Globalization, Culture and Marketing
Introduction
As of now, globalization is considered as one of the most important and most debate topic in any field. This is due to the fact that it had affected million lives and different industries in the world. Globalization is defined as the multidimensional process, broadly restructuring and integrating the economies, institutions and the civil societies of the world. The term globalization was coined by Theodore Livitt, a professor in Harvard Business School in 1983 and was popularized by the economist Kinichi Ohmae in his books regarding the global strategies on the global strategies of multinational companies (Zamagni & Screpanti 2005).
Theodore Levitt and Edward Hall are two of the most important figures in terms of issues regarding the connection of globalization, culture, marketing and business.
Part A. Theodore Levitt’s Globalization
According to Professor Levitt, national differences and preference would no longer carry any weight in the face of the progress as well as reduced cost that are associated with the international products and brands. With everyone in the world traveling either physically or, in most cases, via satellite television, the demand and desire to buy physical products and brands sold in other parts of the world would also greatly increase. It means that while recognizing the world was round, companies had vested interest in regarding it as flat and treating the global market as a single market or focuses on the idea that one size fits all. The said strategy was applied by many companies such as Coca-Cola, McDonalds and Microsoft (Kapferer 2008, p. 456). In addition to that, Theodore Levitt focuses on the argument that global convergence of tastes and preference is occurring and has already occurred in the developed nations. He believe that when the said convergence has been completed, producers will be able to take advantage of the vast economies of scale and will effectively supply the entire world with essentially the same products, thus with the same marketing mix (Levitt 1983, p. 92).
In general, the Levitt focuses on the idea about thinking global and acting global. On the other hand, there are different opposing ideas that focus on the idea about thinking global and acting local. This is due to the fact that different firms and organizations must recognize that adapting brands to the local conditions, in many occasions is considered as the best approach, and at time, it is only approach that is available due to the fact that the local conditions will leave them with no other choice (Wharton Universia 2005). Furthermore Wills & Jacobs (1991) explains that marketers must understand that, while internal environmental factors play a crucial role, the differing external environments within world markets, and the strategic decisions offered in response to them, exert a tremendous influence on product adoption and diffusion and the marketing variables that stimulate these. In addition, it is also important to consider the fact that the economic, cultural and other differences enable it to become necessary for the multinational to adapt their advertising efforts and activities towards the local environment abroad (cited in Timmerman n.d., pp. 1 – 2).
In connection to one size fits all, the effectiveness of standardized and modified advertising is also one of the most important aspects. Elinder (1961) and Fatt (1964) suggested that similarity in consumer tastes internationally can made the uniform approaches possible. The main benefits of standardized approach focus on the cost savings because of the economies of scale, consistent position in the global market that can help to meet the objectives in the corporate level. In addition to that, Buzzel (1968) believes that although there are differences between the countries, the probable achievement from the standardization is needed to be factored into the international advertising decision process of the company. That is the reason why Fatt (1976) believes that due to the appeals of the know no boundaries, international standardization in terms of promotion is workable, it was supported by other empirical studies by Dunn (1976) and Peebles and Ryans (1984) (cited in Timmerman n.d., p. 2).
On the other hand, It is important to consider the perspective of the locals in terms of marketing due to the different reasons such as legal, social, environmental and other important aspects that might affect the overall acceptance of the target local market of a given firm or company. Culture plays an important role in advertisement and the entire marketing effort, this is due to the fact that different countries have different cultures, believes and traditions that might affect their response towards the different types of stimuli (Timmerman n.d., p. 4). It is important to consider that lack of understanding regarding the local culture and other customs of the target local market might cause offensive and hateful message and misunderstanding that can affect the buying behavior and acceptance of the target customers towards a given product.
This can be seen in comparing two cultures and how the difference between the two can affect the consumer behavior. In the case of the Americans and Brazilians: Americans are very particular in advertisement that are targeting the white and the black, on the other hand, Brazilian reflects the racial mix, showing very little racial prejudice. The said difference might cause miscommunication, which might offend the Brazilian people if one American company will focus on targeted advertisement for the black or white. This will affect the acceptance of the Brazilians towards the new American products.
In addition, for example, the cultural difference between the Japanese and Australian. In terms of gender identities, Australian people have a strong male identity, this is the reason why women in the country are considered as mixed bunched, and some of them have tom-boy quality. On the other hand, Japanese people have a strong female identity; there is a huge difference between the behavior and perspective between the men and women in the way of talking, walking and acting. This is the reason why in Japan, most of the television shows, and other media focuses on the subject that men are being overpowered by women (Convict Creation n.d.). Imagine, if one Japanese company will enter the Australian market and use their standardized advertising which focuses on the theme that the men are overpowered by women, it will offend the Australian people, primarily the group of men.
Part B. High Context Culture and Low Context Culture
Edward T. Hall defined culture as the man’s medium, where in he believes that there is not one aspect of the human life that is not touched and even altered by culture (Bowman 2007, p. 193). In connection to that, the terms high context and low context were coined by Hall in his book Beyond Culture in 1976. He distinguishes the cultures according to the degree of the context in the communication systems (de Mooij 2005, p. 56). The said terms deals with the question of how much the information must be made explicit in a particular culture when it is compare with how much is already understood implicitly due to the shared experience. It facilitates to keep in mind that a high-context culture has a high dependence on context. That is why if someone does not share the same cultural experience as everyone else, he or she might not understand what is going on in any given conversation. On the other hand, the low-context cultures have a low dependence towards the context. That is why it is not assumed that someone have as much shared background and experience, thus, things will be explained more (Mindness & Holcomb 1999, p. 47).
A low-context culture uses language primarily in order to express thoughts, feelings, and ideas as directly and logically as possible. To the low-context communicators, the meaning and significance of the statement lies in the words spoken. On the other hand, a high-context communicator relies heavily on subtle and often non-verbal aspects in order to maintain the social harmony. Rather than upsetting others by speaking directly, communicators in the said context learn to discover the meaning of a certain statement from the context in which a message is being delivered (Adler & Rosenfeld 2004, p. 333). Table 1 shows the other differences between the high-context and low-context communication styles.
Table 1 High-Context and Low-Context Communication Styles
Source: (Adler & Rosenfeld 2004, p. 333)
Mainstream culture in the United States, Canada, Northern Europe, Germany, Switzerland and majority of western cultures, falls toward the low-context end of the scale. Longtime residents in the said countries are generally preferred straight talk and grow impatient with the beating around the bush. On the other hand, most of the Asian and Middle Eastern cultures fit the high context pattern (Adler & Rosenfeld 2004, p. 333). Hall focuses primarily on the case of the Americans, where in they are in great need of evaluating things, due to the fact that for foreigners, the quantity of numbers as well as the statistics that have been encountered in the media as well as in the daily conversation in the United States is stunning. In addition to that, Hall stated that many of the Americans don’t seem to be able to assess the performance of anything unless they can attach a number to it (de Mooij 2005, p. 56).
In many societies in Asian, for instant, maintaining the harmony is considered as vital, that is why the communicators avoid speaking clearly if it will offend or threatens another person’s face. That is the reason why communicators who grew up in Japanese or even Korean cultures are less likely than Americans that can offer a clear no to an undesirable request, as an alternative, they are using roundabout expressions. These people are avoiding saying no, not because they are dishonest, but because they believe that saying a flat no might offend or disappoint and cause ill-feeling of other people (Adler & Rosenfeld 2004, p. 333).
Hall strongly believe that in some of the culture, less information is contained in the verbal part of the message given that more of the message is already in the context. That is the reason why, to the members of the high-context cultures, communicators with the low-context style can appear overly talkative, lacking in subtlety and redundant. On the other hand, it will be important to consider that to the people from the low-context backgrounds; high-context communicators seem unexpressive or even dishonest (Adler & Rosenfeld 2004, p. 333).
In addition to that, in a high-context communication or message, most of the information is part of the context or the internalized in the person, where in very little is made explicit as part of the message. The information in a low-context message is being carried in the explicit code of message. Thus it can be said that, high-context communication is economical, fast and even efficient (de Mooij 2005, p. 56).
In terms of advertising, argumentation and rhetoric are found more in the low-context cultures, where in the high-context cultures is characterized by symbolism or indirect advertising (de Mooij 2005, p. 56). It shows that the points regarding the high-context and low-context culture is important for the international marketing, and it is necessary to understand the consumer groups that belong to the high-context cultures in order to come up with the design of the marketing campaigns and other promotional activities that will appeal to the said groups. On the other hand, regarding the low-context culture, it will be important to argue and persuade to the present propositions in clear as well as precise manner (Bennett & Blythe 2002, p. 44).
That is the reason why it takes a significantly longer time and effort in conducting business with the high-context culture, due to the fact that there is a great need to know more about the business persons and other entities that are related to the business before developing a relationship of negotiation. In addition to that, due to the differences between the two contexts, society that comes from high-context cultures are having difficulties to deal with the people from the societies of low-context cultures and the other way around.
References
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