Week 7
ICM
INTEGRATED MARKETING
COMMUNICATIONS
Susan Simei-Cunningham
Week 7
ICM
INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIAL
AND CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT
ON COMMUNICATIONS
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The Cultural Environment
The cultural environment has influences on
some of the other environments:
• The labour environment
• The socio-economic environment
• The politics
• The Regulatory / Legal Environment..
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The Cultural Environment....
....is in turn influenced by some of the other
environments:
the economic environment is the standard of
living comfortable, the technological
environment, do people walk to work, drive
can they use a phone, access the internet the
geographic environment effects weather
growing food ,housing and living conditions
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The Cultural Environment
Is composed of institutions and social forces
such as basic values, beliefs & attitudes that
affect a society’s preferred life styles,
perceptions and personal values influence
what, where, when & how one buys & uses
products.
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Values Are Acquired Through a
Complex Socialization Process
Culture
Social Class
• Core values &
beliefs are
persistent. Passed
from parents to
children; reinforced
by society to shape
attitudes and
behaviour.
Reference Groups
Family Values
Individual
Styles
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Reference Groups
A reference group is a sociological concept
referring to a group to which another group is
compared. Reference groups are used in order
to evaluate and determine the nature of a
given individual or other group's characteristics
and sociological attributes.
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Reference Groups
Normative
Comparative
Informative
Groups
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Week 7
Situational
influences
Usage
Culture
Buyer Information
Process
Social
Class
Communication
context
Groups
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Influences
on buyer
decision
making
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SITUATIONAL INFLUENCES
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Situational Influences
Situational variables describe characteristics of
a situation or environment that have the
potential to influence our behaviour.
They are the various changeable stimuli that
affect our choice of language in any particular
situation.
One way of classifying situational variables is
to use the categories proposed by Belk (1975).
Week 7
ICM
Belk and Situational
Influences
His categories can usefully be applied to
communicative behaviour and what influences
a speaker to make particular language
choices.
Physical surroundings
Social surroundings
Time
Task definition
Week 7
SOCIAL CLASS
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Week 7
ICM
Social Class
All societies have a class system based on
power, wealth, and prestige.
Marketer use these groups to segment the
market place.
Designers use symbols to reflect lifestyle and
values of the class. But the class system is not
as relevant as before.
Week 7
ICM
Video on Social Class
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0DUsGSM
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkmSjTGN1A
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USAGE
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Usage
Culture influences how a product or service is
used.
Kelloggs have tried to influence how cereal’s
are consumed and at what times.
Communications needs to encapsulate the
situation in which consumption occurs.
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COMMUNICATIONS
SITUATION
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Communications situation
The setting in which marketing
communications are received will affect the
degree to which the message is understood
and acted upon.
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PRUCAHSE SITUATION
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Purchase Situation
The act of purchase can have an influence on
the behaviour of the target individual.
This could be due the to the amount of time
available for the purchase.
The amount of information
How information is presented
How the target audience or culture likes to
shop
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Why is the above of interest?
Understanding these influences will provide
the marketing communications planner with
fresh inputs for the exercise of positioning the
product appropriately.
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GENERAL DISCUSSION ON
CULTURAL AND SOCIAL
DIFFERENCES
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Exam question
The target market for an Integrated Communications Campaign for University courses is
defined as young people (aged 15-19 years) living in European Union countries*. Critically
evaluate how different social and cultural environments in the European Union will affect the
communications plan. In discussing this topic you should cover such aspects as different
languages, different educational experiences and different financial situations. Incorporate
three recommendations for the plan in your answer.
Key elements:
Perceptions of the University will differ depending on the country, city, reputation and so on.
It is hard to “satisfy” all of these perceptions, so a choice needs to be made whether to
standardise communications worldwide or to “go local”
Expect a discussion of the many different social and cultural environments in the EU. These
must highlight differences in language, diet, ideology, entertainment, leisure, work choices
etc.)
We expect specific sections on how differing languages, education and income can
influence University choice or Attitude
3 clear recommendations must be there. These could cover the choice of techniques
(marketing mix elements and sub categories) or to further segment. There will be other
aspects identified by stronger students.
Relevant examples
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Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOCqv1Wc
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnKhlymHcu
0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUCODUvK
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