Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León

Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y

Relaciones Internacionales

Licenciatura en Relaciones Internacionales

International Marketing

Evidence 1:
Cultural Environment in Marketing

Professor: Nora Huerta Flores

Dávila Esquivel Esteban 1767795
Martínez Pérez Manuel Alexandro 1578353
Puente Rocha Debanhi Victoria 1619154
7​th​ Semester
Group: BC7
Classroom: E1
14/08/2018
International Marketing has had an important growth thanks globalization and this
has allowed different companies to make business in different countries, thus
eliminating barriers and creating a competitive market. Certain factors that must be
taken into account before entering and competing in a foreign market; for example
the state of its economy, politics and of course, its cultural environment.

The cultural environment, when introducing a product into a foreign market or even
another region of your same country, must be taken into account. It is through the
culture that we are able to see the values, norms, traditions, ideals and beliefs that
are transmitted by these people.

There are some cases in Spain where some multinational automobile manufacturers
have named their cars with words with multiple connotations or that could offend
some segments of the population. There is the example of the japanese Mitsubishi
Pajero that it had to be renamed as Mitsubishi Montero in the hispanic countries.
Pajero was referring to ​Leopardus pajeros​, a South American feline known as pajero
or pajonales cat (Iglesias, 2016). Even if the company’s intention was to compare its
car with a feline because of its velocity or elegance, at the end is the consumer the
one that will give it the significance.

The issue with renaming this car is that in Spain, the term “paja”, although literally it
means straw, the term is vulgarily used to refer to male masturbation so the name
“pajero” implies that a person that practices this. Unfortunately for the company this
would have given not only the car, but the brand as well a bad reputation as it would
have been a car with a car with an obscene name.

Some might think that this would not affect the sales because at the end is the
design, the effectiveness, or any physical feature of the car that will attract the
customers. However, in reality symbology is a key factor of promotion and publicity.
A controversial name could affect the reputation of the product: “the loss of
reputation affects competitiveness, local positioning, the trust and loyalty of
stakeholders, media relations, and the legitimacy of operations, even the license to
exist” ( Pekka, 2010).
In conclusion, language is one of the factors that must be considered when choosing
a name for a product or service given its importance in the cultural context of the
company. Although a company could choose a word with a correct definition
recognized by dictionaries, it should remember the main objectives of the company
and its implications. As any lucrative company, it must use the most convenient
marketing strategies that will increase its profits.

References

Cerviño, J. (2014). El entorno cultural de los países. In ​Marketing

Internacional: Nuevas perspectivas para un mercado globalizado​(1st ed., pp. 66-94).
Madrid, España: Ediciones Pirámide. Retrieved from:
https://books.google.com.mx/books?id=-9OUBQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&sour
ce=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0

Iglesias, D. (2016). ​Pajero, Laputa, Zica... Una historia de desafortunados

nombres de coches. ​El Mundo. ​Retrieved from:
http://www.elmundo.es/motor/2016/02/23/56cc3a78268e3e87438b45e9.html

Pekka, A. (2010). Social media, reputation risk and ambient publicity

management. ​Strategy & Leadership, 38​(6), 43-49.