Chapter 3
Cultural Influences
A culture is a society's personality; it shapes our identities as individuals.
Value
A value is a belief that some condition is preferable to its opposite. A person's set of values plays a very important role in consumption activities. Consumers purchase many products and services because they believe these products will help to attain a value-related goal.
Value Concepts
Core values Value systems Enculturation Acculturation LOOK UP DEFINITION IN THE BOOK
A culture production system It has three major subsystems
Creative - new product ideas Managerial - companies sell and distribute the new products Communications - advertising gives meaning to the products
What is Culture
Culture is the accumulation of shared meanings, rituals, norms and traditions. A culture is a society's personality
Product Placement and Branded Entertainment
Insertion of specific products and use of brand names in movie/TV scripts Directors incorporate branded products into movies and video games for realism
Cultural Values
Our deeply held cultural values dictate the types of products and services we seek out or avoid.
Hofstede Dimensions of National Culture
Power distance Individualism Masculinity Uncertainty avoidance Long-term orientation Indulgence versus restraint LOOK THIS UP IN THE BOOK
Key Point Taking a Global Approach
Products that succeed in one culture may fail in another if marketers fail to understand the differences among consumers in each place. Western (and particularly American) culture has a huge impact around the world, although people in other countries don't necessarily ascribe the same meanings to products as we do
Other Value Concepts
The Means-End Chain Model Syndicated Surveys of Values (e.g., VALS)
The Rokeach Value Survey
The Rokeach Value Survey also identifies instrumental values which are those actions we need to take to achieve these terminal values. Table 3.1 lists several instrumental values and their corresponding terminal values.
The psychologist Milton Rokeach
The psychologist Milton Rokeach identified terminal values which are desired end states.
Rituals
are sets of multiple, symbolic behaviors that occur in a fixed sequence and that tend to be repeated periodically Many consumer activities are ritualistic Trips to Starbucks Sunday brunch
Mores
customs with a strong moral overtone
Crescive norms
embedded in a culture and include Customs, Mores and Conventions All three crescive norms combine to define culturally appropriate behavior
A culture production system
is the set of individuals and organizations that create and market a cultural product
Customs
norms handed down from the past that control basic behavior
Conventions
norms that regulate how we conduct our everyday life
Reality engineering
occurs when marketers appropriate elements of popular culture and use them as promotional vehicles. Product placements are an example.
