Chapter 14: Cultural Influences on Consumer Behaviour Flashcards
Culture
The values, ethics, rituals, traditions, material objects, and services produced or valued by the members of society
Abstract ideas: Values and ethics
Material objects: Automobiles, clothing, food, art
Culture from class
Material Conditions - what you wear, what you drive, how you get to school
4 Learnings from new concepts
4 things to keep in mind whenever learning something new
1) What is it? (what is it about?)
2) What are the examples?
3) Why is it important
4) Are there witnesses (is this bullshit or not?)
All myths and rituals seem to follow 4 things:
1) Symbols
2) Rules
3) Followers
4) Taboo / things not to be done
Never Buy Drugs Online - it is not safe
Never Buy Drugs Online - it not safe
Culture is the “______” through which people view products
Lens
A cultural system consist of three functional areas:
1) Ecology
2) Social structure
3) Ideology
1) Ecology
The way in which a system is adapted to its habitat. This area is shaped by the technology used to obtain and distribute resources (eg in industrialized societies versus developing countries)
Adapt to habitat
2) Social structure
The way in which orderly social life is maintained. This includes the domestic and political groups dominant within the culture (ex: nuclear family vs extended family)
Orderly social life
3) Ideology
Refers to the mental characteristics of a people and a way in which they relate to their environment and social groups
Revolves around the belief that members of a society possess a common world view
Beliefs and relationships
Ethos
A set of morals, aesthetics, and evaluative principles
Key variables that tend to differ across cultures include:
Values and norms, myths and rituals, and language
Values
An enduring belief that a specific model of conduct is personally or socially preferable to an opposite mode of conduct
shared beliefs shaped by individual, social, and cultural forces
Most cultures value
Universal values
Family, health, happiness, and wisdom
Geert Hofstede’s six dimensions to score a country to compare and contrast values
1) Power distance
2) Uncertainty avoidance
3) Masculinity / Femininity
4) Individualism / Collectivism
5) Long-term orientation
6) Indulgence Vs Restraint
1) Power distance
The extent to which the less powerful member of an organization and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally
Way members perceive differences in power when they form interpersonal relationships
2) Uncertainty avoidance
Society’s tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity
High-uncertainty-avoidance cultures tend to dislike and avoid uncertain, novel, or unusual situations
Low-uncertainty-avoidance cultures are more open to uncertain events and outcomes
Degree to which people feel threatened by ambiguous situations
3) Masculinity / Femininity
The degree to which gender roles are clearly delineated
Highly masculine countries tend to value traits such as assertiveness, dominance, and competition, and segregate gender roles
Feminine cultures tend to value modesty, caring, and compassion, and show less differentiation between the gender roles
Degree to which sex roles are clearly delineated
4) Individualism / Collectivism
Extent to which the welfare of the individual verses that of the group is valued
Extent to which culture values the welfare of the individual versus that of the group
Collectivist culture
People subordinate their personal goals to those of a stable in-group
Individualist culture
Attach more importance to personal goals, and people are more likely to change memberships when the demands of the group (workplace, church, etc) become too costly
5) Long-term orientation
Tends to foster an orientation toward future rewards, such as perseverance and thrift
Short-term orientation values virtues related to the past and present, including respect for tradition, preservation of “face”, and fulfilling social obligations
Fosters an orientation toward future rewards, such as perseverance and thrift
6) Indulgence Vs Restraint
New addition to the list - This value is the extent to which a society allows relatively free gratification of natural human drives related to enjoying life and having fun
Extent to which a society allows relatively free gratification of natural human drives related to enjoying life and having fun
Norms
Informal rules that govern what is right or wrong
Enacted norms
Such as green is go and red is stop - explicitly decided upon
Crescive norms
Embedded in a culture, and discovered only through interaction with other members of that culture
Custom
Norm derived from a traditional way of doing things (division of labour in a household, practice of particular ceremonies)
More
A norm with strong moral overtones (taboos, forbidden behaviours, incest, cannibalism)