CONSUMERS AND CULTURE
CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
What is culture?
Do the things
we buy tell something about us?
How does culture influence the products we buy?
UNDERSTANDING
CULTURE
Individuals worldwide
participate in activities that allow them to take a break and interact
socially
with others; example: coffee break
Culture is a key to understanding
consumer behaviour
Culture
Think of culture as a society's personality. Culture includes values, ethics, rituals, traditions, norms, material objects/services that are created or valued in a group or society. Culture can be seen as a lens for people to see products. Our culture helps to determine our priorities. What a culture says is important we may value. Culture has a large part in what products will become adopted
Ethos
The ethos of a culture is the set of moral aesthetic and evaluative principles. Ethos is the guiding principles, beliefs and ideals that a culture believes in. It is related to the emotions, behaviours and morals of a group.
Collectivist Culture
The group comes before the individual
People subordinate personal
goals to those of a larger group
Self-discipline and
group accomplishment
are stressed
Individualist Culture
Where people attach more importance to their own personal goals than to a group's goals; Personal enjoyment and freedom are important.
Norms
Norms are the informal rules that govern what is right or wrong.
When we form groups we create a set of rules or standards that the members follow
Custom
A Custom is a norm that comes from a traditional way of doing things ( example:
The time we eat dinner)
More
A More is a norm with strong moral overtones ( example: We don't eat
dogs)
Conventions
Conventions are norms regarding the conduct of everyday life (example:
we use certain utensils to eat)
ASPECTS OF CULTURE
Culture is in a constant
state of change. Marketers want to understand changes in culture so that they can sell products that suit particular groups
A Cultural System has
three areas:
Ecology (the way it has adapted to environment;
shaped by technology used);
Social Structure (how order
is maintained; domestic/political groups);
Ideology (the
mental characteristics of the people; ideas ; principles of order,ethos,
morals
Every culture is different,
but they vary on some dimensions according to Geert Hofstede's Framework:
Power Distance (how interpersonal
relationships form when different powers perceived; how equal? how informal?;
Uncertainty
avoidance (how threatened people feel by unknown;
Masculinity/femininity (how gender roles are defined)
Long Term vs Short Term Orientation (Planning for future vs focus on past and present)
Indugence vs Restraint (Enjoying and having fun now, vs being in control)
Major Elements that Define Culture
To get a good overview of key elements of culture watch this short video that discusses symbols, language, values (individualism vs collectivism), and norms.
While watching consider how these elements affect what we value, the products we buy, and how marketers can use these elements to influence our buying.
Values define good/bad;
these create norms; custom is a norm handed down from past; more is custom
with moral overtone; conventions are norms of everyday life
Marketers must be careful
when introducing new products or translating ads to different cultures.
A phrase or expression doesn't always translate, see the slideshare below for Advertising Translation Gaffesfor some humourous mistakes
All cultures develop
stories. Stories help humans make sense of world; Our own culture's stories make sense to us, but we may find other's cultural stories strange. Example: products that
offer "magical' results; lucky objects; wizard in software
Myths
A Myth is a story
with symbolic elements . A myth can show shared emotions/ideals of a culture. Example: The Cadbury Secret; formerly the secret was posted on in Mind Magazine online , but I'll tell you about it in class! Marketers use mythical
elements: good versus evil; golden arches; myth of how product made. Product can be defined
by what it isn't "not your father's car" (good versus evil)
not your father's planetarium
not your father's religion
Some myths are
common to several cultures: example the hero from everyday world with supernatural
powers wins over evil; ET -gentle creature from other world fighting technology;
Star Trek
Ads speak of "good
old days" and play into our memory of stories. We relate to stories that we are familiar with.
Rituals
Rituals are symbolic
behaviours that occur in a fixed sequence and that tend to be
repeated periodically;
some are religious. Rite of passage, family, civic rituals; some are personal.
What rituals do you have? Ritual artifacts include
special occasion products, birthday, wedding,retirement, graduationIndividuals have grooming
rituals that reflect cultural values; gift-giving rituals
Holidays involve ritual
and heroes; new occasions are created for new presents/cards.Marketers can actually
"create" new holidays to market products; in the US marketers are
trying to commercialize Cinco de Mayo into the Latin version of St Patrick's
Day.Corona (2013) created a campaign Corona Calendar that shows you how every day is some special occasion, all so you can have an excuse to drink Corona. See the ad here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fON6lJaMVLw
Most cultural holidays
are based on myths; real or imagined characters.Coca Cola claims credit
for inventing modern image of Santa in 1931 ad; however, many others point out this is not exactly accurate.
SACRED AND PROFANE CONSUMPTION
Sacred Consumption
Consuming objects and events that are special or set apart
from our normal life . They may be treated with respect or awe. Can include
religious objects but also things we treasure as a culture
Profane Consumption
Consuming objects and events that are ordinary/
everyday- nothing special
Sacred consumption may
have religious or mythical significance: Bethlehem, Stonehenge, Statue
of
Liberty, Walk of Fame; Hall of fame, Disney World; in some cultures the home
is sacred; some marketers try to create a "sacred" atmosphere
When people are idolized
set apart they become sacred people; things they use become sacred; events
can be sacred:Olympics, World Cup, Tourist destination
Even if celebrities die, they can continue to be useful spokespeople. Once they are dead they can no longer do anything bad that they hadn't already done.
Everyday people can become stars -A sensation at the center of Hollywood's fashion scene isn't a famous designer or starlet. It's a 56-year-old homeless schizophrenic man who spends his days dancing on roller skates. Paris Hilton is buying his T-shirts, but they are not his and he is not taking any profit see Crazy Robertson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhJJauyvxXQ
Sacralization occurs
when sacred qualities are given to products or items owned by sacred people .We can make oridinary objects sacred if we assign deeper meaning to them. For example, if we save a ticket stub as a memento of and event, we have assigned sacred meaning to it.
Objectification occurs
when formerly sacred objects or activities become part of everyday; when
one-of-a-kind
works of art are reproduced in quantity
Desacralization occurs
when objects that previously were sacred become commercialized and in
popular
culture
Celebriducks
References as noted above and: Solomon, Michael R., Zaichkowsky, Judith and Rosemary Polegato. Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having, Being. 5th Canadian Edition. Toronto: Pearson Education Canada.
PLEASE NOTE: Information on this site is for use of the students of this course. For copyright information of the linked sites please see the respective authors.
