Cultural Distance Measurement And Its Impact Marketing Essay

Cultural Distance Measurement And Its Impact Marketing Essay In todays globalised world economy, the nations are becoming extremely cross-cultural. A better understanding of global consumer culture and its influences on consumer behaviour will play an integral role for both international marketers and consumer researchers to penetrate new international markets. The role of cultural difference in the present cross-cultural environment is taken into consideration for localizing marketing strategies (Kroeber and Kluckhohn, 1952). The designing of international marketing strategies and understanding the local market cultures is a challenge for new consumer researchers to understand and analyse the needs of foreign consumers. It is essential to understand the aspects of cultural dimensions to assess the impact of culture on consumer decisions, as the culture tends to manipulate the decisions of the consumer based on cultural value system (Akaka and Alden, 2010). This cultural value system acts as a guide for interactions within the members of the s ociety and between the consumer and its products. What is culture? According to Hofstede (2001), the culture is defined as, the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another. This definition focusses on the etic approach, where the researchers look for universal or culture free concepts and its theories. However, the emic methodology is an alternative approach focussing on the subject being researched and understanding its issues. Culture is defined emically as, the lens through which all phenomena are seen. It determines how these phenomenas are adopted and assimilated Luna and Gupta (2001). In fact, there are several models of culture differences which are utilized to determine the framework of culture in shared groups or in a group acting as an interpretive model of consumer behaviour. This paper evaluates the culture dimension models proposed by Hofstede (2001) and House (2004) and the impact of different cultures in global consumer market. Some people may argue that culture is a shared idea, yet with different value sets, influenced by cross cultural beliefs. Within the reality of intercultural communication, the behavioural pattern followed by one society is integral to the basic concept of culture (McSweeney, 2002). Hofstede categorized culture into five different dimensions such as power distance, individualism/collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity/feminity, and long term/short term orientation. The market researchers implemented Hofstedes cultural dimensions to the communications related to digital technology. Javidan et al. (2004), for instance, recognized individualism/collectivism which is one of the cultural dimensions proposed by (Hofstede, 2001), through a text based transcript of courses listserv (University online portal). They noticed that students from individualist culture behaved differently than the students from collectivist culture while communicating in listserv. The white American students, especially males were discovered to be more individualistic in their approach as compared to the Asian students who were more group oriented displaying a strong sense of we approach in their messages. This study showed that organizational communication through internet authenticated the influence of different cultural traits on the students behavioural pattern, belonging to different national cultures. Furthermore, Chiou (1999) conducted market research in the United States and Taiwan which resulted into findings that consumers in individualist cultures used products to demonstrate thei r inner values, while in collectivist cultures the consumers were more influenced to utilize the product to reinforce the social relationships. In an international public relations situation, the presence of power distance factor was also confirmed by other researchers, where power distance played an integral role in terms of product crisis. For example, the Coca Cola tainting crisis in Belgium in 1999. The product was recalled as the consumers complained about the irregular taste and odour in the bottled products. Due to Symptoms of reported illness, the Belgian Health Ministry banned the products of the Coca Cola Enterprise. Approximately, 15 million cans and tinned products were recalled. The CEO of Coca Cola apologized to the Belgian Health Ministry, and posted notes in newspapers and addressed consumers through media. On 22nd June 1999, the Belgian Health Ministry lifted the ban on Coca Cola Enterprise, and the company provided premiums to 72,000 consumers (Johnson Peppas, 2003). This case exhibits high level of power distance between the government and the consumers, which demonstrates a strong response to the crisis as compared to the countries that exhibits low power distance. On the other hand, Steenkamp et al. (2001) studied the effect of national culture on shaping consumer perceptions. He argues that the relationship between the conceptual definition of Hofstedes dimension and its implementation to measure cultural dimensions is weak and unclear. The scores are based on the samples recorded from IBM employees, which do not represent their own country in the research. This model can be implemented in small scale industries and less developed countries. In addition, he also states that Hofstedes research is more focussed on work related values which makes the data time and context specific. Similarly, McSweeney (2002) argues that Hofstedes research displayed narrowness of the survey conducted on population limited to one organisation IBM. Although the survey was conducted in 66 countries where IBM subsidiaries were located, the data used to build national culture comparisons was considerably limited to feedbacks from sales-plus marketing employees of IBM. The survey was matched on an occupational and organisational basis which neglected the fact of the employees, which could display the extent to which they can represent their nationality and their respective cultures. The sense of clarity in Hofstedes research with respect to national culture is unclear. Average tendency depending on questionnaire responses from the employees in a single company, failed to justify Hofstedes claim that national average tendency of consumers matches the average tendency of the people in the cross cultural environment. On the other hand, another research programme came into existence which categorized culture into nine major dimensions such as uncertainty avoidance, power distance, institutional collectivism, in-group collectivism, gender egalitarianism, assertiveness, future orientation, performance orientation, humane orientation and six primary global factors for leadership behaviour (House et al. 2004). Project GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational Behaviour Effectiveness) mainly focussed on the performance of leadership behaviours in different cultural contexts (House and Javidan, 2004). This project determined culture into two distinct types: cultural values and its practices. According to House et al. (2004), firstly, societal culture might influence an implicit belief which creates a CLT (cultural leadership theory). Secondly, leadership behaviour and attributes is directly influenced by societal culture. Thirdly, leader behaviours and characteristics leads to leader acceptance and effectiveness, however this interconnection is guided by CLT. The GLOBE dimensions of culture are applicable at both the societal or organisational level. For instance, feminine values are more developed in Japanese culture as compared to masculine values. Emotions and sensitivity plays an important role in Japanese marketing. For example, in Japan the wife decides how much money her husband can spend on his daily expenditures (Tanouchi, 1983). This factor can manipulate the buying behaviour of the husband. This society exhibits higher scores on gender egalitarianism practices as women is in the position where she has authority over her male counterpart, and societies where the scores are low (e.g. India, Kuwait, Egypt) the involvement of women in decision making is low. No society can be depicted as true egalitarian society where we can discover equal opportunities for men and women. Furthermore, future orientation is also one of the dimensions of culture discussed by House in his GLOBE project, where it demonstrates a cultural trait of individuals in societies involved in future planning and investment (Ashkanasy et al., 2004). For example, Intel, the worlds leading manufacturer of microprocessors is planning to enter the mobile phone market. Its investment and planning is based on its competence of developing and designing of smartphones which can be used more like a computer. Value added features of voice capability with faster internet access on smartphones like computers using Intels low power atom microprocessors. Based on this new technology, Intel is hoping to become a major player in the field of mobile communications (Jobber, 2010). This case exhibits low scores on the aspect of future orientation culture dimension proposed by House (2004). Intel wanted to invest on the technology to achieve market share and gain profit in the current market situation. The degree to which individual or the organisation has the propensity to save for the future requirements that society scores high on the future orientation dimension of culture According to recent study, Okazaki et al. (in press) scrutinized how soft sell versus hard sell techniques of advertising was interpreted by Japanese versus Unites States consumers. Using performance orientation and assertiveness which are two dimensions of culture in GLOBE study, it assessed the effectiveness of the ads in two societies. The results showed a variable response across the two cultures. The hard sell approaches are more persuasive for American consumers while soft sell advertising approaches are more favourable for Japanese consumers. This study shows that US consumers are more assertive and believe in performance oriented values. On the other hand, Japanese consumers are more likely to achieve irritation by hard selling ads because the ads were perceived as too aggressive, and too achievement oriented. This study exhibits multiple dimensions of GLOBE such as assertiveness and performance orientation. It also provides an idea about the perspective of advertising consid ering different culture practices and values. By the above mentioned interaction models proposed by (Hofstede, 1980b) and (House, 2004), culture can be segmented into cultural values and practices, corresponding to consumer behavioural pattern influenced by their own culture. The cultural difference need to be identified in the global marketing situation, because it gives an idea of understanding local cultures which authenticates a deeper understanding of consumption pattern in a specific situation. The understanding of culture distance also helps to build a relationship between the product or service and the consumers. Failure in understanding culture difference may lead to catastrophic ramifications. For example, Halal meats in fast food outlets. Halal is an Arabic word which means lawful, which denotes that animal, should be slaughtered by a Muslim and invokes the name of Allah as the animal, dies. Belgium has the largest Halal meat processing plants as the number of Muslim population is increasing in the European region. The fast food outlet such as McDonalds, KFC therefore has halal certification where there is low risk of contamination from pork products. Due to which fast food business has established quickly and is a growing trend in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia accounts of 15% of food sales through fast food business which has grown over the last 5 years. (Usunier and Lee, 2005, p. 279). Similarly in countries like Malaysia, for example, fast food outlets such as Pizza Hut and KFC are advised by Syariah council to ensure that all overseas food supply and food production is Halal meat. The fast food companies identified the cultural importance and its difference with respect to Muslim traditions, and to attract the Muslim consumers they started with the Halal system, and posted notes and hoarding in front of the outlets which said that they follow the tradition of Halal meat. As a result, fast food outlets identified the cultural difference and gained market share in the global food sector. Another example which demonstrates cultural difference playing an important role in manipulating consumer behaviour is in the womens beauty sector. This sector consists of segments which provide brands with immense of opportunities to target specific groups. LOreal, for example, with its tag line Because youre worth it targets women who believe that they deserve to be self indulgence and pampering. Such niche targeting has made the brand into one of the leading players in the cosmetic market. However, on the other hand, Unilever entered the beauty market but chose not to compete with LOreal directly. Alternatively, it categorized women into different belief segments who oppose against beauty stereotypes. Dove promoted its product with its Campaign for Real Beauty where images of women do not match the tall, thin and young category. The brand created a different belief system by promoting workshops to help young girls with body related low self esteem. Dove successfully created a democratic view in the mind of the consumers about beauty and identified the market segment by tapping the women culture based on beliefs. Implementation of this strategy led Dove to be a major player in this market segment (Jobber, 2010). Consumer electronics market on the other hand is typically culture free product segment as they are more technologically based product or service and universally used. Here, the culture context acts lower priority and consumer behaviour is similar with respect to cross-national environments (Usunier and Lee, 2005). However, there is an exception in developing countries in which consumer electronic goods are bonded with culture. For example in China, owning a colour TV is a requirement to marriage and they sometimes are willing to wait so that they are able to afford the best colour TV to display the social status before marriage. Sony Corporation took advantage of this culture system and launched 3D LED BRAVIA Colour TV in China. Owning this TV in China is considered to be respectful and wealthy. Sony tapped the Chinese market with Japanese technology which favoured the organisation to create a brand image and now it is one of the major consumer brands in China in terms of television and music industry (Usunier and Lee, 2005) Some organisations tend to enter the niche market by targeting a specific group of culture. For instance, Nike produces wide range of sports equipments and follows the hip hop culture and the youth culture to persuade consumers to buy their fashionable products. For market penetration, Nike signed contracts with famous professional teams and athletes casting them in their advertisements and persuading young generation to buy the same product as their sports ideal is utilizing them. Nike targeted the sporting culture in young generation who care more about the utility and quality of the product rather than price. This strategy provides them a huge platform to position their product in the consumer market. Athletes are the main consumers of Nike products. This sporting company segmented the market according to the consumers sporting culture; this strategy helped Nike to build product intimacy with the consumers and persuaded them to purchase the product by associating the brand with high profile athletes like Michael Jordan. The recognition of distinct sporting culture in the consumer market led Nike to be the leading company in the world to provide sporting goods (www.articlebase.com) To conclude, it has been observed that culture plays an integral role in consumer behaviour. The marketers adapt and standardize their product according to the culture, so that they can segment, target, and position their product in a specific group or in the market as a whole. The organisations who failed to identify the cultural distance in consumers, struggled with the concept of brand positioning in the global market situation. Cultural difference can be reduced by analysing the local environment and practices to create a brand relationship between the product and the consumers. The brand adoption process of a consumer is influenced by personal value and expressions in their purchase. The individuality of the consumers affects the brand value and their perceptions about the brand. The concept of Glocalisation where Globalisation meets Localisation is essential in order to help the marketers to customize their global brands according to the local needs and suit the local cultures. One of the most important culture bound tool of marketing mix is advertising. It is the strongest link between the companies and its consumers in marketing communications. The words and images used in advertising can influence the consumer in terms of his culture, as the advertising campaign does not depends on particular country or region. This strategy can create an impact on global consumer culture at a considerable extent provide the message is interpreted in the way What is said and How it is said by the brand. In this case, as mentioned above, the brands such as Sony, McDonalds, KFC, and Nike identified the global consumer culture and their trends which patronized them to create a brand image in the minds of the consumers. In addition, they also created a brand relationship whic h corresponds to the global consumer culture by global marketing operations.

Life Frankenstein Essay

Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein in 1818. Frankenstein was a gothic novel and the book was based on Mary Shelly’s life as she had a lot of death in her life as her mother died giving birth to her she and she lost her only baby. Mary Shelly want to bring her back as that is what Frankenstein did when his mother die giving birth to his brother. There was a lot of increase of science at time which drove Frankenstein to make the monster. Chapter 5 is the most important chapter as it is when he brings the monster to life but when the monster comes to life Frankenstein would not take responsibility and would not go back to his house â€Å"I did not dare return to the apartment which I inhabited.† It shows that man should not play god if they are not willing to take responsibility for their action which Frankenstein didn’t do. He runs out of his house â€Å"seemingly to detain me, but I escaped, and rushed down stairs.† Just because he didn’t want to take responsibility for the  Monster. This chapter shows that he is a coward as he made the monster but when he saw it he was scary to him even though he was the one who made it. It also show he is very selfish as he doesn’t think of the monster he only thinks of him self and what would happen if one of his friends sees it â€Å"I dreaded to behold this monster but I feared still more that Henry should see it† this show that he thinks more about him self then he does about the monster as he don’t want Henry to see it as it would damage his reputation. Shelley used the language to create atmosphere like at the start it is depressing as Frankenstein realises that making the monster was morally wrong â€Å"it was on a dreary night of November that I behold the accomplishment† but at the end it becomes a scared atmosphere as he doesn’t want to think of the monster â€Å"could he allude to an object on whom I dared not even think.† The time of day is night â€Å"my candle was nearly burnt out†.  The chapter talks about appearance and reality â€Å"I behold the wretch – the miserable monster whom I had created† he called the monster a wretch which means he doesn’t see him as a human and he thinks of him as a thing that he can just throw away when he feels like it and make something else just because he look different to every one else when really Frankenstein is the monster. The chapter also talks about isolation and loneliness as  During all that time Henry was my only nurse† when he isolated him self he when insane as he wanted to finish his work and not to rest, but he doesn’t ask his friends for help.  The chapter shows man should not play god as it is too much responsibility for them to take. â€Å"Dreams that had been my food and pleasant rest for so long a space were now became a hell to me† this show that mortals react to they emotions. Human’s emotions change very quickly and this shows that they should not play god if they are not willing to play it out to the end and that no human can control they emotions. Studying this chapter has showed that man should not push science too far as it can cause very dangerous things that can hurt people but if we are going to play god which means we should not be allowed to change our emotions and take responsibility for what they have made or done. It also shows that just because you love someone you are aloud to give them a new life as this is going against god.

French Revolution

At the end of Frances revolution in 1799, the French citizens got what they wanted. Starting with the storming of the Bastille, the French revolution lasted three years. With the revolution finally coming to an end, the French people got a new leader that they long awaited, a new government and constitution, and all together a whole different country. While at the time, people were arguing whether or not the revolution was a necessary event. A little bit more than two hundred years later, we now know that it was a necessary event.The French revolution was a necessary event, because there was widespread hunger that needed to be changed, they got rid of a king and queen that was disloyal to their country, and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was written. During and before the French Revolution, hunger was everywhere. In Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens shows how bad the situation in France was by saying â€Å"†¦ was the sigh, Hunger. IT was prevalent everywhere.Hunger was pushed out of the tall houses, in the wretched clothing that hung upon poles and lines; Hunger was patched into them with straw and rag and wood and paper; Hunger was repeated in every fragment of the small modicum of firewood that the man sawed off; Hunger stared to eat. Hunger was the inscription on the baker’s shelves, written in every small loaf of his scanty stock of bad bread; at the sausage-shop, in every dead-dog preparation that was offered for sale.Hunger rattled its dry bones among the roasting chestnuts in the turned cylinder; Hunger was shred into atomics in every farthing porringer of husky chips of potato, fried with some reluctant drops of oil (Dickens 34, source D). † Also, with the prices of bread rising, most people relied on what they can grow; they sometimes even ate grass, to keep them alive. With a King and Queen that only cared about themselves, there is no doubt that hunger is the first reason why the French Revolution was a necessary event.Along with the hunger that made the French Revolution necessary, The Declaration of The Rights of Man and of The Citizen also made it a necessary event. It was a necessary event, because it was saying that they wanted a new government and wanted to get rid of the current government. It also gave citizens many new rights, including: â€Å"1. Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good. 2. The aim of all political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man.These rights are liberty, security, and resistance to oppression. (source A). † Those are only two of the total seventeen rights. This is a good thing that came out of the revolution, and the second reason why it was a necessary event. With all of the hunger and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen making the French revolution a necessary event, the overthrow of the King and Queen also made it necessary. With the young King and Queen barely 20 years old, it was almost guaranteed that they didn’t know how to run a country.This excerpt from a handout about Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, called â€Å"The Ancien Regime,† shows how little the King was prepared to run the country. â€Å"Louis XVI, a member of the Bourbon family, was neither intelligent, hardworking, nor firm of purpose (Lacey, source G). It was only an amount of time when they finally executed King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. The killing of the King and Queen is the last reason why the French Revolution was a necessary event.Starting with the storming of the Bastille, the French Revolution lasted about ten years. During this period, France got a new leader, government, and a whole new country. While many people would argue that was not a necessary event, we now know that is was, because there was a widespread hunger that needed to be put to an end, the Declaration of the Rights of the Man and of the Citizen was written, and they got rid a King and Queen that cared only about themselves.The pros of the French revolution outweigh the cons, making the French Revolution a necessary event. Works Cited â€Å"Declaration of the Rights of Man-1789. † The Avalon Project. 2008 Lillian Goldman Law Library. 22 July 2009. Web. Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities New York: Signet Classic, 2007. Print. Lacey, Robert, ed. â€Å"The Ancien Regime† The French Revolution Jackdaw Portfolio No. 147 Amawalk, NY: Jackdaw Publication, 1976. Print.

My Philosophy of Education Combining Progressivism,...

My Philosophy of Education: Combining Progressivism, Essentialism and Behaviorism Upon being faced with the task of writing my philosophy of teaching, I made many attempts to narrow the basis for my philosophy down to one or two simple ideas. However, I quickly came to the realization that my personal teaching philosophy stems from many other ideas, philosophies, and personal experiences. I then concentrated my efforts on finding the strongest points of my personal beliefs about teaching and what I have learned this semester, and came up with the following. The first and most important of the three formal educational philosophies that have been major influences on the formation of my own philosophy is†¦show more content†¦Progressivism teaches not only the importance of individuality, but the importance of respect for the individuality of others? as well. The next philosophy from which I have gathered ideas for my philosophy is essentialism. Essentialism is the back-to-basics approach to education that endeavors to instill students with the essentials for academic knowledge. It is the philosophy that prompts educators to teach students traditional moral values and intellectual knowledge. Essentialism is important because it introduce and implants in children the knowledge needed to become model citizens. Through the essential method of teaching, students learn the social, political, and economic structures of our nation?s society. This allows them to grow into educated adults with their own opinions, and who have the ability to make knowledgeable decisions. The last of the formal educational philosophies that is reflected in my own is behaviorism. This philosophy is derived from the belief that free will is an allusion. Behaviorists believe that human beings are shaped entirely by their environment. This belief proves to be especially true in a classroom setting. When one is given an incentive to work, they strive much harder to reach their goal. This is why teachers must take responsibility in giving students some sort of reinforcement--a reward of some kind to work for. A piece of candy, a token, or evenShow MoreRelated Philosophy of Teaching Essay1107 Words   |  5 PagesPhilosophy of Teaching Twelve years ago, I was not interested in becoming a teacher. I was content with my life. Then, I had two wonderful children. As they became school age, my opinion of teachers was immensely altered. I have spent countless hours within my children’s school, became personally connected to the wonderful individuals who were their teachers, and developed a respect for these tireless workers. These individuals have created a desire within me to enhance children’s lives andRead More Teaching Philosophy Statement Essay984 Words   |  4 PagesTeaching Philosophy Statement Aristotle once said, â€Å"The one exclusive sign of thorough knowledge is the power of teaching.† Teaching enables students to gain the intelligence needed to excel in life. I believe that a teacher’s philosophy of education is a crucial role in his or her approach to leading students on their educated path. A philosophy of education is the set of beliefs that every school and every teacher stand behind. The certain philosophy that one chooses provides the answersRead More I Want to be a Teacher Essay711 Words   |  3 PagesI Want to be a Teacher When I was in high school, I worked as an aide in an elementary school during one period of the day. When I first began working there, I had second thoughts about choosing education as a career, but then I worked with Michael. One of my tasks was to listen to Michael read everyday and monitor his progress. Michael was a problem child who people tended to turn away from, but I was drawn to him. Michael became something of a project for me. I found thatRead More Statement of Educational Goals And Philosophy Essay1874 Words   |  8 PagesEducational Goals And Philosophy The nature of students is that of an instinctive ability to learn. Students of ages and all grade levels reflect their surroundings and respond according to their interpretation. Naturally it is not only the influence of a classroom that shapes a student but many outside factors that determine students’ goals and abilities; for example, healthy encouragement from parents. Students may find a natural ability to perform in one area of education and with help