Chapter 14 : Cultural Influences on Consumer Behaviour Flashcards
Aspects of culture - ecology
- the way a system adapted to its habitat
- snaped by technology used to obtain & distribute resources
i.e. Japnese value products designed for efficient use of space because of cramped conditions
Aspects of culture - social structure
- the way orderly social life is maintained
- includes domestic & political groups
i.e. nuclear family vs. extended family
Aspects of culture - ideology
- mental characteristics of people and the way in which they relate to their environment
- revolves around the belief that members of a society possess a common world view
Values
- shared beliefs shaped by individual, social & cultural factors
- values heavily emphasized than cultures many universal
Hofstede
Power distance
* extended to less powerful members of organizations & institutions accept & expect that power is distributed equally
Uncertainity Avoidance
* society tolerance for uncertainty & ambiguity
Individuals / Collectivism
* the extent to which the welfare of individual vs that of the group is valued
Long-term oruentation
* tends to foster an orientation towards future rewards, such as preservice & thrift
Indulgence vs. Restraint
* extent to which society allows relatively free gratification of natural human drives to enjoying life & having fun
Collectivist culture
People subordinate their personal goals to those of a stable group
Individualistic culture
Attach more importance to perceptual goals & people are more likely to change memberships when the demands of the group become too costly
Norms
Dictating what is right or wrong
Enacted norms
Rule that green light means go and red light means stop
Crescive norms
more subtle than enacted norms
Crescive norms
Custom
* A norm handed down from the past controls basic behaviours, such as division of labour in household, or proactive of particular ceremonies
Convensions
* Norms regarding conduct of everyday life - they deal with subtitles of consumer behaviour
i.e. “correct” way to furnish a house, host a party etc
More
- vary across cultures
- custom with a strong moral overtone -> involves forebodden behaviour
i.e. incest or cannibilism
Myth
- story containing symbolic events that express the shared emotions & ideas of a culture
- story often consists fo conflict between 2 opposing forces
- reduce anxiety by providing consumers with guidelines about their world
Myths serve 4 functions in culture
Metaphysical
* help explain orgins of existance
Cosmolgical
* emphasize all components of universe are part of a single culture
Sociological
* maintain order by authorizing a social code to be followed by members of a culture
Psychological
* provide models for personal conduct
Binary option
- two opposing ends of some dimension are represented
i. e. good vs evil, nature vs. tech
Ritual
Set of symbolic behaviours that occur in a fixed sequence
Ritual Artifacts
Items used in performance of rituals
i.e. bday candles, diplomas
Ritual Scripts
- Identify artifacts, the sequence in which they are used & who uses them
i. e. graduation & etiquette books
Fortress brands
labels we use to perform our rituals
Gift-giving
consumers find the perfect gift & remove price tag to change item to a unique good, wrap it, & deliver to the recipient
Reciprocity norm
obligated people to return gesture of a gift with one of equal value
Gift-giving ritual - three stages
During gestion
- giver is motivated by an event to produce a gift
- event can be structural (Christmas) or emergent (personal reasons)
Presentation / Process of exchange
* recipient response to gift & donor evaluates response
Reformulation
- bonds between giver & receiver are adjusted to reflect the new relationship that emerges after the exchange is complete
- negativity can arise if recipient feels that gift is inappropriate
i.e. husband buys wife vacuum
Reciprocity norm
Obligates people to return the gesture of a gift of equal value
Symbolic exchange
what gift giving can involve where the giver is motivated by unselfish factors such as love & doesn’t expect anything in return
Anti-festival
Symbols associated with holidy are distorted
i.e. Halloween - parocliese meaning of easter by stressing recursion of ghosts
Rites of passage
Rituals we perform to mark change in social status
i.e. puberty, death
Rites of passage stages
Separation
* individual is detached from their original status group
i.e. student leaves for uni
Liminality
* person is between statuses
i.e. arrive on campus trying to figure out o-week
Aggregation
* person returns to society after rite of passage
i.e. student returns home for summer
Scared consumption
objects & events that are set apart from normal activities & are treated with some degree of respect or awe
Profane consumption
involves consumer objects & event that are ordinary, everyday objects & events that do not share the “specialness” of scared ones
Scaralization
when ordinary objects, events, & people take on scared meaning to a culture or specific groups in a culture
I.e. stanley cup finals & Elivs have become scaralised
Contamination
Objects associated with scared people and events they become scared to their own right
i.e. why fans want to be touched by famous people
Hoarding
Merely unsystamatic collecting
Collecting
- systematic acquisiton of a particular object or set of objects
- involves systematic & emotional components
Scared places
Have been set apart from society because they have some significance to a country’s heritage
Scared events
world of sports is scared & almost assums status of a religion
Desacralization
Occurs when scared object is removed from it’s special place or is duplicated in mass quantities
i.e. souvienir reporductions of monuments (eiffel tower)
Etic prespective
focuses on commonalities across cultures
Emic prespective
focuses on variations within a culture
Symbol
refers to an object that represents something else
Cross-cultural analysis
involves examining the degree to whihc ocnsumers of 2 or more cultures are different or similar in terms of psychological, social, & cultural factors
Creolization
when foreign influences integrate with local meanings
Functional areas in a culture
Ecology
* adapting to a habitat
Social Strucutre
* maintaining orderly social life
Ideology
* beliefs & relationships
Relational effects of gift-giving
Strengthening
* improves quality of a relationship
Affirmation
* validates the positive quality of a relationship
Negligible effects
* minimal effect on perceptions of relationship quality
Negative confirmation
* validates a negative quality of a relationship between the gift giver & receiver
Weakening
* harms quality of the relationship between giver & receiver
Serving
* harms relationship between giver & the receiver to the extent that the relationship is dissolved
