teachers, parents side with teachers, students treat teachers with respect
low power teachers treat students as equals, parents may side with students against teachers, students treat teachers as equals.

Question 22

What is Masculinity-femininity(motivation towards achievement and success)? Where does Canada score relative to other countries?

Answer 22

• A measure of culture relating to assertiveness/modesty and
competitiveness/nurturance.
• 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.

Canada 52 - slightly more “achievement”

Question 23

How does Masculinity-femininity(motivation towards achievement and success) effect social norms and politics and economics?

Answer 23

Social norms: Masculinity (ego orientation, money important, live to work.). Femininity (relationship orientated, quality of life and people, work to live)

Politics+Economics: Masculinity (importance of economic growth, conflicts solve through force), Femininity (environment protection, conflict solved through negotiation)

Question 24

How does Masculinity-femininity(motivation towards achievement and success) effect religion, work, family and school?

Answer 24

Religion: Masculinity( most important in life, only men can be priests) Femininity (less important in life, both men and women as priests)

Work: Masculinity (larger gender wage gap, fewer women in
management, preference for higher pay) Femininity (smaller gender wage gap, more women in management, preference for fewer working hours)

Family and School: Maculininty (girls cry, boys don’t; boys fight, girls don’t, failing is a disaster) Femininity (both boys and girls cry; neither fight, failing is a minor accident)

Question 25

What is Long Term Orientation? Where does Canada score relative to other countries?

Answer 25

• This dimension expresses how societies either prioritize
traditions or seek for the modern in their dealings with the
present and the future.
• Cultures that score low on this dimension prefer to
maintain traditions and norms while viewing societal
change with suspicion.
• They also value immediate results.
• Cultures that score high take a more pragmatic approach:
they encourage thrift as a way to prepare for the future.
• They place a higher value on future planning.

Canada low: 36 not as concerned about long term orientation.

Question 26

What is Indulgent versus Restraint? Where does Canada score relative to other countries?

Answer 26

• This dimension is defined as the extent to which people
try to control their desires and impulses based on how
they were raised.
• Relatively weak control is called “Indulgence,” and relatively strong control is called “Restraint.”
• Cultures can be described as Indulgent or Restrained.
• A high IVR score indicates that the culture is an indulgent
society.

Canada has pretty low restraint, high indulgence 68.

Question 27

What countries are similar on the Hofstede Scores? Which ones are different despite their close location?

Answer 27

Similar: USA, Canada, UK

Different: France, Germany, Hungary, Romania

Question 28

Which two cultural dimensions are highly correlated?

Answer 28

Two cultural dimensions that are highly correlated - Power Distance and Individualism

Question 29

What are the limitations of the HOFSTEDE score?

Answer 29

Cultural Paradox, Language and Communication, Culture Shock.

Study was only done at IBM (High status in the country, bias and can only represent one group.

Question 30

What is the cultural paradox?

Answer 30

• Cultural paradox is a common behavioral norm in a culture that appears to contradict a prior conceptual model of that culture.
• 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

Question 31

What are the three language and communication limitations of the Hofstede scores?

Answer 31

Forms of address (English: All persons are addressed with the pronoun–You, The Germanic Romance and Slavic have two forms of address the personal and the formal., Japanese has three forms—the superior, a colleague, and a
subordinate)

Context of language (Low-context culture: communication is explicit, and words tend to retain their meaning in all situations) (High-context cultures: meanings are more implicit.) Canada is a relatively low context culture

Showing emotion (Affective cultures: a culture in which speakers are allowed (even expected) to express emotions.) (Neutral cultures: a culture that discourages a show of emotion) Canada is a Affective culture.

Question 32

What are some examples of translation challenges?

Answer 32

In Spanish, Colgate means “Go hang yourself.”

Mist means Manure in German

Question 33

What are some ways to deal with culture shock?

Answer 33

Be culturally prepared, Be aware of local communication complexities, Be creative and experimental, Be culturally sensitive, 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