Transcript Self-Concept

“Cultural Influences on selected Aspects
of Consumer Behaviour”
Learning the Business of Asian Business
PhD Seminar-3
Force-Process-Outcome
(Fam: ‘Effective advertising in China and India’, Proceedings of International
Conference on Research in Advertising, 2005, pp. 161-167)
Force
Process
Outcome
Impact of Cultural Differences on
Consumer Behaviour & Marketing Communications
Elements of
Culture:
Material
Language
Aesthetics
Education
Religion
Social Organization
Politics & Law
Values & Attitudes
Ethics & Etiquettes
Aspects of
Consumer Behaviour:
Words, Symbols &
Perception
Motivation
Age
Self-concept
Group Influence
Social Class
Sex Roles
Attitudes to Change
Purchase Decision
Making
Post-Purchase
Aspects of
Marketing
Communications:
Message decisions
(appeal, central message)
Creative approaches
(execution: casting &
activities of people, the
settings, interrelationship)
Advertising styles
Media planning
approaches
The Possible Impact of Cultural Differences
on Selected Aspects of Consumer Behaviour
1. Symbols & Perception
 Symbols work as a powerful means of suggestion and evocation.
The symbolic aspects of consumption are important to consumers:
the social meaning of many products is more important than their
functional utility.
In their capacity as signs with suggestive power, symbols rely on
natural elements: colours, shapes, locations, materials, everyday
objects, animals, countryside and elements of nature, famous
characters, etc. (see Omega watch associated with America’s Cup)
Omega Watch and America’s Cup
 perception of shapes, colours varies across cultures. Colours,
things, numbers and even smells have symbolic meanings,
often not the one you think!
In certain cultures, the lake is a symbol of love, the blue colour is
of virginity, the green of peace, and white is the colour of birth in
the West and is usually celebrated as a happy event. In China it
symbolizes mourning.
 Chinese consumers living in coastal areas prefer loud colours,
while those living inland prefer gaudy colours. Red suggests good
fortune in China but death in Turkey. The owl in India is bad luck,
like a black cat in Europe. In Japan a fox is associated with witches.
In Singapore the number 7 is unlucky; but in Japan it is 4.
The Possible Impact of Cultural Differences
on Selected Aspects of Consumer Behaviour
Associating Symbols
 Chinese consumers attached a high level of involvement to the
purchasing of consumer goods, and this is directly attributable to
the Chinese culture of public and visible consumption. (materialism)
 these markers/labels can be seen in possessions such as designerlabeled goods, expensive jewelry and cars, but this apparent
materialism does not reflect internal personal tastes, traits or goals.
2. Motivation:
Motivation to own, to buy, to spend, to consume, to show, to share,
to give differs across cultures.
Motivation to spend can be altered by negative views of money.
Motivation to buy may be low amongst Hindu culture since they
discard objects and material culture.
Motivation to consume may be hindered by a strong ecological
stance like eliminate plastic in favour of reusable bottles. Similarly
motivation to form relationship often lead to more gift giving
occasions like those widely practiced by Chinese and Japanese.
Understanding the variations in what motivates people is important
for positioning brands in different markets. It explains differences in
brand loyalty, brand preference, brand image, etc.
Differences in sensitivity to certain product attributes and
advertising appeals can be explained by culturally defined motives.
See the “Motives for buying Automobiles”.
Motives for Buying Automobiles
Source:de Mooij, (1998)
1
2
4
3
Quadrant 1
- Feminine and weak uncertainty
avoidance
- People have preference for safety
to protect their family for saving money.
So what advertising appeal/s to use?
Quadrant 2
- Masculine and weak uncertainty
avoidance
- People have a preference for cars with
big, powerful motors. They tend to
have a need for status. So what
advertising appeal/s to use?
Quadrant 3
Quadrant 4
- Masculine and strong uncertainty
avoidance
- People in this culture are aggressive
drivers, prefer cars with rapid
acceleration. Because they are often
stressed up, they driving fast, they can
‘release’ stress. So what advertising
appeal/s to use?
- Feminine and strong uncertainty
avoidance
- People in this culture see the need for
‘sporty’ driving, fast acceleration but not
so aggressive. A preference for design,
but more in the art/fashion sphere,
pleasure and enjoyment.
Motivation
(Source: Schutte and Ciarlante, 1998)
Self
Actualisation
Status
Prestige
Admiration
Belonging
Affiliation
Safety
Safety
Physiological
Physiological
West
Lower level needs
Asia
Power distance vs group/individualism orientation
(Hofstede, 1980)
High power distance
Asia
Individualism
Group orientation
Western Countries
Lower power distance
3. Age:
Do people know their age?/Respective valuation of younger and
older people in the society/Influence processes across age
groups for buying decisions/How is purchasing power
distributed across generations?
Culture based interpretations of:
1.
Young age – usually associated with inexperience, lack of seriousness and
character or with openness, creativity, ability to change things and
undertake new projects
Old age – ‘useless mouths’ or ‘deadweight’ and should be asked to climb a
tree and then let the young to shake him/her down from the tree. If he/she
is old but strong, then should stay otherwise the solution is automatic. Or
has wisdom and therefore should consulted.
2.
How we value older people will influence the way their roles or image be
projected/associated?
4. Self-Concept:
Self concept may explain why and/or how consumers are motivated
to interact with reference groups, sales people, and competing
brands. Understanding self-concept’s influence on behaviour may
enable marketers to develop effective methods of appealing to
various target markets by targeting difference self-concepts.
Self concept consists of five components;
- ideal self – model person which one aspires to be
- apparent self – how one actually view the individual
- perceived self – how one sees oneself
- social self – how a person thinks others perceive them
- actual self – a composite of all these concepts.
4. Self-Concept:
continue
The concept of the self has major implications like: our possessions
are a major contributor to and reflector of our identities; by
ascribing meaning to what we buy and consume, our possessions
become the means by which we strive to assert, complete, or attain
our ‘ideal’ self.
Consumers may purchase goods in order to develop a particular
self-image (self concept) rather than for functionality.
Asians, on average have lower self-esteem. They tend to display
modest and self-effacing behaviour versus the usually high esteem
Westerners who tend to demonstrate more assertiveness and
self-assurance. Is this statement true?
5. Group Influence:
To what extent are individuals influenced in their attitudes and
buying behaviour by their group? How does consumer behaviour
reflect the need to self-actualise individual identity or to manifest
group belonging?
For example in China, friends and colleagues have more
purchasing influence than advertising. Also in Asian cultures,
the discretion over the use of income is heavily influenced by
the expected contribution to the family. The tradition of
deference to parental wishes also affects buying patterns in
clothing, leisure expenditure, etc., especially as it is normal to
live at home until marriage.
5. Group Influence: continue
In collectivist cultures, consumers tend to be more loyal on
average because they tend to:
1. rely on word-of-mouth communication found in their
reference group
2. tend to follow the group consensus until there is significant
evidence showing that the new product is better.
5. Group Influence: continue
In collectivist cultures, consumers’ involvement in purchasing a
product will vary according to situation when the product is:
1. purchased for private use – low involvement surfaced because
they only favour the physical functions of the product and
mostly concerned with price and quality.
2. Purchased for its symbolic value – since people value social
harmony and the smoothness of relationships within extended
family, the social significance of a product is highly important it may express status, gratitude, approval or disapproval.
6. Social Class:
Are social classes locally important? Is social class demonstrated
through consumption? What type of products or services do
social status-minded consumers buy? Are there exclusive shops?
The Americans see one’s social class as reflecting one’s personal
income and professional merit. The interdependent Chinese sees
one’s social class as belonging to one’s group, usually one’s
family, relatives, and kinship clan. Social classes are important
for consumer behaviour as people tend to express their class
differences by consumption.
In China, the use of Hard/Soft Bunk on trains is more common
than the Western concept of Economy/First Class seating. This
is in line with China’s egalitarian society.
7. Sex Roles:
The sexual division of labour; who makes the decisions? Who stays
at home; who takes care of the children; who does the cooking, who
does the washing, cleaning and tidying up; and for shopping who
shops: he or she or both of them?
In Singapore, a husband played a more dominant role than his
US counterpart in family decision making. In a strict Islamic
world, women are completely dependent on men, whose authority
and command cannot be questioned. A woman’s place is always in
the home.
In HK, women were often portrayed at home than men, in
dependent roles, and less in occupational commercial settings
(Furnham and Mak, 1999). In China, a decree by Chairman Mao that both
men and women should be treated equally.
8. Attitudes to Change:
Resistance to change in consumer behaviour (related to strong
uncertainty avoidance), and resistance to change in particular
areas when change could clash with local values and behaviour
(eg. resistance to fast-food restaurants).
Members of a society with strong uncertainty avoidance are less
likely to seek change/adopt a new product due to the fear of
breakdown, losing ‘face’ and etc. The Chinese saying ‘Never make
a purchase until you have compared three shops’ (Cui, 1997) is
very much alive among Hong Kong consumers.
9. Purchase Decision Making:
Family models (nuclear family versus extended family). Who
makes the decision to purchase and for which products? In some
cultures the woman holds the purse strings while in others it is the
man. In Japan, the housewife makes most of the major purchases
for the family and buy the family’s food, household supplies and
clothing. So who should the marketers target at in Japan?
Children’s influence and decision making, in particular, what roles
do China’s single child plays in family decision making?
Buyers in high-context, collectivist cultures will seek more social
information before making a purchase decision than those in the
low context cultures.
9. Purchase Decision Making: continue
Will it make a difference to you if the fried chickens you just
bought from KFC were from farms that did not stun the chickens
first before they are killed? Will it make a difference to you to eat
at McDonalds if the hens laying the eggs were not given extra
water, more wing room in their cages and fresh air? (see Global boycott aimed
at KFC cutting – 7/1/03)
People in strong uncertainty avoidance cultures prefer structured
and detailed information relative to weak uncertainty avoidance.
For example Club Med provides detailed brochures detailing maps
of airports at both ends of trip, showing toilets, custom booths and
other facilities.
9. Purchase Decision Making: continue
Members of collectivist cultures tend to invest time in building
relationships with their business partners than individualistic. In
collectivist cultures people do not like to say no and in large
power distance cultures there is a need to please, resulting in
‘yesmanship’. Additionally, in collectivist societies, fate is
assumed to play a role.
In cultures where power distance is high, that is decision making
is concentrated on the boss, then the sales person has to target at
the top and at the same time make friends with people at the
intermediate levels. In low power distance cultures, the contact is
roughly proportionate with the financial amount involved by the
sales contract.
10. Post-Purchase:
Perceptions of product quality. Consumer complaining
behaviour/dissatisfaction/consumerism.
Does price here include non-monetary price? Some cultures
perceived a trip to buy a product, or the preparation of meals
as enjoyable. To the French, being served is negatively valued.
They value equality and therefore, ‘do it yourself’ market is
popular in countries such as France where there is low power
distance.
Is consumerism active in Asian societies? Do Asian consumers
voice their dissatisfaction? How many of you know about the
return and refund policy of Mark & Spencer, Giordano, etc? Do
these shops openly advertise their refund policy?