Global Consumer Culture - Essay Example

?Global Consumer Culture Table of contents Introduction 3 Outline 3 Global Consumer Culture: The Limitations of the Concept 4 Analysis and Evaluationof marketing strategies 7 Conclusion 11 References 13 Bibliography 14 Introduction Consumer culture indicates a system which is characterised by the preponderance of consumption patterns based on cultural aspects. However, these products are primarily the ones which are produced on a commercial basis produced by capitalist producers, rather than government initiatives. These cultures are nurtured primarily by private producers and marketers who stimulate the cultural roots of people to increase the demand for their goods. Generally, marketing to such a consumer base has to be made depending upon certain strategies. However, in an era of globalisation, serving consumers worldwide is what most marketers and producers have to do. Global consumer culture hence implies, the expansion of businesses and organisations all over the world in order to serve people belonging to different cultural backgrounds (Arnould, 2009, p. 3). Such a strategy involves a huge research to study the innate characteristics of consumers and this is where the importance of the present research lies. Outline In this era of globalisation, the concept ‘Global Consumer Culture’ has its own significance. It would not be wrong to say that the multinational organisations have to invest money as well as time to frame up strategies for each of their destination countries. Global consumer culture is a relief for them to let them think the world as a global village and a single market. However, evidences show there are a number of obstacles resisting the spread of this concept. The segment ‘Global Consumer Culture: The Limitations of the Concept’ has discussed these points taking reference from books and journals. At the end, a conclusion has been inferred from the discussion and analysis, carried in the earlier segments. The analysis and evaluation section is primarily associated with the different kinds of consumers that the marketers have to deal with and the strategies that they adopt to handle each according to their cultural backgrounds. Global Consumer Culture: The Limitations of the Concept “Consumer culture can be defined as a social arrangement in which the relations between the [lived cultural experience of everyday life] and social resources, between meaningful [valued] ways of life and the symbolic and material resources on which they depend, is mediated through markets” (University of Wyoming, n.d., p.1). Consumer culture is a system, in which the behaviours found in the consumption process and in all times and places it is dominated by the consumption of commercial products. This also enables the transmission of existing cultural values, norms and habitual ways of doing things from generation to generation. The consumer behaviour is largely influenced by the free personal choice in the private arena of daily lives. In this modern era, the consumer culture is no longer governed by tradition rather it is more influenced by instability in the economy. Globalisation culture positioning is a strategy, used to cover various consumer segments emerging with the global consumer culture (Warren, 2009). As the globalisation has spread its wings; companies do not bother to cross the boundaries of the countries. In such a case, global consumer culture is driven by the expansion of the organisations and its marketing principles across the globe. In theoretical terms, global culture can be described as the process wherein the global consumers would be united in way to make this world as a single market place. As per Belk, introduction of global culture would lead to homogenisation of global consumption. Global consumer culture facilitates the same consumption behaviour of the consumers, which means that consumers in every corner would have the opportunity to eat the same food items, wear the same fashionable clothes, drive the same types of cars, watch the same television programs, stay in the same hotels and dines in the same restaurants. Global consumer culture also facilitates the globalised consumerism, homogenisation of global consumption and globalised capitalism. This culture encourages one single ideology and social process which was continuously made and remade through continual shift in the relations, practices and technologies. The expansion of global consumer culture is driven by global flow of distinct cultural resources. According to Appadurai, there are certain factors influencing the global consumer culture. These factors are referred as financescapes, ideoscapes, technoscapes and mediascpaes. Financescapes refers to the global flow of capital, currency and other various financial instruments which would enable the market run (University of Wyoming, n.d.). For an instance, the derivatives market, the micro finance revolution has brought in the changes in the market as well as in the consumer behaviour worldwide. The micro finance revolution has enabled the market models of finance and has also put the consumption into the hands of poor people, worldwide. Technospaces refers to the worldwide flow both simple and complex forms of informational and mechanical technologies. One instance to support the same would be global cell phone revolution. The global media has a considerable contribution into the global consumer culture to create and establish a single global cultural identity and memory across the countries. Worlwide events like World Cup, Olympics, millennial celebration and their televised global consumption are significant in the rapid spread of consumer culture. Ideoscapes refer to the ideologies possessed by the popular states and other movements. All these factors are going to enable the global consumer culture in one or the other way. However the question is how much acceptable is this concept in this competitive business world. Global Consumer Culture leads to framing up of a global marketing strategy by the organisations. However, the global marketing strategy may be wrong in many cases. Many countries have their own tradition, own languages which may not be in accordance with the global strategies. In such a case, companies are required to change their global strategies and incorporate the local ones. The rise of global consumer culture does not really mean that the consumer would be sharing the same tastes or values. It means to create a global brand which would be representation of high quality to most of the consumers across the globe. However, that too would have limitations. For an instance in China, Coca Cola is pronounced as ‘Kooke Koula’; the meaning of this word is ‘A thirsty mouthful of candle wax’. Later on, the organisation ended up with a new pronunciation ‘Kee Kou Keele’ which means ‘joyful tastes and happiness’ (Doole & Lowe, 2008). There was a global brand; however, despite of this fact, the company was in need of the local strategies. Same happened to McDonald when it extended its base to India. In India, the company has to deal with a population, 40 % of which are vegetarian. Moreover, the Indians demand an increasing amount of spices in their food. As a consequence, McDonald has to come up with new innovations in their burgers and spices to meet the taste buds of Indian people (Mujtaba & Patel, 2007). Some more examples can make the dilemma more clear for the companies. The consumers in developed Euro-American countries are growing more environment-concerned and they are getting increasingly bothered about the raw materials, usage of the product and disposal of the same. In Japan, consumers are highly informed and aesthetically sophisticated. Researchers have found that the Japanese households spend more on luxury products. However, despite of this fact they prefer to keep a considerable amount in the savings. So, it would not be wrong to say that there are many differences among the culture, tradition of the country and this has a significant influence to make any global strategy fail. Merely creating a global brand without looking at the local requirements can be disastrous for the multinational organisations. The corporate strategies must meet continual changes in the consumer demands (Oana, n.d.) All these discussion have indicated that the concept global consumer culture has its own limitations. In most of the cases, there is a demand for slight adjustments according to the consumer behaviour of different countries. The organisations must keep their global and local strategies in place. They are surely encouraged to drive to build up a global brand; however, that must be in alignment with the tradition, language, and consumer behaviour of the local countries. In most of the countries, consumers are looking forward to the global brands with some local touch. Analysis and Evaluation of marketing strategies A marketer’s primary area of concern prior to launching a product in a different country or cultural perspective is to study the behaviour of consumers. Consumers around the world, tend to behave and respond differently to a product that is advertised and promoted in a similar manner across regions. Variations in their behavioural patterns depend upon the culture and traditions of the regions where they were bred and brought up. It is a tough challenge for any marketer to figure out these minute differences and behave accordingly so as to popularise their product among the concerned population. At first however, it is necessary to identify various groups of consumers to be served. Fundamentally speaking, there can be five different types of customers that marketers need to attend to irrespective of the targeted region (Assael, 2005, p. 315; Lamb, Hair & McDaniel, 2008, p. 109). These five groups of people are – 1. Prestige buyer is one who is more specific about the brands which own the products being launched. Normally, they are found to make their purchasing preferences according to the brands of the products while their next choice is that about the retail outlet from which to make the purchase. Such consumers seldom attempt to accumulate information about a particular product provided it is launched by their preferred brand and sold by their favoured retailer. 2. Comfortable conservatives are those who chooses over the retail outlet first and next about the brand under consideration. While the former category of shoppers display brand loyalty, the present group are more characterised by their loyalty towards retailers. In most of the cases, prestige buyers are men, while women are more of comfortable conservative types. 3. Value shoppers are more like prestige buyers in the sense that they give a thought to the brand from which to make the purchase while show a little interest about the retailer. However, the only difference is that they make much research about the value addition that a particular product is likely to make in their consumption basket. In other words, amidst different brands, the one which is regarded to be adding the most to a consumer’s utility, is the one that is chosen. Hence, such people might not be regarded to be hard-core brand loyal. 4. Pretenders are those who choose their products ultimately ruled by the price scale, but appear to favour major brands. Most of them are ardent followers of prevailing trends and make significant research before zeroing down on a product. 5. A trusting patron is the consumer who develops a loyal relation with a particular retailer and treats the brand of a product to be virtually unimportant. Ordinarily, they are found to be making lot of research work prior to making a purchase, which is where they are different from comfortable conservatives. 6. Finally, there are the bargain hunters to whom price is the only factor that matters while making a purchase. In most of the cases, these are downscale teenagers who always have a tight pocket and are likely to delay their purchases for as long as possible (Phillips, Doole & Lowe, 1994, p. 141). Depending upon the diverse nature of consumers, as discussed above, different options are available to marketers to implement their strategies. Options here indicate the different ways through which a product could be successfully launched among a particular group of consumers. Accordingly, a few areas have been spotted to deal with the issue; they have been illustrated underneath. Geographic Area Consumer behaviours in some nations are highly centred about the culture that is mingled with the residents of the region, despite the fact that almost every type of consumer exists in a nation. For instance China is an economy which is largely populated by hard-core culturists which marketers must keep in their mind prior to launching a product. On the other hand, there are also possibilities that a particular country is endowed by a people who are bred under different cultures due to their diverse origin. Most of the Latin American nations contain people belonging to different cultural backgrounds and hence, marketers venturing out in those nations cannot restrict themselves to a particular agenda as that in case of China. Need for a particular product Marketers must also be aware about the difference that a particular product is likely to bring over a society and the probable ways through which various cultural aspects could be served. A good example is that of Tang which was launched in the USA as a mere substitute for orange juice to be consumed at breakfast. However, the culture in France is found to be unsupportive of such a consumption pattern and hence, the same product was unveiled as a refreshment which might be consumed anytime round the day. Hence, cultural needs were paid considerable attention prior to launching the product. Affordability The region where the launch of the product is targeted must be studied minutely so as to figure out the proportion of people who can genuinely afford a continued consumption of the same. There are many examples where a relatively expensive product was soon followed by a cheaper substitute which captured the market share of the former. Such a possibility arises in case that the targeted market comprises largely of people earning meagre incomes. Moreover, people belonging to such social and cultural backgrounds are value shoppers who generally judge a product based upon the additions that it is likely to make over his existing level of utility. Product structure Products are often subjected to various restrictions coming from legal and political aspects, which primarily are based upon cultural endowments of the nation. For instance, China had been against advertisements which used superlative or comparative ads since they were believed to be divertive for consumer tastes. Pepsi had been prohibited to display advertisements which claim of a larger number of people to prefer the drink over Coca Cola. There are restrictions over the sale of products as a whole, irrespective of their brand tags. For instance in China, vanilla is regarded as a chemical which is why they are sold in paint shops. On the other hand, nutmeg, cinnamon and a handful of other spices are also sold in medicine stores in China in contrast to other economies. Hence, the tag line to be associated with these products must be different for Chinese consumers (Hawkins, 1986, p. 67). Conclusion Evidences have proved that the cultural differences can put an impact on the management’s strategic management decisions. In this era of globalisation, the multinational organisations would appreciate the concept of ‘Global Consumer Culture’. However, it has its own limitations with different languages, cultures and traditions existing across this globe. The term ‘Global Consumer Culture’ is required to be limited in the ‘choices’, available to the consumers worldwide; however, it cannot be extended to the consumption of the same. The ‘choices’ can be made available by the organisations, but the ‘consumption’ decision depends solely on the consumers. It is good to have a global brand; even, the consumers look at the same as a representation of the better quality. However, this may not suffice in the changing locations. The organisations are required to keep their global brands and strategies in alignment with the local strategies in the respective countries. References Arnould, E. J. (2009). ‘Global Consumer Culture’. Encyclopaedia of International Marketing. Available at http://www.uwyo.edu/sustaindevsupport/docs/Global%20Consumer%20Culture.pdf (Accessed: January 19, 2011). Assael, H. (2005). Consumer Behavior A Strategic Approach. USA: Houghton Mifflin. Hawkins, D. I. (2010). Consumer Behavious (11th ed.). New York, USA: McGraw-Hill. Lamb, C. W., Hair, J. F. & McDaniel, C. (2008). Essentials of Marketing (6th ed.). USA: Cengage Learning. Mujtaba, G. B. & Patel, B. 2007. Mcdonald’s Success Strategy And Global Expansion Through Customer And Brand Loyalty. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.cluteinstitute-onlinejournals.com/PDFs/115.pdf [Accessed on January 19, 2011]. Oana, J. (No Date). The Creation and Diffusion of Global Consumer Culture – A Way to Increase the Firm Competitiveness. [Pdf]. Available at: http://eccsf.ulbsibiu.ro/RePEc/blg/journl/226jugarean.pdf [Accessed on January 19, 2011]. Phillips, C., Doole, I. & Lowe, R. (1994). International marketing strategy: analysis, development, and implementation. London, UK: Routledge. University of Wyoming. (No Date). Consumer Culture. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.uwyo.edu/sustaindevsupport/docs/Global%20Consumer%20Culture.pdf [Accessed on January 19, 2011]. Warren, K. (2009). Global Marketing. India: Pearson Education. Bibliography Bradley, F. (1991). International Marketing Strategy. London: Prentice Hall. Bradley, F. (2005). International marketing strategy (5th ed.). USA: Prentice Hall. El-Kahal, S. (2006). Introduction to international business. Mc-Graw Hill. Hawkins, D. I., Best, R. J. & Coney, K. A. (1995). Consumer behavior: Implications for marketing strategy. USA: Irwin. Marketing Teacher. (2010). International Marketing and Culture. [Online]. Available at: http://marketingteacher.com/lesson-store/lesson-international-marketing-culture.html . Schiffman, L. G. (2007). Consumer Behavior (9th ed.). USA: Pearson. Read More