140 CHAPTER 6 MARKETINGINGLOBALMARKETS
TABLE 6.1 IllustrationsofPotentialAreasofMisunderstandingDuetoDiffe rencesinCultura lNorms
InIreland,theeveningmealis calledtea,notdinner.
InAsia,whena personbowstoyou,bowyourheadforwardequalorlowerthantheirs.
Anodmeans"no"inBulgariaandshakingtheheadside-to-sidemeans"yes:'
Thenumber7 is consideredbadluckinKenya,goodluckintheCzechRepublic,andhasmagicalconnotationsi nBenil:.
PepsodenttoothpastewasunsuccessfulinSoutheastAsiabecauseitpromisedwhiteteethtoaculturewhereblackor
yellowteetharesymbolsofprestige.
InQuebec,a cannedfishmanufacturertriedtopromoteaproductbyshowingawomandressedinshorts,golfingwithher
husband,andplanningtoservecannedfishfordinner.Theseactivitiesviolatedculturalnorms.
MaxwellHouseadvertiseditselfasthe"greatAmericancoffee"inGermany. ItfoundoutthatGermanshavelittlerespect
forAmericancoffee.
GeneralMotors'"BodybyFisher"sloganbecame"CorpsebyFisher"whentranslatedintoJapanese.
InGerman,"LetHertzPutYouintheDriver'sSeat"means"LetHertzMakeYoua Chauffeur:'
InCantonese,thePhilipMorrisnamesoundedthesameasa phrasemeaningnoluck.
InHongKong,Korea,andTaiwan,triangularshapeshavea negativeconnotation.
InThailand,itis consideredunacceptabletotoucha person'shead,orpasssomethingoverit.
RedisapositivecolorinDenmark,butrepresentswitchcraftanddeathinmanyAfricancountries.
Americansusuall ysmileastheyshakehands. ButsomeGermansconsidersmilesoverlyfamiliarfromnewbusiness
acquaintances.Americansshouldn'tsay"Wiegehts?"("Howgoesit?"). It'salsotooinformalforfirstmeetings.
Ifyouofferacomplimenttoa Chinese-speakingperson,heorshewilldeclineit.becausedisagreeingis thepolitewayto
acceptpraise.
Don'tsay"Merci"("Thanks")toa Frenchperson'scompliment.Youmightbemisinterpretedasmakingfun.
ItalianswavegoodbyeasAmericansbeckonsomeone-withpalmupandfingersmovingbackandforth;butinOriental
areas,wavingwiththepalmdownisnotinterpretedasgoodbye,butrather,"Comehere:'
Offeringgiftswhenyouvisitahomeis expectedinJapan,butintheSovietUnionitmaybeconsidereda bribe.
InBrazilandPortugal, businesspeopleliketoentertainforeignersintheirhomes.Whenit'stimetogo,thehostmayfeel
constrainedtoinsistthattheforeignerstay.Foreignersshouldpolitelytaketheirleave.
isnotfortheirmarketingprograms.Considerhowthefollowingexamplescouldbeused
indevelopmentofinternationalmarketingprograms:- InRussia,itisacceptableformentogreeteachotherwitha kiss,butthiscustom
isnotacceptableintheU.S. - Germansprefertheirsaladdressingina tube, whileAmericanspreferit ina bottle.
- InFrance,wineisservedwithmostmeals, butinAmerica, milk, tea,water,and
softdrinksarepopular.
McDonalds's Corporationhasopened 20 restaurantsinIndia.Since80%ofIndians
areHindu,McDonald'swillusea nonbeefmeatsubstituteforitstraditionalhamburger.
Thelikelybeefsubstitutewillbelamb,averypopularmeatinIndia.Inanticipationofits
restaurantopenings,McDonald'sconductedextensivemarketresearch,siteselectionstud-
ies,anddevelopeda relationshipwithIndia'slargestchickensupplier.McDonald'shasopted
tomarketitsproductinIndia,largelybecauseIndia'spopulationofmorethan 900 million
representsonesixthoftheworld'spopulation.
Values
Anindividual'svaluesarisefromhislhermoralorreligiousbeliefsandarelearnedthrough
experiencesForexample, inAmericaweplacea veryhighvalueonmaterialwell-being,
andaremuchmorelikelytopurchasestatussymbolsthanpeopleinIndia.Similarly,in