discuss and analyse cultural values and social class influence pro-environmental consumption.

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Understanding the Consumer

Culture and Cultural Change

Understanding Culture

Culture is the lens through which consumers view products and try to make sense of their own and other people’s behaviour..

Culture dictates the manner of how people consume, the priority of needs and wants they attempt to satisfy.

Consumption choices cannot be understood without considering the cultural context in which they are made.

Therefore:

Culture determines

the overall priorities that a consumer attaches to different activities and products

the success or failure of specific products and services.

What is Culture?

Culture is “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.”

(Edward B. Tylor, 1871)

What is the difference between the two?

Culture is "the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another."

(Hofstede, 1991, p.5)

Definitions of Culture

“Culture may be defined as a set of values, ideas, artefacts, and other meaningful symbols that help individuals to communicate, interpret, and evaluate as members of society.“ (Engel, Blackwell & Miniard, 1990, p. 3).

‘Culture is a society’s personality and describes what people have in common. It is the total sum of learned beliefs, values, and customs that direct the consumer behaviour of members of a particular society’ (Schiffman et al., pp. 282)

(adapted from Douglas & Craig, 2011)

Consumer

CULTURE

Cognition

Attitude

Values

Patterns of

Consumption

Choices

Information seeking

Disposal?

Macro

Micro

Meso

Situational Factors

Macro: The types of macroenvironmental variables, which condition consumer behavior, include economic variables such as GNI per capita, income distribution,

GNP, income distribution, government exp, population- purchasing power and variety of options available

The demographic factors such as population size and rate of growth, levels of education, socio-cultural factors such as cultural values, religion and geographic factors such as climate or topography. While each of these different factors can be clearly identified, it is important to remember that they interact with each other, as well as conditioning variables at other levels of context.

Meso: within country differences in ethics groups, language, lifestyle, culture, topography

In China, for example, there are marked differences in the economic infrastructure, consumer purchasing power and distribution channels between different regions (Batra, 1997; Cui and Liu, 2000).

Micro: Local level info on market, economy

This is defined here as consisting of the basic physical infrastructure in a village, town or city, including roads, water, electricity, the market infrastructure, i.e. the number and type of stores available, the social and housing/living context, i.e. the nature of housing and family living arrangements, and the media context. All these form the immediate context in which consumers make consumption and purchase decisions and hence influence the nature of those decisions, which are in turn influenced by the economic, societal and ethnic patterns characterizing the environment.

Sit: gift vs personal, work vs leisure, at home out of home

What is Culture?

Culture is a society’s (group’s) system of shared, learned values and norms; these are the society’s (group’s) design for living

Values: abstract ideas about the good, the right, the desirable

Norms: social rules and guidelines; guide appropriate behavior for specific situations

Folkways: norms of little moral significance dress code; table manners; timeliness

Mores: norms central to functioning of social life bring serious retribution: thievery, adultery, alcohol

Culture is not static; it is continuously evolving, synthesizing old ideas with new ones.

Cultures are learned, shared, and composed of inter-related parts.

A value system is the organisation of beliefs concerning preferable modes of conduct or end-states of existence along a continuum of relative importance.

Value systems order values and in turn aid understanding how people consume.

More on…Culture

Subcultures

“An ethnic, regional, economic, or social group exhibiting characteristic patterns of behavior sufficient to distinguish it from others within an embracing culture or society”.

(merriam-webster)

a distinct and identifiable cultural group that has common values with the whole society but also has characteristics that are unique to itself.

(Ghauri & Cateora, 2010)

Examples?

Similar characteristics with the society but distinct identifiable characteristics than others in the society.

Indonesia has more than 300 ethic groups with different lifestyles

International Marketing Implications

Schiffman/Kanuk/Das

Elements of Culture

Material Culture: Technology and economic activity; infrastructures

Language: High and Low context culture

Social institutions: business, political family, reference groups

Education: dissemination of knowledge-existing cultures/traditions; product adaptations.

Aesthetics: art, music, folklore and drama; Product/brand saliences

Belief system: religion and influence on consumption, work ethics, gender roles

Material culture:

Material culture affects the level of demand, the quality and type of products demanded & their functional features as well as the means of production of these goods and their distribution.

Ex. Electric can openers.

Language:

Consumer and business attitudes towards time-related behaviour. Ex. “by today”

Social Institutions are built on the process of how people relate to one another, organise, act, live in harmony, govern etc.

Malinowski (1948) categorises the relationships that build social institutions: reproduction, territoriality, physiology, occupation, etc.

Influence of the concept of self vis-à-vis others

Education

How is knowledge disseminated?

Literacy rate

Aesthetics

Concept of beauty, colour, shape, etc.

Could be strongly associated with symbolic beliefs

Belief system

Religion,

Superstitions

Power structures

Influences habits, values, food, clothing

For more on culture:

http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSContents.jsp

http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org/about/index.html

Understanding Culture

Products can reflect underlying cultural processes of a particular period:

Iphone?

Facebook?

Recycled products?

Organic products?

Microwaveable foods?

What do these products say about today’s culture?

Hall’s Cultural dimensions of language

High context cultures

Loaded messages

Tight ties within groups

Knowledge is situational

Decisions and activities are based on face-to-face relationships

Strong authority

Is there a subtext? Is your words supported by facial gestures? Example cultures: China, India, France, Turkey

Low context cultures

Objective messages

More knowledge is codified, public, external, and accessible

Transferable meaning

Decisions and activities focus around what needs to be done, division of responsibilities

How simple and general is your message?

Example cultures: US, Germany

Traffic and road signs are usually good examples of low context.

Hall’s Cultural dimensions of language

Hofstede’s Dimensions of Culture

Power

Distance

Uncertainty

Avoidance

Masculine

versus

Feminine

Individualism

versus

Collectivism

Way members perceive differences in power when they form interpersonal relationships

Degree to which people feel threatened by ambiguous situations

Degree to which sex roles are clearly delineated

Extent to which culture values the welfare of the individual versus that of the group

Hostede's website on dimensions

Dimension	High	Low
Individualism	Consumption is influenced by personalised cognitive factors. Internal motivation leading to purchase. New ideas gained by individual search.	Consumption is influenced by the group. External motivation leading to purchase. New ideas come from group.
Power Distance	Different consumption patterns among unequal. Purchase behaviour to reflect and enhance the inequality. New ideas are accepted if enhancing power.	No distinct difference among consumption patterns. Goods and services are available to all. Purchase behaviour to reflect elimination of the inequality. New ideas are accepted if eliminating the inequality.
Uncertainty Avoidance	Reluctance to new products and ideas. Focuses on risk evasion. Seeking all the information prior to the action.	More eager to try new products and to accept new ideas. Self-reliant, less need for information prior to purchase.
Gender Identification	May favour either gender and products to appeal to these genders may be more popular. Consumption reflects and enunciates gender roles. Outlets catering for either gender. New ideas are acceptable if enhancing gender roles.	Products without gender orientation appeals could be more favoured. Consumption is unisex. Outlets catering for either gender. New ideas, products, etc. more acceptable if they further eliminate gender roles.

Social Class

Associated with educational

opportunities, occupations etc.

Generation

Separates grandparents, parents

and children

Gender

Born boy or girl

Regional/Ethnic/Religious/Linguistic

Affiliation determining basic

cultural beliefs

Layers of Culture

National

Consumer’s country determines

basic cultural assumptions

Advertising

In France is predominantly emotional, dramatic and symbolic

In England Value laughter above all else - self-deprecating British commercial amuses by mocking both advertiser and consumer

In Germany Want factual and rational advertising -Typical German ad features standard family of 2 parents, two children, and grandmother

In USA is a direct approach

Westerners are superstitious about the number 13, and Japanese feel the same way about the number 4

Airlines don’t have row number 13 (Air France, Lufthansa) however, Emirates do

Shi, the Japanese word for four, sounds like the word for death. (Marieke de Mooij 2005)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWd6L37EmUc

Culture is often described in terms of high (elite) and popular (low) forms.

The distinction between high and popular culture are blurring.

High culture has tended to be class-biased.

Popular culture reflects the world around us

Products of popular culture tend to follow a cultural formula and contain predictable elements.

High and popular culture

Popular culture – these phenomena touch both rich and poor.