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Culture and Meaning Are Inseparable. The concept of marriage around the world is used to explain cultural meaning and its impact on the consumer behavior. Marriage and consumption go together.
Marriages always involve an elaborated celebration regardless of the culture.
Though the consumers find their mates in different ways, spending money on the weddings appears to be universal.
Arab and Eastern consumers' marriages are based on family arrangements
Customs associated with weddings and marriages are culturally determined.
What Is Culture?
What Is Culture?
The meaning of any consumption act is related to the environment in which the act occurs. Thus, culture embodies meaning.
Consumer culture represents the commonly held societal beliefs that define what is socially gratifying within a specific society.
The culture shapes the values of most of the products and ultimately determines what consumption behaviors are acceptable.
The appropriateness of any activity would vary from culture to culture.
Some of the consumption behaviors varying in meaning, value, and acceptability are listed in the Exhibit 9.1.
Culture, Meaning, and Value
Culture, Meaning, and Value
The focus on culture acknowledges that today's marketplace is global. Culture performs the following functions to shape the value of consumer activities:
Giving meaning to objects: Consider the degree to which culture defines the meaning of furniture, religious objects, and everyday items—food and drink. For instance, Dunkin Donuts sells more cups of coffee in the U.S.than even Starbucks. In India, consumers already like the Donuts but are slow to catch on to coffee as a morning beverage.
Giving meaning to activities: Consider the role of events that are as simple as recreational activities and even personal hygiene. A five-day workweek culture is not a universally accepted norm.
Facilitating communication: The shared meaning of things facilitates communication. When strangers meet, culture indicates whether a handshake, hug, or kiss is most appropriate. A hug that is a common greeting culture in some countries is considered inappropriate in some cultures.
Cultural Norms
Cultural Norms
Cultural norms refer to rules that specify the appropriate behavior in a given situation within a specific culture.
Most of them are unwritten and simply understood by members of a cultural group.
Cultural Sanctions
Cultural Sanctions
A consumer who is not consistent with the social norms is likely to experience a culture sanction.
Culture Sanction refers to penalties associated with performing a nongratifying or culturally inconsistent behavior.
It is relatively innocuous.
There are instances where a consumer being inconsistent with norms of a society may be shunned or banished from a group.
Popular Culture
Popular Culture
It captures cultural trends and plays a role in shaping norms and sanctions within society.
Pop icons such as Katy Perry or Justin Beiber help determine acceptable styles for many groups of admirers who desire to fit in with today's popular culture.
Role Expectations
Role Expectations
Exhibit 9.2 provides some examples of cultural role expectations.
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