International Marketing

15th edition

Philip R. Cateora, Mary C. Gilly, and John L. Graham

 Overview 4

The importance of culture to an international

marketer
Definition and origins of culture
The elements of culture
The impact of cultural change and cultural
borrowing
Strategies of planned and unplanned change

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 Definitions and 4
Origins of Culture
Traditional definition of culture
Culture is the sum of the values, rituals, symbols,
beliefs, and thought processes that are learned,
shared by a group of people, and transmitted
from generation to generation.
Individuals learn culture in three ways
Socialization (growing up)
Acculturation (adjusting to a new culture)
Application (decisions about consumption and
production)

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 Origins, Elements, 4
and Consequences of Culture
Exhibit 4.4

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 Geography 4

Exercises a profound control

Includes climate, topography, flora, fauna, and
microbiology
Influenced history, technology, economics, social
institutions and way of thinking
The ideas of Jared Diamond and Philip Parker
Jared Diamond
Historically innovations spread faster east to west
than north to south
Philip Parker
Reports strong correlations between latitude
(climate) and per capita GDP
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 History 4

History - Impact of specific events can be seen

reflected in technology, social institutions, cultural
values, and even consumer behavior
Tobacco was the original source of the Virginia
colonys economic survival in the 1600s
American values and institutions influenced by
Adam Smiths book The Wealth of Nations
Military conflicts in the Middle East brought
about new cola alternatives such as Mecca Cola,
Muslim Up, and Arab Cola.

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 Social Institutions 4

School the most important social institution

Direct link between a nations literacy rate and its
economic development
Difficult to communicate with a market when a
company must depend on symbols and pictures
The media it has replaced family time
TV and the Internet
American educational system produces a lower
percentage of college graduates than 12 other
countries including Russia, Japan, and France

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 Social Institutions 4

Government - influences the thinking and

behaviors of adult citizens
Propaganda through media
Passage, promulgation, promotion, and
enforcement of laws
Corporations - most innovations are introduced
to societies by companies
Spread through media
Change agents

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Elements of Culture (1 of 4) 4

Values
Rituals
Symbols
Beliefs
Thought processes

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Elements of Culture (2 of 4) 4

Cultural values Geert Hofstede

Individualism/Collectivism Index
Reflects the preference of behavior that promotes
ones self interest
Power Distance Index
Measures the tolerance of social inequality
Uncertainty Avoidance Index
Measures the tolerance of uncertainty and
ambiguity
Cultural Values and Consumer Behavior

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 Hofstedes Indexes 4
Language, and Linguistic Distance

Exhibit 4.6

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Elements of Culture (3 of 4) 4

Rituals patterns of behavior and interaction that are

learned and repeated
Marriages , funerals, baptisms, graduations
Symbols
Language
Linguistic distance relationship between
language and international marketing
Aesthetics as symbols
Insensitivity to aesthetic values can offend, create a
negative impression, and, in general, render
marketing efforts ineffective or even damaging
Next
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 Language 4

According to www.ethnologue.com:
A total of 7,413 known living languages exist
in the world
311 being spoken in the U.S.; 297 in Mexico,
13 in Finland, and 241 in China
EU has 20 official languages
India alone has 452 known languages!

Back
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Elements of Culture (4 of 4) 4

Beliefs
Superstitions play a large role in a societys belief
system and therefore, to make light of superstitions in
other cultures can be an expensive mistake
The number 13 in the western hemisphere is
considered unlucky, where as the number 8 in China
connotes prosperity
The practice of Feng Shui
Thought processes
Difference in perception between the East and the
West
Focus vs. big-picture
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 Similarities An Illusion 4

A common language does not guarantee a

similar interpretation of word or phrases
Difference between British and American English
http://www.woodlands-
junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/americanb
ritish/index.html
Just because something sells in one country
doesnt mean it will sell in another
Cultural differences among member of
European Union a product of centuries of
history
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