Cultural Influences on
Consumer Behavior
CONSUMER
BEHAVIOR,
social interactions among people; nuclear
family, extended family; reference groups
technologies that language has
are used to two parts: the
produce, distribute, spoken and the
and consume silent language
goods and services
ideas and
perceptions
that a culture
values shape upholds in
people’s norms terms of
and standards beauty and
good taste
community’s set of
One of the major vehicles beliefs that relate to a
to channel from one reality that cannot be
generation to the next verified empirically
1
Understanding Culture (cont.)
Norms: rules dictating what is right or wrong
• Enacted norms: explicitly decided on (e.g., green
light equals “go”)
• Crescive norms: embedded in a culture and
include:
• Customs: norms handed down from the past that
control basic behavior
• Mores: custom with a strong moral overtone
• Conventions: norms regarding the conduct of
everyday life
• All three crescive norms combine to define a
culturally appropriate behavior
Myths
Myth: a story containing symbolic
elements that represent the shared
emotions/ideals of a culture
• Conflict between opposing forces
• Outcome is moral guide for people
• Reduces anxiety
Marketers create own myths:
• McDonald’s golden arches = sanctuary
to Americans around the world
• Startup myths for Nike, Apple Computer
2
Myths Abound in Modern Popular Culture
• Myths are often found in comic books,
movies, holidays, and commercials
• Consumer fairy tales: Disney weddings
• Monomyths: a myth that is common to
many cultures (e.g., Spiderman and
Superman)
• Many movies/commercials present
characters and plot structures that
follow mythic patterns
• Gone With the Wind
• E.T.: The Extraterrestrial
• Star Trek
Rituals
• Rituals: sets of multiple, symbolic
behaviors that occur in a fixed
sequence and that tend to be
repeated periodically
• Many consumer activities are
ritualistic
• Trips to Starbucks
• “Pulling” the perfect pint of
Guinness
• College campus rituals
• Tailgating at football games
3
Rituals (cont.)
• Businesses supply ritual
artifacts (items needed to
perform rituals) to consumers
• Wedding rice, birthday
candles, diplomas, online
gift registries
Grooming Rituals
All consumers have private
grooming rituals
Private/public and
work/leisure personal
rituals
• Beauty rituals reflect
transformation from natural
state to social world or vice
versa
4
Gift-Giving Rituals
• Gift-giving ritual: consumers procure the perfect object,
meticulously remove price tag, carefully wrap it, then deliver it to
recipient
• Gift giving is a form of:
• Economic exchange
• Symbolic exchange
• Social expression
• Every culture prescribes certain occasions and ceremonies for
giving gifts
Gift-Giving Rituals (cont.)
• Stages of gift-giving ritual
• Gestation: giver is motivated by an event to
procure a gift
• Structural event: prescribed by culture (e.g.,
Christmas)
• Emergent event: more personal
• Presentation: process of gift exchange when
recipient responds to gift and donor evaluates
response
• Reformulation: giver and receiver adjust the bond
between them
5
Christmas/ EID
• Myths/rituals: Santa’s adventures and mistletoe
• Began as a publicly rowdy celebration
• Santa = champion of materialism
• Appears in stores and shopping malls
• Socializes children to expect a reward when they are
good (we get what we deserve)
Halloween
• Its rituals are unusual:
• Involves nonfamily members
• Celebrates evil and death
• Encourages “tricks” for treats
• Halloween is an antifestival: distorts symbols
associated with other holidays
• Witch = inverted mother figure; resurrection of
ghosts; evil jack-o-lantern
• We act out uncharacteristic behaviors and try on
new roles
• Second most popular party night for adults
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009
16-12
6
Rites of Passage
• Rites of passage: special times
marked by a change in social
status
• Puberty, death, divorce, dating,
• Religious Rites
• Practices vary across cultures but
are rich in symbolic value
• Funeral rituals negotiate social
identities of deceased through
expression of
material/symbolic wealth
Sacred Places
• Sacred places: religious/mystical and country
heritage, such as Stonehenge, Mecca, Ground Zero
in New York City
Sacred People and Sacred Events
• Sacred people: we idolize certain people and set
them apart from masses
• Movie stars, rock stars, royalty (Princess Diana)
• Sacred events: public events, sports (Olympics),
tourism
• Souvenirs: local products, pictorial images, “piece
of the rock,” literal representations of the site,
markers
7
Materialism Values
• Materialistic themes are stable over
time.
• Types of materialism:
• Instrumental – desire to possess a
good to perform some activity.
• Terminal – desire to possess good
as end in itself.
• Women are more sharing, less
materialistic.
• Cross-cultural differences in
materialism exist.
Managerial Implications
• Positioning. Link products with cultural
symbols.
• Environmental Analysis. Scanning is critical
to understanding changes in culture and
popular culture, both here and abroad.
• Marketing Mix. Identify core values and
anticipate which core values won’t translate
well abroad.
