Culture is a society’s personality and describes what people have in common. It is the total sum of learned beliefs, values, and customs that direct the consumer behaviour of members of a particular society (Schiffman et al. 2007, p. 282).
Culture is not static; it is continuously evolving, synthesizing old ideas with new ones. The following are key characteristics of culture:
The impact of culture is hard to identify.
Culture offers order, direction, and guidance to people.
Culture is dynamic.
Culture is shared.
Culture is learned.
Culture
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Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard and Hogg, Consumer Behaviour, 5th Edition © Pearson Education Limited 2014
- Culture is the lens through which consumers view products and try to make sense of their own and other people’s behaviour..
- Consumption choices cannot be understood without considering the cultural context in which they are made.
- Culture determines
- the overall priorities that a consumer attaches to different activities and products.
- the success or failure of specific products and services.
Why is culture important?
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Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard and Hogg, Consumer Behaviour, 5th Edition © Pearson Education Limited 2014
Culture is a society’s (group’s) system of shared, learned values and norms; these are the society’s (group’s) design for living
- Values: abstract ideas about the good, the right, the desirable
- Norms: social rules and guidelines; guide appropriate behavior for specific situations
- Folkways: norms of little moral significance dress code; table manners; timeliness
- Mores: norms central to functioning of social life bring serious retribution: thievery, adultery, alcohol
Unpacking culture
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Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard and Hogg, Consumer Behaviour, 5th Edition © Pearson Education Limited 2014
Schiffman & Kanuk, 2007
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Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard and Hogg, Consumer Behaviour, 5th Edition © Pearson Education Limited 2014
The meaning of things
Figure 2.1 The movement of meaning
Source: Adapted from Grant McCracken, ‘Culture and consumption: A theoretical account of the structure and movement of the cultural meaning of consumer goods’, Journal of Consumer Research 13 (June 1986): 72. Reprinted with permission of The University of Chicago Press.
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Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard and Hogg, Consumer Behaviour, 5th Edition © Pearson Education Limited 2014
Time –an important variable
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Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard and Hogg, Consumer Behaviour, 5th Edition © Pearson Education Limited 2014
Acculturation: cultural modification of an individual, group, or people by adapting to or borrowing traits from another culture; a merging of cultures as a result of prolonged contact.
Enculturation: the process by which an individual learns the traditional content of a culture and assimilates its practices and values
Second-language learning is a good example of acculturation on an individual level. The cultural diffusion of foods, music, religion, etc., between nations or between majority and minority groups is a good example of acculturation at the societal level.
Enculturation is learned through speech, gestures, and words.
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Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard and Hogg, Consumer Behaviour, 5th Edition © Pearson Education Limited 2014
Cultural impact on marketing
What colour comes to mind if you have to buy the following?
- Salt and Vinegar
- Cheese and Onion
- Cola
- Grape juice
Velasco, C., Wan, X., Salgado-Montejo, A., Woods, A., Oñate, G. A., Mu, B., & Spence, C. (2014). The context of colour–flavour associations in crisps packaging: A cross-cultural study comparing Chinese, Colombian, and British consumers. Food Quality and Preference, 38, 49-57.
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Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard and Hogg, Consumer Behaviour, 5th Edition © Pearson Education Limited 2014
- Products can reflect underlying cultural processes of a particular period:
- Iphone?
- Facebook?
- Recycled products?
- Organic products?
- Microwaveable foods?
What do these products say about today’s culture?
Cultural trends
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Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard and Hogg, Consumer Behaviour, 5th Edition © Pearson Education Limited 2014
Fifa International soccer
Bad teacher
Coca cola
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Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard and Hogg, Consumer Behaviour, 5th Edition © Pearson Education Limited 2014
- Reality engineering is the process where elements of popular culture are appropriated by marketers and become integrated into marketing strategies.
- Elements of popular culture can include sensory and spatial aspects of our everyday existence, e.g. products appearing in films and advertising hoardings, etc.
- As commercial influences on popular culture increase, marketer-centred symbols make their way into our daily lives more and more.
- Reality engineering is accelerating due to the current popularity of product placements by marketers.
- These ‘plugs’ (brands prominently displayed or seen in films, etc.) have been carefully inserted to get brands and products noticed.
Reality engineering
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Second-language learning is a good example of acculturation on an individual level. The cultural diffusion of foods, music, religion, etc., between nations or between majority and minority groups is a good example of acculturation at the societal level.
Enculturation is learned through speech, gestures, and words.
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Fifa International soccer
Bad teacher
Coca cola
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