Marketing to multi-cultural audiences

Introduction 

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the critical issues that a marketing manager should take into consideration when marketing to a multi-cultural audience.

According to Shenkar & Leo (2007 p.156) Culture is “The knowledge, beliefs, art, laws, morals, customs and other capabilities of one group distinguishing it from other groups” hence when marketing to one audience with different culture to another audience the way the marketing message is delivered should be altered to suite the understanding of each group otherwise miscommunication may take place and be detrimental to the desired outcome.

In marketing, cultural understanding is imperative because ‘…consumers’ global or national identification significantly affects their preference for global or national positioning strategies’ (Westjohn, Singh & Magnusson, 2012 p.71)

This paper will illustrate that a focus on consumer culture in marketing is a key success factor. The paper will draw on the work of theorists such as Hofstede (1980) whose seminal work on culture illustrates the differences that must be understood when dealing with different societies imbedding differing cultural traits. 

In marketing, deciphering meanings and images as well as a comprehensive understanding of values is essential in order to transmit a message with its intended connotations. Lack of understanding of the above factors is likely to result in a ‘lost in translation’ situation costing an abundance of capital in damages for the organisation.

Multiculturalism in marketing 

Hofstede (1980) created a model that identifies key differences in certain societies. These differences must be understood when marketing to different cultures.

Understanding a culture leads to a connection being established by the individual and the brand, this connection is imperative as it allows consumers to build a relationship with the brand that leads to brand loyalty (Eisingerich and Rubera 2010 p. 65). Brand loyalty is potentially the most important attribute marketers seek to develop from consumers as their loyalty ensures continuous revenues for the organisation.

This part of the paper will act as a guide to marketing managers of how to deal with different cultures and what should be the focus of their marketing efforts regardless of the product or service they are marketing.

When marketing, managers should take into consideration the following cultural attributes:

• Collectivists v individualists

“Individualism/Collectivism refers to the extent to which self or the group constitutes the centre point of identification for the individual” (Shenkar & Luo 2007, p.164) hence those who feel that being differentiated from others is central to their identity, will respond differently to marketing efforts portraying just that in comparison to those who see fit to be part of a group. 

If marketing a product in an individualistic culture, focusing on its innovative processes will be positively regarded however in a collectivist culture it may not be as much.  In collectivist cultures people are cautious of sudden changes, they do not easily adapt and accept new ideas (Dwyer, Mesak and Hsu 2005 p. 20) and hence focus on other features of the product not its radical innovation whilst gradual introduction to the innovative product could be the solution. This framework also aids in understanding what type of image must be reflected when marketing a product. Collectivist cultures may seek to attain membership in a group and hence adverts or collateral indicating a group membership maybe viewed favourably whereas individualists will seek differentiation  as those societies are expected to perform and cope by themselves without too much reliance on others. 

The individualistic audience that values innovation is also more likely to identify with a product that is portrayed as unique, as those individuals use these items to signal their unique identity and separate themselves from the rest, they require a brand that reinforces and expresses their identity (Escalas and Betterman 2005, p378) hence emphasis must be made in those markets on what makes the product different and what attributes the product has that fulfil the individualistic need to stand out from the rest.  

• Religion

People of the same culture and religion may not necessarily adhere to that particular religion, i.e. not everyone is religious, especially those who are born into a religion and hence never made a conscious choice to follow it, however, religion is a “… universal social phenomenon of a single domestic market” (Majić & Kuštrak 2013, p. 287) and hence must be taken into consideration when marketing products and services.

Religion in the Gulf region is extremely important and hence when McDonalds advertised its fries shaped as a praying hands to god with a message of “Eid Mubarak” (http://www.boredpanda.com/31-creative-ads-from-mcdonalds-are-you-loving-it/)  many felt that the brand understood the value of their religious culture and that the brand essentially celebrated the joy of Eid with the people of the country. Such marketing helps to bond people with the brand especially in a collectivist Arab culture where group membership is important. 

A brand indicating deep understanding of the national religion arguably warrants a membership into the culture even if it originates from a different culture and nationality. The culture distance is lessened with advertising showing full comprehension of what people feel connected with, whether it is religion, capitalism, secularism or other points of identification.

Religion, not only affects marketers but has influence on the larger operation of a multinational organisation because rules and regulations are too often dictated by religion. McDonalds does not sell bacon in the UAE due to Islamic religious beliefs and burgers are not made of beef in India due to Hinduism religious beliefs (Majić & Kuštrak 2013, p. 291). Although bacon and beef are available in those countries, when marketing or selling to the masses as McDonalds does it would be detrimental to overlook the underlying religious culture and therefore just as product adaptations take place, so must marketing initiatives.

It must be noted that involving religion in marketing initiatives is very risky unless most the nation subscribes or respects that particular religion. In countries where secularism is prevailing, keeping religion out of the marketing world is less likely to result in a negative backlash. Marketing managers need to be aware that culture is not static and keeping up with cultural changes is essential. This point, leads us to the continuous change of female roles in society which is one of the features described by Hofstede (1980) model, naming Masculinity versus femininity. 

• Masculinity verses Femininity

This portion of Hofstede (1980) model describes how values on a national level such as assertiveness and aggressiveness are emphasised (Shenkar & Luo 2007, p.165). 

Furthermore, females’ place in society is clearly defined in an old fashioned manner with less females holding qualified jobs in masculine cultures in comparison to cultures that subscribe to feminine attributes.

Cultural shifts can cause problems as recognising the shifts “...that promise to have long term effects on market... are complicated when deep values of culture change slowly” (Mead & Andrews 2009, p.67).

The current shift in Ireland and Britain, whereby society is progressing towards making a case for more women in higher positions and certainly equal pay should have been recognised by the car maker Skoda. At a time when the national culture is focused at moving women away from sexism the company advertised its new range with a man deliberating if he will keep his fiancé or trade her in for a younger model which lead to the ban of the advert on the grounds of sexism (Withnall, 2013). 

In such cultures portraying a powerful woman image rather than an object of sex could have been aligned with the cultural change and hence received positively by the audience instead of upsetting the very customers the company wants to sell.

• Power Distance

Power distances in some cultures dictate how individuals view themselves in society.  It measures how cultures view and cope with inequalities in society (Mead & Andrews, 2009 p.35) and hence is extremely relevant when marketing to different audiences. An advert in Japan where the power distance is high were by a CEO of a company is wearing the same watch as a subordinate may have a profound negative effect as both parties will view it as disrespectful to the former. Hierarchy dictates heavily in a Japanese organisation and hence marketing initiatives need to take such constraints into consideration.

• Language

The main communication tool societies have is language, hence understanding the message that a marketing manager is trying to implement has language at its core. What is viewed as humorous or tactful in some cultures maybe viewed as irrelevant or abusive in other cultures.

Straight translations can be detrimental to the marketing efforts. In an attempt to target Hispanics in Viagra sales, the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer simply translated the English slogan “keep that spark alive” which failed to take the Hispanic culture into account, who viewed this as a loss of a man’s "machismo" and hence impacted sales negatively. The company found that providing information and imagery (in Spanish) was more conducive to reaching the Spanish speaking Americans without insulting them (Obara, 2006 p. 126). 

Conversely, In India luxury brands and hotels only advertise their products and services in English, as this is the preferred language for the rich. Speaking English is a social status symbol whereby all those who are educated and affluent communicate in English, hence luxury chains would risk alienating their audiences if they choose to market in the local language. However, for those marketing managers that aim to reach a wider social class, such as those promoting fast moving consumer products, the local state language is important to their communication. Even in one country sub-languages must be appreciated by the global marketing manager, no assumption must be made towards one ‘lingua fanca’.

Some consumers may speak a second language however may still prefer to choose products online in their mother tongue, this is especially true of the Gulf nationals, who travel to Europe and spend a vast amount of money on hotel rooms. It is therefore not surprising that the Marriott group has now launched an Arabic website where bookings can be made in Arabic http://www.arabic.marriott.com/default.mi. 

Although some other hotel chains provide translated pages in Arabic for a few hotels, Marriott is the first to initiate a global website in this foreign language, arguably those who will find it easier to book a Marriott hotel may switch from using the competitor brands. 

Although the Arabs may not represent the highest number of hotel guests (by nationality) in a London hotel, it is well known that their average bill is significantly high and therefore bringing the hotel room booking experience to them is imperative. Chinese websites to some hotels could serve hotel chains a long way as this is another culture that is emerging, travelling and spending and who prefers to deal in their own language. 

A marketing manager should think about the preferred language of his/her consumers and adapt their marketing collateral with culture forcefully ingrained each time and whilst keeping the brand global image, certainly tailor the websites accordingly. 

Overcoming difficulties 

Two way communications with consumers is becoming more important than ever in managing the global brand image.

Global brands have become so powerful that many consumers view them as capable to do good and much harm to the society (Holt, Quelch & Taylor 2004, p.70) hence managing the brand image is of a priority in multinational marketing.

Especially for those organisations that come under regular attack as they are viewed to harm more than do good in a society such as oil companies (with the spills) and Junk food outlets such as McDonalds, marketers should invest an abundance of capital and thought into educating the society of the good the company does to try and mitigate negative feelings towards the organization. 

Consumers are convinced that global brands have a duty to tackle social issues and marketing managers need to address this with genuine effort, although local brands are not expected to execute social programs, it is often felt that global brands benefit so much from society and hence they simply must give back.  

Through social responsibility programs, organisations have started to embrace this sentiment, in individualistic cultures with low power distance, customers view global brands as having a duty to protect society and if they fail to do that, then, they should be scrutinised. In collectivist and high power distance cultures, corporate social responsibility is not as forcefully expected and hence much more appreciate it and is likely to build brand loyalty in that society (Isingerichv& Rubera p.69-70). 

It is therefore the role of the multi-cultural marketing manager to identify those issues that maybe detrimental to the brand and rectify them, if however the brand operation in itself is detrimental to society such as oil digging (with environmental issues) and Junk food (with child obesity issues) marketing managers should strategically target their marketing towards the establishment of corporate social responsibility initiatives to educate society about the benefits of the existence of the organisation.

When BP came under enormous scrutiny due to the oil spill off the coast of the US, their marketing became focused on how they will clean up the mess, provide many jobs and pay people who were inconvenienced by the spill. They focused on all the positives that the organisation brings to the community. 

Similarly, McDonalds who is struggling in Japan, having focused its efforts on reducing prices and offering one gadget after another (The Month, 2013 p.6), could invest in some corporate responsibility initiatives in order to build some loyalty, in Japan the culture is collectivist and would appreciate the food giant in partaking in programs that are close to the heart of the community, such as helping to rebuild sites effected by earthquakes or helping those affected by the nuclear disaster. 

Furthermore marketing managers through dialogue with their consumers should be aware of any negative feelings towards the brand. For example in the 1990s IBM found that consumers believed that they organisation was quality focused but they also found it arrogant, prompting the IBM campaign of “solutions for a small planet” where normal non business people such as nuns walking were discussing IBM and hence by the late 1990’s the image had changed to a more gentler and kinder organisation (Holt, Quelch & Taylor 2004, p.70). 

   

Marketing managers must strike a balance when marketing their corporate social responsibility projects as over emphasising the organisations good will maybe received (especially in less trusting individualistic cultures) with negativity sighting that the only reason the organisation is helping the community is to make money out of it.

A genuine image must be portrayed, ‘real’ people doing ‘real’ good must be the underlying message.

Head Office and Subsidiary

Marketing to a multi-cultural audience is often done remotely. Marketing managers cannot possibly be versed with all the cultures around the world that their brand is distributed in, nor can they be expected to speak all the different languages, hence it is imperative that they are able navigate their subsidiaries effectively and efficiently. Two way communications with the subsidiary and feedback on the brand’s image is important. Furthermore launches should be communicated clearly and discussed before hand; organisations today should not be making simple language mistakes such as the one that Toyota made with the Innova which translates in Spanish to “it does not go” which is not an attractive name if one is buying a car. Hence head office/Subsidiary communication could save organisations from making enormous, expensive mistakes.

Conclusion

Culture is the fabric of society; people receive information depending on their understanding of their surroundings. It is therefore the marketing managers’ job to ensure the message is translated and digested by his/her consumers the way it is intended. Internal communication and subsidiary relations are imperative to this process.

References:

Dwyer, S. Mesak, H. & Hsu, M. (2005) 'An Exploratory Examination of the Influence of National Culture on Cross-National Product Diffusion', Journal Of International Marketing. 13(2) pp.1-27

Escalas, J. & Bettman, J. (2005) 'Self-Construal, Reference Groups, and Brand Meaning', Journal Of Consumer Research. 32(3) pp. 378-389.

Hofstede, G. (1980), ‘Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values’. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.

Holt, D. Quelch, J. & Taylor, E. (2004), 'How Global Brands Compete', Harvard Business Review. 82(90) pp. 68-75

Isingerich, A. & Rubera, G. (2010) 'Drivers of Brand Commitment: A Cross-National Investigation', Journal Of International Marketing. 18(2) pp. 64-79.

Majić, O. & Kuštrak, A. (2013), 'The influence of religion to consumer behaviour and further implications to international marketing', International Journal Of Management Cases. 15(4) pp.287-300

Obara, D. (2006) “Alternative Media: Pharma Online: Not Just Black and White” [online] http://www.pharmexec.com/pharmexec/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=378073 (Accessed on September 25^th 2013)

Shenkar, O. & Luo, Y. (2007) International business. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

‘The Month: Marketing - McDonald's raises prices as profits fall' 2013, Campaign Asia-Pacific, p.06, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 8 October 2013

Westjohn, S. Singh, N. & Magnusson, P. (2012), 'Responsiveness to Global and Local Consumer Culture Positioning: A Personality and Collective Identity Perspective', Journal Of International Marketing, 20(1) pp.58-73

Withnall, A. (2013) ‘Sexist’ Skoda advert comes under fire in Ireland’ The Independent [online] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/sexist-skoda-advert-comes-under-fire-in-ireland-8901646.html (Accessed 29th October 2013)

31 Creative Ads from McDonald’s – Are You Loving It? [online] http://www.boredpanda.com/31-creative-ads-from-mcdonalds-are-you-loving-it/ (Accessed 29^th October 2013)