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)
Conventions
Norms regarding the conduct of everyday life - the correct way to furnish ones home, wear clothes, or host a dinner party
Food culture
Pattern of food and beverage consumption that reflects the values of social groups
Myths
A story containing symbolic elements that expresses the shared emotions and ideals of a culture
Example: Little Red Riding Hood, Big Foot
-Outcome is moral guide for people
–Reduces anxiety
Myths service four interrelated functions in a culture:
1) Metaphysical
2) Cosmological
3) Sociological
4) Psychological
1) Metaphysical
They help to explain the origins of existence
2) Cosmological
The emphasize that all components of the universe are part of a single picture
3) Sociological
They maintain order by authorizing a social code to be followed by members of a culture
4) Psychological
They provide models for personal conduct
Monomyth
A myth that is common to many cultures (Spider-Man, Superman)
Ritual
Set of multiple, symbolic behaviours that occur in a fixed sequence and that tend to be repeated periodically
Gift-giving ritual
The events involved in the selection, presentation, acceptance, and interpretation of a gift
Consumers procure the perfect object, meticulously remove price tag, carefully wrap it, then deliver it to recipient
3 stages to the gift-giving ritual
1) Gestation
2) Presentation
3) Reformulation
1) Gestation
Motivated by an event to procure a gift
Could be structural: giving a gift for Christmas, birthday, etc.
Or emergent: Decision is personal and idiosyncratic
2) Presentation
The gift exchange part
Recipient responds to the gift and the donor evaluates their response
3) Reformulation
Bonds between the giver and receiver are adjusted (tighter or looser) to reflect the new relationship that emerges after the exchange is complete
Reciprocity norm
A culturally learned obligation to return the gesture of a gift with one of equal value
3 rules about regifting
1) Never regift something that has been used
2) Remove all traces of the original wrapping before rewrapping
3) Never return a gift to the person who gave it to you
5 familiar classes of rituals:
1) Exchanging gifts and cards
2) Showing affection
3) Going out
4) Preparing and consuming food and drink
5) Giving special attention to grooming and clothing
Rites of passage
Sacred times marketed by a change in social status
Examples of Rites of passage
Puberty, funerals, getting divorced
Consumers’ rites of passage consist of three stages
1) Separation
2) Liminality
3) Aggregation
1) Separation
Occurs when the individual is detached from his or her original group or status (university leaves home)
2) Liminality
The middle stage in which the person is literally between one status and another (the new arrival on campus tries to figure out what is happening during orientation week)
3) Aggregation
Takes place when the person re-enters society after the rite of passage is complete (student returns home for summer vacation)
Sacred consumption
The process of consuming objects and events that are set apart from normal life and treated with some degree of respect or awe
Profane consumption
**Does not mean vulgar or obscene in this context)
The process of consuming objects and events that are ordinary or of the everyday world
Sacralization
A process that occurs when ordinary objects, events, or people take on sacred meaning to a culture or to specific groups within a culture
Example: Elvis Presley , the Stanley Cup Finals
Objectification
Occurs when sacred qualities are attributed to mundane items
Contamination
Objects associated with sacred events or people become sacred in their own right
New York being Sacred for the Statue of Liberty
An item is sacralized as soon as it enters a ________ and takes on a special significance to the collector that in some cases may be difficult for an outsider to comprehend
Collection
Collecting
The systematic acquisition of a particular object or set of objects
Desacralization
The process that occurs when a sacred item or symbol is removed from its special place, or is duplicated in mass quantities, and becomes profane as a result
A miniature Statue of Liberty eliminates its special aspects by turning it into an unauthentic commodity
Back translation
Information is first translated from the original language (say English) to the target language (say Spanish) and then a different interpreter retranslates the translated as back into its original language to catch errors
Example: Charles reading my French work and telling me what is exactly says in English
Symbol
An object that represents something else
Ex: Glasses symbolizing intelligence
Ex: Infant wearing pink means its a girl
Standardized strategy
Marketing strategy where many cultures, especially those of relatively industrialized countries, have become so homogenized that the same approach will work throughout the world
Etic perspective
An approach to studying cultures that stresses commonalities across cultures
Emic perspective
An approach to studying culture that stresses the unique aspects of each culture
Cross-cultural analysis
Systematic examination of the degree to which consumers for two or more cultures are different or similar in terms of psychological, social, and cultural factors
Four major segments
1) Global Citizens (55% of consumers) use the global success of a company as a sign of quality and innovation
2) Global dreamers (23% of consumers) consist of consumers who see global brands as quality products and readily buy into the myths they author
3) Antiglobals: (13% of consumers) skeptical that transnational companies deliver higher-quality goods. Avoid business with transnational firms
4) Global agnostics: (9% of consumers) don’t base purchase decisions on a brand’s attributes
Creolization
Occurs when foreign influences integrate with local meanings, often leading to new behaviours or products
Gift giving is a form of:
–Economic exchange
–Symbolic exchange
–Social expression
Business gifts
define/maintain professional relationships, improve employee morale, and result in higher sales
Self-Gifts
Self gifting is a socially acceptable way of rewarding for good deeds, or consoling themselves for negative events
Japanese gift-giving rituals
–Symbolic meaning of gift: duty to others in social group
–Giri: giving is moral imperative
–Kosai: reciprocal gift-giving obligations to relatives/friends
–Never open gift in front of the giver
