Culture

Culture can be thought of as the collective memory of society. The accumulation of shared meanings, rituals, norms and traditions amoung the members of a society.

One of the 4 primary influences on our behaviour, the effect of culture on oneself is not to be taken lightly.

Culture consists of 3 primary areas.

Ecology - The way in which a system is adapted to its habitat, shaped mainly by the level of technology usd to distribute resources e.g. more industrialised countrees in contrast to less affluent ones.

Social Structure - The way social life is maintained, including domestic groups e.g. single parent families and political groups e.g. labour.

Ideology - A shared world view as well as shared moral and aesthetic principles. How people relate to their environment and social groups.



How our culture affects our daily lives often goes unseen by ourselves, but thats because everyone else within our culture is doing similar things and thus we regard ourselves as normal.

Take a look at this video on Japanese etiquite. How does it contrast to your daily life?



It is very important to consider cultural differences when marketing a product to a group in a different country or in an area of different cultural beliefs. Otherwise you can risk not appealing to, or even offending your potential customers.



Whilst this ad may be popular in the US, how do you think a more sexually repressed culture such as India would react to it?

We now live in a much more global society. Large companies such as Mcdonalds have stores and sell products in hundreds of countries around the world. Whilst it is important to maintain consistancy with your brand and products, it is also essential to tailor marketing campaigns to specific cultures. When doing this they need to consider:



High Culture

The aspects of culture that require intelligence to appreciate and which are valued and esteemed by a society's political, social, economic, and intellectual elite.

This is in contrast to

Pop Culture

The cultural practices employed by the masses. These practices are undertaken in place of high culture activities, for example pop culture may be going to the cinema, where as high culture may be attending the opera.



Religion - Marketeers need to be aware of the main religions of an area and the moral valus within that religion. Your not going to get far if you try to sell bacon to a Muslim.

Values and Attitudes - Companies need to consider what a culture respects and what it condemns. I don't know many Amish with an Iphone, come to think of it I don't know many Amish.

Education - Marketing needs to reflect how educated the target audience is. Get too clever and the whole campaign could go right over the consumers head. A witty strapline isn't going to cut it if your audience cant read.

Technology and Materials - Marketeers must take into account the technology available to their target consumer. An E-marketing campaign won't work if the audience doesn't have a computer.

Law and Politics - The laws and political values of a culture can have a huge affect on sales. Saudi Arabians aren't going to but a 6 pack of beer of you, not when your in prison for trying to sell it.

Aesthetics - How people within a culture respond to certain smells, tastes, textures, sights and sounds. What is considered a hot curry over here would be considered bland in India.

Language - Obvious really, make sure your campaign translates well, if it doesn't, change it. Bad translations, while a source of hilarity, won't help you sell and products.



Here is an advert demonstrating how you can use cultural norms to help sell your product.



The marines, a graduation tradition and the statue of liberty, Coca Cola are suggesting that their product is a part of American culture in an attempt to drive sales.