Culture

Consumer Behaviour

Nidhi Kulkarni
PGC2016014116
Summary
The study of culture is a challenging undertaking because its primary focus is on the
broadest component of social behaviour and contrasting the cultural differences and
similarities of more than one culture. In marketing and consumer behaviour, culture is
frequently reflected in products’ features and designs, as well as the layout, visuals and
contents of promotional messages.
This chapter explores the basic concepts of culture with particular emphasis on the
particular role that culture plays in influencing consumer behaviour. The first part of the
report will focus on the specific dimensions of culture that makes it a powerful force in
regulating human behaviour. The next part of the report talks about the different
measures and approaches that researchers use to understand the impact of culture on
consumption behaviour , and also how a variety of core Indian cultural values influence
consumer behaviour.

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CULTURE
Culture pervades each and every aspect of human life. In fact, every society, community,
and group is influenced and guided by culture. The process of consumption, which is
one of the several aspects of human life, is also guided by culture. Given the broad and
pervasive nature of culture, its study generally requires a detailed examination of the
character of the society, including factors like language, knowledge, laws, religion, food
customs =, music, art and other artifacts that give a society its meaning. In short culture
is a society’s personality.
As our objective is to understand the influence of culture on consumer behaviour,
culture can be defined as the sum total of learned beliefs, values, and customs that serve
to direct the consumer behaviour of members of a particular society. Culture is the
software on which the hardware of society and its personality system operate.
Understanding the cultural context provides answers to the ‘why’ of consumption.
Consumer insights are built on the basis of culture and its relationship with personality
and consumption.

Concept of culture
The concept of culture is abstract, not easily apparent and therefore contested. Most of
the definitions of culture are based on two aspects- what constitutes culture and its
impact on human behaviour. In a given group/community or society, behaviour occurs
in patterns. Culture is derived from behaviour on the basis of one or more patterns, but
by the behavior itself is not culture. Rather the factors that induce these patterned
activities in a given group or community or society are elements of culture.
Gebhardt and Swindle stated that, ‘Culture provides us with blueprints of behaviour or
cultural lenses to examine behaviour of others’. In simple words, Hofstede stated that,
‘culture is the software on which the hardware of human behaviour operates’.

Characteristics of culture
i. Abstract - The elements of culture are all abstract in nature.
For example when we take the example of a group of cousins purchasing
dressed for their cousin’s marriage, who are accompanied by the elders. The
youngest cousin opinions her preference for a pair of western outfit and the
elders protest. Here the behaviour of wearing an Indian traditional outfit
during a marriage ceremony is imbibed by the values and beliefs as marriage
is observed as a traditional ritual and the Indian outfit is perceived as Indian
tradition which has a high value. Therefore, the high value placed on wedding
rituals and traditions guides the behaviour on this purchase occasion.

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 ii. Culture is learned- when a child is born, he is born within a culture and not
with the culture. He has the capacity to learn and imbibe the culture while
living within the groups, community and society of which he is a member.
Hence, culture is learned.
iii. Culture is shared – cultural laws, values, beliefs and morals are shared by all
the members of a culture. In the process of growing up, all the members of a
group learn and internalize the laws, values, beliefs and morals of the group.
Therefore culture is shared and the cultural laws, values, beliefs and morals
are strong because they are shared
iv. Culture is a capability- internalization of cultural laws, values, beliefs and
morals can be seen as capacity building activity that enables individuals to
survive in a soci-cultural and physical environment. For example if a person
wants to cross a road in India he looks at both the sides of the road and then
crosses it , and when he reaches the middle of the road he does the same and
crosses the rest of the road. If the person follows the same rule when he
moves to the US, then he would meet with an accident because in the US, the
motorcyclist drives on the right side of the road. As a part of growing up, an
Indian internalizes the rule and associates the behaviour.
v. Culture is comprehensive in nature- the culture of the society covers each and
every aspect of life. There are cultural rules for giving birth to death, which
define each and every aspect of life in that society. Similarly, the culture in an
organization covers each and every aspect of work and life in that
organization. For example, when we talk about a business organization, its
culture includes, rules, beliefs, values, how to interact with the bosses, how to
train new employees etc.

Structure of culture
Culture is systematic in nature. There are two aspects of study of structure of culture.
First the study of elements of structure of culture, second the study of different levels
on which culture exists.

Elements of culture
i. Knowledge – each culture is a vast knowledge store of two types of
knowledge-informal and formal. Informal knowledge refers to those cultural
knowledge structures that are not learned deliberately, but learned indirectly
as a part of growing up (this refers to the geographical and climatic conditions
in which the society is situated and also the skills required for survival).
Formal knowledge on the other hand is systematically organized into
disciplines such as physics, chemistry and psychology. The most important
formally learned knowledge is the knowledge of language. Language can be
defined as a system of communication using signs, symbols and sound which
can be articulate or inarticulate.

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 ii. Beliefs- like different knowledge structures, beliefs also tell us about the world
around us. Beliefs are based on word of mouth and may or may not have
empirical proofs. Beliefs can be about life in general or about the domain of
consumption and market. For example it is believed that by the use of incense
sticks there is positivity in the house , which is very well used by the
advertisers of cycle agarbatti
iii. Values- these are the trans-situational standards that are used to evaluate the
behaviour, objects or abstract concepts across different situation. On the basis
of this evaluation, objects or abstract concepts are either accepted or rejected.
Values are utilized to evaluate whether these objects, behaviour, or concepts
are acceptable, desirable and adoptable. Therefore knowledge and beliefs
provide framework for deciding if a brand or a product is desirable or not.
Values provide cultural framework to decide the desirability of the product
and therefore should be purchased or not.
iv. Signs, signals and symbols- a sign can be anything that refers to something
else. It can be a pattern of sensations, originating from internal or external
stimuli, which point to something else. It can be verbal or non verbal. In
simple words, signs announce something. For example the black and white
line on the road refers to pedestrian crossing. Signs are of two types- signals
and symbols. Signals are a category of signs that announce the arrival of
something else for example, the red light signals for the vehicles to stop and
pedestrians to walk. Symbols represent something such as an object, an idea
or a phenomenon. In the domain of marketing, the logos of the brand are
used as symbols

Culture and consumption

Hofstede characterized culture as a collective programming of the mind. Socialization is
the process by which individuals are made fit for living in the society. Socialization helps
in start sharing the culture with other members of the society. People who have shared
culture have different personality because:
a) All individuals are born with a genetic structure that varies from person to person
b) Each society has innumerable groups and these groups have their own cultural
values
Therefore it is improbable for two individuals from the same society to have similar
personalities. So socialization is the process that links culture and personality and
ensures that cultural preference guide personal choices. Culture plays a vital role in
every step of consumption process. Culture plays a role in deciding the relevance and
value of a product. Culture not only influences need, style of information search,
relevance and preference, but also style of consumption (the way it is consumed).
Occasions on which the product is consumed, the amount and the frequency in which it
is consumed. It also influences the brand preference pattern.

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Cultural values
Values are the ultimate arbiters of consumption. They set standards on the basis of
which a product, a brand or a consumption practice is evaluated. To understand the
relationship between culture, brand and consumption, scholars have approached it in
two ways a) dimensional approach, b) list of values approach

Dimensional approach
I. Geert Hofstede’s Cultural dimensions- Hofstede termed culture
as mental software. He pointed out that every person carries with him a
pattern of thinking, feeling and of potential action. When a person faces a
situation, these internalized patterns come into play and guide the behaviour.
These guiding patterns are internalized in the social environment in which
one has grown up. Therefore, there is a direct relationship between social
environment and the mental programmes internalized by us. He also pointed
that culture is a collective phenomenon as all members are bound by specific
patterns of thinking, feeling and action prescribed by that particular
environment. After conceptualizing the relationship between culture,
individual and society he compared the cultures of different nations and
developed a twofold objective
a. To find out the cultural dimension that are present in the society
b. To compare different society on the basis if these dimensions
He found out there are four value dimensions that are present in all societies
i. Power distance-he highlights that all societies are basically unequal. How the
members of a given society deal with inequality depends on the power
distance prevalent in the culture of the society. The cultural dimension of
power distance indicates the degree of acceptance of power differential in the
society and can vary from small to large power distance.
ii. Collectivism vs. individualism- this dimension deals with the problems that
each society must solve if it has to survive. This problem is the relationship
between the society and individual member that is regulated by the cultural
dimension of collectivism versus individualism. In collectivist societies, this
problem is resolved in the favor of society, community or collectivity. In these
societies the interest of the group or collectivity is given more importance.
These societies are marked by existence of large extended families in which
children grow and build their identity. On the other hand in an individual
society problems are solved in favor of individuals. In these societies
individuals outweigh the interests of community or group or collectivity. It
pays importance to performance or the in-group to which the individuals
belong.

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 iii. Masculinity vs. Feminity – All human societies consists of men as well as
women and in each society men and women play different roles. Culture
prescribes roles like procreation and gender roles.
iv. Uncertainty avoidance- the future is unknown and cannot be predicted.
Similarly, situations can vary from being, structured and predictable to
unknown, unstructured and unpredictable, which produce a feeling of
uncertainty. Laws, religion and technology have been developed in different
cultures to deal with this feeling of uncertainty.
Hofstedde’s value schema is used extensively by marketers to fulfill the
following objectives

 To understand different national cultures for cross-cultural marketing

 Understand behaviour of people of different cultures and conduct sales
negotiations.
 Brand’s value with respect to culture
II. David Riesman’s cultural Dimensions
His study was based on the study of American society. He described culture
based on character type
i. Tradition directed person –he says that a tradition directed person based
their behaviour on the demand of traditions and their basic motivating force
is fear of shame or fear of losing face. Traditional values, beliefs, roles and
attitudes are instilled in them. The behaviour of such a person is oriented
towards the past represented by traditions.
ii. Inner directed person- this person basis his behaviour on an inner gyroscope
that orients their behaviour. The inner gyroscope is made up of values, beliefs
and role patterns that have been instilled by their parents and family
members. People of this character type use their early socialization experience
as a gyroscope to orient their behaviour throughout their life.
iii. Other directed person – these people shape their behaviour according to the
wishes of their peer groups. These people have an antenna that is
continuously picking up values, beliefs and opinions which are utilized to
shape their behaviour. Therefore these people have a gyroscope that is
perpetually orienting their behaviour according to others.
This theory provides a set of conceptual tools that help analyze the ‘why’ of
consumer behaviour. It also provides a useful tool to understand and predict the
trends of consumer behaviour

III. Edward Hall’s Cultural Dimensions

Edward hall in his anthropological studies realized that cultures vary from each
other in the way they communicate and also in ways they conceive the flow of
time and accord importance to it. On this basis, he formulated two very
important pairs of concept- high and low context cultures and Monochronic and
Polychronic cultures
i. High and low context cultures- these concepts explains how the style of
communication varies from one culture to another. Understanding

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 these two concepts would enable the managers to communicate
efficiently and effectively.
ii. Monochronic and Polychronic cultures- on the basis of time
dimensions, he divided cultures into two types. In Monochronic
cultures, time is perceived in linear style. Once a time has flowed, it is
lost forever. In Polychronic cultures, time is perceived as having cyclic
flow.

Qualitative approach
I. Rokeach Value Survey- the concepts of values and beliefs are at the
centre of his schema to understand behaviour. Beliefs are the basic unit of
cognitive paradigm. They are organized around an event or an object and
describe it as true or false, correct or wrong, and as good or bad. According to
him, believes can be 3 types- descriptive, evaluative and prescriptive. A value
is a core belief that shapes the attitude and behaviour and in doing so it makes
certain modes of actions and end state of existence preferable and desirable
and some others as not preferable and undesirable. End of state existence are
ideal life situations that we aspire for end goals that we would like to achieve.
These end states of existence for which individuals strive are the terminal
values. Terminal values can also be conceived of as idealized life goals. On the
other hand modes of action are patterns of behaviour. Values that guide are
modes of action are termed as instrumental values by Rokeach. He also
prescribed a cognitive paradigm for understanding the behaviour in which
culture, society and personality are major antecedents and attitude behaviour
are major consequence

The first unit of the paradigm is precedence of values, which comprises of

culture, society and personality. The second unit is value that leads to the
third element of the paradigm, attitude. On the basis of this paradigm
Rokeach developed a list of 18 terminal and instrumental values. He found
that value differences were able to explain the differences in attitude, interest,
behaviour and lifestyle

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II. List of values- Is an alternative approach for understanding the impact of
values on behaviour in general and on consumption behaviour in particular.
The scale consists of 9 items that are measured on a 9 point interval rating
scale. These 9 values were derived from the analysis of Maslow’s value
hierarchy, Rokeach’s terminal and instrumental values and various other
value scales. The analysis of all the existing value scales was based on social
adaptation theory. On the basis of this analysis, researcher came out with 9
values that were included as items in the scale. Respondents were asked to
select any 2 values that were most important to them; it was found that only
few people selected ‘excitement’ as one of the first 2 values. Therefore it was
merged with value ‘fun and enjoyment’.

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III. Values, attitude and lifestyle (VALS) it refers to research based
construct that was first developed by Sri consulting business intelligence in
1978. VALS was aimed at tracking and understand the changing cultural
values and beliefs of the USA and its implications were consumer behaviour.
VALS establishes a direct relationship between internal personality traits and
external consumer behaviour. It segments people on the basis of personality
traits and consumers with similar personality types. VALS divides consumers
into 8 segments
a. Innovators- they are successful, have high self esteem and are receptive
to new ideas, products and brands. They seek Varity and have taste for
finer things in life. Brand and brand image are important for them but not
so much showcase their purchasing power.

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b. Thinkers – they are motivated by ideas. They are middle path followers
as far as changes are concerned. Although they have enough resources to
indulge themselves, they tend to be conservative in their purchase.
c. Achievers- primary motivation is achievement and has a lifestyle that is
goal oriented and is focused on carrier and family. Branding and brand
image are important as they want to showcase their achievements.
d. Experiencers – they are dominated by the motive of self expression.
They are basically young and impulsive consumers. Their primary
motivation is whatever they do or purchase is to express themselves. The
focus of their spending is on looking good and have cool products and
indulging in cool activities.
e. Believers- they are motivated by ideals. However they are conservative
and conventional and their life is guided by concrete beliefs rooted in
traditions and customs. They purchase established and familiar products
and brands.
f. Strivers- they are also motivated by achievement. However, they are
constrained by the lack of money. They are also active shoppers because
they want to show their friends their purchase power. They are impulsive
purchasers as long as their recourses and money will allow.
g. Makers- they are motivated by self-expression. They express themselves
by working on objects. They are not interested in anything that lies out of
their traditional context they are distrustful of big business houses and
new ideas. They prefer value over luxury and therefore buy basic products.
h. Survivors- they are constrained by the lack f resources and their total
focus is on survival, they do not show any primary motivation. This
segment constitutes a very small portion of market in money terms
because of lack of purchasing power. When they purchase they are loyal to
their favorite brand and they look for discounts.

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Culture of India
It is often said by various authors, mostly foreign authors, that India is not a nation
but a subcontinent. Inherent in such a claim is the assumption that India doesn’t have
a culture like other nations, but that it has multiple cultures like a continent. India has
29 states and the constitution recognizes 22 official languages. The cultural complexity
is further enhanced by the existence of almost all the major religions in India. This
social diversity has resulted in considerable cultural diversity. Each of the states have
their own subcultures as a result, the consumption pattern differs from one state to
another.

Structure of Indian culture

Indian culture has a federal structure. This means that there are certain elements of
Indian culture all across the country. Therefore, there is a common thread that runs
through the culture across all regions of India. This commonality provides Indian
culture a strong core of unity and can be called the core values of India. The federal
structure provides the characteristics of unity in diversity. The next characteristic of
Indian culture is Antiquity. This characteristic has provided India with a multitude of
values, beliefs and symbols that sometimes contradict each other. Another characteristic
is inclusiveness. Indian culture has a capacity of absorbing different elements from
diverse culture, integrating it into its own structure and ultimately absorbing it. The
next characteristic is the co existence of both, mordern and traditional culture. The
inclusive nature of Indian culture ensures that mordern cultural elements are absorbed
without rejecting traditional values and other cultural elements.
Hence we can conclude that Indian culture is vast, diverse, multilayered, complex, and
inclusive.

Marketing implication
One of the most used phrases in marketing is value –price trade-off. In this phrase,
value does not mean social value rather it refers to benefits that consumers are seeking
from a product or a service to satisfy their needs the value for brand is dependent on the
benefits the customer expects from it. When the cultural system is multilayered and
complex in case of Indian culture the task becomes challenging. When faced with such a
situation brands can adopt 2 broad strategies.
1. Unite all Indians – this strategy pertains to finding out the values that unite all
Indians irrespective of all religion, region and class
2. Region specific marketing- this strategy is to understand a culture of a particular
region and market the brand exclusively.
We can conclude that if a company has the ambition to establish an all Indian brand
it will have to deal with the complexity of Indian culture

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