Theme 5 - Communication across cultures Flashcards
Why should firms go global?
COMPETITION
- less competition overseas
eg: Starbucks creating the market for leisurely coffee
eg: M&S moving to Asian markets
PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE DIFFERENCES
- New opportunities for products at the end of their lifecycle due to timelags or cultural differences
eg: Harley Davidson popular in Asia
EXCESS CAPACITY
- Excess production capacity enables new products to be made for international markets
eg: Excess steel in China
COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE
- Advantages through technology, skills, materials
eg: pharmaceuticals in Germany
FINANCIAL
- Investment opportunities, venture capital available, growth in overseas investors.
ORGANISATIONAL ISSUES
- Mergers and acquisitions may for the international issue
What is the commonness of thought?
Use communications to talk to everyone about your product. It is about common thoughts between suppliers, people handling services - broadly educate all those in your firm.
eg: Starbucks using in store experience to create an essence of the brand.
What are the challenges to globalisation?
MEDIA FRAGMENTATION
- Not all markets use the same media channels
CONSUMER SKEPTICISM
DIFFERENCES IN CODES OF CONDUCT AND REGULATION
CULTURAL TENSION eg McDonalds in France
ETHICAL AND CULTURAL DISPARITY
LANGUAGE BARRIERS
What are the 3 strategic responses for businesses when going global?
GLOBALISATION/STANDARDISATION
LOCALISATION/ADAPTATION
GLOCALISATION
What is the globalisation/standardisation approach?
Standardise products and market them worldwide with standardised tactic.
- COUNTRY OF ORIGIN AFFECT
eg: IKEA exporting Swedish design
eg: BMW exporting German engineering
OR
Using the same piece of communications in many cultures
eg: HSBC
What are the benefits of a standardisation approach?
Cheap
Control brand identity
What are the drawbacks of a standardisation approach?
May be rejected
May offend
What is a localised approach to communications?
Opposite of standardisation. Adjusting to the environmental conditions. People in different regions have different standards so you need to adapt your communications.
eg: L’Oreal advertising
What are the benefits of a localisation communications approach?
Experienced ad agencies know what will sell
Reduced chance to offed
May make penetration appear more natural
What are the drawbacks of a localisation communication approach?
Can lose brand message
Outsourcing is costly
What is a glocalisation approach?
Blending standardisaation and adaptation of communication approaches to ensure global strategies are adopted locally.
Co-existence of global homogeneity and local hetereogeneity.
What did LEVITT (1983) hypothesise?
Businesses are confronted with a homogenous global village ~ deliver standardised, high quality products and brands using standardised advertising, pricing and distribution - higher quality at low prices.
Are consumers converging under a Western umbrella?
What is convergence?
The concept that consumers are becoming more alike in their needs and wants.
What is divergence?
The concept that consumers are becoming less alike in their needs and wants.
Name an example to illustrate the convergence and divergence debate.
Students converge in what they wear, activities they pursue and where they study.
Students are different because they do not have the same consumption habits.
eg: McDonalds in Thailand used a rap to convey the standard message.
What products have high cultural sensitivity?
DIVERGENCE
Food, fashion.
What products have low cultural sensitivity?
CONVERGENCE
Cars, technology.
What is culture?
“Collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one category of people from those in another”
HOFSTEDE
- Culture is learnt, individuals are products of culture: ideas, values and emotions.
What are Hofstede’s 6 Cultural dimensions?
POWER DISTANCE INDEX
INDIVIDUALISM VS COLLECTIVISM
MASCULINITY VS FEMININITY
UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE INDEX
LONG TERM VS SHORT TERM NORMATIVE ORIENTATION
INDULGENCE VS RESTRAINT
What is individualism vs collectivism?
INDIVIDUALISM
Preference for a loosely knit social framework
COLLECTIVISM
Tight knit framework
What is the power distance index?
Distance of hierarchy
What is masculinity vs femininity?
MASCULINITY
Preference for achievement, heroism, assertiveness and material rewards for success.
FEMININITY
Preference for cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak, quality of life.
What is the uncertainty avoidance index?
HIGH UNCERTAINTY:
Maintains rigid codes of belief and behaviour.
LOW UNCERTAINTY:
Societies open in which practise counts more than principle.
What is long term vs short term normative orientation?
HIGH NORMATIVE ORIENTATION
Encourage thrift and efforts in modern education to prepare for the future
LOW NORMATIVE ORIENTATION
Preference to maintain time honoured traditions, view societal change as suspicious
What is indulgence vs restraint?
INDULGENCE:
Free gratification of basic human drives related to enjoying life and having fun.
RESTRAINT:
Societies that suppress gratification of needs and regulates it by means of strict social norms
Name examples of marketing adaptation examples
IKEA removing Mum from bathroom for Arab audience
H&M cover shoulders in adverts to avoid cultural backlash
LEGO build your child’s mind for Asia, ‘what will your child make of it’ for UK
What defines how effective cultural communications are?
The context in which values can be evoked by the campaign to match the cultural values of the target audience in another culture.
eg: Diet Coke in Japan as Coke Lite (figure maintenance)
KitKat in Japan, similar to Kitto Katsu meaning you will surely win, KitKat’s become a good will token.
What are the 3 elements of advertising style?
APPEAL - factual/emotion
BASIC FORM - lifestyle/slice of life/testimonial
EXECUTION - actors/dress/language
When these elements are congruent to values, likeability increases (POLEGATO AND BJERKE)
What are the 3 issues of international marketing communication?
1) INTEGRATION
2) MESSAGE FIDELITY (how yoou code values to achieve fidelity)
3) MEDIA AVAILABILITY AND REACH
Describe in relation to Hofstede’s values how communications look to target the target market for a particular company.
GLENFIDDICH
Targeting aspirers, looking to make it in the world.
UK -> Individualistic advert, plays to masculinity and social reward.
FRANCE -> High indulgence and individualistic
TAIWAN -> Highly collectivist, more feminine, short term normative orientation, collectivism, low indulgence.
How do people decode communications?
Through cultural models
Encoding and decoding circles must overlap so the meaning of communications resonates
eg: Gerber baby food in Africa
eg: Cue toothpaste in France, same name as a pornography magazine
What are the issues with web design across cultures?
Culturally adapted sites generate greater efficiency and favourable attitudes.
Issues:
- Metaphors
- Images
- Language
- Localising sites
- Privacy
- Domain names
- Navigation
