Download - CULTURE, Part II

MKTG 376 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 1

CULTURE, Part II• Globalization and

anti-Americanism• Negotiations• Western vs. Asian

culture• Issues in culture


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


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


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


Homogeneity of Culture—Some Dimensions• Linguistic

• Religious

• Ethnic

• Climatic

• Geographic

• Institutional/political

• Social/income

Source: Usinier and Lee, 2005


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


Negotiation Content

• Non-task sounding

• Task-related exchange of information

• Persuasion

• Concessions and agreements


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


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



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



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


“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


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