1. Introduction
The man in his desire to know, measure and
control everything has develop remarkable capacity for the study of the
phenomena that occur. The positive paradigm of approaching the discovery of
reality has certainly shown multiple benefits, as their thoroughness, accuracy,
statistical and control variables among many other factors allowed drawing
conclusions valuable in different areas of knowledge and progress.
This way of studying sees appropriate
precisely because of its benefits in controlling and monitoring. However, this
puts to manifest that human beings should not be mere variables to be studied,
rather, people with specific roles that need to be understood and measured in
some respects but not in all. Reference to Geertz shows that the analysis of
culture doesn't has to be an experimental science in search of laws, but an
interpretative science is search of meanings.
The work of Lindridge & Dibb found that a
new school of thought has emerged in marketing that sees marketing as a social
process where culture plays a role as the backdrop for the development of
consumption pattern of certain products and services. They have been gaining a
symbolism not imagined before; in this new tendency, marketing is part of a
given culture (Farmer, 1981).
2. Marketing to multicultural audiences
Marketing to multicultural audiences has
relied on ethnicity as a historical construct from the principles that operate
within each human group. According to Schein culture with all it symbolism its
printed in human behavior and the ethnic marketing begins to unravel the
unknowns behind the values and beliefs as well as the core or the cultural
roots. This new approach of marketing which segments culture is breaking the
traditional approach of marketing that tries to reduce it to an universal
formula with superficial variations (Gronroos, 1997) without paying attention
to the adjustments that need to be made to function in today's new
hypercompetitive (Child, 2005) environment.
2.1 Ethnicity
Despite
the different approaches made in the social sciences to the issue of ethnicity.
They continue to be vast and complex, professionals on marketing have preferred
anthropological and sociological studies to explain the phenomenon of
ethnicity. From a marketing perspective, the studies about ethnicity have been
closely tied to consumer behavior but, the majority have involved with ethnic
groups living in developed countries and often they don't evaluate anything
that is not culturally relevant outside their own culture (Costa & Bamossy, 1995).
However,
the popularity of ethnicity as a theoretical construct according to Banton
(2011) is because the ethnicity concept arranges people separating them by
their status, where groups are formed according to differences or attributes of
common origin.
2.2
Etnoconsumerism
Venkatesh gather consumer consumption data in
cultural, social and individuals aspects in the same analytical effort and
proposed "Ethnoconsumerism"(1995),
as the study of consumption from the viewpoint of the social or cultural group
to which one belongs. This new paradigm in consumer behavior uses theoretical
categories within a given culture and studies the consumption utilizing their
behavior and the way one thinks. Ethnos, nation or group is used in its
classical sense as a group of cultural practices of a given culture. However,
the notion of consumer not just evaluates their value system, beliefs, symbols,
rituals and daily practices the Ethnoconsumerism forces researchers to look at
the individual as a cultural being, as a part of culture of a subculture and
other kind of group affiliations (Venkatesh, 1995).
The opinion of
Davies & Fitchett is that Ethnoconsumerism joint the study of the
consumer value systems and their belief systems, rituals and daily practices, all
interwoven in a holistic view of the consumer with several different levels. These levels of study include symbolic systems
of beliefs, norms, practices and rituals and, the study of the social
organizations and institutions, and finally the study of the individual; this
includes personality, knowledge, behavior and other mental constructs.
2.3 Cultural
dimensions in markets
The work of Gorobets & Nooteboom indicates
that from accepting the fundamental idea of postmodernism in which the individual
has no autonomous consciousness but he needs an interactive communication with
others to develop their own identity. Meaning that the communication process
does not occurred but rather arise from the interaction which hence that the
context is dependent and there is no universal or permanent meaning but rather
they are continuously changing.
It's vital to understand that the design and
implementation of marketing must be based in the importance assigned to the
communication process in addition under this approach according to Spillman the
markets need to be seen as process in construction from the meaning assigned to
the objects; subject to exchange of the parties involved and the rules
governing these exchanges.
a.
Cultural objectives for trading
Although many professionals assume that the products
that are in the market had sufficient reason not matter what, to be there,
leaving aside the process of symbolization that they have suffered since its
conception (Kotler & Keller, 2009). This process of social legitimation
differs between different cultures in the world, and unequivocally corresponds
to the values, beliefs and dominant cultural assumptions Mead & Andrews, 2009). The significance that is assigned to a product, good, service or
idea needs to keep a close relationship with the cultural patterns of the
people who will use it.
b.
Cultural meaning of the trading parties
Reference to Spillman shows that quite to the
contrary to what is been thought in marketing, transactions are within groups
and they can be nations, families, etc., or people who represent a specific
group and not to individuals. Traditionally marketing has assigned counterparts
what Spillman calls the social image of a market that is defined by geography,
ethnic, racial, social class, etc., among others. However, the most used in
marketing is social class in which potential partners of a group seek to
acquire products that will symbolically make them part of a higher social class
or further refinement within their group.
c. Cultural trade standards
Typical the exchanges in markets are characterized by the
competition among buyers and sellers, in which both sides look for profit for
their organizations in the transaction, and is the market agents who will
interpret and evaluate the transaction under such rules. This implies that
through rewards and punishments the rules and the boundaries of each
transaction can be establish for each transaction executed. This rituals
associated with such standards of behaviors symbolize such regulations of
behavior and human acts (Paramo, 2005).
2.4
Market oriented organizational cultures
Among the modern
forms of organizational cultures are those with a specific market orientation
suggested that a business that enhances their understanding of market
requirements can improve its overall performance. Establishing a
market-oriented organizational culture is related with the implementation of
the same market concept throughout the organization an example of this culture
put into practice is TESCO according Bell & Feiner. In other words, they
need to create and promote a market-oriented organizational culture that
evolves efforts that every one of the functional units that make up the
organization has it always present (Slater & Narver, 2000). This means that to become
successfully a market-oriented organization needs to build relationships
thinking in the long-term perspective, setting strategies that enables them to
become potential customers into loyal customers (Kotler & Koller, 2009).
3. The proposition of cross-cultural
marketing
Geertz states that
the inductive nature of the cultural studies, which instead of following a
rising curve of cumulative findings, the cultural analysis develops in a
consistent coherent sequence and are, immersed deeply getting better
information and conceptualization. However, he warns that cultural analysis is
intrinsically incomplete, and what is worse is that the deeper that the
analysis is the less complete it is.
In the context of
uncertainties and the many paths open to meet to today's consumers managers
have found that cross-cultural marketing combines two disciplines anthropology
and ethnography as a new discipline of thought and action " Ethno-marketing"
which is as mechanism that stimulates and responds to business relationships in
each possible variable (Paramo, 2005).
Furthermore, three
main basic functions for managers can be summarized for achieving the
objectives of organizations first, consumer understanding, second conquering
buyers and third retain customers. However, the concept and practice of
marketing depends of the conditions detected, analyzed and interpreted and these
conditions are determined by the dominant cultural patterns and schemes.
4. Strategic model of cross-cultural
marketing
Cross-cultural
marketing uses culture as a launching pad in the process of understanding,
conquering and retain customer by using different and more effective source of
information bringing together the evidence needed to decide the strategic
direction, plans and programs that need to be implemented. Let seen in detail
each of this functions (Geng, 1997).
4.1
Consumer understanding
The use of
anthropology and ethnography helps to decipher the most hidden aspects of the
consumer personality because human behavior is not always appreciated at first glance;
humans tend to hide any behavior that can hurt them. Only from the analysis of
the phenomenon of consumption, their expressions, context, rituals, it is
possible to know, categorize, quantify and characterize consumers. Understand
consumers should result in a clear and convincing explanation of the
complexities that typify human beings from the act of consumption (Bergadaa,
1990).
4.2
Conquering buyers
The conquest of
buyers emerges as one of the key actions to be taken by any organization
looking to hold onto market profitability. The pressing need to introduce to
the market attractive offers, so that the consumers have true freedom at the
decision level organizations must develop a package of actions to help you show
as the best alternative for consumers to chose. This offer, unlike what many believe is constituted
the good, services or ideas by the whole organization therefore decisions must
encompass the totality (Kotler & Keller, 2005).
4.3
Retain customers
Led by the
financial provision that is cheaper to retain customers than reach new buyers, cross-cultural
marketing has the ide of structuring a set of activities designed to retain and
keep all those customers who in one way or another have ever been in contact
with the organization. This suggest that organization resources are intended to
create internal system to ensure access, classify, cultivate, but above all
consolidate the relationship with customers. All of this with the philosophy of
continuous feedback which will facilitate to correct or adjust the course of
the policy of the organization (Geng, 1997(.
Implement this set
of activities means, in some way to define the specifications of the function
of cross-cultural marketing (Amaldoss & Jain, 2005).
5. Multicultural marketing,
organizations and ethnography
Culture it's is
seen in all areas life (markets, organizations and individuals). The beliefs,
values and traditions of the participants are those that determine the behavior
of individuals and organizations as cultural beings participating in cultural
exchanges (Mowen & Minor, 2000) and since culture plays a strong role in
the foundations of how one thinks, feels and behaves. Culture has become the
central feature of the performance in organizations determining if the
organization will be high or low performer (Bickerstaffe, 2002). An example of
a company embracing this policy is Schlumberger conducting business in more
than eighty countries, and their employees are from more than a hundred
nationalities (Anon, 2011).
Ethnography not only establishes the context
and subjective meaning of the experience of a group of people, but also seeks
to carry on a comparative basis and interpreted the cultural significance of
that experience. To fulfill their role ethnography uses different methods for
collecting and interpreting data (Arnould & Wallendorf, 1994).
6. Multicultural marketing implication
and strengths
In multicultural
markets is worth to explore their complexity in one hand are the historical and
social backgrounds of the consumer and organizations and in the other hand,
emerge the traditions and customs of the market segment, in which everyone will
be looking for the satisfaction of those that are taking part in the exchanges.
The proposal of multicultural marketing changes drastically the traditional
view of consumption and the strategic paths (Geng, 1997).
In this new paradigm culture can no longer be
seen as another environmental condition that influences the organization in its
decision making process culture is the central issue need it to be investigated
in each type of beneficial exchange that takes place between the organization
and the markets it serves. This new paradigm Peñaloza points out that take
advantages of an approach to marketing from the cultural perspective. This will
allow first, a full exploration of the cultural dimensions in the activities of
marketing. Second, to take all sectors as the unit of analysis. Third, use
market research in a productively and applicable way to markets and finally
takes into account the opinions of marketing professionals about the effects
they have experienced during the development of marketing activities.
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