Study Overseas

Globalization is an inevitable process in the 21st Century, and so is the cross-culturalization. On the one hand, the world is becoming more homogeneous, and distinctions between national markets are not only fading but, for some products, will disappear altogether. This means that marketing is now a world-encompassing discipline. However, on the other hand, the differences among nations, regions, and ethnic groups in terms of cultural factors are far from distinguishing but become more obvious.

It is suggested that the claims for "a right to culture" by national states in recent years can be important criteria for trade policy making, intellectual property rights protection, and the resource for national interests. The last summit of francophone nations in the 20th century called for a "cultural exception" in GATT/WTO rules governing trade of goods. The claims will not only affect public policy in these nations but international trade rules. It might initiate a worldwide cultural protectionism for trans-national marketing while we are approaching the globalization economically in the 21st Century.

From a marketing point of view it is very important for marketers to realize that as the world becomes globalized the cultural imperative is upon us; markets in the 21st century are world and yet cross-cultural markets. To be aware of and sensitive to the cultural differences is a major premise for the success in the 21st Century marketplace.

The cross-cultural issues will provide more challenges and opportunities to the marketers in the 21st Century although they might not be totally new in the marketing area. There are many unsolved problems or issues that need to be solved and discussed by the scholars and marketing professionals in theories and in practice. In the theoretic area these themes and issues need to be probed:

1. culture impacts on marketing (international versus domestic);

2. cross-cultural dimensions of marketing research;

3. cross-cultural aspects of marketing mix (products, price, promotion, and distribution;

4. cross-cultural marketing education and professional training;

5. cross-cultural practice in electronic marketing.

The topics or themes listed above can be viewed as guidelines for further theoretic studies although they will not be treated as exclusive for the marketing scholars. More themes and topics will be discovered as the theoretic discussions going on. In terms of marketing practice, the following points should be guidelines for marketers to minimize the possible cross-cultural marketing mistakes:

1. develop cultural empathy (recognize, understand, and respect another's culture and difference);

2. be culturally neutral and realize that different is not necessarily better or worse;

3. never assume transferability of a concept from one culture to another;

4. get cultural informants involved into the decision-makings.

Cross-cultural marketing is defined as the strategic process of marketing among consumers whose culture differs from that of the marketer's own culture at least in one of the fundamental cultural aspects, such as language, religion, social norms and values, education, and the living style. Cross-cultural marketing demands marketers to be aware of and sensitive to the cultural differences; to respect the right to culture by the consumers in various cultures and marketplaces, marketers should understand that they deserved the right to their cultures. If the marketers want to be the winners in the cross-cultural marketing they must create the marketing mix that meets the consumer's values on a right to their culture.

From the anthropological perspective all market behaviors are culture-bound. Both consumer behavior and business practices are performed to a large extent by the culture within which they take place. Therefore, in order to match the marketing mix with consumer preferences, purchasing behavior, and product-use patterns in a potential market, marketers must have a thorough understanding of the cultural environment of that market, i.e., marketing cross-culturally.

However, this is by no means to suggest that in the 21st century all marketers should focus on cultural differences only to adjust marketing programs to make them accepted by the consumers in various markets. In contrast, it is suggested that successful marketers should also seek out cultural similarities, in order to identify opportunities to implement a modified standardized marketing mix. To be able to skillfully manipulate these similarities and differences in the worldwide marketplaces is one of the most important marketing strategies for businesses in the 21st Century.

As discussed above, marketing cross-culturally requires that marketers determine the cultural viability of markets. To determine the cultural viability of market means that the marketers should positively identify cultural factors that can be used to facilitate the marketing program in the targeted markets. These factors may or may not exist in the targeted markets; a successful marketer is able to make use of those already existent factors while create other non-existent factors. The classic anthropological theory suggests that while all human behaviors, including market behaviors, take place within a cultural context, human beings are able to influence and even change, through their behaviors, the cultural context within which their behaviors take place.

Accordingly, not only does culture influence marketing; but marketing also influences culture. Marketers can act as agents of changes within a culture. The interactions between marketing and culture can be examined from three perspectives.

First, culture defines acceptable purchasing and product-use behavior for both consumers and business. Let us take business gift as an example, in cultures where a business gift is expected but not presented, it is an insult of to the host. In countries where gifts generate an obligation, such as in Japan, it may be beneficial to engage in the practice. Yet, in other cultures, offering a business gift could be misinterpreted as inappropriate, thus offending the recipients.

Secondly, each element of culture influences each component of the marketing mix. Promotion, for instance, is strongly influenced by the language. Product acceptance is affected by culturally based attitudes towards change. And distribution is influenced by social institutions, such as kinship ties.

Thirdly, marketing also influences culture, especially by contributing to cultural borrowing and change. In the long run, as more markets become global and standardization of marketing mix increases, the rate of cultural changes will also increase.

Nonetheless, cultures may change slowly, and specific products many meet with protracted resistance. Therefore, the primary task for marketers is to locate the similarities in various markets and strategically make them available for entering into the new markets cross-culturally.

Marketing cross-culturally is a process during which marketers need to continuously adjust their behaviors and marketing programs to fit into the targeted markets. However, when entering foreign markets, marketers frequently fall into the trap of the self-reference criterion, the unconscious application of one's own cultural experiences and values to a market in another culture.

Even more dangerous than self-reference criterion is ethnocentrism, the belief that one's own culture is superior to any other. It is important for the marketers know that there is no room for ethnocentrism in the 21st Century marketing practice.

Author
Robert Guang Tian, Ph. D.
Associate Professor of Business Administration
Erskine College
2 Washington Street
Due West, SC 29639