Cultural Barriers in International Marketing

Cultural Barriers in International MarketingThe research atomic number 18a of this proposal is foc apply on the rise area of outside(a) merchandising. much specific all(a)(prenominal)y, the focal point of the research will be the sociocultural environment and how this has an impact on a multinational caller-out whose ambition is to enter a new market (Hollensen, 2007). As indicated by Doole and Lowe (2008), the sociocultural factor affects the consumer and buyer behaviour, making the development of international marketing strategies inevitable.In addition, this researchs centre of attention will be the elements of grow which is a popular method of discovering subtletys (Albaum Duerr, 2008). Furthermore, the layers of culture will be presented from two different perspectives as hygienic as the relation of culture with consumer behaviour. Finally, an attempt to examine the lacquerese culture will be made by reviewing the high- and low-context concept (Hall, 1960 cited in Ng uyen et al., 2007 207), and some supernumerary models introduced by key authors.3.3 BackgroundPrimarily, thought ones culture before entering his market has a dual aspect. On one hand, the effectiveness of the established marketing strategies and its implementation by locals could be verified (Czinkota Ronkainen, 2007), and on the other hand you familiarise with your own culture (Yamada, 1997 xvi).Furthermore, Japan is one of the close culturally homogenous countries in the world (Engel Murakami, 2001 21), citizens of which consider their heritage valuable and indispensable (Keillor Hult, 1999). Consequently, this creates trade barriers for the multinational companies (Albaum Duerr, 2008) whose intention is to enter the Japanese market. These barriers washbowl be eliminated by understanding the Japanese values and expectations (Engel Murakami, 2001 20).Moreover, the ability of overcoming these barriers and cultivate relations with the target market is the fundamental steppi ng stone for an effective marketing strategy (Ford, 1984 cited in Lohtia et al., 2009). In collection to achieve that, companies should be culturally sensitive, in other words they should accognition the dissimilarities between domestic and international markets and handle them effectively (Holzmuller Stottinger, 2001 LaBahn Harich, 1997 Rice ODonohue, 2002 cited in Lohtia et al., 2009 241). However, it is demanding to achieve cultural sensitivity to Japan (Hall, 1987 cited in Lohtia et al., 2009242), and companies that will achieve it will turn in the appreciation of the Japanese consumers (Lohtia et al., 2009).3.4 ConclusionInitially, Craig and Douglas (2006 338) confirm that due to globalization and the rapid change of cultures, a deeper understanding of culture is necessary. Moreover, Steenkamp (2001 41) verifies that culture is a complex phenomenon and that many dimensions are required to be developed, so that marketers can divert effectively one culture from another, an d thus establish the appropriate marketing strategy.In the dissertation, the police detective will try to uncover as many dimensions that make prisoner culture as possible, focusing on the Japanese culture, hence identifying the cultural barriers. Japan was chosen as it is a high context country (Hall, 1987 cited in Lohtia et al., 2009), and subsequently the higher the context of a culture, the more effort will be needed from a company to adjust its strategy to that culture (Hollensen, 2007 221). literary productions Review4.1 IntroductionThe aim of this lit review is to present commentarys of international marketing that are related with Japans sociocultural environment. Additionally, a synthesis of the existing literature was conducted in order to provide a thorough description of the elements and the layers of culture, the available models that examine cultures and their implications for consumer behaviour.Moreover, the data collection was achieved by using the universitys lib rary and ebrary database. The keywords international marketing resulted in 543 and 18.719 hits of utility(prenominal) data respectively, and lastly 9 books were used.Finally, the e-library was used to obtain academic journals in order to inject scientific ideas in the research. The search locomotive engine showed 66798 results of which only 240 were available. Eventually, 10 articles were selected to be used, mainly coming from Emeralds and ScienceDirects databases.4.2 Definitions and conceptsTo start with, before attempting to define culture, international marketing should be introduced. There seems to be a consensus regarding the definition of international marketing. More specifically, Doole and Lowe (2008 6) as well as Ghauri and Cateora (2005 8) defined it as the procedure that a companys goods and services are targeted in customers of more than one country, which seeks the maximization of its profit. Additionally, Ghauri and Cateora (2005 8) raised the difference between in ternational and domestic marketing, where the latter focuses only in one nation.Furthermore, Doole and Lowe (2008 7), and Hooley et al. (2008 61) used the SLEPT model to identify the environmental impacts on international marketing. These are Social/Cultural, Legal, Economic, Political and finally Technological. This proposal will focus only on the Sociocultural influences.Moreover, 160 definitions for culture have been recorded (Czinkota Ronkainen, 2007), proving the signification of the role that culture plays in marketers strategy (Ghauri Cateora, 2005).Firstly, the etic approach of culture, which focuses on the contrast between two cultures (Luna Gupta, 2001 46) was place by Hofstede (1997) as the collective programming of the learning ability which distinguishes the members of one human group from another (Hollensen, 2007 216 Luna Gupta, 2001 46).In contrast, the emic approach of culture was proposed by McCracken (1988 73) cited in Luna and Gupta (2001 46). He defined cul ture as the lens with which all phenomena are seen. It determines how these phenomena are apprehended and assimilated. Second, culture is the blueprint of human activity. It determines the coordinates of social action and productive activity, specifying the behaviours and objects that issue from both. The objective of the emic approach is to achieve a thorough comprehension of the study of culture (Luna Gupta, 2001).4.3 The elements of culturePrimarily, culture was divided into different elements to direct marketers to a deeper examination of the cultural differences between international markets (Ghauri Cateora 2005 82).More detailed, Ghauri and Cateora (2005 83) identified six elements of culture Material culture, Social institutions, Aesthetics, Belief system, Education and Language. Furthermore, Albaum and Duerr (2008 122), and Doole and Lowe (2008 74) added Technology with Material culture, as well as Law and Politics, with the former omitting Aesthetics. Hollensen (2007 225 ) include Technology to Material culture, added Manners and customs, and omitted Law and Politics. Finally, Czinkota and Ronkainen (200757) added Manners and Customs, and omitted Law and Politics.It is worth mentioning that all the elements will be examined thoroughly in the dissertation from the perspective of Japan.4.4 The layers of cultureThe layers of culture can be a great opportunity for multinational companies to familiarise themselves with the behaviour (Hollensen, 2007), attitudes and values (Doole and Lowe, 2008) of people with different cultural backgrounds they hire (Hollensen, 2007). On one hand, Hollensen (2007 219) indicates four layers of culture national culture, business/ industry culture, company culture and finally individual behaviour, with each layer affecting the next one.On the other hand, a different approach was presented by Doole and Lowe (2008 73). They portrayed the layers of culture in a national, a regional/ ethnic/ religious/ linguistic, a gender, a generation and finally a social class level.In a nutshell, companies should familiarise themselves with the characteristics of the Japanese employees, as they hardly ever quit their jobs and they are astoundingly bonded with them so as to receive a flourishing career (Engel Murakami, 2001 29).4.5 Culture and consumer behaviourConsumer behaviour regarding a product or a message is affected by different components of culture (Doole Lowe, 2008). Jeannet and Hennessey (2004) cited in Doole and Lowe (2008 80) presented the procedure that consumer behaviour is affected by culture.In contrast, Hofstede (1997) cited in Luna and Gupta (2001, 47) argues that consumer behaviour is influenced by four manifestations which are values, heroes, symbols, and rituals. Moreover, Craig and Douglas (2006) stated that customs and rituals play a significant role for Japan, in maintaining well-balanced relations among its citizens. However, Usunier (1996) cited in Holden (2004 567), maply agrees with Ho fstedes view, since he believes that consumer behaviour, which consists of consumers values, attitudes and decision making, is affected by cultural dissimilarities.Lastly, Doole and Lowe (2008 80) identified four ideas that marketers should reflect on when using Western ideas to comprehend the foreign consumer behaviour.4.6 Cultural analysis4.6.1 High- and low-context culturesThe model of high- and low-context cultures was defined by Edward T. Hall (1960a) as a way of understanding different cultural orientation (Hollensen, 2007 220). As indicated by Hall (1976) cited in Nguyen et al. (2007 207), in low-context cultures the message itself is of great importance. On the other hand, in high-context cultures, people tend to elaborate on the message to gain a deeper understanding of it (Hollensen, 2007 220 Doole Lowe, 2008 86). As argued by Hollensen (2007), the Japanese have the highest context culture, while the Swiss have the lowest.4.6.2 Hofstedes modelTo begin with, Hofstedes dime nsions should be taken into consideration when marketers construct their marketing strategy (Hollensen, 2007 228). Ghauri and Cateora (2005), as well as Hollensen (2007) mention four dimensions of culture distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism and masculinity, while Hofstede adds long-term orientation (Hofstede, 2009). The importance of these results is due to cultural dimensions illustrating the traits of a country (Rivera-Vazquez et al., 2009). Consequently, the results for Japan are intended to be used for the dissertation. Lastly, strengths and weaknesses of this model were introduced by Hollensen (2007 229).4.6.3 Schwartzs modelAn resource framework was created by Schwartz (1994) cited in Steenkamp (2001). He mentions three dimensions through which he will provide answers to his societal topics conservativism versus autonomy, hierarchy versus egalitarianism and labelled mastery or labelled harmony (Steenkamp, 2001 32).4.6.4 Alternative modelsPrimarily, Keegan (2004 14) reinforcing stimuluss that the focus on marketing changes and that concepts need updating regularly. Based on this idea, Holden (2004 570) disapproves the reliance on Hofstedes model, while suggesting an approach to culture from a different perspective. Finally, an alternative model for approaching Asian cultures was introduced by Fang (1999), cited in Fletcher and Flang (2006 438).4.7 ConclusionPrimarily, although there is a large amount of literature concerning international marketing and culture, there seems to be some disagreements between authors, as well as some omissions by others.For instance, Hollensen (2007) supports that it is inevitable to examine cultures without referring to Hofstedes cultural dimensions. On the other hand, Holden (2004) criticises the validity of Hofstedes model. As a result, the researcher will try to compare and contrast the models that have been developed for gaining knowledge of the differences amongst cultures.Methodology5.1 IntroductionThe ap proach that was developed in order to accomplish the objectives was based on desk research. More specifically, the researcher utilised existing pen material such as books, e-books, and some scientific journals (Gummesson, 2000 35). Finally, the World Wide Web (Internet) will be used to obtain the empirical results regarding the cultural dimensions of Japan suggested by the key author Hofstede.The qualitative research method is going to be used. Primarily, the researcher uses secondary analysis which is a qualitative method (Bryman Bell, 2007 326). secondly the thesis of other writers will be introduced, instead of the researchers own opinion (Bryman Bell, 2007 425). Additionally, of great importance should be the fact that the use of mixed methods -both qualitative and quantitative- was avoided because these methods are two different paradigms (Bryman Bell, 2007 642).Finally, concerning the relationship between theory and research (Bryman Bell, 2007 11), the inductive theory ( Bryman Bell, 2007) was used. Although Fisher (2007 322) argues that a combination of inductive and deductive method can be employed, only the inductive method was used for this proposal. This can be justified by the fact that the researcher moves from observations, which is the aim of the proposal, to the general which is the theory (Bryman Bell, 2007 14).5.2 Desk look intoTo start with, the only method that was used in order to obtain data for this proposal was desk research. Although Gummesson (2000 34) argues that knowledge coming from secondary sources is limited, Bryman and Bell (2007 328) believe that secondary analysis provides the researcher with high quality data. Additionally, it is more cost-effective in a way that secondary data are easier to interpret than primary (Bryman Bell, 2007 333).Moreover, part of the secondary data collected came from scientific journals. The researcher focused on journals that were related to culture and cultural barriers. The journals tha t were used came fromThe International Marketing ReviewThe diary of Product Brand ManagementThe European Journal of MarketingThe International Business ReviewThe Journal of Knowledge ManagementFinally, text books were used in an attempt to achieve a deeper understanding of the theory related to international marketing and culture. Some of those used areInternational Marketing Strategy by Isobel Doole and Robin LoweInternational Marketing by Ghauri and CateoraGlobal Marketing by Svend HollensenPassport to Japan by Engel and Murakami5.3 Alternative MethodsIdeally, the researcher could have used alternative methods to complement the validity of material found (Gummesson, 2000 35). These methods could be slick studies, questionnaires and qualitative interviews (Gummesson, 2000 35).Primarily, the researcher could have used existing case studies in this proposal to support the data found from existing theory (Bryman Bell, 2007). Unfortunately, word limit prevented him from including m aterial found, as more theoretical findings were included to help readers gain basic knowledge on international marketing and culture. However, it is unquestionably that in the dissertation the researcher will use existing case studies.Finally, the researcher could conduct a case study by approaching a multinational company which maintains its operations in Japan. More specifically, the use of questionnaires or qualitative interviews would have helped the researcher gain an insider perspective (Bryman Bell, 2007 443) of the marketing strategy that a company deploys in Japan. Unfortunately, the difficulty of approaching a company and accessing its confidential data prevented the researcher from implementing it.However, it is worth mentioning that the researcher has not had the chance to meet his supervisor. Consequently, the research methods could possibly change with the intention of writing a high-quality masters dissertation.Ethical issuesThere are no estimable issues concerning this proposal since only desk research was conducted. To be more specific, there was no distortion of data and every secondary source has been acknowledged by in-text references and a reference list, adhering to the rules of Aston Business School on plagiarism. Last but not least, copyrights of published books, articles and journals were respected.Task ListTasksProblemsSolutionsSearch and obtain existing literature on theory and concepts of culture in books and e-booksLimited searching skills, due to restricted previous experienceReceived advice from professors as well as from library supply on effective research techniquesSearch and obtain existing literature from scientific journalsnot all journal articles are available in full text in the Aston e-library and many of those available were not completely relevant to the topic of the proposalMethodical and detailed research for alternative articlesSelect the most relevant articlesTime consumingSkim and scan the articles foundObtain text books from the Aston library that are related to differences across different culturesNot all books are available in the Aston libraryObtained e-books from ebrary of Aston UniversityObtain results from empirical studies regarding the culture of JapanNot all data is available in text books coming World Wide Web (Internet) to obtain the information neededWrite the concessionLimited previous experienceGuidance on the structure of the assignment via lecture notes and slidesConduct an effective literature reviewLimited previous experienceGuidance provided through lecture notes and slidesCombine information provided from different books, producing a uniform textLarge amount of information from secondary data sources availableSkim and scan all secondary data sources to combine all information provided and highlight any omissions observed in the literatureUse case studies of different multinational companies that examine similar problemsWord limitNot covered by the proposal but will be covered in the dissertationProof-read and edit the assignment before submissionPossible mistakes or omissionsThorough reading and correction of mistakes