Business Communication Process, Consumption Behaviour - Research Paper Example

Business Communication Table of Contents Introduction 3 Cultural Impacts on Consumption Behaviour 4 Comparison of Consumption Behaviour among Consumers in China and UK markets 7 Business Communication between China and UK: A Consumer Perspective 8 Conclusion 11 References 12 Introduction Business communication is a process through which information are transmitted within different segments of the organisation. The process of business communication depends on various factors including consumer behaviour, advertising, public relations and brand management among others. The concept of business communication is closely associated in areas of technical and professional communication as well where language skills are also perceived to be quite vital. In today’s contemporary business environment, the concept of business communication is measured on the basis of certain dictated norms and rules which are principally goal oriented and helps in forming superior goodwill for an organisation. The process also tends to be highly emphasised on the exchange of thoughts among parties by verbal as well as non-verbal means that could be beneficial for the organisation to a large extent (Means, 2009). However, in practicing effective business communication strategies, businesses in the global context have often been observed as facing problems due to extensive influences of globalisation in terms of cross-cultural language barriers and distinctiveness. It has been observed in this regard that inadequate understanding among employees regarding the cross-cultural influences during their operations can further lead to various issues in terms of ethical concerns and misinterpretation of the communicated message. Inappropriate cross cultural training of employees can also influence poor performances, poor productivity, greater employee turnover and conflicts within the internal business environment of an organisation. Additionally, misinterpretation in business communication can be observed when the employees are unable to identify the organisational process thoroughly through which the objectives can be achieved (Genc, 2010). Cultural Impacts on Consumption Behaviour The influence of culture on consumer behaviour is found to gain greater attentiveness within the context of contemporary marketing and within disciplines related to consumer behaviour theories as well as practices in the national and in the global arenas. It has often been observed in this regard that consumer behaviour is principally emphasised on the decision making of individuals in the cultural as well as social contexts. According to Farhangmehr & Shoham (2004), the impact of culture is dynamic and its divergences provide an adverse effect on the decision making process of a particular business organisation. From another perspective, it can be stated that influence of culture hypothesises individuals in functioning of cognitive aspects and similarly in the aspects of consumer behaviour through motivation, memory and learning, perception and group influence (Farhangmehr & Shoham, 2004). Moreover, the dimensions of consumer behaviour are strongly affected by cultural awareness as the decision making process and the psychological processes of among decision-making in individuals tend to be high depended on their cultural rudiments such as personal belief, religious perceptions, attitudinal constructions and similar other behavioural aspects. Stating precisely, the individuals belonging to different cultures may decipher different attitudes, beliefs and cultural values. For instance, where on one cultural region, casual and informal languages as well as attitude are accepted to be a friendly etiquette, such behavioural traits might not seem to be quite generous in another cultural region where the casual verbal languages might be considered as a depiction of carelessness and disregardful attitude (Yakup & et. al, 2011). For instance, when concerning the consumption behaviour in China, it can be apparently observed that the Chinese consumer markets are emerging at a faster rate where fresh products are entering the markets which are further being readily accepted by the consumers. It is worth mentioning in this context that Chinese customers today decipher greater cultural awareness owing to the extensive influences created by television and other audio-visual media which are again used in promotional strategies by foreign companies (Giele, 2009). As stated in a report by Forbes (2011), the changes in the Chinese consumer markets are quite apparent. Strong effects of globalisation and rapid modernisation or rather internationalisation can be witnessed not only among the business clusters, but also among the individual group of consumers. It is in this context that various similarities can be identified between the purchase behaviours of Chinese consumer with the buyers in the Western markets such as the UK. For instance, the consumption behaviour of UK consumers has been observed to depend largely on the gender differences which can be apparently identified when assessing the luxury market segment. The luxury market trends in the UK reveal that women tend to purchase branded luxury products deciphering greater enthusiasm as compared to men. The women populaces in the UK are also observed to goes for shopping more frequently as compared to men. Shopping is seemed to be an integral part for women in the UK (Sriviroj, 2007). A similar trend is also observable in the current day trends of the Chinese market where urban women populaces are noted to perform more frequent shopping activities than the male members of the society (Forbes, 2011). However, the inherent values to the trend can be learnt to be quite dissimilar between the UK and the Chinese consumers. According to Sriviroj (2007), women in the UK tend to shop more frequently than the men with the intention of gaining an identity of their own in the society. It is in this context that women in the UK consumer groups tend to perceive the value that frequent shopping activities shall widen their scope for networking within the social context where they shall be able to acquire a chance to communicate with other individuals through casual meetings (Sriviroj, 2007). However, as revealed by Seno (2010), women in China tend to shop more than the men being persuaded by their belief that it shall contribute in their societal status deciphering a feel of sophistication. In simple words, the Chinese customers behaviour can be identified as highly influenced by the consumption pattern in the UK although the inherent cultural standpoints in both the cases can be argued to be quite distinct in these two cases. Based on the same illustration, another vital dissimilarity can be identified when assessing the consumer purchase trends in the UK and China which directly links with the social orientation of the Chinese customers. For instance, as revealed by Sriviroj (2007), women in the UK luxury markets tend to acquire the position of the key customer groups. To be specific, the UK women populaces are targeted by the luxury brands when promoting their products owing to the fact that rather than men, high-income group women are observed to perform frequent purchase activities. On the contrary, in the luxury brand market of China, it has been observed that men are the key consumers where women consumers mostly tend to aim at purchasing cost-effective products (Jetley, 2011). Hence, from a critical perspective, it has often been claimed by researchers that although the Chinese society is becoming increasingly open towards inculcating the Western trends, strong cultural awareness persists within the consumers in China which further creates strong distinctions amid the two groups of buyers, i.e. the Chinese consumers and the UK consumers. Comparison of Consumption Behaviour among Consumers in China and UK markets It has often been argued by experts studying Chinese consumer behaviour that the rudiments of the business environment of the nation had been based on its cultural values, beliefs and concerns. For instance, decision making process among Chinese people can be identified as strongly driven by the head of the family who is accepted to be in a superior position either in terms of their experiences as symbolised by their age and/or in terms of their income capacity. The existence of such power distance further influences the buying decision making of the Chinese customers by a large extent (The Hofstede Centre, n.d). For instance, most of the household expense decisions in China are taken by the individual who is perceived to be in the topmost power position of the family who is mostly a male member. However, only in the absence of a male member, women are considered to be the head of the family possessing the sole right of decision making (Jia, 2001). On the contrary, power distance within UK can be observed as significantly less that that persisting within the Chinese consumer markets. To be specific, decision making responsibilities are found to be residing equally among the family members on the basis of seniority. Distinction between male members and the female members are further observed to be meagre among UK families which depict significant distinctions between the two cultures (The Hofstede Centre, n.d). In this context, it can also be stated that Chinese societies tend to categorise the various groups of populaces on the basis of their income level by a large extent. Hence, inequality in spending power subsequent to high or lower income capability tend to create significant impacts on the social status of the individuals within the Chinese society (The Hofstede Centre, n.d). This particular aspect further justifies the consumer behaviour of the Chinese buyers which is currently observed as becoming highly inclined towards branded products with the belief that it shall decipher increased spending capacity and likewise enhance their position within the social cluster (Forbes, 2011). Contradictorily, with reference to the effects of culture on consumption behaviour, it can be stated that society of UK and its cultural dimensions are relatively less focused on the inequality persisting in terms of income level among (The Hofstede Centre, n.d). The decision making process concerning purchasing activities among Chinese consumers also tend to focus on group decisions. Owing to the prevailing higher degree of collectivism attribute, the Chinese consumers tend to purchase commodities being strongly based on the decisions made by their peer groups or the groups of people whom they admire (The Hofstede Centre, n.d). However, when studying the UK culture, it can be observed that customers tend to make decisions based on their personal likings and dis-likings rather than being persuaded by the preferences of their peer members (The Hofstede Centre, n.d). Business Communication between China and UK: A Consumer Perspective It can be apparently observed from the above context that various dissimilarities persist within the cultural contexts of UK and China. From a business oriented viewpoint, it can be thus stated that due consideration needs to be rendered towards identifying the cultural rudiments in order to execute the business communication process with the customers deciphering greater efficiency. It is to be mentioned in this context that cultural awareness and rudiments play an important role in communication process of businesses in efficiently addressing the consumption behaviour in distinct countries such as China and UK. As stated by Means (2009), effective business communication can become the backbone of any company in a foreign market owing to which it is quite necessary to obtain adequate understanding regarding the cultural rudiments of the particular society of customer group. For instance, when a company or a business concern is targeting the consumer groups in China it should pay due attention towards assessing the cultural factors which depict the decision making behaviour of the social cluster. Illustratively, when marketing toys for children, companies should target the parents owing to the fact that they are recognised to be responsible for decision making in the Chinese families (Hawkins & et. al., 2010). Furthermore, when aiming at creating long-lasting impression in the minds of the Chinese customers, companies should aim at taking the virtues of promotional tools such as word-of mouth which shall be appropriate in addressing the collectivism attitude of the cultural group. Similarly, when a company intends to operate in the UK, it should be focused on communicating with the target customers deciphering an attitude to resemble the individualistic dimension of the society. Differentiating attributes based on the personal tastes and attributes perceived by the individual customers belonging to the UK society. In simple words, in the Chinese culture, consumers can be observed to decipher greater preferences towards products which depict equality and similarity within the societal context while on the contrary, the customers belonging to the UK culture is likely to prefer products depicting dissimilarity and differentiating attributes (CD Network, 2013; Hawkins & et. al., 2010). In the similar context, language, both in the verbal forms and the non-verbal forms can also be regarded as a vital aspect when communicating with the consumers in China and in UK. For instance, the verbal as well as non-verbal communication is regarded to be quite vital within the Chinese community when addressing to elder populaces and even to someone unknown. Along with verbal linguistic communication, non-verbal body language and facial expressions also play vital role in creating a positive impact on the Chinese consumers. As per the communication etiquette in the Chinese culture, small gifts and respect in formal conversation or languages are readily welcomed as a depiction of personal care and affection. As stated by Hawkins & et. al. (2010), “relationships are everything in China” (pp. 63). Thus, through the establishment of personal relationships or attachments with Chinese consumers, companies shall be able to address their tastes and preferences more effectively communicating their business needs in a more unambiguous coding way. Unlike Chinese consumers, the UK consumers are often observed to be much responsive towards casual interactions. Body language, behaviour as well as verbal, linguistic behaviour is regarded to be much more acceptable and friendly rather than formal and superiorly thought out communication verses. Although attire is not regarded to be quite significant in the regular lifestyle, it is regarded to be a significant aspect when conducting or rather negotiating business deals. Moreover, exchanging gifts similar in the case of China is not perceived to be a welcoming attitude and is thus regarded as highly unacceptable. To mention another vital distinction between UK and Chinese customers having a deep impression on business communication aspects; people in UK tend to be less patient in comparison to the Chinese people (CD Network, 2013). Conclusion With reference to the above discussion, it can be apparently observed that two cultures might seem to have multiple aspects in common, but they also possess significant dissimilarities and versatilities inherited in their cultural rudiments. For instance, vast differences can be witnessed when assessing the cultural aspects of China and UK from a business perspective. On one hand, Chinese customers pay significant considerations towards formalism, collectivism and personal affection during decision making. Income levels, education as well as spending behaviours are perceived to be some of the vital attributes which persuades Chinese customers towards the consumption of certain products. Based on the similar context, on the other hand, the UK customers believe in individualism when deciding upon their purchase behaviour. To be illustrated, Chinese customers are more likely to be persuaded with discounting offers and small gifts during business deals owing to the fact that such behaviour is regarded to be a depiction of personal affection and care. Contradictorily, exchange of small gifts during business deals is negatively treated in the UK, therefore creating reluctance amid UK customers to move ahead in the negotiation process. Similarly, the attribute of patience which is comparatively observed to be significantly more among the Chinese customers can also create a deep influence on the effectiveness of the business communication process. It is in this context that such differences need to be considered with due regards when addressing business negotiations in a different cultural context as it might cause serious misinterpretations and conflicts among the parties. Hence, a substantial amount of cultural awareness needs to be fostered among the staffs engaged with business communication operations between two different cultures in order to avoid cultural conflicts led by the misinterpretation of the languages conveyed by the either party. References CD Network, 2013. Doing Business in the UK - Culture, Customs and Etiquette.UK Diversity Network. [Online] Available at: http://www.cdnetwork.org.uk/doing-business-in-uk.html [Accessed February 10, 2013]. Farhangmehr, M. & Shoham, A. 2004. The Influence of Culture on Consumers: Exploratory and Risk Taking Behaviour. Consumer Behaviour and the Influence of Culture. [Online] Available at: http://repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt/bitstream/1822/4839/1/Tese_Mar%C3%A7o.pdf [Accessed February 10, 2013]. Forbes, 2011. Marketing to the New Chinese Consumer. Forbes Insights. [Online] Available at: http://images.forbes.com/forbesinsights/StudyPDFs/Marketing_to_the_Chinese_Consumer.pdf [Accessed February 10, 2013]. 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