Impact of Culture on the International Marketing - Research Proposal Example

Impact of culture on the international marketing I. Introduction The structure of the business network in the international commercial area, has led to the necessity of specific marketing strategies that could offer a competitive advantage in a particular international business towards its competitors. The methods for the design and the application of such a strategy tend to differentiate across countries mostly due to the particular social and cultural elements that characterize each state. Present paper examines the impact of culture on the formulation and the application of an international marketing strategy, as this interaction can be influence furthermore the firm’s performance in a specific country. The issue is examined primarily under the views stated in the theory and the tests that have been made by researchers in this area. Furthermore, a method of primary research is proposed in order to formulate a more complete view of the problem. The structure, the conduction and the data evaluation regarding the specific research are analyzed in accordance with the current conditions and demands of the commercial market. Some temporary assumptions regarding the particular issue are also been expressed as a supplementary tool to the completion of the task. II. Literature Review The definition of culture as an element of the international marketing is not much differentiated from its original form. In this context it has been stated that culture can be defined as "the interactive aggregate of common characteristics that influences a groups response to its environment," and furthermore as a "collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from those of another" (Zhang et al., 1996, 30). The importance of international marketing strategies for the successful performance of a multinational corporation has been recognized by all the researchers (in its natural form or through the public relations format). Moreover, it has been stated (Ihator, 2000, 38) that ‘globalization of business has created the need for international public relations practitioners to identify, study and understand the world views, mindsets, and habits of their global publics in order to effectively communicate; communication styles and meaning, as well as realities, as perceived by individuals are culturally induced’. The above assumptions are in accordance with those of Tan (2002) and Taylor (2002) who supported the importance of culture to the success of an international business strategy (and analogically to a firm’s international marketing strategy). However, the above researchers highlighted the importance of the sufficient and the appropriate research before designing and applying any business strategy in the international field. Towards this direction, it has been stated that ‘the multinational enterprises need to adapt their management practices to the national cultures in which they operate in order to achieve high business performance; work units that are managed consistent with national cultural expectations will be better performing than work units whose management practices do not fit the national culture’ (Newman et al., 1996, 753) In this context, the standardization of advertising should be based on the premise that ‘needs and wants of people are basically the same everywhere and that a carefully conceived and executed appeal can strike common responsive chords in consumers in different countries’. Towards this direction, researchers ‘have long noted product characteristics and argued that standardization is more feasible for industrial products than for consumer products and that among consumer products, durable products may afford greater opportunity for standardization than nondurable products because the latter require more adjustment to unique local tastes, habits, and customs’. Regarding the above issues the study of Zhang et al. (1996, 40) showed that ‘product use condition is a key element in determining the feasibility of standardizing advertising appeals and that advertising standardization is feasible if a product is used in a consumption situation that matches the appeal in the ad; culture matters, but advertisers need not assume that its influence on responses to advertising appeals is independent of other factors’. Norburn et al. (1990, 451) tried to explore the relationship between the marketing strategies applied by firms and the culture. For this reason they conducted a study examining ‘the ways in which senior executives in four countries which shared a common language-United Kingdom, United States, Australia and New Zealand-characterised both their firms marketing effectiveness, and corporate culture and beliefs; results give support to those theorists who advance cultural specificity as the primary moderator of top managerial attitudes, but also emphasise that the best predictor of marketing effectiveness is similar in all four nations-the primacy of the importance of people, and with quality’. On the other hand, Lenartowicz et al. (1999, 790) stated that the international business strategies (and so the international marketing) can be explained through a multi-method framework which ‘merges two main methodological approaches suggested by the cross-cultural literature: qualitative, supported by cultural anthropology, and quantitative supported by cross-cultural psychology; the qualitative approach, in the format of Ethnological Description, establishes the group being studied as a culture and usually provides information about its geographic location as well as the descriptive values, beliefs and norms; the quantitative approach uses Direct Values Inference to assess the values of the individuals of the cultural group, selected for measurement through Validated Regional Affiliation’. Furthermore, regarding the development of the above framework, Lenartowicz et al. (1999, 790) found that ‘there are several assumptions that we have made regarding culture; first, they have assumed a values-based model of culture; second, they assume that culture is essentially an objective and observable phenomenon; third, they have assumed that culture is relatively stable over time; this is an important assumption in that the applicability of ethnological descriptions is based on cultural stability; if culture is a dynamic and changing characteristic then the ethnological descriptions will not be viable sources of secondary data’. From another point of view, it has been found that ‘corporate initiatives that are created at headquarters and promoted worldwide run the risk of conflicting with unreceptive national cultures; in particular, management practices that are favoured in the U.S., such as employee participation, individual responsibility, merit-based rewards, and short-term approaches, are likely to be unwise in some other countries that are culturally unlike the U.S’. In this context it has been proved that ‘a mismatch between work unit management practices and national culture is likely to reduce performance while the issue of fit is especially salient for U.S. managers because the U.S. has quite extreme values for both individualism and long-term orientation cultural dimensions’. As a general conclusion, it has been stated that ‘by implication, the more different the host country culture is from the companys home country culture, the more the company will need to adapt. If we take national culture to be relatively immutable, the onus is on managers to adapt’ (Newman et al., 1996, 769) In the same context, Zhang et al. (1996, 29) found that ‘understanding cultural differences is often considered a prerequisite for successful international advertising; the reasoning is that consumers grow up in a particular culture and become accustomed to that cultures value systems, beliefs, and perception processes; consequently, they respond to advertising messages that are congruent with their culture, rewarding advertisers who understand that culture and tailor ads to reflect its values’. When designing international marketing strategies there are a few elements that should be taken into account: ‘a) the importance of consumer closeness-a service orientation, an innovative spirit, an obsession with quality, and a view of the organisation from the perspective of the customer, b) the need for a distinct and identifiable set of corporate values the organisational culture-represented by a "belief in being the best: and the importance of people, c) an external, or market-orientated, focus as distinct from an internal, or company-orientated, focus; this broad philosophy emphasises the importance of the marketplace as a key determinant for corporate action’ (Norburn et al., 1990, 454). The above suggestions although referring to the main issues related with the formulation and application of an international marketing strategy, do not contain specific provisions regarding the impact of the particular national culture (as a social aspect) to the structure and the success of the above strategy (Hewett et al., 2003, George, 2003). It seems that they are more connected with the consumer – driven culture as it has been developed in every local market around the world. III. Methodology IIIa. Justification of qualitative paradigm In order to achieve a successful research regarding the impact of culture on international marketing, we should primarily locate the specific needs of the subject. From a general point of view, culture is human –connected and for this reason the relevant research should be human – focused. This assumption justifies at a first level the use of qualitative (and not quantitative) data. Furthermore, the research should be based on the personal views of the participants regarding the specific issue using the research tool of questionnaire (and possibly an interview at a next level). It should be noticed that the choice of the people participated in the above study have to be based on their connection with the subject because in any case the relevance of the participants’ views with the problem as well as their experience regarding the specific phenomenon have to be taking into account when evaluating the data collected. On the other hand, because of the complexity and the ‘dual’ nature of the specific issue, it would be preferable that the participants are people that know the business sector. In this context, the specific research should be conducted in a University environment and specifically in a department relevant with the business studies. As for the number of participants, this should be defined in accordance with the educational environment that is going to be used, however it should not be less than 100 (in order for an indicative assumption to be produced). IIIb.Justification of methodology – collection of data The use of questionnaire (with the possibility of a following interview with the participants that would like to proceed to this stage) can be explained by the nature of the specific issue. As mentioned above, the particular problem (the impact of culture on international marketing) is human – related and for this reason the qualitative approach has been chosen for the conduction of research. Furthermore, the tool chosen for the completion of the task should also be human – related to the highest possible level. This choice can supported by the fact that culture is a phenomenon that can be experienced only in accordance with its acceptance and application by the residents of a specific country and cannot be considered as an independent element of the scientific knowledge. In fact, it is not science – related but human – related and for this reason the research tool that is going to be used in the specific case has to meet the specific requirements. The questionnaire in this case can be considered as the most appropriate method for presenting the personal views of the participants regarding the specific problem. It should be noticed that the questionnaire has to be formulated in accordance with the cultural and social aspects of the country of residence of the participants. IIIc. Data analysis The analysis of the data collected should be based on the use of multiple levels of abstraction. In practice, this means that each issue has to be analyzed from the particular stage up to a general one taking into account all the complexities that usually appear in the real life. Moreover, the analysis should combine the views stated in the literature with the findings of the research. Regarding its structure, the analysis could be divided in different units which are going to be presented afterwards using the hierarchical modelling. In any case, the interpretation of the data has to be in accordance with the current cultural conditions of the specific country (where the research is conducted) as well as the educational and cultural characteristics of the participants. IV. Conclusion In order to locate and evaluate the impact of culture to the international marketing strategies we should primarily examine the general commercial environment in which the specific business operates. At a next level, the examination of all the issues related with the culture of a particular country is necessary in order to formulate a ‘secure’ assumption regarding the specific issue. It should be noticed that the above impact can be differentiated across the countries in accordance with the level of interaction of the culture with the people’s daily life. In this context, because of the close connection of culture with the human activities, a possible research on this issue should be based on the personal experiences of the participants regarding a firm’s international marketing strategy. Under all circumstances, the research on the culture’s impact on the strategies that will be followed by an international firm has to be based on the current cultural and social conditions of a specific country but also of the specific team of participants. Finally, during the stage of data analysis, a combination of the human experiences with the approaches presented in the literature will help the formulation of an objective result. References Bhagat, R. S., Buchan, N. R., Erez, M., Gibson, C. B., Leung, K. (2005). Culture and International Business: Recent Advances and Their Implications for Future Research. Journal of International Business Studies, 36(4): 357-386 Birley, S., Dunn, M., Norburn, D., Payne, A. (1990). A Four Nation Study of the Relationship between Marketing Effectiveness, Corporate Culture Corporate Values, and Market Orientation. Journal of International Business Studies, 21(3): 451-459 Diamantopoulos, A., Reynolds, N., Simintiras, A. (2003). Theoretical Justification of Sampling Choices in International Marketing Research: Key Issues and Guidelines for Researchers Journal of International Business Studies, 34(1): 80-92 Gelb, B. D., Zhang, Y. (1996). Matching Advertising Appeals to Culture: The Influence of Products Use Conditions. Journal of Advertising, 25(3): 29-42 George, A. M. (2003). Teaching Culture: The Challenges and Opportunities of International Public Relations. Business Communication Quarterly, 66(2): 97-106 Hewett, K., Roth, K., Roth, M. (2003). Conditions Influencing Headquarters and Foreign Subsidiary Roles in Marketing Activities and Their Effects on Performance. Journal of International Business Studies, 34(6): 567-590 Hofstede, G. (1980), Cultures Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values, Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications. ----- (1991), Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, London: McGraw-Hill. Ihator, A. (2000). Understanding the Cultural Patterns of the World -- an Imperative in Implementing Strategic International PR Programs. Public Relations Quarterly, 45(4): 38-47 Lenartowicz, T., Roth, K. (1999). A Framework for Culture Assessment. Journal of International Business Studies, 30(4): 781-796 Newman, K. L., Nollen, S. D. (1996). Culture and Congruence: The Fit between Management Practices and National Culture. Journal of International Business Studies, 27(4): 753-773 Tan, J. (2002). Culture, Nation, and Entrepreneurial Strategic Orientations: Implications for an Emerging Economy. Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, 26(4): 95-111 Taylor, C. R. (2002). What Is Wrong with International Advertising Research. Journal of Advertising Research, 42(6): 48-55 Websites http://www.ijmr.com/ http://www.commerce-database.com/international-marketing.htm http://www.acs.utah.edu/GenCatalog/1046/crsdesc/mktg.html http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?isbn=0804740216 http://www.wtamu.edu/~sanwar.bus/otherlinks.htm http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/EC/ResMeth.html http://www2.etown.edu/vl/countspe.html Read More