Cultural priorities and their societal impact

¶ … Cultural Priorities Affect Marketing

Cultural Priorities - Marketing

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How Cultural Priorities Affect Marketing

A key to any marketing strategy for any product or service is to know the target demographic very well. What is the use of marketing a product or service to a group of people about which one knows nothing? There is none; it is a waste of time, effort, and resources. Understanding a demographic requires more than incorporating knowledge gathered from statistics; understanding a demographic requires that those marketing to that group have a solid understanding of that group's culture. Culture is a key factor in understanding attitudes, behaviors, tastes, and modes of expression. Applied knowledge of cultures and cultural priorities should only benefit those marketing to that group. The more a marketing team considers the cultural priorities of the group to which it markets, the higher likelihood the product or service will be accepted and consumed in great proportion by that group. The group will perceive that the product or service was made for them, that it serves a need specific to them, and they will happily consume it, bringing about customer satisfaction and increased revenue to the company. This paper will discuss the cultural priorities in Asian and American culture, as well as how those cultural priorities possible cause clashes and impediments to successful marketing strategies.

Cultural priorities are what a cultural deems most important. Cultural priorities vary as much as culture in general varies. Cultural priorities may include aesthetics preferences, views of other cultures and races, behaviors appropriate between sexes and classes, and they may also include conduct in formal and informal situations. In general, men are in positions of economic power and mobility in Asian cultures; therefore, marketing firms should take this into consideration. In contrast, in America, there is a larger percentage of women with higher education, business experience, and economic power. As this trend has grown, marketing strategies have wisely conformed in some ways to acknowledge and accommodate this shift in cultural priorities. Asian cultures prioritize formality and ritual. This could be integrated into the marketing scheme for a product targeted at Asian consumers. Americans like to be more informal whenever possible; they consider "dropping the formalities" as a way to get to know others and to show relaxation. This could be perceived as an insult, as disrespect, or as laziness to Asian cultures. In America, we are home to a variety of cultures; whether a person is prejudiced or not, there is some level of tolerance and basic acceptance of those who are different. This is not the cultural priority in Asian. Many Asian cultures do not prioritize in-depth contact and understanding of foreign cultures. Numerous Asian cultures spent a great deal of their history avoiding contact with outsiders in as many ways as possible. Therefore, an advertisement showing peoples of different cultures is likely to not be as effective in Asia as it would be in America. There are many examples of cultural priorities; these are just a few to establish a brief context within which to address the question of cultural priorities and marketing.

Just as much as people and places help construct a culture, the brand of a product can contribute to cultural construction, too:

"Brands can be an integral part of a culture, and in many ways the relation- ship between culture and brands is symbiotic. Brands that successfully anticipate trends in popular culture prosper better than those that do not (see the September 2007 Point-of-View "What Makes an Iconic Brand?"), while brands that are not aligned with local cultures can find it difficult to prosper at all. Brands contribute to cultures not only through the needs they address but also through their role as social currency. They provide new cultural reference points and topics of conversation." (Hollis, "Culture Clash: Globalization Does Not Imply Homogenization," 2009)

Knowledge of a culture can help a brand be successful, not just in respect to economics, but also in regard to influencing the culture because of the product itself, such as the term, "Google it!" This phrase exists because of the influence Google has had on computing culture. Cultural priorities will continue to exist, no matter how much the world seems to get smaller because of social media and various technologies; thus, it is a marketing priority:

"In fact, the world is not yet a global village and in all likelihood is not going to become one. If history is to be our guide, the developing economies of Africa, Asia and India are likely to follow the examples of Japan and Korea and retain a strong degree of cultural identity as they grow. Since its rise as a global powerhouse, Japan has shown little sign of losing its unique culture. Global marketers still face significant challenges in developing brands and marketing communication that will succeed in that country." (Hollis, "Culture Clash: Globalization Does Not Imply Homogenization," 2009)