Marketing communication: principles and practice

I N T E R C U L T U R A L C O M M U N I C A T I O N
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Figure 6.2
Cross-cultural factors to be accounted for in marketing
management
Customs and values
Differences in attitude to time, place in society,
age, materialism, achievement, and so on, will
result in differences in product preferences and
product use
Language
Language is the means of communicating the
customs and beliefs of a culture. Subtleties of
vocabulary and dialect are often not easily
translated
Symbols
Cultures are particularly sensitive to meanings
associated with particular colours and the
accepted social meaning of symbols
The economic environment
Standard of living, economic infrastructure, and
economic policies influence consumer behaviour

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or sourcing in several particular countries. The limited thinking of your own
local markets can be termed ethnocentric (i.e. clannish and exclusionary)
and leads to business failures when necessary standardizations and adaptations
are missed. What works at home almost certainly will not work elsewhere in
every case. Recently, Coca-Cola has fallen foul of local preferences for
traditionally brewed beverages in Russia. Yet, even the culturally particular
(i.e. very British) Fawlty Towers comedy show (starring John Cleese and
Andrew Sachs) has been hugely popular in other countries (Manuel, the
waiter, was converted to an Italian for the Spanish market). 
INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIES
Standardization of advertising and other communication activities is
attractive, particularly in terms of cost, and when TV airtime is considered.
This is less so for press advertising, where, unlike TV, production costs do
not almost equal broadcast fees. Table 6.1 briefly summarizes the four general
situations in which decisions about product and communicating about it have