CHAPTER 13

Cross-Cultural Consumer Behavior: An International Perspective

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After reading, studying and analyzing this chapter, students should be able to understand:
13.1 How to study the values and customs of different cultures in order to develop effective
marketing strategies.
13.2 How to decide whether to customize products for global markets or to sell standardized
ones.
13.3 How to identify global marketing opportunities.
13.4 How to apply psychographics to segmenting multinational markets.

CHAPTER SUMMARY

Learning Objective 13.1: To understand how to study the values and customs of different
cultures in order to develop effective marketing strategies.

Within the scope of consumer behavior, cross-cultural analysis is defined as determining to what
extent the consumers of two or more nations are similar or different. Such analyses can provide
marketers with an understanding of the psychological, social, and cultural characteristics of the
foreign consumers they wish to target, so that they can design effective marketing strategies for
the specific national markets involved. An understanding of the similarities and differences that
exist between nations is critical to the multinational marketer who must devise appropriate
strategies to reach consumers in specific foreign markets. Some of the problems involved in
cross-cultural analysis include differences in language, consumption patterns, needs, product
usage, economic and social conditions, marketing conditions, and market research opportunities.
Acculturation is the process by which marketers learn—via cross-cultural analysis—about the
values, beliefs, and customs of other cultures and apply this knowledge to marketing products
internationally.

Learning Objective 13.2: To understand how to decide whether to customize products for
global markets or to sell standardized ones.

The greater the similarity between nations, the more feasible it is to use relatively similar
marketing strategies in each nation. When the cultural beliefs, values, and customs of specific
target countries are found to differ widely, then a highly individualized marketing strategy is
indicated for each country. In deciding whether or not to customize products to local cultures,
marketers must consider local values, linguistic barriers, and legal issues.

Learning Objective 13.3: To understand how to identify global marketing opportunities.

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Firms are increasingly selling their products worldwide, for a variety of reasons. Many firms
have learned that overseas markets represent an important opportunity for their future growth
when their home markets reach maturity. This realization is propelling them to expand their
horizons and seek consumers in markets all over the world. Moreover, consumers around the
globe are eager to try “foreign” products that are popular in different and far-off places. As
increasing numbers of consumers come in contact with the material goods and lifestyles of
people living in other countries, and as the number of middle-class consumers grows in
developing countries, marketers are eager to locate these new customers and offer them the
products.

Learning Objective 13.4: To understand how to apply psychographics to segmenting

multinational markets.

Global psychographic research often reveals cultural differences of great importance to

marketers. Psychographics identifies shared values, irrespective of national borders. Much of this
research has sought to uncover the bedrock values in peoples’ lives, in order to understand the
motivations that drive both attitudes and behavior. The VALS research methodology has been
used to identify psychographic segments in other countries.

CHAPTER OUTLINE

INTRODUCTION

1. A world brand is manufactured, packaged and positioned exactly the same way regardless
of the country in which it is sold.
2. A global marketing strategy consists of selling the same product using the same positioning
approach and communications globally.
3. A local marketing strategy consists of customizing both the product and the
communications program for each unique market.
4. Hybrid marketing strategies standardize the product or the advertising message (but not
both) while customizing the other one.

*****Use Key Terms world brand, global marketing strategy, local marketing strategy,
hybrid marketing strategies Here; Use Figure #13.1 Here; Use Table 13.1 Here*****

Cross-Cultural Analysis and Acculturation

1. Cross-cultural analysis is defined as determining to what extent the consumers of two or

more nations are similar or different.
a. This type of analysis provides marketers with an understanding of the psychological,
social and cultural characteristics of the foreign consumers they wish to target.
b. The increased understanding enables the design of effective marketing strategies for
specific national markets.
c. Research issues that should be considered include:
i. Differences in language and meaning
ii. Differences in market segmentation opportunities
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 iii. Differences in consumption patterns
iv. Differences in the perceived benefits of products and services
v. Differences in the criteria for evaluating products and services
vi. Differences in economic and social conditions and family structure
vii. Differences in marketing research and conditions
viii. Differences in marketing research possibilities
d. Marketers want to know how consumers in two or more societies are similar and how
they are different.
i. Countries like China and Mexico are collectivistic (we) cultures
ii. Countries like the U.S. and the U.K. are individualistic (I) cultures
iii. Collectivists rely more on word-of-mouth
iv. Individualists attach more importance to explicit and implicit promises and
third parties
e. The greater the similarity between nations, the more feasible it is to use relatively
similar marketing strategies in each nation.

*****Use Learning Objective 13.1 Here; Use Key Term cross-cultural analysis Here; Use
Tables 13.2 and 13.3 Here; Use Review and Discussion Question #13.3 Here; Use Hands-on
Assignments #13.13, #13.15 Here *****

f. A study in four countries (U.S., U.K., France, Germany) identified differences in

consumer style and segmented consumers into four clusters:
i. Price-sensitive consumers
ii. Variety-seeking consumers
iii. Brand-loyal consumers
iv. Information-seeking consumers

***** Use Tables 13.4 and 13.5 Here*****

2. There are several frameworks for assessing consumption-related cultural differences.

a. One study identified the dimensions that cross-cultural studies should address:
i. Judgments regarding the quality of a country’s products
ii. Willingness to buy a country’s products
iii. Ethnocentrism—willingness to buy foreign-made products
iv. Perceptions of a country’s consumption culture
v. Acculturation—identification with a country’s culture
vi. Ethnic self-identification
vii. National self-identification
b. Another study identified the following relevant dimensions for measuring the
interrelationship between consumers’ attitudes toward local and global products:
i. Entertainment
ii. Furnishings
iii. Food
iv. Lifestyles
v. Brands
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 c. Another study identified personal cultural orientations that can be used in cross-
cultural measurement.
i. Independence
ii. Interdependence
iii. Power
iv. Social Inequality
v. Risk Aversion
vi. Ambiguity Tolerance
vii. Masculinity
viii. Gender Equality
ix. Tradition
x. Prudence
xi. Consumer Ethnocentrism
xii. Consumer Innovativeness

***** Use Review and Discussion Questions #13.8 and #13.9 Here *****

3. Marketers need to go through an acculturation process, learning everything that is relevant

to their product usage in the foreign countries in which they plan to operate.
a) Marketers must thoroughly orient themselves to the values, beliefs, and customs of the
new society.
b) Marketers must persuade the members of that society to modify or break with their own
traditions.

*****Use Key Term acculturation Here *****

4. It is often difficult for a company planning to do business in foreign countries to undertake

cross-cultural consumer research.
a. It is hard to conduct Western-style market research in the Islamic countries of the
Middle East.
b. In many countries there is a limited amount of information regarding consumer and
market statistics.
c. Scales of measurement are not adequate.
d. Research facilities may not be available.
e. To avoid research measurement problems, consumer researchers should
i. Familiarize themselves with the research services in the countries where they
are evaluating markets and learn to design marketing research studies that will
yield useful data.
ii. Keep in mind that cultural differences may make “standard” research
methodologies inappropriate.

Localization versus Standardization

1. Marketers can adapt their offerings in other nations or market them the same way they do at
home.
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 *****Use Learning Objective #13.2 Here *****
2. Some companies customize their products or services for local cultures.
3. Some companies have failed by assuming the needs of another culture would be the same as
the needs in their original market.
4. Many American brand names and slogans must be revised or changed in non-English
speaking countries.
a) Linguistic differences may be the most challenging factor facing companies that are
expanding globally.
b) Many companies have made errors with their translations.
c) A genuine Chinese name can say a lot about a product’s characteristics and result in
consumer attachment to the brand.

***** Use Review and Discussion Questions #13.6 and #13.7 Here *****

5. Promotional appeals must reflect the local culture’s values and priorities.
a) Countries differ in responses to humorous appeals and sexual appeals.
b) Countries differ in responses to individualistic and collectivistic ad appeals.
c) Comparative advertising has been used more in the United States than in other
countries, but comparative ad persuasiveness hinges on:
i) Self-construal (how individuals perceive, comprehend, and interpret the world
around them)
ii) Need for cognition

*****Use Key Term self-construal Here; Use Review and Discussion Questions #13.5 and
#13.6 Here *****

6. Sometimes, local laws force American marketers to alter their offerings.

7. World brands are those products that are manufactured, packaged, and positioned the same
way regardless of the country in which they are sold.
a) Marketers of products with a wide or almost mass-market appeal have embraced a
world branding strategy.
b) Still other marketers selectively use a world branding strategy.
c) Consumers associate global brands with three characteristics:
i) Quality Signal
ii) Global Myth
iii) Social Responsibility
d) Intracountry segments (with respect to how a country’s citizens view global brands)
include:
i) Global Citizens (55%)
ii) Global Dreamers (23%)
iii) Antiglobals (13%)
iv) Global Agnostics (8%)

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 *****Use Figure #13.2 Here; Use Tables 13.6 and 13.7 Here*****

8. Just because a brand may be global in character does not mean that consumers around the
world will necessarily respond similarly to a brand extension.

Global Marketing Opportunities

1. Firms are increasingly selling their products worldwide, for a variety of reasons.
a. There has been an ongoing buildup of “multinational fever.”
b. The general attractiveness of multinational markets, products, or services originating
in one country means that they are increasingly being sought out by consumers in
countries in other parts of the world
c. Many firms have learned that overseas markets represent an important opportunity for
their future growth when their home markets reach maturity.
d. Consumers around the globe are eager to try “foreign” products that are popular in
different and far-off places.
2. Global markets are dynamic and new marketing opportunities emerge continuously.
3. The most important criterion for identifying global marketing opportunities is a country’s
consumer spending and its growth prospects.

*****Use Learning Objective #13.3 Here; Use Figures #13.3 and #13.4 Here; Use Figures
#13.5A-D Here; Use Review and Discussion Questions #13.1, #13.10, #13.11 and #13.12
Here*****

4. The middle class is expected to grow from 30% to 52% of the world’s population by 2020.
a. By 2025, China will have the world’s largest middle class.
b. By 2025, India’s middle class will be 10 times larger than it currently is.
c. Although a growing middle class provides a market opportunity, it should always be
remembers that the same product may have different meanings in different countries.
5. The global teen market appears to have similar interests, desires, and consumption behavior
no matter where they live.
a. Less highly developed nations are different from high developed nations with respect
to teen fashion consciousness.
b. The coolest teens, Creatives, represent 30% of all teenagers and were found in all
studied countries, with a high concentration in Western Europe.

*****Use Table #13.9 Here; Use Review and Discussion Question #13.2 Here *****

Cross-Cultural Segmentation

1. Global “sameness” allows marketers to launch similar styles and/or use global advertising in
some cases.
2. Some countries require different lifestyle segmentation.

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 a. In Japan, businesses use the Japan-VALS framework to monitor Japan’s consumer
environment; generate new product ideas; segment Japanese consumers into potential
target markets; differentiate brands; and develop effective pricing, distribution, and
promotional strategies.
3. The Japan-VALS segments stem from consumers’ primary motivations and degree of
innovativeness, where innovativeness is measured as attitudes toward social change. Primary
motivations include tradition, achievement, and self-expression.
4. Roper Starch Worldwide interviewed 35,000 consumers in 35 countries in order to identify
shared values, irrespective of national borders.
a. The research sought to uncover the bedrock values in peoples’ lives so as to
understand the motivations that drive both attitudes and behavior.
b. After completing the interviews in North and South America, Asia, and Europe, six
global value groups were uncovered:
i. Strivers—ambitious and materialistic.
ii. Devouts—responsible, respectful, and conservative.
iii. Altruists—unselfish in their concern for others, society, and the future.
iv. Intimates—focus on social relationships and family.
v. Fun Seekers—young in age and outlook, value adventure and good times.
vi. Creatives—seek knowledge and insight, and have a keen interest in books and
new media.

*****Use Learning Objective #13.4 Here; Use Hands-on Assignment #13.4 Here *****

REVIEW AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

13.1 With all the problems facing companies that go global, why are so many companies
choosing to expand internationally? What are the advantages of expanding beyond the
domestic market?
-

13.2 In terms of consumer behavior, are the world’s countries and their cultures becoming
more similar or more different? Discuss.

13.3 What are the advantages and disadvantages of global promotional strategies? Find
examples of products/services which use globalized strategy.

- efficiency – enables a company to leverage economies of scale. Example, when it sells the
same product worldwide, they can buy its raw materials in bulk potentially saves the company
hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. Economies of scale can save a company factors of
production.
- Life cycle- a company can phase its release of products, introducing older products into the
newer market and saving the launch of a product’s most recent version for well developed
markets. For example, a laptop company could have sold its older model laptops, particularly
unsold, leftover stock to a less developed market after it launches a new laptop model due to the
older model that had been outdated.
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Disadvantages of global promotional strategies
- one size fit approach does not work in all markets
- some markets had particular taste which are more sensitive to pricing
- a company product invariably is more popular in one country than another country deciding in
which country the product will be successful.

13.4 What are the advantages and disadvantages of localized promotional strategies? Find
examples of products/services which use localized strategy.
Advantages
  ­ Better Reputation – whether you are a start­up or a recognised business, it is a good strategy to
aim for establishing a name locally first. Why? It is a faster approach in gaining clients due to 
accessibility and convenience.

­ Facility Growth – this comes in line with a good reputation of the business. It will be easier to 
expand your facilities since there are people who can testify for your products or services. When 
there are branches of your company locally, it is a good impression of your business in the 
market.

Disadvantages

­ Social Problems – centralising a business in a certain region may create industrial slums and 
unhealthy living conditions. Criminal activities arise and may cause bigger problems for the 
business.

Un­healthy Competition – when a business establishes another branch on a local region, there is 
a possibility of rivalry to occur. Competition might be good in the beginning, but it can turn a 
business upside­down in the long run.

13.5 Have you ever travelled outside Malaysia (if you are a foreign student, then you already
are outside your native country; thus, you can use any other country of travel)? If you have,
please identify some differences in values, behavior, and consumption patterns that you
noted between people in a country you visited and Malaysians.

- Malaysian citizen practice impulsive buying when there are promotions going on.

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