How Culture Affects Consumer Behaviour - Term Paper Example

How culture affects consumer behaviour Introduction Culture is conceivably one of the most significant factors that play a key role in determining consumer behaviour. Defined simply as the entire social heritage of humanity passed on from one generation to another, culture comprises of everything ranging from food to clothing, from household techniques to industrial techniques, from forms of courtesy to mass media, as well as from work patterns to the learning of familiar rules. On the other hand, consumer behaviour refers to the totality of the consumers’ decisions with respect to selection, acquisition as well as the use of goods or services for the satisfaction of their wants Hoyer & Macinnis (2009). According to Cateora (1996), culture is part of every society and is for this reason an important reason for consumers’ wants and behaviour. Culture’s influence on consumer behaviour, however, varies from nation to nation, a factor that calls for marketers to be very careful when analyzing the various cultures of different groups, regions or even nations. This particular paper therefore intends to analyze how culture affects consumer behaviour. Cultural factors have an essential impact on consumer behaviour, and are therefore the most significant reason for a consumer’s wants and behaviours. While growing up, for instance, young children learn fundamental values, views and wants from their families as well as other key groups. Marketers, on the other hand, often strive to spot various cultural shifts that might possibly point to new products that might be wanted by consumers. According to Assadi (2003), there are a number elements; personality to culture that are considered in explaining how culture affects consumer behaviour. One of the most significant and sensitive elements of culture that affects consumer behaviour is religion. According to Assadi (2003), religion as an element of culture has a significant role in influencing consumer behaviour, and therefore the significance of understanding the language of a given country or region cannot be overlooked. Religion affects consumer behaviour mainly by influencing the personality structure of the consumers such as their beliefs, values and behavioural tendencies. Religions all over the world have various sets of laws or rules that ritualistically and symbolically affect consumer behaviour. Assadi (2003) highlights that religion, at this point, refers not only to the belief biding human’s spiritual nature to their supernatural being, but primarily a system of faith and worship. This system influences believers’ (consumers) behaviours as a sign of reverence to their supernatural beings. However, according to Assadi (2003), even though the degree at which various individuals stick on to various religious principles varies, the reality is that preferences are significantly shaped or influenced by the value-giving rules and customs of the surrounding religion. As a consequence, when marketers have very little or no understanding of a given religion, there is always a high probability they will offend, even though unintentionally. Many individuals do not understand religions other than those of their own, and what is acknowledged about other religions is more often than not wrong. The religion of the Muslims, for instance, provides a significant example of the importance of understanding all the major religions. As highlighted by Cateora (1996) there are more than 800 million people who embrace Islamic religion, yet major multinational firms often offend Muslims. For instance, the year 1994 incident that involved the French fashion house of Chanel that unintentionally insulted the Koran by embroidering verses from the Koran on a number of dresses displayed in their summer collections. This particular example showed how it is easy for marketers to offend consumers, in this case, if the designer had not familiarized himself/herself with other religions (Cateora, 1996). How culture affect consumer behaviour can also be explained by the cultural aspect of beliefs and attitudes. A consumer’s attitude towards a product is the final general evaluation of the product, which has the knowledge of that particular product, liking or disliking, as well as the strength of the feelings. On the other hand, consumers’ beliefs about a product are the descriptive feelings that an individual has about a particular product. As highlighted by Shah (2010), various consumers possess particular beliefs and attitudes towards various products. Through purchasing and learning about a product, consumers acquire various beliefs and attitudes towards that particular product. Such beliefs and attitudes have an effect on the brand image of various products; as a result, affecting the buying behaviours of consumers. For instance, what might be viewed as a mere superstition by the people of America can be a significant aspect of the belief system of a given culture. It can therefore be a costly mistake to ignore superstitions in other cultures especially when planning to do business there as they have a significant effect on the consumer purchase behaviours (Cateora, 2010). Another way of defining modern culture is through leisure time. Leisure can be defined as that time that has been left over after the completion of work, and the various activities pursued during that particular time. According to the theory of leisure time consumption, consumers are believed to construct as well as negotiate an often fleeting and fragmentary identity and lifestyle (Edgar & Sedgwick, 2008).For instance in most of Finnish families, research revealed that Finnish families spend most part of their leisure time listening to music. This implies that Finnish families have their unique ways of spending their time through listening to music (Ilmonen, 2010). This therefore influences their consumer behaviours, for instance, through purchasing more music videos. Also, there is a general picture as argued by Jamal (2009) that majority of Arabic families have increased media consumption. This means that the majority of Arabic families spend most of their leisure time indoors watching televisions or listening to music.Therefore, just like their Finnish counterparts, Arabic families have their unique ways of spending their time through their increased culture of media consumption. This has a significant impact on their consumption behaviour. Language as an element of culture also explains how culture affects consumer behaviour. According to Cateora (1996), it is very important for marketers to understand the language of a given people. In view of this, Cateora (1996) suggests that as a cultural translator, an individual translating language should not only translate languages but also provide a translation with respect to different ways of thinking among various cultures. This is because the dictionary translation is not always the same as the idiomatic understanding, and hardly ever is the dictionary translations sufficient. Successful marketers must therefore ensure expert communication. Expert communication calls for a thorough understanding of a particular language and the ability to speak it. A significant example of how language as an element of culture is significant and can affect consumer behaviour can be seen in the case of Pepsi’s familiar “Come Alive with Pepsi”, which when translated to German, communicated the idea of coming alive from a grave (Cateora,1996).Additionally, Schweppes company was not contented with its tonic water translation into Italian language:”11 Water” that idiomatically meant the bathroom According to Cateora (1996) therefore, language is one of the most complex elements of culture to master, but the most essential element to study in an effort to gain some level of empathy. Aesthetic value forms another significant element personality to culture that also explains how culture affects consumer behaviour.Accoding to Cateora (1996), aesthetic values of a given group of people such as arts, dance,music,folklore and drama are closely interlinked with the effect of individuals. Aesthetic values as an element of culture are very significant as they have a role as far as interpreting the various symbolic meanings of various techniques of artistic expression, colour as well as the standards of beauty in particular culture. The distinctiveness of a given culture can quickly be spotted in symbols with distinct meanings. According to Cateora (1996), without a culturally acceptable interpretation of a nations aesthetic values, a number of marketing problems are bound to rise within a particular region. As a result, product styling ought to be aesthetically satisfying in order to attain success, as must advertisements and other packaging designs. Being insensitive to aesthetic values can be offending, come up with a negative feeling, and, on the whole, make marketing efforts unsuccessful. Significant symbolic meanings can be neglected if marketers are not familiar with a particular culture’s aesthetic values. The people of Japan, for instance, admire the crane as being very lucky bearing the fact that it is argued to live for many years.However,the use of number four is often completely avoided in Japan as the word four (shi) is also a Japanese word for death. Social class is another aspect of culture that explains how culture affects consumer behaviour. As highlighted by Kohli (2010) every society possesses some kind of social class that holds a significant role especially for marketers given the fact that the buying behaviours of individuals in a particular social class related. Due to the influence of social class on consumer behaviour, marketers are often forced to tailor their various marketing activities in line with different social classes. However, Shah (2010) argues that one thing that ought to be taken note of is the fact that social class is not just determined by the consumers’ incomes but also several other factors including education, career, wealth etc. Conclusion From the above analysis, what is obvious is that culture is beyond doubt one of the most significant factors that play a key role in determining consumer behaviour. Individuals all over the globe have strong feelings about their cultures, and every nation considers its culture as simply the best. Therefore, the fact that a particular culture is different from another does not necessarily mean that it is wrong. The influence of culture on consumer purchase behaviour therefore calls for marketers to be culturally sensitive-be attuned to the nuances of cultures such that new cultures are viewed carefully,evaluated,and be appreciated. Cultural understanding ought to be carefully developed with the most essential step being recognizing the fact that neither culture is wrong or right, better or worse; but they are simply different. In general, the analysis of each element of culture could ensure that each aspect of culture affecting consumer behaviour is included as culture is a general picture, and not a group of unrelated elements. Basing on the fact that consumers are different, it is vital for marketers to understand how culture influence consumer behaviour, in order to formulate effective marketing decisions that can influence consumers. References Assadi, D, 2003, Do Religions Influence Customer Behaviour? Confronting Religious Rules and Marketing Concepts, Retrieved on March 13, 2012 from Cateora, P.R, 1996, International Marketing, Irwin/McGraw-Hill Company Edgar, A & Sedgwick, P.R, 2008, Cultural Theory: The Key Concepts, Taylor & Francis Hoyer, W.D & Macinnis, J, 2009, Consumer Behavior, Cengage Learning Ilmonen, K, 2010 Emotions and the Appropriation of Rock 'N' Roll in Periphery: The Case of Finland Jamal, A, 2009, The Arab Public Sphere in Israel: Media Space and Cultural Resistance, Indiana University Press Kohli, J, 2010, What Affects Consumer Behaviour? Retrieved on March 13, 2012 from Shah, A, 2010, Factors Affecting Consumer Behavior Read More