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Consumer Behaviour And Marketing Communication
For easy analysis, culture may be divided into five main parts:
- MATERIAL CULTURE: The society’s material cultures are affected by technology and
economic factors. A society that enjoys a high level of technology or/and economy will
have culture different from another society with lower levels. For example, a culture that
does not make motorized movements will not have a need for paved roads because they
use camels and donkeys when travelling. Technology increases the level of material goods
creation while economics is involved with the way in which productive factors are utilized
in a society.
Marketing achieved its highest state of development in societies where an abundance of
products and services needs to be distributed among large segments of the population.- SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS: The position of the family, social classes, age groups and of men
and women usually varies by culture. Each social institution influences values, behaviour
and lifestyles. - BELIEF SYSTEMS: The value systems of a society can be seriously affected by beliefs,
especially religious beliefs. Belief systems have such effects on diverse areas as the people’s
outlook on life, their habits, the products they buy and the way they buy them, the movies
they watch and the specific newspapers and magazines they read. - AESTHETICS: Art, folklore, music, drama and the dance are subject to cultural interpretation.
Culture plays a role in determining the symbolic meanings of various methods of artistic
expressions. Colours may carry different meaning to different cultures. Standard of beauty
can vary with culture. The marketer should understand the aesthetics of a culture and reflect
their understanding in product design, package and advertising. - LANGUAGE: Language differs as culture varies. Cultures attach clearly separate meanings
to certain combination of words.
Words may carry meanings beyond their literal meanings in most cultures. This fact should
be understood and reflected in making a promotion message.
CULTURAL INFLUENCE ON PROMOTION
The cultural systems consist of cultural moral instructions and norms which are used to interpret
meanings and specify values.
Promotional information, products and services are evaluated based on these cultural norms. Promotion
messages must use symbols that are meaningful to their target audience. The level of difficulty of language,
appeals, meanings of words, colours, illustrations must be culturally acceptable to the target audience.