The Role of Culture in the Perception of Service Recovery - Essay Example

Impact of Culture on s Behaviour Impact of Culture on s Behaviour Since behaviour is largely shaped by cultural factors, international marketers always need to address and overcome cultural boundaries with the same effort they do economic boundaries. This is because diverse societies observe and practice different cultures and, therefore, similar products and services must be packaged in consideration to those differences. In this context, culture may be understood to reflect the sum total of customs, values, rituals, beliefs and norms learned by a particular society that shape their behaviour as consumers. It is imperative for international marketers to treat culture as a mental image that impacts on a broad scope of specific attitudes, which consequently, determine the way consumers evaluate options in the product or service categories. The holiday season presents an exciting period for both business to business (B2B) and business to consumers (B2C) organisations alike. Being a high stake and high volume season, businesses finalise their budgets for the upcoming year and stock up on new products, while consumers buy gifts and gadgets. Studies have proven that shoppers spend more on the holiday market, but businesses cannot make a lasting impact on the market by simply seeking to sell and make profits if they do not consider the cultural aspects of customers (Alam 2006, p. 235). This paper will analyse and discuss the way cultural factors affect customer behaviour and preferences in the holiday market and also compare and contrast the UK culture with that of China. Finally, it will give specific recommendations on a relevant marketing mix for each country. As the world becomes more globalised, consumers tend to develop the same needs and preferences and some business organisations may wrongly produce goods and use the same marketing techniques among all its international customers. Notable researches conducted have shown that there are tangible differences between cultures around the world and also among citizens of the same nation (Arnould & Thompson 2005, p. 871). Marketers often overwhelm customers with communication on different brands over the holiday market, which does not necessarily translate into effective communication with the target market. Customers behaviour is manifested in the way organisations, groups and individuals select, acquire and dispose of ideas, experiences, services and products to satisfy their needs. When marketers acquaint themselves with customer behaviour, they also get to learn their decision-making processes and how they are determined by culture. The underlying significance requiring marketers to analyse and understand the impact of culture on customer behaviour is because needs are satisfied by culture (McGregor, 2005, p. 74). In a society, the key reason for the existence of culture is to satisfy the people’s needs. It is culture that provides a society with order, guidance and direction in the human phases of solving problems and satisfying social, personal and physiological needs. Further, unlike inborn biological attributes, culture is a concept that customers learn in three distinctive forms that include technical, informal and formal learning. The marketing and advertising communications of a company are capable of influencing all three forms, but informal learning is the most enhanced by marketing messages because they provide the target market with prototype behavior to mimic (Wong 2004, p. 959). With the holiday market being a seasonal happening, it is crucial for marketers to know the appropriate model to offer a target market to imitate. This means international marketers must take acculturation into consideration when planning to market products to multicultural markets. The human mind is not always very accommodating to change, and an engrained culture is one aspect that cannot be changed easily, especially through marketing techniques. It is up to the marketers to align themselves with the culture of potential customers, rather than designing their campaigns to alter the customers’ culture. Another important way in which culture affects customer behaviour and preference in the holiday market is because it is shared (Wong 2004, p. 962). As promotional tactics close in on what customers actually prefer, some trends could only be applicable to very specific societies because of culture’s shared nature. A number of social institutions in societies such as families, religious centres, the mass media and educational institutions spread cultural elements, which makes the sharing of culture a practical concept. The mass media is of particular importance because of availing cultural information to customers through advertising. This is because advertising is the most effective way of transferring cultural implications from social and physical environments into products. The cultural differences between the potential target markets and the way the marketed attributes are communicated will determine whether the different societies will accept the marketed products or not, mainly because different cultures perceive holidays differently (Gold, Guthrie & Wank 2002, p. 106). Language, being a key feature of culture, must be used appropriately alongside symbols for effective communication aimed at persuading the market to buy. The holiday market generally tends to address multinational audiences, but marketers need to know that some symbols, even similar words in different languages, may have numerous as well as contradictory meanings. Therefore, advertisers need to ascertain the intended communication to the relevant audience for any sales to be realised. Since holidays are often accompanied by the associated rituals, the marketed products must also facilitate them appropriately. From the marketing viewpoint, rituals should be seen to stem deeply from within a culture and they tend to be full of artifacts linked with their performance. Business organisations should, therefore, view culture as a key influence when marketing services and products to diverse culture. Once it is understood how customers think in accordance with their cultures, goods can be produced and communicated to them in ways acceptable and appealing to them. The UK and China, for example, have some similarities in their cultures and, at the same time, very notable differences, and customers from the two countries make different choices guided by their respective cultures (Hutton 2007, p. 48). This does not necessarily make either of the cultures worse or better than the other, but simply emphasises on the fact that customers from diverse cultural backgrounds will make varying choices. The UK and China differ in aspects such as social life, law and rights. In the case of China, whose cultural orientation tends to be particularistic, communitarian, diffuse and outer-direction, institutional and material factors are key factors in social change, and they have influenced new systems of thought and behaviour within the society (Zhang, Beatty & Walsh 2008, p. 219). Apart from the few shared areas of education and some modernisation aspects, the cultures are strikingly different. Pressure for change in China, such as promoting the status of women by reform movements or the communist party, is internal, but the availability and effects of Western education and cultural products have added an external factor to the Chinese culture. In contrast, the UK culture is Universalist, individualist, specific, neutral, sequential-time and internal-direction. In China, the particularism culture leads people to believe that every relationship and circumstance determines the rules that guide the way they live. The way they respond to situations may change, depending on who is involved and the current happening. In this way, theirs is a culture marketers may find relatively easy to manipulate. Time must be taken to build relationships and know people better in order to understand their needs. A marketing strategy would be to highlight stringent policies and regulations that have to be followed. While marketers will need to allow customers the autonomy to arrive at their own decisions, the people also have to respect the needs of others when making decisions. On the other hand, through Universalism in the UK, a high importance is placed on obligations, values, rules and laws (Zhang, Beatty & Walsh 2008, p. 219). Therefore in the UK, rules are placed before relationships and dealings between people are designed to be based on the rules as fairly as possible. Individuals need assistance to understand the way their work integrates into their beliefs and values. In the UK, Universalism dictates that promises must be consistently kept and people allowed enough time to make decisions. Then, the culture of Communitarianism in China means that the collective group is given more importance than Individualism in the UK. In return for loyalty, the group will provide safety and help in China while in the UK, they believe more in personal achievement and freedom. Individuals tend to make their own decisions and take care of themselves. In conclusion, these findings can assist in recommending specific and relevant marketing mixes for target markets in the UK and China. While marketing in the UK, it must be remembered that personal lives and work are handled separately, therefore, relationships do not really impact on work. There is a general perception that people can work together successfully without needing good personal relationships. Therefore, a marketing strategy would work well if it is directly to the point and focuses on the objectives of the customers first before attempting to strengthen relationships. In contrast, the diffuse culture in China allows them to have an overlap between their personal lives and work. A very high importance is given to personal relationships, meetings and greetings which are, in turn, vital to accomplishing business objectives (Gold, Guthrie & Wank 2002, p. 103). Therefore, a marketing strategy designed for China must first focus on strengthening relationships before embarking on business objectives. Business can be discussed during social occasions, and some negotiations may actually be closed in such occasions. Gifting in China is not associated with negative connotations in business negotiations, and gifts are notably exchanged as an appreciation, celebration or preparing for future favours (Davies 2001, p. 69). References Alam, I 2006, ‘Service innovation strategy and process: a cross-national comparative analysis’, International Marketing Review, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 234-254. Arnould, E, & Thompson, C 2005, ‘Consumer culture theory: twenty years of research’, Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 31, no. 4, pp. 868-882. Davies, G 2001, Voicing concerns: contemporary Chinese critical enquiry, Rowman and Littlefield, Maryland. Gold, T, Guthrie, D, & Wank, D 2002, Social connections in China, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Hutton, W 2007, The writing on the wall: China and the West in the 21st century, Brown, London. McGregor, J 2005, One billion customers, Nicholas Brealey Publishing, London. Wong, N 2004, ‘The role of culture in the perception of service recovery’, Journal of Business Research, vol. 57, no. 9, pp. 957-963. Zhang, J, Beatty, S, & Walsh, G 2008, ‘Review and future directions of cross-cultural customer services research’, Journal of Business Research, vol. 61, no.2, pp. 211-224. Read More