Consumer Behaviour. Lecture 7. Laura Grazzini

Consumer Behaviour Lecture 7 Laura Grazzini laura.grazzini@unifi.it

Learning Objectives A culture is a society s personality; it shapes our identities as individuals. Cultural values dictate the types of products and services we seek out or avoid. Myths are stories that express a culture s values, and in modern times marketing messages convey these values. Many of our consumption activities including holiday observances, grooming, and gift giving are rituals. Products that succeed in one culture may fail in another if marketers fail to understand the differences among consumers in each place. 3-2

What is culture? The manner in which people consume, the priority of needs and the wants they attempt to satisfy, and the manner in which they satisfy them are functions of their culture that temper, and dictate their style of living. Culture is the human-made part of human environment the sum total of knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, laws, customs and any other capabilities and habits acquired by humans as members of society. Culture is everything that people have, think and do as members of their society

What is Culture? Culture is the accumulation of shared meanings, rituals, norms, and traditions It is what defines a human community, its individuals, its social organizations, as well as its economic and political systems. It includes both abstract ideas, such as values and ethics, and the material objects and services, such as cars, clothing, food, art and sports that are produced or valued by a group of people. Thus, individual consumers and groups of consumers are part of culture, and culture is the overall system within which other systems are organized. 3-6

What is Culture? Culture s essence is captured in the above definitions. In sum, the concept is representative when: the members of a group share a set of ideas and values; these are transmitted by symbols from one generation to another; culture is an outcome of past actions of a group or its members; culture is learned; culture shapes behaviour and our perception of the world; it is reinforced by components such as language, behaviour and nation.

What is Culture?

CULTURE AND ITS ELEMENTS

CULTURE AND ITS ELEMENTS Material culture is divided into two parts, technology and economics. Technology includes the techniques used in the creation of material goods; it is the technical know-how possessed by the people of a society. Economics is the manner in which people employ their capabilities and the resulting benefits. Included are the production of goods and services, their distribution, consumption, means of exchange and the income derived from the creation of utilities.

CULTURE AND ITS ELEMENTS Social Institutions Social organisation and political structures are concerned with the ways in which people relate to one another, organise their activities to live in harmony with one another and govern themselves (school, work, family.). Education In each society, we teach our generation what is acceptable or not acceptable, right or wrong and other ways of behaviour. It will influence the marketing strategy and techniques used (which type of advertising or communication used).

CULTURE AND ITS ELEMENTS Belief system Within this category are religion, superstitions and their related power structures. The impact of religion on the value systems of a society and the effect of value systems on marketing must not be underestimated. Value system = values that are followed unconsciously. Aesthetics It represents the arts, folklore, music, drama and dance of a country s culture. Aesthetics are of particular interest to the marketer because of their role in interpreting the symbolic meanings of various methods of artistic expression, colour and standards of beauty in each culture.

CULTURE AND ITS ELEMENTS Language The importance of understanding the language of a country cannot be overestimated. The successful international marketer must achieve expert communication, which requires a thorough understanding of the language as well as the ability to speak it. Verbal and no verbal Idiomatic interpretation: interpretations according to the characteristics of a particular language

CULTURE AND ITS ELEMENTS Some funny examples

Understanding Culture Some products that reflect underlying cultural processes at the time they were introduced: Convenience foods and ready-to-eat meals, hinting at changes in family structure and the decline of the full-time housewife. Cosmetics like those of The Body Shop, made of natural materials and not tested on animals, which reflected consumers apprehensions about pollution, waste and animal rights. Unisex fragrances, indicating new views on sex roles and a blurring of gender boundaries, as exemplified by Calvin Klein. 3-15

CULTURAL DIMENSIONS Differences in cultural values, which is found to exist among countries, affects consumer behavior Hofstede, who studied over 90,000 people in 66 countries, found that the cultures differed along four primary dimensions: Individualism/Collective Index (IDV), which focuses on self-orientation (take care only for themselves or take care for others) Power Distance Index (PDI), which focuses on authority orientation (the extent to which a society and its individuals tolerate an unequal distribution of power) Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI), which focuses on risk orientation (the degree to which a society feels threatened by uncertain, ambiguous or undefined situations) Masculinity/Femininity Index (MAS), which focuses on assertiveness and achievement (a society is masculine when it favors assertiveness, earning money and caring little for others) Long-term vs. short-term orientation. Long-term emphasizes practice and practical value (mostly Asian markets). Short-term focus their content on truth and the certainty of beliefs (USA and most of the European countries).

CULTURAL DIMENSIONS

3-19 Functional Areas in a Cultural System

Cultural Values A value is a belief that some condition is preferable to its opposite. A person s set of values plays a very important role in consumption activities. Consumers purchase many products and services because they believe these products will help to attain a value-related goal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wac6ccs0fuw 3-20

Value Concepts In some cases, values are universal. We all value health, wisdom, and peace. This set of rankings constitutes a culture s value system. It is usually possible to identify a general set of core values that uniquely define a culture. Core values such as freedom, youthfulness, achievement, materialism, and activity characterize American culture. 3-21

Value Concepts Crescive norms we discover as we interact with others and these include customs, mores, and conventions. A custom is a norm that controls basic behaviors such as division of labor in a household. A more is a custom with a strong moral overtone. It may involve something that is taboo or forbidden like cannibalism. Conventions are norms that regulate how we conduct our everyday lives. They may be subtle like how we furnish a room or what we wear to a dinner party. 3-22

3-23 The Movement of Meaning

Myths Myths are stories with symbolic elements that represent the shared emotions/ideals of a culture Story characteristics Conflict between opposing forces Outcome is moral guide for people Myth reduces anxiety by providing guidelines 3-24

Myths in Modern Popular Culture Myths are often found in comic books, movies, holidays, and commercials Monomyths: a myth that is common to many cultures (e.g., Spiderman and Superman) Many movies/commercials present characters and plot structures that follow mythic patterns (Hercules, Helen of Troy and alike) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcz_gvaeys&index=3&list=plfqp0k0lo5y9adasfjsh_tjaxpkstfbky 3-25

Rituals Rituals are sets of multiple, symbolic behaviors that occur in a fixed sequence and that tend to be repeated periodically Many consumer activities are ritualistic Having a tea Sunday brunch 3-26

3-27 Rituals

For Reflection Explain some of your own family holiday traditions. How do they affect your behavior as consumers? 3-28

Sacred and Profane Consumption Many types of consumer activity involve the demarcation, or binary opposition, of boundaries, such as good vs bad, male vs female. One of the most important of these sets of boundaries is the distinction between the sacred and the profane. 3-29

Sacred and Profane Consumption Sacred consumption: involves objects and events that are set apart from normal activities that are treated with respect Profane consumption: involves consumer objects and events that are ordinary and not special https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jh5uxxlan Y 3-30 Copyright 2015 Pearson Education

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3-35 Taking a Global Approach

3-36 Taking a Global Approach

Taking a Global Approach: an example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpge-6vvyza 3-37