Chapter 9

The Influence of Culture on

Consumer Behaviour

Consumer Behaviour
Canadian Edition
Schiffman/Kanuk/Das

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Pearson Education Canada Inc.
 Opening Vignette
 Canadians and Minivans
 Is there a unique Canadian Culture?

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 Culture

 The sum total of learned beliefs, values, and

customs that serve to regulate the consumer
behaviour of members of a particular
society.

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Key Characteristics of Culture
 The Impact of culture is hard to identify
 Culture is dynamic
 Culture is shared
 Culture is learned through enculturation and
acculturation
 Culture offers order, direction, and guidance
in all phases of human problem solving
- e.g. When to eat, Where to eat

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 Forms of Cultural Learning
Formal Learning

Informal Learning

Technical Learning

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How Culture is Communicated

 Language and symbols

 Ritual
 Sharing of Culture

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 Culture and Advertising

 Is it the role of advertising to socialize

readers on how to dress, decorate their
homes, choose wines and food for parties,
etc?
– Vanity Fair
– Martha Stewart Living
– Wine Spectator

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Criteria for Value Selection

 The value must be pervasive.

 The value must be enduring.
 The value must be consumer-related.

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 Canadian Core Values
 Achievement and  Individualism
success  Freedom
 Activity  External conformity
 Efficiency and  Humanitarianism
practicality  Youthfulness
 Progress  Fitness and health
 Material comfort

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 Canadian Versus American Core
Values
 Core values are not a Canadian
phenomenon
 Differences between Canadian and
American values stem from differences in
founding values, experiences and
institutions
 Are Canadian and American values
diverging?
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 Comparison of Canadian and
American Values

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 Comparison of Canadian and
American Values – cont’d
 Canadians are less likely to say that religion is
important to them
 There are more agnostics, atheists and secular
humanists in Canada than in the US
 Canadians value the influence of immigrants more
than Americans
 Canadians are more ‘liberal’ in their values at
every age than Americans

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 The Measurement of Culture

 Content Analysis
 Consumer Fieldwork
 Value Measurement Instruments

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 Content Analysis

 A method for systematically analyzing the

content of verbal and/or pictorial
communication.
 Frequently used to determine prevailing
social values of a society.

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 Field Observation

 A measurement technique that takes place

within a natural environment that focuses
on observing behaviour (sometimes without
the subjects’ awareness).

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 Field Observation

 Takes place within a natural environment

 Performed sometimes without the subject’s
awareness
 Focuses on observation of behaviour

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 Participant-Observers

 Researchers who participate in the

environment that they are studying without
notifying those who are being observed

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 Value Measurement Survey
Instruments
 Rokeach Value Survey (RVS)
– A self-administered inventory consisting of eighteen
“terminal” values (i.e., personal goals) and eighteen
“instrumental” values (i.e., ways of reaching
personal goals).
 List of Values (LOV)
– A value measurement instrument that asks
consumers to identify their two most important
values from a nine-value list that is based on the
terminal values of the Rokeach Value Survey

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 (continued)

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Figure 9-8 (continued)

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Culture and Marketing Strategy

 Identify key cultural values that affect the

consumption of the product
 Ensure the marketing mix appeals to these values
 Examine changes in cultural values and adapt the
marketing mix if needed
 Modify marketing mix to subcultures if the culture
is heterogeneous
 Be aware of symbols and ritual
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