Multicultural Marketing

3rd Session

Cross culture consumer behavior & Local Consumer and Globalization of Consumption

Today’s Agenda

Convergence of Marketing Environments

Marketing Research

Group Work Class Assignment 2

Individual Quiz 3 (last quiz)

Slides for this can be found on Slideshare

Reminder

4 Quizzes = 30% (individual)

You have already done one quiz

4 Case Studies = 30% (to be done in groups)

1 Final Group Project

Details will be given at the end of the class with a link to

the details and deadline.

Rules:

Latecomers to come in class after break

If you are caught talking to much, you will be sent out of

the class.

Class Group Assignment

Please write on an A4 sheet of paper.

Write all group member names clearly.

Write the title as Assignment no. 1

All write down the question which is below

Why can 'word-of-mouth communication' among

people be considered as a fairly robust consumer

behavior concept cross-culturally?

Assignment Answer

The core concept : In all cultures, people communicate on a many topics, including what they buy, their consumption experiences, what they plan to buy. However, some aspects of word-of-mouth (WOM) may differ cross-culturally, such as:

The extent to which people speak about consumption experiences; it may be considered as trivial and a lack of “savoir-vivre” to speak about what one has bought or used.

The extent to which people consider it appropriate to speak about particular attributes of the consumption experience (price, for instance, may be tabooed).

The extent to which people consider it normal to emit negative WOM messages (defaming others).

The extent to which people consider that negative WOM can backfire on them, especially in small cultural communities where the source of negative WOM risks being identified by a powerful target.

The extent to which WOM influences future purchase decisions.

Quiz 2 - IndividualYou are free to use any resource (Internet, Dictionary, your notes)

No discussions amongst yourselves.

Use an A4 sheet and write your name and the Quiz Number clearly.

‘Dating’ is a very curious concept for many people. In any case it cannot be fully translated into many languages and simply means ‘making an appointment’.

Compare what dating means to Americans with what it means in other cultures, demonstrating how the complex process of finding a partner for life can be commercialized in different contexts.

Hint: Choose a country (France, Taiwan) or a society (Asian, Muslims) and compare it to American Dating sites.

Quiz Answer

There has been a number of articles in the Journal of Consumer Research about 'dating' and the forms of consumption, gifts, restaurants, etc. which are associated with dating in the United States.

Some phrases are typically associated with dating such as 'boy friend' or 'girl friend', often used untranslated in other languages.

The purpose of this comparison is to understand how cultural differences in this area (what a date means, acceptance of non-married couples, of people kissing each other in the street, etc.) are associated with consumption rituals such as gift-giving, birthday presents, first-buy-ever, etc. (his first car, her first ring, etc.).

Convergence of Marketing Environments

Local Marketing Environments

Marketing: Borrowed Concepts and Practices

Regional Convergence

Limitations of Convergence

Local Marketing Environments

Local knowledge is important because it is

operational

Understanding local marketing environments:

Self-criticism is a necessary perspective because we

understand our environment from our own perspective.

There is always a reference point that force us to

make a judgment

High-context international marketing is infused with

local knowledge.

Local Marketing Environments

Local Marketing Environment

Economic Environment

prices are adapted by global marketers so that they fit

with local purchasing power

Income and wealth inequalities are closely related to

power distance

Political Environment

Political aspects of the local environment are generally

associated with political risk (nationalization, coups)

Joint Ventures, Licensing, Contribute to country’s

economy

Legal Environment

No real universal law.

Communist Law, civil code, shariah, socialist law.

Marketing: Borrowed Concepts

Marketing concepts and practices were initially developed in the USA and have continued to spread because of the success of US-based companies in global markets.

Marketing vocabulary is now used worldwide: ‘mailing’, ‘media planning’ and ‘merchandising’ are all familiar

words.

In French companies one often finds a directeur du marketing (vice president, marketing) and a directeur commercial (vice president, sales). The French directeur commercial is actually responsible for a large

part of what Americans call ‘marketing’ as a functional area.

In the United States a vice president, marketing, would more commonly deal with marketing strategy as well as sales and advertising.

Regional Convergence

Regional integration is now under way, based mostly on trade agreements.

The basic assumptions, interaction models and attitudes are to be taken into account in negotiations between nation-states.

Therefore, convergence is basically economic (as in the case of the North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA), more rarely political (as in the case of the EU, and this with obvious pains).

Cultural convergence is a more difficult process: it certainly happens but over a very long period and with people largely unaware of it.

Groups of countries can be identified for the purpose of marketing on 2 elements: similarities (which unite them against the rest of the world) differences (which account for the intraregional diversity).

Regional Convergence

Limitation of Convergence

While economic systems are converging towards a

market economy, the degree of poverty of a

significant group of developing countries has been

increasing over the years.

Buying and consumption patterns in affluent counties

appear to have in fact diverged as much as

converged.

After 9/11, tourism, hotel, airline, and education

industry in countries like the US has faced a lot of

decline.

Cross Cultural Market Research

The Market Research Procedure

Types of Marketing Research

International Challenges

Legal and Ethical Issues

The Marketing Research Procedure

1. Define the research problem (not symptom) and

establish research objectives:

Broad enough?

Influence of local culture?

2. Determine the sources of information needed to

answer the research objectives

Availability, reliability, cost, etc.

3. Gather the relevant data from secondary and/or

primary sources

4. Analyse, interpret, and present the results

Marketing Research

Problem

Identification

Research

Problem-solving

Research

•Market Potential

•Market Share

•Market characteristics

•Image

•Sales

•Forecasting

•Business Trends

•Segmentation

•Product

•Pricing

•Promotion

•Distribution

Types of Marketing Research

Qualitative An exploration of what people do or say

Observation

Depth interviews

Focus groups

Quantitative Structured questions where the response options have

been predetermined

Survey research

Experiments

Observation

International Challenges

Lack & inaccuracy of secondary data

Time & cost of primary data

Co-ordination across countries

Environmental differences leading to complex

designs

Comparability across countries

General Problems in Secondary Data

Availability of Data

entire country, regions?

Reliability of Data

optimistic, understated?

quality in developing markets

Comparability of Data

categories, currencies, frequency, base years, sampling unit

Who collected the data?

For what purpose?

Any reason for purposely misrepresenting the facts?

How were data collected?

Methodology

Are the data internally consistent and logical in light of known data sources or market factors?

General Problems with Primary Data Who should respond?

Ability to communicate opinions?

Willingness? truthful, taboos, taxes

Method suitability? mail, phone, personal interviews, internet

Sample adequacy? Lists and techniques

Language/comprehension translation

meanings

attitudes of interviewers and respondents

willingness to respond

illiteracy & education level

Cross Culture Equivalence Conceptual Equivalence: Similar meaning

equivalently weighted or articulated Self image: beauty, youth, friendliness, etc. Perceived risk:

social, physical, financial, etc.

Functional Equivalence: Similar activities, different functions? preparing a meal? bicycle? watch?

Examine the social setting where the product is consumed

Translation Equivalence Back Translation, and Parallel Translation

E.g. warm/hot vs. Chaud; hair vs. Cheveux and poil

Measure Equivalence Perceptual: Colors, smells

Metric: scale, meaning

Calibration: weight, distance

Data Collection Equivalence Willingness to co-operate

Response bias: Lessen embarassment

Legal and Ethical Issues

Regulatory issues Regulations and guidelines to prevent unfair and deceptive acts

Industry standards to guide research activities

Privacy issues Included in both regulatory and ethical issues

Violating promises of anonymity

Identifying unsuspecting respondents

Ethical issues Honesty throughout the research process

Rights of others (e.g. using competitor information)