Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Cultural Change in International Markets

Good Essays
1290 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Cultural Change in International Markets
Competitive pressures caused by globalization, deregulation, and discontinuous

technological changes seem to have forced many organizations into considering radical

change as a way of surviving and growing. A big part of this radical change has to do

with accepting and handling cultural differences among other nations. Organizations

pursue change to enhance their competitive positions and to grow.

Cultural Change

Culture changes over time, despite the fact that one of the more important

attributes of culture is that it is conservative and resistant to change. When marketing a

new innovation to a foreign country, the marketer must possess a thorough knowledge of

that country's culture in order to be successful there, as new innovations can be fail or

even cause offence if not marketed or designed in a manner appropriate to that particular

culture.

There are six rules of thumb when doing business across cultures:

1. Be prepared. Whether traveling or selling from home, you should never approach

a foreign market with first researching the area. Some of the things to learn

would include social and business etiquette, history, current affairs, the culture's

values, geography, religion, political structure, and practical matter such as

currency and hours of business.

2. Slow down. In America "Time is money." Americans always seem to be in a

rush and can seem unfriendly or arrogant. In other countries, patience is the key.

3. Establish trust. Having crisp business relationships will get the salesperson

nowhere. Product quality, pricing, and clear contracts are not as important as the

personal relationship and trust that are developed over time.

4. Understand the language. Languages differ in parts of the world one must have a

vocabulary that is sensitive to nuance and connotation. An interpreter could also

be helpful if needed.

5. Respect the culture. Manner are important. The traveling person is a guest and

must respect the hosts' rules.

6. Understand components of culture. There are two types: surface culture (fads,

styles, foods, etc.) and deep culture (attitudes, beliefs, values).

Importance of cultural understanding

One of the reasons a marketer may be unsuccessful internationally is when they

mistakenly see some cultures as being similar when they are in fact quite different. There

are a number of ways in which this can occur.

One of the ways this can occur is when countries' cultures are considered similar

on the basis they speak the same language. However, in instances where this occurs,

often a lot of words have a very different meaning in one country than another, a good

example being the difference here in Ireland with the U.S. Consider the question "Was

there any craic?" here, meaning was it fun or a good time, while the same question in the

states would be interpreted as was there any drugs as in "crack". The same

question but two very different meanings!

Another mistake is where different cultures are lumped together as one. In

western society it is commonly thought that most Asian groups such as the

Japanese, Chinese and Koreans for example have similar cultures when in

fact they are quite different. Failure to recognize the differences could have serious

consequences for a marketer. Even within a country, a marketer must be aware of the

existence of subcultures. There is no better example than the U.S. with people of all

ethnic backgrounds.

Ethnocentricity

People who are familiar with only one cultural pattern may believe they have an

awareness of cultural differences elsewhere, when in reality they do not. Unless they

have had occasion to make comparisons with other cultures, they are probably not even

aware of the important features of their own. They are probably also oblivious to the fact

that many societies consider their culture superior to all other (ethnocentricity) and that

their attempts to introduce the "German way" or the "American way" may be met with

resistance.

Failure to understand a culture is a huge mistake when marketing internationally,

but this is by no means the only obstacle to overcome. Culture tends to be

resistant to change, although the level of resistance to a new innovation varies.

This can be due in a large part to the fact that most cultures tend to be

ethnocentric. What this means is that the country holds their own culture in a far higher

esteem than any foreign culture and usually views other cultures as inferior, strange, or

even barbaric. This can often result in innovations being rejected if accepting them would

require changing a part of their culture, either cultural values, customs, or beliefs.

There are many reasons a culture may be resistant, but that said resistance can be

overcome but the marketer needs to understand the process of acceptance. There has been

research into this in order to speed up acceptance and bring about change, vital to a

marketer who is often working within a timeframe and cannot just wait for the change to

happen. Cultural change can be brought about in a number of ways; cultural

borrowing, unplanned cultural change, and planned cultural change.

Cultural Borrowing

Culture is learned and passed from generation to generation. When a country

encounters a problem it often looks to other countries to see how they coped with the

same problem. They then borrow the solution and adapt it to their own needs. When this

new action is judged acceptable by society, it is approved and becomes a part of the

culture that will be passed to the next generation. So while cultures are in their own right

unique, they are often made up of parts of other cultures.

Unplanned Cultural Change

As the name explains, unplanned cultural change is where change is brought

about in a culture without being planned by uncontrollable factors such as war or

revolution. A good example of this would be the role of women in the workplace

changing with the industrialization of Europe or the changing of the Japanese diet as a

result of World War II.

Planned Cultural Change

With planned cultural change, the process of change is hastened by the

marketer. This is achieved by removing the cultural factors that are an obstacle to a new

innovation. Not all innovations require change; some can be marketed in a manner

similar to existing products. However if cultural change is needed for acceptance,

marketers will try to bring about that change themselves by converting the cultural

factors that are obstacles to acceptance into stimulants for change.

The social system and structure can change within a country upon acceptance of a

new innovation. The majority of the time there are no undesirable consequences but they

can occur and the marketer must be aware of this, as there can be serious repercussions

for them and their company if there are adverse reactions to the new innovation

regardless of the fact it may have been accidental.

Knowledge about other cultures and how they affect the way people do business

may show business-people working in a culture different from their own that their

solutions are not always the appropriate ones for a given task. Understanding this is the

first step in learning how to use cultural differences to gain a strategic advantage.

Mishandling or ignoring cultural differences can cause numerous problems, such as lost

sales, the departure of competent employees, and low morale that contributes to low

productivity. How can international businesspeople learn to live with other cultures?

The first step is to realize that there are cultures different from their own. Then they must

go and learn the characteristics of those cultures so that they can adapt to them.

Traveling to this country and staying a while or undergoing an extensive, training

program would be helpful to cover the main characteristics of the culture, including the

language.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Hofstede’s dimensions of culture are the most popular model to explain the various effects across cultures. The data gathered by Hofsted from approximately 70 countries analyzed survey responses from participants. He developed five cultural dimensions that vary across multiple countries; Individualism- Collectivism, Masculinity- Feminity, Power Distance, Long Term Orientation, and Uncertainty Avoidance. Each characteristic carries a certain impact on cultural business practice.…

    • 1020 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Consumer Behviour and Culture

    • 11237 Words
    • 45 Pages

    Because our objective is to understand the influence of culture on consumer behavior, we define culture as “the sum total of learned beliefs, values, and customs that serve to direct the consumer behavior of members of a particular society”…

    • 11237 Words
    • 45 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    International Business

    • 6596 Words
    • 27 Pages

    1) ________ consists of specific learned norms based on attitudes, values, and beliefs of a group of people.…

    • 6596 Words
    • 27 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Managers, who readily accept that the cuisine, the literature, the music and the art of other countries run parallel to one another, must also learn to accept the art of management differs in other countries. The objective of this paper, principally, is to explain that culture is a powerful factor to be taken into account. Through culture companies can get comparative advantages and disadvantages if they do not want to see or anticipate the impact of culture in the organization. The following pages show how culture play an important role in the effectiveness of nations, companies, functions, and managers faced with…

    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Global Business Cultural Analysis: Italy Kendell Taylor Business 604 Edward Moore Liberty University Global Business Cultural Analysis Outline Abstract Introduction 1. Major Elements and Dimensions of Culture in Italy 1.1 History of Italian Culture 1.2.1…

    • 231 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Hirst, Paul and Grahame Thompson (1996), Globalization in Question, Cambridge: Polity Press. United Nations Development Program (UNDP) (1997) “Human Development Report 1997”, New York: Oxford University Press.…

    • 9238 Words
    • 37 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    1) Which term refers to the collection of values, beliefs, behaviors, customs, and attitudes that distinguish one society from another?…

    • 7188 Words
    • 29 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    The Effects of cultural differences in International Business; through the analysis manners and customs of a country: Chile.…

    • 2868 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    An analysis of cultural impact on international business performance via foreign market entry mode: case of South Korean MNCs…

    • 2733 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Culture and Globalization

    • 2330 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Identity is a question that may be expressed by an anxiety and a hope at the same time. The anxiety lies in the sense of the existence of our Moroccan identity in all its dimensions, Arabo-berber, Muslim negro-African and modern. It also lies in our existence in the world in different parts of the planet where we have decided, voluntarily or not, to assert our existence; a planet that has become a finished space, a global village, surrounded by all kinds of flows, economic, human, electronic, and cultural, which are aspects of globalization; a globalization that could not only be a kind of interdependence among the national spaces which existence is still alive but also an internal phenomenon in these spaces. The advantages and disadvantages of this multiform process can diverge from one partisan to another. Some see in it the chance of a new world and others see in it the risk of an incomparable oppression.…

    • 2330 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Business

    • 2635 Words
    • 11 Pages

    In a diversified country like India cultural factors exert the broadest and deepest influence on consumer behavior Culture influences consumers through the norms and values established by the society in which they live. The impact of culture is automatic and almost invisible. Culture not only influences consumer behavior but also reflects it. It is the mirror of both the values and possessions. Marketing strategies are unlikely to change cultural values, but marketing does influence culture. Culture influences what people wear, what and how they eat, where they live, etc. It has a broad influence on their buying and usage behavior of products and services, and the extent of their satisfaction. The definition of culture includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, custom, and any other system received as a member of society. Culture, as a "complex whole," is a system of interdependent components. Culture is part of the external Impact that influences the customer. That is, culture represents effects that are put on the consumer by other individuals. Keywords : Deepest Influence, Consumer Behavior, Member of Society, Complex Whole.…

    • 2635 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Culture can be defined in number of way, but culture for business is a ‘complex set of values, beliefs, assumptions and symbols that define the way in which a firm conducts its business’. Culture will have universal effects not only to the relevant workers, suppliers, customers and competitors, but it also explains how the business interacts with the critical factors (Barney 1986, p.657). Also, expanding business internationally must take culture as considerations because different country with different culture so marketers should understand well their culture before expanding, because there might someone will feel offended. Comprehend the different culture in business is important because it will affects the efficiency, profitability and it will lead to successful of the business. Disney, was a big talented company that produce film and popular showman, also an innovator in animation and theme park design. Therefore, when Disney expands to other countries they must understand well the culture of the country so that it will not affect the expansion, just to avoid the losses and failure of the expansion. Euro-Disney was the example of failure in their expansion because they ignore their culture before expanding.…

    • 252 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    From a sociocultural anthropological perspective, by investigating how globalization affects different parts of the world we can build a better understanding of how global structures affect social and cultural practices. Globalization is the worldwide interdependence of economic and cultural activities through the interchange of worldviews, goods, beliefs, and other aspects of culture (Lalonde slide 22/01/13). To facilitate interdependence, globalization uses new technology, innovation, tourism, international trade, and the media to build and maintain a dominant global culture (Lalonde slide 22/01/13). In recent years, the process of globalization has hastened the destruction of small egalitarian cultures (Larkin and Robbins 2007). Using information conducted from three ethnographies, this paper discusses how globalization has impacted the culture of traditional societies. To narrow the focus, it will examine how globalization and the related process of modernization has contributed to culture change and will discuss each ethnography’s involvement within the World Systems Theory.…

    • 1856 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Regardless of a company's motivation for expanding outside its domestic markets, the strategies it uses to compete in foreign markets have to be situation-driven; cultural, demographic, and market conditions vary significantly among the countries of the world. Cultures and lifestyles are the most obvious country-to-country differences. Market demographics are close behind. Consumers in Spain do not have the same tastes, preferences, and buying habits as consumers in Norway; buyers differ yet again in Greece, in Chile, in New Zealand, and in Taiwan. Less than 10 percent of the populations of Brazil, India, and China have annual purchasing power equivalent to $20,000. Middle-class consumers represent a much smaller portion of the population in these and other emerging countries than in North America, Japan, and much of Europe.1 Sometimes, product designs suitable for one country are inappropriate in another—for example, in the United States electrical devices run on 110-volt electrical systems, but in some European countries the standard is a 240-volt electric system, necessitating the use of different electrical designs and components. In France consumers prefer top-loading washing machines, while in most other European countries consumers prefer front-loading machines. Northern Europeans want large refrigerators because they tend to shop once a week in supermarkets; southern Europeans can get by on small refrigerators because they shop daily. In parts of Asia refrigerators are a status symbol and may be placed in the living room, leading to preferences for stylish designs and colors—in India bright blue and red are popular colors. In other Asian countries, household space is constrained and many refrigerators are only four feet high so the top can be used for something else. In Hong Kong the preference is for compact, European-style appliances, but in Taiwan large American-style appliances are more popular.…

    • 560 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Whether or not the marketer is aware of it, he assumes the role of a change agent when he introduces into another culture new ideas or new products requiring some form of change in behavior for acceptance and use of the new idea or product. The international marketer must concern himself with the impact of his actions upon the new culture.…

    • 2096 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics