What are cross-cultural variations?

Cross-cultural variations reflect the interconnections between cross-cultural research, consumer behavior, and marketing. Cross-cultural marketing is the strategic process of marketing to consumers belonging to cultures different from the marketer's own culture.

Cultural differences in the international market

International marketing is a strategic decision that involves developing a marketing blend strategy grounded on the characteristics of an implicit foreign request. In simpler terms, it's how associations should design and convey their dispatches if they want to sell their goods and services in a foreign request. Cultural differences make this process more complicated and thus should be the starting point of preparing a strategy. Cultural differences in marketing form the fundamentals of the transitional marketing blend.

Cultural differences in marketing should admit primary attention when dealing with goods or services internationally, as the artistic terrain changes from one country to the other. This means that transnational companies must understand the culture of a specific state before dealing with the products.

Here are some significant cross-cultural factors that affect consumer behavior and marketing strategy:

Language

Languages are some of the major artistic differences in marketing that companies ought to understand before they sell their products and services in a foreign country. Preliminarily, grave miscalculations have passed during restatement, which has led to unsuccessful campaigns. One of the most memorable disturbing miscalculations in trans-national marketing happened when General Motors campaigned for their buses by the brand name "Nova" which in South American native languages translates to "It won’t go". These miscalculations do not help capture market share. Therefore, companies need to pay attention to language and restatements to avoid business failure.

Purchasing power

Pricing strategies are not only essential for profitability but also important in marketing. It is common knowledge that some economies have an advanced purchasing power than others. For instance, people in the United States have an advanced purchasing power than those in Africa. This plays a significant part in how products and services should be priced in a specific market. Thus, you have to come up with a strategic marketing plan that will make people exercise their high purchasing capability.

Consumption habits

Before selling your products, you need to determine whether individualities in a specific country make individualistic or collaborative buying opinions. This will help you to formulate a marketing approach that appeals to the personality and buying patterns of the whole society. You must also understand the cerebral and social factors impacting the buying opinions.

Demographics

As in domestic marketing, age and other demographics significantly contribute to differences in marketing strategies to opt. For instance, in developing countries, literacy rates among senior citizens are veritably low. Therefore, you may decide to target your marketing communication not directly at this demographic group, especially when indulging in digital marketing. The dominant demographic groups in a country must be understood thoroughly before formulating marketing strategies. This will help your company communicate with and appeal to the majority of the customer base.

Taste and preferences

Eating habits are further important artistic differences in marketing that trans-national companies need to understand. For a food dealing company, it is essential to understand the eating habits of a particular region before curating a menu. For instance, McDonald’s and other fast-food companies had to start offering vegetarian products in India to cater to the huge proportion of the vegetarian population.

Religion

Religious beliefs are important artistic differences in marketing that should be considered when dealing with foreign requests. They impact how a particular society perceives colorful products and services. Organizations have to understand the impact of religion and its part in society. For illustration, in Muslim countries, marketing temporal women’s outfits might be off as the religion in these countries requires women to dress in a modest way which is largely regulated. Some marketing dispatches have been in disagreement with religious groupings since their dispatches were offensive towards a particular religion. Religion is a critical aspect that companies need to understand before they can start selling their products on the transnational stage.

Extreme artistic differences in marketing are prohibited. Still, companies should make sure that they completely understand all the artistic factors before they can formulate and roll out their marketing strategies. Expansive exploration would help a transitional company to understand what's good and bad in different countries and regions. Most of the companies that have been good at the transitional stage have done so by creating a product or a service that will be accepted in a particular region.

Context and Applications

The subject is important at the graduate and postgraduate level, and all the exams relating to business management or marketing field, particularly for:

• Bachelor of Leadership and Team Management
• Bachelor of Marketing Management
• Master of Business Administration (Marketing)

The knowledge of cross-culture variation is necessary for students as culture is a complex concept, and cross-culture is important. As different cultures have different communication styles, different approaches need to be made for people of different cultures, different decision-making skills are needed for different cultures, and so on. Hence, for the practical application of knowledge, students need to learn all these skills.

Practice Problems

1. Which of the following in marketing form the fundamentals of the transitional marketing blend?

1. Cultural differences
2. Cultural similarities
3. Cultural aspects
4. Cultural perspectives

Answer: Option a

Explanation: Cultural differences make the process of international marketing more complicated and thus should be the starting point of preparing a strategy. Cultural differences in marketing form the fundamentals of the transitional marketing blend.

2. What does the brand name "Nova" in South American native languages mean?

1. It won’t go.
2. It is impossible.
3. It is possible.
4. It is necessary.

Answer: Option a

Explanation: The brand name "Nova" in South American native languages means it won't go.

3. Which of the following criteria does not affect consumer behavior and marketing strategy in the international market?

1. Religion
2. Skin color
3. Demography
4. Purchasing capacity

Answer: Option b

Explanation: In the international market, cultural and some significant cross-cultural factors affect consumer behavior and marketing strategy. They are language, religion, purchasing power, demographics, tastes, and consumption habits. Skin color does not affect marketing strategies.

4. Which of the following does not influence consumer behavior:

1. Price
2. Demographics
3. Cost of production
4. Religion

Answer: Option c

Explanation: Cost of production refers to the cost incurred by a manufacturer to produce goods or services. This factor influences producer's behavior. Consumer behavior is influenced by factors like price, demographics, language, religion, etc.

5. In which type of countries would digital marketing be more effective?

1. Underdeveloped countries
2. Developing countries
3. Developed countries
4. All the above

Answer: Option c

Explanation: In developing and underdeveloped countries, literacy rates among senior citizens are veritably low. Therefore, you may decide to target your marketing communication not directly at this demographic group, especially when indulging in digital marketing.

Related Concepts

• Marketing communications
• Cultural differences in business
• Cross-cultural social media marketing
• Global marketing environment