International marketing management

Understanding the culture in a country or region in which we are doing business is a critical skill for the international business person. Without this knowledge, a successful outcome to the business venture can be in jeopardy. Culture is the quality in a person or society is regard to excellent in art, manners etc.

Definition of culture: culture is the identity of a nation; culture is the achievement deposit of general knowledge, religion, hierarchies, belief, values, and experience by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving. Culture is a perception. It’s not something that physically touched or seen. Culture is the environment and relation between one with other. Culture is communication and communication is culture.

Different culture: we can describe the culture differentiation by related cultures, Psychology and culture. Culture differences vary on people behaviour, attitude, religion and experience.

Related culture refers to that different nation & management based on its cultural attitude; Cultural system makes management its own differentiation between others.

Psychology and culture is the behaviour or thinking differences between others, for example, village cultural people normally their profession is farming and when they try to do any business or something their thinking starts from farming that how to grow more crops because it’s their main profession & culture and the other hand the people who buy the crops they will try to improved the business and their thinking will get more crops in cheap price or they can sell that in high price in the market.

Culture and business behaviour, Business policy or style are based on culture, business works run their own cultural way. Without the cultural attitude a good business run is impossible. In different culture business behaviour is vary on its cultural attitude.

How the affect of culture on marketing policy: differences of culture is important to know for a multinational firms, its provide the knowledge of innovation and the policy of marketing. Marketing based on cultural equality with the good quality of brand that can fulfil the cultural demand, cultural needs it’s important to know for marketing without gaining the knowledge marketing will unimpeachable. The brand loyalty is important for marketing if brand loyalty does not stay longer the marketing will unaffectable. High quality of brand is the key of marketing and culture helps to learn to take brand on the desire position. Brand loyalty reflects its cultural differentional value. Cultural knowledge helps marketing to get the relation with the consumer. Consumer satisfaction is the important part of marketing by providing good brand and keeping brand loyalty is the result of customer in return. In different culture there is different way of marketing in western marketing like such as leafleting, advertising etc. Marketing is important to keep the customer informed about the new brand and upgrading quality and also new offers that helps to keep the relation with the customer. Good marketing is also the key of good business.

According to Nakata and Sivakumar (2001) suggest that the implement of marketing concepts can be expressed in the generation, dissemination, and national culture.

International marketing affect on culture: culture nature assess to managers is essential for international market. We explain the affectedness in eight categories is below.

Language is very important for communication and communication is the important part for marketing. In global marketing the languages may vary use difference languages. In marketing it is very important to make customer understand that what the product we are trying to sell. In this case language is very important, customer will not talk on my language, I have to talk on customer language to explain them the features of the product.

Religion is another nature of culture. Organization needs to make sure that the products and services are not unlawful; distasteful to local nation otherwise it will lose its market position and the demand. For an example, In Arabic countries if we try to marketing wine, beer or any kind of alcohol, the market value will very poor and it might get the cultural reaction. Religion is people believed, that people respect and no one wants to go beyond their religion. So in international marketing a marketer must have to be careful about the religion on his marketing process.

Values and attitude vary between nations, so before to take a product to other culture or nation we have make sure that it does not make affect on their tradition and dignity. For example in china Nike TV was manufactured by US was banned because to advertise the TV they animated a cartoon of kung fu masters and dragons and Chinese people didn’t except that because they thought it was insult on their nation dignity.

Education in international market will vary. In international marketing is important to know the nations education level and the percentiles of educated people. Where the literacy level is low there advertising on the news paper or on magazine will not that affect able. To marketing on that nation’s radio or TV advertising will be much affect able. Media plays an important role on this ground and in high literacy culture newspaper or paper leaflet plays royal role.

Social organizations are how a nation is organized. For example, what’s the position of women in this society, how is the country governed or civilized.

Technology and Material Culture are also important for international Marketing. The value and the power are use for the product that must be affordable, using developed technology the cost can be reduce and also the quality can improved. The product or service has to be in low cost that all classes’ people are able to buy that.

Law and politics will vary in different nations. For an example, in some countries the society based on democratic marketing and on the other hand in Arabic country the marketing is based on Islam and shariah tradition. A marketer has to follow the law and politics to be the gainer or otherwise it will lose its interest.

Aesthetics will vary in our sense, taste etc. For example, if something taste good or smell feels good or looks beautiful consumer will go for it again, but all the feature of the product must have to be good, if the one good and not the other it will not be success.

International marketer is usually known to do marketing in more than one country. Now a day’s international marketer plays a important role in the globalization market and better marketing makes better demand. Marketing plays an important role in business and a marketer plays the lead role on this position and that’s why experienced and knowledgeable marketer is demandable in the global market. Marketers use different techniques, different policy to get the brand in demandable stage in the market.

According to Robert Guang Tian “It is important for the marketers know that there is no room for ethnocentrism in the 21st Century marketing practice.” Marketers will need to know how to translate an understanding of cultural differences into effective cross-cultural marketing strategies – turning them into a direct plan of action. Cultural illusion is natural but to avoid the illusion a marketer must have to be experienced and knowledge about the culture differences.

Illusion process in marketing: We can say a better marketing increased the product demand. As we know culture is the identity of a nation and marketing success is based on this identity. Global market has global nature. For an example, if we do marketing for wine in Arabic country it will not worked because all kind of alcohol is forbidden there because of those country are based on their religion Islam. Similarly if we think about marketing of any brand of cloths it also vary on different culture, different cultural people wear their traditional cloths like most of Asian women they would like to wear sharies rather than skirt or other dresses because of it’s their culture and they feel comfortable by wearing this on the other hand most of the western women even don’t know how to wear a sharee they feel more comfortable by wearing jeans, skirt etc because of their culture. Global environment is global trade culture and organization has been trading with each other for centuries and this trade without marketing is unthinkable.

How illusion creates on marketer: A marketer must focus on getting attention of customer because marketing is for customer without customer there is no marketing. Customer’s good relationship and keep them return is the marketer responsibility. Marketer have to make the customer understand that the features of the product, advantage and what the specialty on the product that helps the customer to buy the product but have to be able to reduce cost on customer demand -sometimes some of the environmentally preferred materials are more expensive but the firm have to finding ways through scaling the usage of some of these materials to reduce the cost and save money. Every decision start with a problem, a discrepancy between an existing and a desired condition and a smart marketer should know how to treat with those situations.

Cultures are not converging. The prediction of a convergence of culturally different markets into a “one-world” culture that would facilitate standardization of global marketing activities has turned out to be an illusion. Culture does not support for marketing, the marketer have to do the marketing as the environment nature is. To marketing in a different culture a marketer must know the currency, the way of business, customer demand, how to keep the customer satisfaction, how developed service will better for this new environment, what’s the different and special feature need to put on the product or services to make differences between others. A marketer has to be careful about customer demand and also the product quality because once it lost the customer demand and satisfaction; the product will be out market. Marketer has to gain customer trust by providing good quality. Cultural differences make marketer to take different strategy or policy. A smart marketer got their own policy or strategy to face the different culture. For an example, Recently Nike demands new rules on valuing business, the global chief executive of Nike, one of the most powerful retail brands in the world, has said that companies will have to find more sophisticated ways of judging value and impact on the environment if they are to resist being pushed around by short-term investors seeking a quick profit. The big challenges are twofold. First, moving more Nike business in to direct retail to the customer rather than wholesale supply. Second, tackling shareholder short-termism, which drive a focus on profit margins and bottom lines to the detriment of other considerations of social value post the 2008 crash.

People prefer local brands. Typically home product and service is more affect able to the consumer than the foreign product. So some smart marketer does much advertizing and marketing about their product to get their local consumer keep in touch. Local brand is more cheap and reachable for the customer. For an example, Asian countries are famous for spices because of their weather support their cultivation that’s why the spices so cheap and consumer reachable but in western countries the weather is not good enough for their cultivation, so most of the spices the import from other counties and this is expensive than the Asian countries and they are capable or expert to use the spices.

Accordingly, not only does culture influence marketing; but marketing also influences culture. Marketers can act as agents of changes within a culture.

For an example, Wang cares an American computer company was refused in united Kingdom to use their motto because of its name is sound too close of the word ‘wankers’ which is not good for a company image. A company name and product quality is the key of consumer response. Good quality always gets good response and off course to get the good response marketer plays an important role in marketing but marketer must have to respect the culture or the tradition and laws, without obeying that marketer will not get any space in the market so each marketer have to follow the rules of culture. To marketing a product in to a different culture marketer have to identify the needs of the culture, for an example, In Rajasthan is the one part of India which is full of desert most of the time the land is dry but if we think to marketing their for Umbrella or winter cloths like jacket the marketing will not that much profitable because this nature does not need this product.

Marketing research method also creates illusion on marketer. A marketer has to research on the nation’s marketing strategy; marketing strategy will vary in different nations.

Conclusion: In my point of view everyone like their products from their own perspective but the marketer have to make consumer understand how is the product and it going to be useful for them or not and a marketer have to be much smart to face all kind of situation.. So international marketing is very important for the global trade and to achieve the goal international marketing have the culture.

Reference:

1. Chris Phillips, Isobel Doole, Robin Lowe, 1994, International marketing strategy: analysis, development, and implementation, p-90, published by routledge.

2. Retrieved 12th February 2010 from: http://www.tamu.edu/classes/cosc/choudhury/culture.html

3. Retrieved 16th February 2010 from:

http://www.marketingteacher.com/Lessons/lesson_international_marketing_culture.htm

4. Retrieved 22th February 2010 from:

Defining Cross-Cultural Marketing

5. Stanley J. Paliwoda, John K. Ryans, 2008, International marketing, p-582, published by Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.

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