Introduction
Once said that the biggest obstacle that a firm can face is conquering the fear of international marketing. The world has become a significantly small place when associated to business. Everything has been entangled in a complex global linkage that makes nations interdependent of other nations and other organizations as well. Consequently, businesses must think beyond their crowded local and national market to remain their competitive edge against other organizations. It must be noted that markets have been subjected to the whim of changes in the environment. The stability of markets may be affected by actions probable to influence supply and demand which will have potential consequences for the distribution of resources among the buyers and the sellers. One classic example of an unpredictable occurrence greatly affecting the market id the destruction of the twin towers of the World Trade Center last 2001, September.
It was reported that the said event drove stock prices nosediving in the stock exchanges all over the world. They lost about 20 percent during the year 2002 alone. A long-term bear market underscored once more the dependence of such services as personal savings on the stock market with a steady growth rate in share price. The caving in of share prices offered a lesson that international marketing occurs against an uncertain environment which is no way retreating in the current atmosphere.
International marketing is indeed characterized by an environment that is tremendously uncertain. Therefore, businesses must be on the lookout for these uncertainties in the business environment and be ready for them as they strike in order to remain their competitive edge against other firms. In lined with the competitive advantage of the firm, they must utilize their knowledge of their customers, products, services as well as their resources which can be introduced in the culture of the organization. This co-called “organizational culture” is known to be principal as organizations engage in international markets. In addition to organizational culture is the culture of the country which can affect international marketing of the firm. A country’s culture has long been recognized as key environmental characteristic fundamental systematic differences in behavior. Add that cultural norms and beliefs are dominant forces that shape an individual’s perceptions, characters and behaviors. Furthermore, culture is mirrored in “general tendencies of persistent preference for particular states of affairs over others, persistent preferences for specific social processes over others, and general rules for selective attention, interpretation of environmental cues, and responses” .
This paper will be focusing on defining culture as an essential part in effective international marketing. At the same time, the paper will review and examine how culture is conceptualized in books, journals and in marketing practice as well. In addition, the paper will also be examining the role of culture in international marketing. At the end of the discussion, there will be remarks regarding the author’s stand about the implications of culture in effective international strategic marketing.
Defining Culture
Comments that one of the major causes of many business failures has been attributed to the failure to take account of cultural differences between countries. In addition, many of the marketing theories are limited in the sense that they have been developed and confirmed only in Western countries, specifically in the United States. The further development of marketing as an academic discipline necessitates that there must be thorough examination of the soundness of the theories as well as the models in other cultural settings as to identify their level of generalization and to discover some boundary limitations and conditions.
What is culture anyway? States that the word “culture” branched out from the Latin “colere”, meaning to build on, to foster, to cultivate. There have been numerous reflections on the meaning of culture in all sorts of versions of its use. From that time on, different schools of though regarding the term have emerged; for example, in nineteenth century the notion of mass culture and popular culture emerged. That was the era when culture was viewed as shared values amongst distinctive social groups and classes. Another perception of culture, states that culture is the “collective programming of the mind”. This means that culture is a “set of values and attributes of a given group and the relation of the individual to culture and the individual’s acquisition of those values and attributes.
Culture is definitely not an easy phenomenon to measure. It has over a hundred definitions including “shared system of perceptions and values or a group sharing a certain system of perceptions and values”, defines culture as “An organized body of rules concerning the ways in which individuals in a population should communicate with one another, think about themselves and their environments, and behave toward one another and toward objects in their environments. The rules are not universally or constantly obeyed, but they are recognized by all and they ordinarily operate to limit the range of variation in patterns of communication, belief, value, and social behavior in that population”. In a more or less similar idea,, stated that “Culture is not as much what people do and how they express themselves, as their knowledge of the potential behaviors and cognitive maps of their in-group. It is the familiarity with certain forms of behavior and ways of thinking that makes people feel that they belong to the same culture”.. On the other hand, authors, give a simple meaning of culture as “sub-groups, shared beliefs and basic assumptions of deriving from a group”.
In association of the cultural setting of the market behavior, claimed that culture is “a common set of values, forms of social organization that influence roles and status positions as well as the conventions, rituals, and practices that guide behavior, and a communication system that includes not only language but nonverbal components as well , almost all definitions of the term “culture” points out to one main thing which is “a shared communication system and common ways of thinking and behaving”. As noted, culture is “shared by a group of people and thereby defines the boundaries of that group’.
As mentioned earlier, there are all sorts of definitions for the term “culture”. Narrowly defined, it is simply a “system of beliefs”; broadly defined, it “involves beliefs, value systems, norms, mores, myths as well as structural elements of a given organization, tribe or society”. Culture acts as an incorporating force for a given system; it provides a bond to hold together the cognitive, affective and structural components of the system. However, notes that the level or degree of this incorporation is mainly dependent on how strong the given culture is; the stronger the culture, the better the integration; whereas, weak cultures offer little integration.
The Role of Culture in International Marketing
Notes that business activities are a primary source of cultural globalization. As businesses find new potential markets, they somehow send out cultural messages of how people should talk, dress, think and feel. Numerous international scholars and academics as well as business practitioners have argued that we are living in a so-called “borderless world”; it has no limits and the needs of the customers are converging. Accordingly, to meet the needs of their consumers, businesses are trying to produce a standardized product or service that will be able to serve all global needs. In effect, they increasingly influence and change cultural habits and beliefs of different countries. However, businesses are realizing that there must be local adaptation due to cultural differences all over the world.
The study of the role of culture in marketing teaches us that “the many ways in which our theories and paradigms are a reflection of the culture in which they were developed”. For instance, well-known theories and approaches which include cognitive dissonance, preference, attribution theory, modeling and individual choice modeling may not apply to collective culture without making some modifications.
Cultural differences play a major role in identifying the role the proper manner of transacting business between companies with various cultural backgrounds. Ideally speaking, companies who are involved in businesses that are cross-cultural should indeed have a basic knowledge of cultural differences and should act in a way that is acceptable to the other culture. Notes that prior to the attempt to market goods or services to a foreign country, firms must have a thorough understanding of other cultures and their intrinsic differences due to the fact that the nature of marketing is meeting the needs and wants of their customers, plus, the fact that such needs and wants are culturally based. It must be noted of great importance that the understanding, respect and acceptance of another culture and the capability to set aside one’s own cultural customs and traditions considerably distinguishes the marketing of a successful international business from others.
Examining the role of culture in international marketing is considerably important as it helps organizations to explain the reason behind the difference of perception of one group from other groups, stated that “in international business dealings, ignorance of cultural differences is not just unfortunate, it is bad business.” Many organizations have failed to acknowledge this, culture has always offered problems and challenges for many organizations; it is generally the lack of understanding and knowledge sharing in association to culture that has brought culture under the spotlight in the issue of international marketing.
Adds that that the main function of culture is to set up forms of conduct, standards of performance and methods of dealing with interpersonal and environmental associations that will lessen uncertainty and increase predictability, as a result, promote survival and growth among the members of any society. In the context and the process of social evolution, it is found out that people find particular behaviors and values to be adaptive and useful while others are found to be non-adaptive and even dangerous. Useful practices are shared and rewarded while harmful practices are extremely discouraged and discarded. Over a period of time, useful behaviors, values and artifacts have become institutionalized and integrated as part of the cultural traditions.
We usually hear more obvious hindrances of businesses when marketing across borders. They are usually tariffs, taxes and regulations. However, some of these obstacles are hidden. They are the cultural barriers, each one of us is subjected to the more aspects of culture such as language, manners and mores; we basically hear, read and even experience it in our very own boring lives. comments that that perception of cultural differences is purely common sense and almost anybody can figure that out, proposes that what international marketing often neglects to notice are the subtle cultural signals. According to Miller (1996), cultures speak in codes. Sort of similar to computer languages, these codes are sometimes encrypted such that it may be very difficult to make sense of. Thus, in cross-border marketing, businesses must learn to seek and decipher cultural differences in terms of attitudes, the methods of transacting businesses and even expectations. Real cultural differences are defined by the way people think and not by the way they look.
Understanding this impression is essential to the success of international markets. It significantly affects and influences everything that people may do from activities such as product selection, to the structure of the offer, to the choice of the firm’s words, to the implementation and execution of the design and most importantly, to its effects on the company’s’ customer service. For a business’s international marketing to be successful, firms must try to understand the cultural mores of the country which should be the central aspect of the marketing effort. In lined to this, if a product of a firm does not sufficiently attend to the particular cultural values of a society, then the firm must be ready to modify or revise the said product.
For instance, compared to Americans in general, the Japanese live in a much smaller housing unit. Thus, their needs are for smaller and more compact refrigerators. In addition, the Japanese also drive on the left hand side of the road just like the British. It was reported that one of the principal problems that Detroit had in its attempt to penetrate the Japanese market was to continuously send cars with steering wheels located on the left side which is correct for Americans, however, definitely wrong for the Japanese. Who would actually buy a car with steering wheels on the left side when your country is practicing driving on the left hand side of the road? As a result, companies that have identified consumer needs such as these induced by culture have prospered; whereas, the companies which endeavored to sell standard and similar American products be it products such as refrigerators, cars or other consumer goods into the Japanese market have for the most part have failed. Thus, there is a great need for international businesses to address a prospective market from the cultural point of view.
Concept of Culture: Frequently Under Theorized and Conceived in Reductionist Simplistic Dualism
It must be noted that thorough understanding of culture is essential and crucial to an effective international marketing. However, culture is said to be frequently under theorized and conceived in reductionist simplistic dualism. Upon researching on culture and international marketing, the researcher has found out that many have recognized the importance of culture in international marketing, but unfortunately, no sufficient theories or models underpin these identification and acknowledgement on culture as an international marketing tool. For example, authors such as have stressed the importance of culture in international marketing, have suggested that corporations, especially those engaging in the global market, need to identify, respond and change their business operations in accordance with cultural differences. On a similar note, comments that in order for firms to gain global competitive advantage, they must utilize their knowledge on the culture of their target and potential customers with regards to products and services, as well as resources, which can be incorporated in the firm’s organizational culture. Likewise, identifies invisible barriers in the operations of international marketing which are the cultural barriers on aspects such as language, manners and mores. Oftentimes, these cultural barriers are neglected. As a result, international marketing of the business fails. states that some international businesses fail because they failed to take into account the cultural differences between countries.
Even though there is wide recognition of the importance of thorough understanding of culture for marketing strategies of firms engaging in international marketing, as mentioned earlier, no sufficient theory and models have been developed to support this. However, when one actually thinks more about this situation (i.e. concept of culture as under theorized) identifying culture as an important aspect in international marketing is simply common sense. Perhaps, academics and business practitioners have realized that there really is no need for the support of theories or merely, they have not yet developed a suitable theory. Nevertheless, the researcher would like to recommend that as soon as possible, there must be theories that will support the concept of culture in international marketing.
Marketing Implications
In conclusion, culture in the concept of international marketing is a very broad concept. Culture is recognized to be very essential in international marketing; however, not much theory underpins culture as an important tool for the success of international marketing.
Culture is known to have an insidious and considerable impact on markets. The challenge for businesses is to recognize, respond and change accordingly to the differences in values and stress given in each of the cultural differences For a continuous and enduring relationship, a win-win situation is desirous. The key to success is to create a setting in which both sides cooperate, unthreatened and are dedicated to finding a mutually advantageous solution, add that knowing how to deal efficiently with conflict and power and is central to understanding marketing as an exchange process.
Suggestions for success for companies conducting cross-cultural business in terms of international marketing are as follows.
First, companies must recognize that other groups or nations are different and unique in their own nature – in perceptions, motivation, beliefs and outlook. Companies must recognize, understands and respect other groups’ cultural differences.
Second, companies must be culturally neutral as it will imply that the company accepts and respects other’s norms as part of their culture.
Lastly, firms must be sensitive to other’s cultural norms, dos and taboos, and strive to understand what they are and how one’s behavior may affect them.
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