Culture and Consumer Behaviour

Introduction:

Consumers are influenced by culture through the norms and values of the society in which they inhabit. Culture is the most extensive environmental aspect that impacts you as a customer. Cultural values are hard to change, and attempts to do so usually fail.

The study of culture entails thoroughly investigating aspects of a society, such as language, religion, knowledge, legislation, art, music, labour patterns, social traditions, festivals, and food. Everything that expresses a person’s personality is considered part of their culture. Culture does not define the kind or frequency of biological impulses like hunger or sex; it does, however, impact whether, when, and how these drives are satiated. Culture has an almost imperceptible impact on behaviour, and its effect is often taken for granted.

Cultural factors are a set of beliefs and ideals held by a specific community or group of people. An individual’s culture determines how he or she acts. Put another way, culture is nothing more than an individual’s values. As a child, everything a person learns from his parents and relatives creates his culture.

For example, People in India still highly emphasise the joint family system and familial relationships. Youngsters in India are socialised to stay with their parents until they marry, as opposed to children in other nations who are more independent and leave their parents once they begin working.

Cultural variables influence individual purchasing decisions. Every person develops his or her own set of behaviours, beliefs, and ideals based on his or her familial situation and upbringing. Their culture is formed by what they see as children.

Nature of Culture:

Culture contains the following characteristics:

1. Culture is invented:

It can’t just be thought of as something that “exists” and is waiting to be discovered. People are in charge of inventing their culture, which is made up of three interrelated components:

(a) The ideological component pertains to ideas, beliefs, values, and approaches to determining what is desirable and undesirable.

(b) The technological component concerns the talents, arts, and crafts that enable humans to manufacture commodities by utilising what is available in their surroundings.

(c) The organisational component enables humans to live in a family structure and to coordinate their behaviour effectively with the activities of others.

2. Culture is Learnt:

Culture is learnt, as opposed to biological or inherent characteristics. Learning cultural values begins early in life, primarily through social interactions among family members and friends and educational and religious institutions.

3. Culture is Shared:

Culture is shared by a large number of people who live in organized communities and serves as a unifying force. Similar religion and language are the most important factors in allowing individuals to share their beliefs, customs, conventions, and experiences.

4. Culture satisfies needs:

Its elements are passed down through generations because they are pleasurable. Culture provides structure, direction, and guidance to communities throughout all stages of life by offering tried-and-true ways of addressing physiological, personal, and social demands. For these reasons, individuals feel comfortable doing things the traditional way.

5. Cultures are similar but distinct:

All cultures have essential characteristics, and many components, such as athletic sports, body ornamentation, food preparation, a calendar, family, governance, language, religious ceremonies, language, dancing, and music, are present in all societies. However, the nature of these variables varies significantly among societies, which can lead to significant variances in consumer behaviour.

6. Culture is not static:

While certain cultures are more resistant to change than others, all cultures evolve throughout time. Some cultures may be very slow to adapt, whereas others may be more dynamic and open to change.

Types of Culture:

Cultural values are long-held convictions that a particular behaviour or outcome is desirable or beneficial (Milton J. Rokeach). As persistent beliefs, our values guide our behaviour in various settings and through time. Values are so profoundly established that most of us aren’t even aware of them, and people often struggle to describe them. Social values represent a society’s or group’s “typical” behaviour. Personal values dictate what “normal” behaviour is for a person. Personal values reflect an individual’s decisions based on various social values to which he or she is exposed. Our value systems relate to the entire range of values and their relative importance in different cultures.

Values come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Global values describe our underlying value system at the largest level. These values have stood the test of time and are deeply held by us. Shalom H. Schwartz and Wolfgang Bilsky have categorised global values into seven categories. There are two sorts of global values within each of these global categories. The term “terminal values” refers to highly desirable states such as freedom, equality, wisdom, and a comfortable life. Those values needed to accomplish the terminal values are referred to as instrumental values, such as loving, helpfulness, and honesty, and are needed to achieve equality, which is a terminal value. The following are the seven categories:

1. Maturity
2. Security
3. Pro-social behaviour (doing nice things to others)
4. Restrictive conformity
5. Enjoyment in life
6. Achievement
7. Self-direction

There are a variety of values that differ between cultures and influence consumer behaviour. Some researchers (G. Hofstede, S. E. Beatty, L. R. Kahle, and P. Homer; and F. Hansen) have developed a classification method that divides cultural values into three major categories:

1. Other-oriented
2. Environment-oriented
3. Self-oriented

According to them, the cultural values that have the most significant impact on consumer behaviour can be classified into one of three categories. Individual values can impact more than one category, but they usually have the most significant impact on one of the three.

1. Other-oriented values reflect a culture’s understanding of suitable connections between individuals and groups within that society. For example, if a society places a higher emphasis on communal action, customers are more inclined to seek advice from others while making a purchasing decision and less inclined to favour “individualism” arguments.
2. 2. Environmental-oriented values establish guidelines for a society’s interaction with its economic, technological, and physical environment. For instance, different marketing programmes would be appropriate for civilizations that emphasise risk-taking, problem-solving, and performance-oriented approaches to their environment, as opposed to civilizations that are fatalistic, security-oriented, and status-oriented.
3. Self-oriented values represent individual members of a society’s desired aims and attitudes to life, and they have significant marketing consequences. For example, how much a society values deferral versus instant fulfilment of needs influences the acceptance and use of credit or loan facilities.

Measurement of Culture:

A variety of measurement approaches can be used to assess culture. Content analysis, consumer fieldwork, and value measurement analysis are the most popular.

1. Content Analysis:

The content of spoken, written, and visual communications is the focus of content analysis (an advertisement’s copy and art composition). Content analysis is a technique for summarising any content by counting different characteristics of it. This allows for a more objective review than comparing content based on a listener’s impressions. An impressionistic synopsis of a TV show, for example, is not content analysis.

The purpose of content analysis is to:

1. Conclude a society’s culture.
2. Understand the various aspects of a society.
3. Compare and contrast two or more cultures (or features of a civilization).

Content analysis can assess what social and cultural changes have happened in a given society or compare and contrast two different societies. Assume we undertake a content analysis of 250 advertisements that appear in 8 issues of 17 periodicals. There are four American periodicals and four Japanese magazines among them. After examining those advertisements, it was discovered that adolescent girls are depicted differently in other cultures’ periodicals. According to the researchers, these discrepancies correlate to each country’s basic notions of self and society. Teenage girls in the United States are frequently connected with notions of tenacity and independence, but Japanese girls are frequently depicted as cheerful, playful, youthful, and girlish.

Marketers and public policymakers who want to compare the advertising claims of competitors in a certain industry or evaluate the nature of advertising claims targeted to specific audiences might use Content Analysis (e.g., women, the elderly, or children).

2. Consumer Field Work:

Researchers often immerse themselves in the milieu under investigation through consumer field work while researching a certain society. Qualified and experienced researchers will likely select a small sample of people from a specific society and closely monitor their behaviour. Based on their observations, researchers might develop judgments about the values, beliefs, and practices of the society under investigation.

For instance, placing trained observers at department and apparel stores to see how shirts are chosen:

1. Single-colour vs. Multi-coloured
2. Plain vs. striped
3. The degree of search before a choice is made

According to the observers, consumers remove shirts from the display, compare them to other shirts, and then put them back. They even try on a number of the shirts that have been set aside for selection before deciding on the one that they will buy.

Field observations occur naturally and are occasionally conducted without the subject’s knowledge. They focus on observing the subject’s behaviour and emphasise the natural world and observable behaviour.

Participant Observations: In this type of observation, the observers take on the role of active participants in the environment they are observing. For example, if researchers want to discover how consumers choose mobile phones, they could work as salespeople in a mobile store and monitor or even engage with customers.

Field observations and participant observer research require highly trained researchers who can separate their personal emotions and preferences from what they see in their professional responsibilities.

Marketers frequently employ other approaches, such as in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, to gain firsthand knowledge about developing social trends. When performed in an informal setting, focus group talks show the attitudes and behaviours of participants that may indicate a shift in values. In the long run, such a movement could impact market acceptance of a product or service. These conversations can also be utilised to discover marketing programmes that build on existing customer loyalty and goodwill. These discussions across several industries revealed that a loyal customer expects merchants and marketers to recognise his devotion and provide him with personalised services.

3. Value Measurement Surveys:

Value Measurement Surveys are conducted to determine a society’s prevalent underlying values. Traditionally, academics studied the conduct of individuals of a community and deduced the community’s prevalent underlying ideals from that behaviour. However, currently, researchers employ a survey/questionnaire to measure the values directly. Value instruments are data collection equipment used by researchers. Using these tools, people are asked how they feel about basic personal and social values such as freedom, comfort, national security, and peace.

In consumer behaviour, various popular value instruments have been utilised. The following are the two most popular:

1. Rokeach Value Survey
2. List of Values(LoV)

a. Rokeach Value Survey:

The Rokeach Value Survey is a value classification system. Social psychologist Milton Rokeach created the system and consists of two sets of values, each with 18 distinct value elements. The first set is known as terminal values, whereas the second is known as instrumental values.

• Terminal Values: They assess the relative relevance of various end-of-life scenarios or personal objectives. Comfort, an exciting life (stimulating, active life), A world at peace (free of war and conflict), Equality (brotherhood, equal opportunity for all), Freedom (independence and free choice), Happiness (contentment), National Security (protection from attack), Pleasure (an enjoyable life), Salvation (saved central life), Social Recognition (respect & admiration), and True Friendship are among the value items. A beautiful world (the beauty of nature and arts), Family security (caring for loved ones), mature love (personal and spiritual closeness), self-respect (self-esteem), a sense of accomplishment (long-term contribution), and inner peace are all critical factors to consider (freedom from inner conflict).
• Instrumental Values: These numbers represent the basic steps a person might take to get to their desired end state. Among the valuable things are: Dedicated to your goals (hardworking, aspiring), Innovative (daring, creative), Open-Minded (open-minded), Self-sufficient (self-reliant, self-sufficient), able to (competent, adequate), Imaginative (intelligent, reflective), ecstatic (lighthearted, joyful) Reasonable (consistent, rational) hygienic (neat, tidy) adoration (affectionate, tender) tenacious (standing up for your beliefs) Obeyant (dutiful, respectful) tolerant (Willing to pardon others) Courteous (courteous, well mannered) Beneficial (working for the welfare of others) dependable (dependable, reliable) Sincere (Sincere, truthful) Self-Contained (restrained, self-disciplined)

b. List of Values (LoV):

The LOV Scale invites customers to choose two of their most significant values from a list of nine options, such as warm relationships with others and a sense of belonging.

4. Other Parameters:

A few parameters can be used to evaluate cultures.

• Individual/Collective:

Individual initiative is emphasised and rewarded in some cultures, whereas cooperation and group conformity are emphasised and valued in others. According to G Hofstede’s research, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand highly emphasise individualism. On the other hand, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, India, and Mexico have a stronger collective focus. This priority placed on individual initiative versus group effort is a key aspect in identifying cultures. It is also considered crucial in affecting an individual’s self-concept and self-consciousness.

• Competitive/Cooperative:

Is it more important for people to compete and outperform others or organisations, or is it more critical to achieve success through working together? Is the winner more well-liked in society? Variations influence the acceptance of advertising in a given society in this value. In Japan, for example, comparative advertisements are frowned upon. Comparative advertising is prohibited in Spain and Germany, however it is permitted in India (Coke and Pepsi commercials, adverts for numerous durable products) and promoted in the United States.

• Diversity/Uniformity:

This factor considers how accepting members of a society are of different religions, political opinions, and other key attitudes and behaviours.Indian culture, for example, supports diversity and accepts a wide range of religions, political ideas, attitudes and behaviours. A society like this is more inclined to embrace diversity in food, clothing, and a wide range of products and services. Wide variances in taste and product preferences are unlikely to be accepted in a culture that emphasises uniformity.

• Performance/Status:

This refers to whether an individual’s opportunities, rewards, and prestige are based on their performance, position, family, or social status. Is everyone treated equally regarding economic, social, and political opportunities, or do select groups have particular advantages from the start? Do individuals appreciate items and brands more for utility, reputation, and status-related meanings? The extent to which people accept power, authority, prestige, and economic disparity as natural or inherited differs significantly between countries.

• Tradition/Change:

Is tradition so engrained that any progressive reform or modification is fiercely opposed? According to D Kim, Y Pan, and H S Park, Chinese and Koreans are apprehensive of new ways of thinking and situations. Like many other countries, India is deeply rooted in tradition, and its citizens are wary of change.

• Risk Taking/Security:

Is it valued to take risks to overcome obstacles? Are persons in established positions revered or scorned for taking chances and beginning new businesses? This value appears to be linked to a spirit of entrepreneurship, economic development, and acceptance of new products. People are less likely to become entrepreneurs to achieve economic success and contribute to economic growth in communities that discourage risk-taking and favour security.

• Problem Solving/Fatalistic:

Some communities have a more fatalistic attitude than others, believing that whatever is meant to happen will. This deters people from taking initiative and makes them less likely to see obstacles as opportunities. They don’t believe in the “we can do it” mentality. In India, fate is a significant aspect, and most people believe that everything in their life is predetermined and that it is impossible to avoid fate. People with such values are less likely to file official complaints about an unpleasant purchase.

• Sensual Gratification/Abstinence:

Some cultures are more lenient, allowing people to satisfy their needs for food, alcohol, or sex beyond the bare minimum, believing that deferring such wants is pointless. Certain Muslim societies are thought to be highly conservative when it comes to this value.

• Material/Non-material:

Is accumulating material wealth a positive value, and does it confer greater status than knowledge? There are two sorts of materialism. Acquiring items that allow individuals to do something is called instrumental materialism. Getting a car, for example, can provide a person with convenient and pleasant transportation. The term “terminal materialism” refers to obtaining things solely for the pleasure of owning them, such as purchasing an expensive painting for the sake of owning it. The painting isn’t being used for any other purpose.

• Religious/Secular:

How much do religious doctrines impact people’s attitudes and behaviours? According to S S Al-Makaty, many Islamic and Catholic countries are more religiously oriented. Pakistan is more religiously oriented than India, which is a professed secular republic. In Chinese culture, religion has minimal significance. To establish effective marketing programmes, marketers must first understand the degree and type of religious influences in a specific culture.