Cultural and Social
Environment
Sarath A. Nonis
What is Culture ?
Culture is a set of traditional believes and
values that are transmitted and shared in
a given society
• It is also a total way of life and thinking patterns
that are passed from generation to generation
• Means many things to many people since culture
includes norms, values, customs, art, and more
Why should we be studying
culture in a marketing class?
Cultural orientation reflect the complex
interaction of values, beliefs, attitudes,
and behaviors. Since marketing
involves the integration of how
consumers behave, we need to learn
about other cultures
Culture
Values &
Beliefs
Behaviors
Attitudes
Some Definitions
• Values are general beliefs that either
define what is right or wrong; or general
preferences in a given community.
• Belief is an organized pattern of
knowledge that an individual holds to be
true about the world.
• Attitude is a learned pre-disposition to act
or react in a certain way .
• Behavior is a form of action.
True or False?
• Culture describe most people in a society
most of the time but not all people all the
time.
• Accurate stereotypes refer to societal or
cultural norms.
• What are cultural norms?
• Diversity exists both within and among
cultures but within a single culture, certain
behaviors are favored and others are not.
Characteristics of Culture
• Prescriptive: what should and what shouldn’t
be done is defined
• Socially shared: these behaviors are shared by
others in the culture. People act to reinforce
culture’s prescriptive nature
• Facilitate communication: since individuals in
a specific culture share common habits,
thoughts, and feelings, it makes it easier for
them to communicate. However, this can
impede communications among different
cultures.
Characteristics of Culture Cont.
• Learned: Socialization or enculturation is when a person
absorb or learn the culture in which he or she is raised.
Acculturation is learning about a culture he or she was
not raised in.
• Subjective: different people have different ideas about
the same object.
• Enduring: since culture is shared and passed along
from generation to generation, it is relatively permanent.
• Cumulative: adds as time passes. Some old ideas will
be discarded too.
• Dynamic: Change constantly
Geert Hofsted’s Cultural Typology
Include three broad dimensions:
1. Expected Social Behavior (Individualistic
or group; Low or high power distance;
masculine or feminine).
2. Man’s search for truth (high or low
uncertainty avoidance).
3. Importance of time (short term or long
term orientation).
Geert Hofsted’s Cultural Typology Cont.
Individualism/Collectivism
• Individualism exists when people define themselves as
individuals. It implies loosely knit social frameworks in
which people are supposed to take care only of
themselves and their immediate families.
• Collectivism is characterized by tight social frameworks
in which people distinguish between their own groups
(i.e., relatives, organizations) and other groups.
Geert Hofsted’s Cultural Typology Cont.
• Power Distance
Measures the extent
to which less powerful
members of
organizations accept
the unequal
distribution of power.
Geert Hofsted’s Cultural Typology Cont.
Uncertainty Avoidance
Measures the extent to which people in a society
feel threatened by ambiguous situations and
extent to which they try to avoid these situations
by providing greater career stability, establish
more formal rules, reject deviant ideas and
behavior, and accepting the possibility of
absolute truths and the attainment of expertise.
Geert Hofsted’s Cultural Typology Cont.
Masculinity/Femininity
Masculinity measure the extent to which the
dominant values in society emphasizes
assertiveness and acquisition of money things
while not particularly emphasizing concern for
people. Femininity is the extent to which
dominant values in society emphasizes
relationships among people, concern for others,
and the overall quality of life.
Influence of Culture on
Consumption
Influence of Culture on Thinking
Process
Self Reference Criterion (SRC)
The unconscious reference to ones
values, experiences, and knowledge as a
basis for decisions. The SRC impedes the
ability to assess a foreign market in its true
light.
Influence of Culture on the
Communications Process
Cross-Cultural Communications Process
– Cross-cultural communications is when a person from one culture sends
a message to a person from another culture
– Cross-cultural communication continually involves misunderstanding
caused by:
Cross-cultural  Cross-cultural  Cross-cultural
Misperception
Misinterpretation
Misevaluation
(SELECT)
(ORGANIZE)
(EVALUATE)
• Transmitting information accurately when
cultural differences are present is very low
Communications Process Cont.
Cross-cultural Misperception
• The stage in which each
individual select stimuli from the
external environment
Selective, learned, inaccurate, and
culturally determined
Communications Process Cont.
Cross-cultural Interpretation
• The stage in which an individual organize the observation in a
meaningful way to guide behavior (attempts to give meaning to the
observation and their relationships).
e.g.,
•
smoke -------- fire
cloudy -------- rain
• Individuals CATEGORIZE to simplify their environments
• STEREOTYPING is due to the natural process of categorizing
Communications Process Cont.
Cross-cultural Evaluation
The stage in which each
individual evaluate whether
something is good or bad,
favorable or unfavorable, guilty or
not guilty, right or wrong etc.
Influence of Culture of Verbal
Communications
Influence of Culture on Non-Verbal
Communication
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Language
Language
Language
Language
Language
Language
Language
Language
Language
Language
of
of
of
of
of
of
of
of
of
of
time
space
things
agreement
friendship
negotiations
religion
superstition
color
gifts
Influence of Context on the
Communications Process
Context of a culture can either be high or low in terms of
background information
Low Context Cultures
• Actual words are used to convey the main point
• Messages are explicit and clear
• What is said is more important than how it was said or the
background information
• Pushy/ impatient/ wants to get into business quickly/ position of the
person not important; Everything on paper
• M/Time Orientation
Influence of Context on the
Communications Process Cont.
High Context Cultures
• Actual words may not carry most of the
important information
• Messages are indirect (not clear or implicit)
• Manner in which the message is delivered
(background information) is critical
• Gets to business slow/ position of the person not
important/ mostly verbal (not much is on paper)
• P/Time Orientation
Influence of Culture on Time
Orientation
Monochronic Time (M/Time)
Time is divided into small units and is used in a linear
way. After one project is done, move to the other
Polychronic Time (P/Time)
• Completion of human transaction is emphasized more
than holding to schedules. People work on several
fronts simultaneously. Greater involvement with people.
Culture and Other Topics
• Diffusion Theory
• Marketing Implications of Social and Cultural
Environment
• Cross-cultural Complications and Suggested Solutions
• Training in Cross-cultural Competency
• Cross-Border Negotiations