Culture Impact on Consumer Behavior - Research Paper Example

? A Comparative Study: The culture of India and United Arab Emirates & Its impact on their respective Consumer Behavior name] [Date] Culture is defined as a set of values, attitudes, beliefs, rules, behaviors, concepts of a particular place that binds the people of that place together (Ganeri, 2013, p. 4). It consists of traditions, customs, institutions, etc unique to a particular group of people, inherited generations after generations (Vyas, 1992, p.11). It is important therefore for businesses to take these issues into consideration. Culture of India India is a multi-cultural secular nation. People from different cultures, customs, traditions, and religions find equal respect in this country and can stay with complete harmony. Religion and Spirituality are very important in India. Worship of various deities is a salient feature. India is said to be the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism; 80% of the population follow Hinduism which is at least 4000years old. However people from various religions stay in this nation (Ganeri, 2013, pp. 6-7). India is the land where the Vedas and Upanishads originated (Vyas, 1992, pp.13-14). All the scriptures have been written in Sanskrit which is considered to be the mother of many languages. At present, Hindi is the national language which is again derived from Sanskrit. Indian languages, customs, rituals, dance, music, architecture, food, clothing etc differ greatly from place to place within the country. Naturally it is bountiful with seas, mountains, agricultural lands, forests, rivers, deserts, etc. India is the origin of various classical dance forms and music. However, each form represents the heritage of a particular group of people. So, are its clothing and food habits? (Ganeri, 2013, p.14-34) A very important part of the India is its age-old caste system where the society is broadly divided between Brahmins (Priests, Teachers), Kshatriyas (Warriors, Rulers), Vaishyas (Merchants, Farmers etc) and Sudras (Servants) (Soundar, 2005, p. 6). Most of the customs in India are due to Hinduism. Though these vary throughout the nation, yet certain customs like greeting visitors with “Namaste”, touching the feet of elders for blessings, addressing superiors as “sir” or “madam” are common practices. Though, now - a- days, boys and girls mix up more freely, yet in general the society is conservative and arranged marriages are still a norm. Business meetings in large cities are organized as in western countries. It is rich in its cultural heritage; however, it is a third world developing country. There is a stark difference between the cultures of rural and urban India. For Indians, the concept of time is generally relaxing. Weekends comprise Saturdays and Sundays (Soundar, 2005, pp. 119-122). Culture of UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is made up of the seven small emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ras Al-Khaimah, Ajman, Umm Al-Qaiwain, and Fujairah. Four-fifths of the UAE is desert. However, UAE is a rich country, due to its oil reserves. Originally, the local population was little and didn’t have the technical skills needed for a developed society. The discovery of and commercial production of oil triggered rapid economic growth and also resulted in the immigration of male foreign laborers, on a large scale. So, in just four decades, it has become a cosmopolitan and multicultural country. About two-thirds of the immigrants are Asians, mainly from India, Pakistan, Iran, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh etc. (Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Washington DC, 2012) Islam is the main religion in the UAE but they are well known for religious tolerance. Temples, Gurdwaras, Churches are found along with Mosques. The official language is Arabic. English is the language of commerce. They generally greet by saying “Salaamu aleikum”. They pray five times a day, religiously. Muslims observe an entire month of fasting, in the fall, called Ramadan, during which they do not eat, drink or smoke between sunrise and sunset. The attire, music, attire, food habits, architecture and lifestyle are strongly influenced by Arabic and Islamic culture. Friday is the holiest day for Muslims. They have a Friday-Saturday as weekend. Generosity and thoughtfulness are norms in their culture. They will always offer tea or coffee to their guests. Couples can be found walking together holding hands. However they generally do behave this way if married or in any affair. The concept of time is generally seen as fluid. Middle Easterners are relaxed about when an appointment or event ends or begins. (Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Washington DC, 2012) General cultural differences of India and UAE Both India and UAE are multi-cultural but there is a clear difference. UAE is originally an Islamic nation where immigrants have come very recently, as workers. Hence, the culture has become diverse, a bit. India on the other hand, has been invaded by various civilizations time and again, which includes both Hindu and Mughals, and later the British, all of them leaving their strong cultural influences on the nation. However, the influence of Hinduism has been the strongest. Since various civilizations occupied various parts of this land, various cultures have evolved today, throughout the nation. So, languages, attire, customs, vary largely within its own people. India also is the home of various small tribal groups who again have different customs. UAE being a Muslim country, their language is Arabic. Because of recent immigrants, UAE has become cosmopolitan (Soundar, 2005, pp. 3-12). Culture’s impact on Consumer behavior Consumer behavior depicts what an individual thinks about a company product, how the consumer buys, uses and then disposes off the product. It also depicts how often the consumer is buying the product and represents a satisfaction level of the consumer for that particular product. The customers’ buying decisions are affected by a number of external and internal factors. Cultural background of the customer is one such very important external factor. Thus an individual’s buying decision and psychological thinking is greatly influenced by the culture, consciously or unconsciously (Noel, 2009, pp. 14-15). One example of culture’s influence on buying pattern can be taken from the fact that Hindus (belonging to religion of Hinduism in India) normally would not buy a product of beef. Islamic people in UAE would not consume anything which is not “halal” accredited. Marketing implications of the above cultural differences Hence, any food company which wants to penetrate the Indian market with non-veg items has to make sure that they do not use beef. They will also have to position and advertise their products that way. Similarly, in UAE, a food company has to ensure that the meat which they use, are all in accordance to “halal” norms. They need to advertise that they are following the rules and they care about the cultural values. Cultural influence on Consumer behavior in India If one looks into the marketing strategy of McDonalds in India, the company had to change its product offerings keeping in mind the Indian Culture. Whereas it serves beef and pork in its food products to other parts of the world, yet, in India, it had to substitute lamb for beef/pork. It has also introduced veggie burger for the pure vegetarians, in India (Cullen and Parboteeah, p.32). Cultural influence on Consumer behavior in UAE Islamic people value honesty and hence the deceptive marketing strategies and advertisements are not at all entertained. For example, any company which wants to enter the food and beverage business here, needs to have “halal” accreditation. Such companies have to ensure that the beef and chicken that they use in their food which they sell to the Islamic people are halal made with meat slaughtered according to Islamic Dietary laws. So various multinationals including Nestle etc, position their food products to the Islamic community, featuring “halal” accreditation. Such is the influence of culture on consumer behavior (Temporal, 2011, p. 2-32). Conclusion In the above context, it is evident that companies innovate their marketing strategies and product positioning based on specific cultural requirements in order to make their products acceptable to customer of specific region or culture. Hence penetrating any market will require deep understanding of the local cultures and practices such that via product differentiation a business can acquire larger market share. REFERENCES Cullen, J & Parboteeah, K (2009). International Business: Strategy and the Multinational Company. New York : Routledge Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Washington DC, The UAE, retrieved on November 7, 2013 from http://www.uae-embassy.org/uae Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Washington DC, Travel & Culture, retrieved on November 7, 2013 from http://www.uae-embassy.org/travel-culture/traveling-in-muslim-country Ganeri, A. (2013). Indian Culture. London: Raintree Noel, H. (2009). Basics Marketing 01: Consumer Behavior. Switzerland: AVA Publishing SA Soundar, C. (2004). Gateway to Indian Culture. Singapore: Asiapac Books Pte Ltd. Temporal,P. (2011). Islamic Branding and Marketing: Creating A Global Islamic Business. Singapore: John Wiley & Sons (Asia) Pte. Ltd. Vyas, R. (1992). 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