8/12/2019 Material Culture, international marketing

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a) Material Culture

Material culture refers to tools, artifacts and technology. It is those products made by

people. It is not products produced by nature or naturally occurring. To understand thisdistinction lets take an example. A tree in itself is not part of a material culture, - a Christmas

Tree is.

Before marketing in a foreign culture it is important to assess the material culture like

transportation, power, communications and so on. All aspects of marketing are affected by

material culture like sources of power for products, media availability and distribution. Forexample, refrigerated transport does not exist in many African countries. Material culture

introductions into a country may bring about cultural changes which may or may not be

desirable.

Material culture refers to the results of technology and is directly related to how asociety organizes its economic activity. It is manifested in the availability andadequacy of the basic economic, social, financial, and marketing infrastructure

for the international business in a market. The basic economic infrastructureconsists of transportation, energy, and communications systems. Social infrastructurerefers to housing, health, and educational systems prevailing in thecountry of interest. Financial and marketing infrastructures provide the facilitatingagencies for the international firms operation in a given marketforexample, banks and research firms. In some parts of the world, the internationalfirm may have to be an integral partner in developing the various infrastructuresbefore it can operate, whereas in others it may greatly benefit from their highlevel of sophistication.The level of material culture can aid segmentation efforts if the degree of industrializationof the market is used as a basis. For companies selling industrial goods,such as General Electric, this can provide a convenient starting point. In developingcountries, demand may be highest for basic energy-generating products. In fully developedmarkets, time-saving home appliances may be more in demand.While infrastructure is often a good indicator of potential demand, goods sometimesdiscover unexpectedly rich markets due to the informal economy at work indeveloping nations. In Kenya, for example, where most of the countrys 30 millionpopulation live on less than a dollar a day, more than 11,444,000 cell phones (2007)have been bought; wireless providers are scrambling to keep up with demand. Leapfroggingolder technologies, mobile phones are especially attractive to Kenyas thousandsof small-time entrepreneursmarket-stall owners, taxi drivers, and evenhustlers who sell on the sidewalks. For most, income goes unreported, creating an

invisible wealth on the streets. Mobile phones outnumber fixed lines in Kenya, as