What challenge do marketers face when marketing in culture diverse countries?
In a culture diverse countries, marketers must be sensitive to subcultural. Marketers should preform cross-cultural analysis. Cross-culture analysis involves an understanding of and an appreciating for the values, customs, symbols and language of other society.
Values:
Culture value is what is considered acceptable and not acceptable. Understanding culture values is the key for marketers success. for example: in India you can't find Hamburgers in McDonalds, but you will find McMaharajah since cows are considered sacred to 85% of population.
Customs:
In a culture diverse countries, marketers must be sensitive to subcultural. Marketers should preform cross-cultural analysis. Cross-culture analysis involves an understanding of and an appreciating for the values, customs, symbols and language of other society.
Values:
Culture value is what is considered acceptable and not acceptable. Understanding culture values is the key for marketers success. for example: in India you can't find Hamburgers in McDonalds, but you will find McMaharajah since cows are considered sacred to 85% of population.
Customs:
They are what is considered normal and expected about the way people do things. Customs vary significantly from one country to another. For example:
- Food slurping is considered a sign of approval and appreciation to the chef.
- Giving token business gifts is considered an acceptable and in some country is expected; however, some country consider it as bribery and it is illegal.
Symbols:
They are objects, ideas and processes which represent a group of people and society. Different culture attach different meaning to things, therefore, symbolism take a very important role in cross-culture analysis. The wrong use of symbols will cause a disaster. Some of you might have heard of or saw Coca Cola ad in the Perthenon!! Coca Cola turned the white marble in the Parthenon that crowns Athens's Acropolis into Coca Cola bottles. The Greek were outraged. They refer to the Parthenon as the "international symbol of excellence" and to the Acropolis as the "holy rock". Coca Cola had to withdrew the ad and apologize.
Languages:
There are around 100 official languages exist in the world, but anthropologists estimate that at least 3000 different languages are actually spoken. Canada has two official languages: French and English. Europe has eleven official spoken languages. India has seventeen official spoken languages. Global marketers should pay attention to language use and translation, for example: The Vicks brand name which is common in North American, but in German they call it Wicks because "Vicks" is German slang for sexual intimacy.
References:
Kerin, R., Hartly, S., Rudelius, W., Clements, C., & Skolnick, H. (2009). The Core. Toronto: McGraw Hill.
I found the post to be very well written and the case examples to be highly relevant and certainly piqued my interest in how marketers can tailor a product to suit a certain culture.
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