Chapter 14 : Cultural Influences on Consumer Behaviour

Question 1

Aspects of culture - ecology

Answer 1

• 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

Question 2

Aspects of culture - social structure

Answer 2

• the way orderly social life is maintained
• includes domestic & political groups

i.e. nuclear family vs. extended family

Question 3

Aspects of culture - ideology

Answer 3

• 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

Question 4

Values

Answer 4

• shared beliefs shaped by individual, social & cultural factors
• values heavily emphasized than cultures many universal

Question 5

Hofstede

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Collectivist culture

Answer 6

People subordinate their personal goals to those of a stable group

Question 7

Individualistic culture

Answer 7

Attach more importance to perceptual goals & people are more likely to change memberships when the demands of the group become too costly

Question 8

Norms

Answer 8

Dictating what is right or wrong

Question 9

Enacted norms

Answer 9

Rule that green light means go and red light means stop

Question 10

Crescive norms

Answer 10

more subtle than enacted norms

Question 11

Crescive norms

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Myth

Answer 12

• 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

Question 13

Myths serve 4 functions in culture

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Binary option

Answer 14

• two opposing ends of some dimension are represented

i. e. good vs evil, nature vs. tech

Question 15

Ritual

Answer 15

Set of symbolic behaviours that occur in a fixed sequence

Question 16

Ritual Artifacts

Answer 16

Items used in performance of rituals

i.e. bday candles, diplomas

Question 17

Ritual Scripts

Answer 17

• Identify artifacts, the sequence in which they are used & who uses them
  i. e. graduation & etiquette books

Question 18

Fortress brands

Answer 18

labels we use to perform our rituals

Question 19

Gift-giving

Answer 19

consumers find the perfect gift & remove price tag to change item to a unique good, wrap it, & deliver to the recipient

Question 20

Reciprocity norm

Answer 20

obligated people to return gesture of a gift with one of equal value

Question 21

Gift-giving ritual - three stages

Answer 21

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

Question 22

Reciprocity norm

Answer 22

Obligates people to return the gesture of a gift of equal value

Question 23

Symbolic exchange

Answer 23

what gift giving can involve where the giver is motivated by unselfish factors such as love & doesn’t expect anything in return

Question 24

Anti-festival

Answer 24

Symbols associated with holidy are distorted

i.e. Halloween - parocliese meaning of easter by stressing recursion of ghosts

Question 25

Rites of passage

Answer 25

Rituals we perform to mark change in social status

i.e. puberty, death

Question 26

Rites of passage stages

Answer 26

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

Question 27

Scared consumption

Answer 27

objects & events that are set apart from normal activities & are treated with some degree of respect or awe

Question 28

Profane consumption

Answer 28

involves consumer objects & event that are ordinary, everyday objects & events that do not share the “specialness” of scared ones

Question 29

Scaralization

Answer 29

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

Question 30

Contamination

Answer 30

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

Question 31

Hoarding

Answer 31

Merely unsystamatic collecting

Question 32

Collecting

Answer 32

• systematic acquisiton of a particular object or set of objects
• involves systematic & emotional components

Question 33

Scared places

Answer 33

Have been set apart from society because they have some significance to a country’s heritage

Question 34

Scared events

Answer 34

world of sports is scared & almost assums status of a religion

Question 35

Desacralization

Answer 35

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)

Question 36

Etic prespective

Answer 36

focuses on commonalities across cultures

Question 37

Emic prespective

Answer 37

focuses on variations within a culture

Question 38

Symbol

Answer 38

refers to an object that represents something else

Question 39

Cross-cultural analysis

Answer 39

involves examining the degree to whihc ocnsumers of 2 or more cultures are different or similar in terms of psychological, social, & cultural factors

Question 40

Creolization

Answer 40

when foreign influences integrate with local meanings

Question 41

Functional areas in a culture

Answer 41

Ecology
* adapting to a habitat

Social Strucutre
* maintaining orderly social life

Ideology
* beliefs & relationships

Question 42

Relational effects of gift-giving

Answer 42

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