The impact of culture on consumer buying behaviour - Essay Example

Critically analyse the impact of culture on consumer buying behaviour Contents Introduction 2 Critical Analysis of Culture and its Definition 2 Impact of Culture on Consumer Buying Behaviour 6 Conclusion 9 References 10 Introduction Cultural factors have an important influence on the buying behaviour of consumers. It consists of operating procedures that are mutually shared, norms, tools, values, and unstated assumptions. It also comprises standards for evaluating, communicating, and perceiving. Cultural factors differ by country to country and are a complex phenomenon when people move to foreign countries where the cultural dimensions that are prevalent are totally different. Under such circumstances, people are faced with various cultural reference groups which ultimately affect their behaviour towards purchasing. Marketers, in response, must develop tools for marketing communication which seeks to address reference group and cultural factors from a domestic as well as global perspective. Market segmentation must be used by marketers to develop marketing messages for customers with the purpose of educating them about the service or product being offered so that they are stimulated to buy the service or product of the marketer being advertised. Culture is defined as a sum total of values, customs, and learned beliefs that guides the behaviour of consumers living in a particular society. Consumer behaviour is concerned about the decision making processes of buyers. It studies behavioural variables and demographics to understand the wants of consumers. Critical Analysis of Culture and its Definition It is not easy to define culture in respect of its pervasive and broad nature. Its boundaries are not easy to define. There are several aspects to it which need to be understood. Culture can be termed as comprehensive because it comprises everything that have an influence on an individual’s behaviour, actions, and thought processes. It consists of components that are interdependent and can be termed as very complex. It consists of common patterns and habits of a group of people and also their customs, values, common interests, and norms. Beliefs are considered to be an important part of culture. The basis of any culture is on the values that are considered as real and true. Customs and morals also play an important role and are considered to be very relevant in respect of culture. It is also very important to take note of the fact that a thing may be moral in one country while it may be considered as highly immoral in another one. Culture is in fact learned i.e. it is acquired from our previous generation and so predispositions and inherent responses are excluded from the ambit of culture. Acquisition of culture is divided into two parts such as native culture and new culture. The process of learning native culture is called enculturation. The process of learning new culture is called acculturation. It guides people to act in a manner which is acceptable to other group members. The frameworks only vary between cultures and there is a continuous incorporation of such things as norms, language, rituals, values, and symbols. Culture is found within the boundaries of behaviour that are acceptable to the society as a whole. Culture provides the basic framework within which people act and think. The limits that are set by culture on the behaviour of people are called norms (Blythe, 2008, pp. 55-60). Beliefs that are held widely are termed as norms. It stems from cultural values and is a representation of what is desirable. Cultural norms if violated may result in penalties such as mild disapproval by society or banishment from a group. Thus it can be said that cultural values are the basis of norms which has an influence on patterns of consumptions. Norms and values constitute the beliefs that are there within various groups of a society. There are symbols and values representative of a group that is restrictive, and these symbols and values are defined in accordance with variables such as religion, age, social class or ethnicity. These symbols and values are termed as micro cultures. Subculture is another name for micro culture. It should also be noted that cultures are subject to change at a very slow pace and that they are not static. Cultures must be subject to transformation in a continuous manner to serve the best interests of a society. Technological advancements can lead to major changes in culture in a very short period of time. So marketers place significant importance and constantly monitor the socio-cultural environment to market their products more efficiently and also to develop new products that are promising. Marketers must have a good understanding of the existing as well as emerging cultural values of the market they operate in. If an organization fails to understand the cultural differences, it may lead to negative consequences. Any cultural system comprises three functional fields such as social structure, ecology, and ideology. Social structure refers to the maintenance of the social life in an orderly way. It includes the political and domestic groups that are prevalent within the culture. Ecology refers to the use of technology for distributing and obtaining resources. For example, the people in Japan greatly value those products which facilitate efficient utilization of space. The third field ideology refers to the mental features of people and their way in which they relate to social groups and the environment in general. It is based on the notion that members of any society have a common view of the world. So when change in culture occurs, there is a development of trend which provides excellent marketing opportunities for those organizations which is able to foresee the changes before their competitors. As culture moves through the process of transformation, marketers tend to associate their products and the brand benefits with the values that are new. They may also have to change their product accordingly if a certain value is no longer considered relevant in the society. Monitoring cultural changes by the organizations are often considered as a means to increase organizational profitability. Differences in culture may result in respect of demographics, values, nonverbal communications, and languages. Although there is a difference among every culture, the four main dimensions that in a major way accounts for this variability are power distance, individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity and Uncertainty avoidance. Power distance consigns to the formation of interpersonal relationships when power differences are perceived. refers to the degree of feeling threatened by persons in situations which are ambiguous and the measures they adopt to avoid this uncertainty. Masculinity/femininity refers to the sex roles and whether they are clearly delineated. There are explicit rules laid down in traditional societies regarding the desirable standards of behaviours of women and men and what is the responsibility of each member within a family. Individualism/collectivism refers to the welfare of an individual relative to that of the group and the extent to which it is valued. There is a difference in the emphasis of culture in respect to individualism and collectivism. Cultures that are individualist in nature place a lot of importance to individual goals as compared to the goals of the group. Collectivist cultures place importance on values such as accepting life as it is and also on self-discipline. Cultural values are termed as beliefs that are widely held and this acts as a guide regarding what is desirable. Understanding the values of different cultures provide us with a way of understanding cultural variations in behaviour (Desmond, 2003, pp. 170-179). Values that vary and affect the consumption pattern are other oriented, self oriented, and environment oriented. These values affect consumer behaviour in a major way. Other oriented values are a societal view of the relationships that exist between groups and individuals within a society. These relationships are considered to be very useful for marketing practices. Environment oriented values refer to the desirable relationships of a society to its technical, economic, and physical environment. Self oriented values refer to the desirable approaches and objectives of individual persons living in a society. These values are considered to have a strong influence on the marketing practices of organizations. Impact of Culture on Consumer Buying Behaviour Consumer is a person who has needs, desires, and requires marketing of products and services to act as a buyer. Marketers have the ability to influence consumer buying behaviour but they are not in a position to control it. Culture affects the behaviour of buyers by directly affecting the social groups, family, and business firms. It has a direct influence on each of these groups and in this way it shapes the opinions, feelings, biases, and attitudes of an individual buyer. Cultural norms guide the actions of buyers. For example, a consumer intending to purchase a product is first required to gather adequate information which will help him in making a sound judgement. Cultural norms guide us regarding what is right and what is not. They are accepted standards which are used to judge the behaviours of consumers. It is of utmost importance that marketers understand the impact of culture on consumer behaviour. Culture serves as a tool to satisfy various needs of various people within a society. It is a means of satisfying social, physiological, and personal needs of people. The three distinct forms of learning culture are technical learning, formal learning, and informal learning (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2010, pp. 145-154). An organization’s marketing programme has the potential to impact all the three types of culture learning. Organizations that are planning to sell their products in the foreign markets mainly resort to acculturation. Under such a scenario, it will be beneficial for an organization to study the specific cultures of their target market to determine the acceptance of their products in the target market. They also resort to acculturation to communicate the specific features of their services and products. Culture is the basis of every dimension of behaviour. There are also other factors that influence the behaviour of consumers such as personal, social, and physiological. Personal factors include age, gender, lifecycle stage, education, income, lifestyle and personality. The age of a person, the level of income and the lifestyle a person leads are important factors of consumer buying behaviour. A person who is wealthy will have an inclination to spend on luxury items. In comparison, a person who is not that much wealthy will spend on products which are the basic necessities of life. Social factors comprise friends, family, status, and role as important factors that affect consumer buying process. The role of friends and family in a person’s life cannot be denied in respect of consumer buying behaviour. If a friend of any person purchases a bike, that person will also have an inclination to purchase a bike. The buying behaviour of every individual is influenced by the social environment he lives in. Physiological factors comprise learning, motivation, perception, and attitude as important factors that affect the consumer buying behaviour (Solomon, 2012, pp. 101-105). Subcultures also play an important role in respect of consumer buying behaviour. Marketers tend to segment the whole society into smaller groups known as subgroups or subcultures. It comprises similar people in respect of their behaviours, customs, and ethnic origin. These subcultures provide important marketing opportunities for marketers. Members of a specific subculture have values, customs, and beliefs that make them unique in regard to various other members that are there in the same society. Subculture is considered as a unique cultural group within a larger society. Social class is another important factor that has a bearing on the consumer buying behaviour. It is a way of ranking people living in the society based on variables such as occupation, income, type of residence, qualification, and education. The variables mentioned above affect buying behaviour and purchase patterns of consumers. Social classes have distinct brand and product preferences especially for luxury goods such as furnishings, and cars. Different social classes show different behaviour in respect to purchasing. The upper class has more income to spend on luxury products. The social class has a tremendous impact on the spending habits of consumers (Arnould, Price, and Zinkhan, 2005, pp. 87-94). The level of income that is available to each social class is an important factor. Each social class has approaches and characteristics that are considered distinct to consumer purchases. The simplest model by which one can define the social class is on the basis of a three tier approach which comprises the middle class, the poor, and the rich. Conclusion The world in which we live is moving towards globalisation. Competition among the organizations are ever increasing in the ever changing environment that we live in. Companies in order to gain greater market share must concentrate on the cultural factors that are prevalent in the target market. It should focus more on the factors that affect consumer buying behaviour to increase its revenue. Culture plays an important role in the purchase decisions of consumers by affecting directly the social groups, family, and business firms. As it plays an important role in shaping the opinions, feelings, biases, and attitudes of any buyer, organizations must focus on these factors to improve their competitive standing in the environment. Cultural norms guide the judgement of buyers. So it is very much important for any organization to understand the impact of culture on consumer behaviour. Organizations must also understand the cultural changes in a better way to foresee any business opportunities well in advance. They must be able to relate their products with the new values that are originating, as the culture moves through the process of transformation. The cultural changes must be monitored by any organization as a means to increase its profitability. References Arnould, E.J., Price, L. and Zinkhan, G.M. 2005. Consumers, 2nd Edition, London: McGraw Hill. Blythe, J. 2008. Consumer Behaviour, London: Thomson Learning. Desmond, J. 2003. Consumer Behaviour, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Schiffman, L.G. and Kanuk, L.L. 2010. Consumer Behaviour; 10th Edition, Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Solomon, M. 2012. Consumer Behaviour; Buying, Having, and Being, 10th Global Edition, London: Pearson education. Read More