Consumer Brhavior

Culture is the basic values, perceptions, wants, and behaviors, learned by a member of society from family and other Important Institutions. culture Is the most basic cause of a person's wants and behavior. Human behavior is largely learned. Growing up in a society, a child learns basic values, perceptions, wants, and behaviors from the family and other important institutions. A child in the united states normally learns or Is exposed to the following values: achievement and success, activity andInvolvement, efficiency and practically, progress, material comfort, Individualism, freedom, humanitarianism, youthfulness and fitness and health. Culture Is the set of basic values, perceptions, wants and behaviors learned by a member of society from family and other Important institutions. A culture Is the complex of values, ideas, attitudes, and other meaningful symbols created by people to shape human behavior and the artifacts of that behavior as they are transmitted from one generation to the next.Culture is the sum total of learned beliefs, values, and customs that serve to direct he consumer behavior of members of a particular society. It is the fundamental determinant of a person's wants and behavior. culture is an extremely broad and encompassing term which includes what we have learned, our history, values, morals, customs, art and habits. Importance of the cultural study Culture act as a motivator of consumer behavior Culture is the most pervasive external force on an individual's consumption behavior. Marketing executive must consider the importance of cultural setting within which consumer behavior takes place.Culture vary from country to country and as a result onsumption patterns among people vary. Failures to carefully consider cultural differences is often responsible for monumental marketing failures. cultural influences have broad effects on buying behavior because they permeate our daily lives. every groups or society has a culture and cultural infl uences on buying behavior may vary greatly from country to country. Failure to adjust to these differences can result in ineffective marketing or embarrassing mistakes.An understanding of culture is important to you as a marketing manager because it always provides approved specific goal objects for any generalized human want. How people work and play, what they eat, how they eat, how and what they buy are all affected by the cultural traditions and socially developed modes of behavior we can laentl Ty tnree aspects 0T a glven culture . tnese are as Tollows: Culture is a pattern of Behavior Culture is learned Culture is transmitted from one generation to the next. Characteristics of culture The invisible hand of culture: Culture is like the air we breathe. t is so obvious that we cannot escape from it. The impact of culture is so natural and automatic that its influence on behavior is usually taken for granted. Culture satisfies needs: Culture determines the ways of satisfying the h uman needs. Individuals have different types of needs. How these needs will be satisfied is being determined by the culture. Culture is learned: Culture is learned rather programmed genetically. As an individual grows in a particular environment he learns about different aspects of culture through his interaction with other members in the society.Culture is shared: Cultural values, beliefs, norms are shared by the majority of the members of a given culture because they gratify our needs. Culture is dynamic: No culture is static. cultural swings take place. as the environment is changing, culture has to be changed in order to survive. Components of Culture Cognitive component Material component Normative component Cognitive Components: The basic component of any culture is one relating to people's knowledge about the creation and existence of the universe. this aspects is based on either people's observation or on certain factual evidence that they have.Material Component: Another im portant component of any given culture is the material feature of the society. t consists of all the tangible things that human beings make, use and give value to the material component varies from culture to culture as the cognitive component. it is based on the technological state that the society has achieved and understood looking at the artifacts of the society. the artifacts include type of housing where people live, furniture they use, and other material material goods they posses. Normatlve component The other important component of a culture is the normative component.The normative component is composed of the values and norms of the society which uides and regulates behavior. It consists of the values, beliefs and rules by which a society directs people's interactions. Norms are rules and guidelines setting forth proper attitudes and behaviors for specific situations. Cultural Symbolism: A symbol may be defined as the sign or representation of something moral or intellectu al by the images or properties of natural things. Obviously, it is important for marketers to be aware of the symbolic nature of their products and packaging.Different studies on culture identified two types of symbols used by people in ommunicating among them. They are a) Referential symbols b) Expressive symbols Referential symbols are those that mean or indicate specific objects. The word pen for example means item which is used for writing purpose. It is easy for marketers to understand the meaning of referential symbols and as a result they do not face much problem with regards to the referential symbols. Expressive symbols: expressive symbols are those that may carry different meaning to people of different cultures.The meaning of the same expressive symbol may be nterpreted differently by people of different cultures. Thus their meaning are not limited. For example; showing thumb, may mean an appreciation to an american, whereas, the same symbol may carry a negative connotati on to a bangladeshi. Marketers must face a lot of problems with regards to the expressive symbols. Cross-culture Cross cultural study or research is a technique applied for comparing cultures on the basis of similarities and differences as well as studying different segments of a total culture.Cross cultural study is defined as the systematic comparison of similarities nd differences in the material and behavioral aspects of cultures. How to adapt your marketing decisions with other cultures: To be successful in foreign markets, a marketer must adapt his marketing decisions with that of the new cultures. Lot of companies made mistakes and incurred huge loss in overseas markets by following marketing strategies successful in their own cultures. To make appropriate adaptations, number of questions must be asked by a multinational marketer to himself and answers must be sought.Is the geographic area homogeneous with respect to the culture? How does the cultural setting influence or det ermine product and service needs? What needs can this products fill In tnls culture Can enough of the groups needing the product afford the product? What values or patterns of values are relevant to the purchase and use of this product? What is the distribution, political and legal structure concerning the product? In What ways can we communicate about this product? Seeking answers to the above few questions may help marketers to think of adapting their marketing policies in an overseas cultures .