EXTERNAL INFLUENCE : CULTURE

Culture : is the complex whole that includes knowledge, belief, art, law,
morals, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by humans
as members of society.
Three main aspects of culture : 1) comprehensive concept : includes
everything which influences an individuals thought processes and behavior
2) culture is acquired
3 ) culture supplies boundaries within which most individual think and act.
Culture operates primarily by setting rather loose boundaries for individual
behavior and by influencing the functioning of family and mass media.
Culture provides the framework within which individuals and house hold
lifestyles evolve.
CULTURAL VALUES
Boundaries that culture sets on behavior are called norms.
Norms are rules that specify or prohibit certain behavior in specific
situations
Norms are derived from cultural values ----> widely held beliefs that
affirm what is desirable.
Violation of cultural norms result in sanctions.
Cultural values can be further classified into 1) Other oriented values:
reflects a societys views of the appropriate relationships between
individuals and groups within that society. 2) Environment -
oriented values: prescribes a societys relationship to its economic and
technical and physical environment. 3) Self-oriented values: reflects
the approaches to life that the individual members of society find desirable.
 Environment -oriented values
Cleanliness: To what extent is cleanliness pursued beyond the minimum
needed for health.
Performance/Status : Is the cultures reward system based on performance or
on inherited factors such as family or class?
Tradition /change: Are existing patterns of behavior considered to be
inherently superior to new patterns of behavior
Risk Taking /Security : are those who risk their established positions to
overcome obstacles or achieve high goals admired more than those who do
not?
Problem solving /.Fatalistic : are people encouraged to overcome all
problems or do they take a what will be , will be attitude.
Nature : is nature regarded as something to be admired or overcome?
 Self-oriented values:
Active/Passive: is a physical active approach to life valued more
highly than a less active orientation?
Sensual gratification/abstinence : to what extent is it acceptable to
enjoy sensual pleasures such as food , drink, and sex.
Material/non material : how much importance is attached to the
acquisition of material wealth.
Postponed gratification/immediate gratification : are people
encouraged to save for a rainy day or to live for today
Religious/ secular : To what extent are behaviors and attitudes based
on the rules specified by a religious doctrine
 Other oriented values :
Individual/collective : Are individual activity and initiative valued more highly
than collective activity ?
Youth/age : is family life organized to meet the needs of the children or adults?
Are younger or older people viewed as leaders/role models.
Extended/Limited family : To what extent does one have lifelong obligation to
numerous family members?
Masculine/feminine : To what extent does social power automatically go to
males.?
Competitive/Cooperative : does one obtain success by excelling over others or
by cooperating with them.
Diversity/uniformity : does the culture embrace variation in religious belief ,
ethnic background , political views and other important behaviors and attitudes.
SUB-CULTURE
U.S.A--> Blacks, Whites, Hispanic, Asians
African-American Subculture:
12.5% of the population
Drink less coffee , but much more sugar
candy, cookies, sweets are important in their diet
50% of scotch consumed in US is by Blacks
Prefer large container sizes when purchasing non-alcoholic beverages.
Spend less on housing , education but more on clothing , personal
care.
Do less travelling , but when they travel outside USA, they prefer to
visit color compatible places like Caribbean
SUB-CULTURE
Hispanic -American Sub culture:-10% of American population.
Spanish language
Think themselves to be Hispanic first.
Dominant values tend to be traditional and conservative , including respect for

elders , commitment to family and male dominance .

WHAT ABOUT INDIA
Sub culture bases ----> Religion
Hindus dont eat beef.. Cow is sacred .----> worshipped.
Many Hindus --- vegetarian.
Muslims dont eat pork , dont drink
Christians love beef and pork
Sikhs dont smoke. McDonalds---> worldwide has beef burger ---> In India --- no
way.
SUB-CULTURE
Language as a sub-culture base --
Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Gujarati, Marathi etc.
South India :
Places like tamil nadu ---> Hindi is not spoken much -->
preferred channel for news is regional or NDTV - 24 *7
Religious , slightly orthodox, highly educated.
Coffee is preferred drink.
Generally Rice eaters .
The base for software engineers--> high income
kerala, T.N , Karnataka ---> hot spots for tourism
Festivals-->ONAM, PONGAL, DIWALI
SUB-CULTURE
North India : Hindi is the de facto language -- preferred news channel-
Aaj tak or Sahara. Tea is the preferred drink Prefer parathas and
chapatis in their food. Noida/Gurgaon/Delhi--->Electronics/car/ancillary
units Kashmir, U.P, Rajasthan, H.P ---> hot spots for tourism
Festivals--- Dassera, Diwali, Holi, Raksha Bandhan.
East India Barring Calcutta, other places--> backward. Industrially
weak, hence less income. Passionate about football.
N.E ---potential place for tourism. Festivals--- Durga Pooja,
SUB-CULTURE
West India: Probably the most rich part of India The financial capital- Mumbai Festivals- Ganesh Chaturthi, Holi, Raksha Bandhan, Diwali Food habits:--- Gujarat-- vegetarian Anchor toothpaste-- 100% vegetarian toothpaste Jain Pizza, Jain Pav bhaji
Maharashtra: coastal belt-- sea food eaters, wada pav ---(JUMBO KING), Misal pav, usal pav, poha industrial Hub - Pune Textile hub : Mumbai, Surat Pharmaceutical- Gujarat Chemical : Gujarat

Translational problems in International Marketing

Fiera ( a low cost truck developed by Ford for developing countries

faced sales problems since fiera in spanish means terrible, cruel or ugly.
Ford launched a car Comet in Mexico renamed it Caliente . Didnt do
well. -- Caliente is slang for a street walker
Pinto was launched in Brazil -- didnt do well-- Pinto is slang for a
small male sex organ--- then changed name to CORCEL-- means horse.
Colgates Cue toothpaste had problems in France , as cue is a crude
term for butt in French.
China attempted to export Pansy brand of Men's underwear to America
Kelloggs bran Buds translates to burned farmer in swedish.
Esso found that its name pronounced phonetically meant stalled car in
Japan
 Parker Pens mistook embarazar (to impregnate) to mean to embarrass
and ran an ad in Mexico stating , it wont leak in your pocket and
make you pregnant.
American Airlines introduced its new leather first -class seats in
Mexico with the theme Fly in Leather, which when translated
literally means Fly naked.
In Germany , Pepsi ad Come alive with Pepsi was presented as
Come alive out of the grave with Pepsi.
 The meaning of Numbers , Colors and other
Symbols
A leading U.S golf ball manufacturer was disappointed in its attempts to
penetrate the Japanese market .its mistake was packaging its golf balls in sets
of four. Four is a symbol of death.
Pepsi - Cola lost its dominant market share in Southeast Asia to Coke when it
changed the color of its coolers and vending equipment from deep regal
blue to light ice blue . Light blue is associated with death and mourning in
parts of SouthAsia.
White : Symbol for mourning or death in the Far east, happiness, purity- USA
Purple : Associated with death in many Latin American countries
Blue : Connotation of femininity in Holland, masculinity in Sweden and USA
Red : Unlucky/negative in Nigeria and Germany, positive in Denmark ,
Argentina. Brides wear red in China , but it is masculine color in U.K and
France
 Yellow flowers : sign of death in Mexico, infidelity in France.
White lilies Suggestion of death in England.
7 : unlucky in Ghana, Kenya, Singapore, lucky in India, USA,
Morocco
triangle : Negative in HK,Korea, Taiwan, positive in Colombia
owl : wisdom in USA, bad luck in India
Deer : speed, grace in USA, homosexuality in Brazil.