MKTG 376 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 1

CULTURE, Part II• Globalization and

anti-Americanism• Negotiations• Western vs. Asian

culture• Issues in culture

MKTG 376 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 2

Globalization of Culture

• Books by Thomas Friedman– The Lexus and the Olive

Tree– The World is Flat

• Technology allows easier communication and exchange between people

– International media

– Internet

• Increased trade among nations

MKTG 376 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 3

Anti-Globalism

• Johny Johansson, In Your Face: How American Marketing Excess Fuels Anti-Americanism– “Three strikes:”

• Strike 1: Anti-marketing• Strike 2: Anti-globalism• Strike 3: Anti-

Americanism

MKTG 376 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 4

Characteristics of Culture

• Comprehensive• Acquired (learned)• Manifested in boundaries of

acceptable thought and behavior--norms and sanctions

• Conscious awareness limited (frequently taken for granted)

• Dynamic vs. static

MKTG 376 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 5

Homogeneity of Culture—Some Dimensions• Linguistic

• Religious

• Ethnic

• Climatic

• Geographic

• Institutional/political

• Social/income

Source: Usinier and Lee, 2005

MKTG 376 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 6

Issues in Negotiation

• Non-verbal messages• What the other side is likely to hear

(or fail to “hear”)• Background of individual

– Within the given society (ethnic issues)– Within the company– Within the negotiating group

• Timing of concessions

MKTG 376 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 7

Negotiation Content

• Non-task sounding

• Task-related exchange of information

• Persuasion

• Concessions and agreements

MKTG 376 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 8

Time Issues in Culture• Time as tangible, valuable

commodity– “Time is money” vs.– Traditional means of

relations

• Monochronic vs. polychronic approach to combining events

• Eating times– Regularity vs. flexibility– Social purpose– Meal purpose and content– Distribution of food

consumption across the day

• Life as “single continuous event” vs. a series of repeating cycles– Impact of religion,

attachment to nature’s cycles

• Preferred temporal orientation– Past– Present– Future

MKTG 376 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 9

Relating to Outsiders

• Perceptions of outsiders—may be seen as– “barbarian”– “lazy”– “backward”– “inefficient” vs.

“un-cultured”– profane (relative

to in-group’s religion)

• Tendency to perceive “out-groups” as more homogeneous than one’s own group—the Sherif Boys’ Camp studies

• Locus of in-group—may depend on context

Source: Usinier and Lee, 2005

MKTG 376 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 10

Cultural “borrowing”

• Adoption of elements from other cultures—e.g.,– Language and writing systems– Products (e.g., jeans, pizza)

• Adjustments/adaptations

• Hidden process; origin may be unknown to contemporary members of the culture

Source: Usinier and Lee, 2005

MKTG 376 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 11

Some Examples of Borrowing

• Japanese writing system (sound and concept pictorals)—adapted with difficulty from Chinese (concept only pictorals)

• Arabic numeral system and mathematics

• English language words from– Latin– Arabic– Germanic and

Nordic languages

• Major world religions

MKTG 376 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 12

“Priming” and learning in a culture• U.S. professor in Hong Kong started

letter apologizing for his unworthiness for the job

• U.S. manager left room so that an employee could “snoop” on unfavorable report

MKTG 376 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 13

Chinese Involvement in Product Selection• Low for products consumed

individually in private—emphasis on price and quality

• Higher for products consumed in public setting—social significance becomes more important—e.g.,– Status– Harmony with others