Marketing-Insider
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Marketing
  • Pricing
  • About Marketing-Insider

Cultural Differences in Marketing – What Businesses need to consider in international Markets

by Max 19th February 2019
written by Max 19th February 2019 29.2K views 4 minutes read
Cultural Differences in Marketing - What Businesses need to consider in international Markets
29.2K

International marketing is a strategic decision that involves developing a marketing mix strategy based on the characteristics of a potential foreign market. In simpler terms, it is how organizations should design and convey their messages if they want to sell their goods and services in a foreign market. Cultural differences make this process more complicated and should therefore be the starting point of preparing a strategy. Cultural differences in marketing form the fundamentals of the international marketing mix.

Cultural differences in marketing should receive primary attention when selling goods or services internationally, as the cultural environment changes one country to the other. This means that multinational companies must understand the culture of a specific state before selling the products. Here are some significant cultural factors that businesses intending to move to the international stage should consider.

Table of Contents

  • 1. Language
  • 2. Purchasing Power/Pricing
  • 3. Consumption Habits
  • 4. Age/Demographics
  • 5. Taste and Preferences
  • 6. Religion

1. Language

Languages are some of the major cultural differences in marketing that companies ought to understand before they market their products and services in a foreign country. Previously, grave mistakes have occurred during translation, which has led to devastating effects. One of the most memorable embarrassing mistakes in international marketing happened when General Motors was marketing its cars by the brand name ‘Nova,’ which in South American local languages, translated to, ‘it won’t go.’ These mistakes obviously don’t help the company to sell its products. Therefore, companies need to pay attention to language and translations to avoid business failure.

2. Purchasing Power/Pricing

In as much as pricing strategies appears to be economic factors, they are important cultural differences in marketing. It is common knowledge that some cultures have a higher purchasing power than others. For example, people in the United States have a higher purchasing power than those in Africa. This plays a significant role in how you should price your products and services. In addition, it should be taken into consideration that some people have high purchasing power, but tend to hold money rather than spend. Therefore, you have to come up with a strategic marketing plan that will make people exercise their high purchasing capability.

3. Consumption Habits

As a marketer, you are already aware that personalities and cultures combine to shape the consumption behavior of individuals in a particular country or region. Before marketing your products, you need to determine whether individuals in a specific country make individualistic or collective buying decisions. This will help you to formulate a marketing approach that appeals to personality or a strategy that pulls the entire society. You’re also required to understand the psychological and societal factors influencing buying decisions.

4. Age/Demographics

Just like in domestic marketing, age and other demographics significantly contribute to cultural differences in marketing. For example, in developing countries, literacy levels among senior citizens, especially those above 60 years is very low. Therefore, you may decide to target your marketing message not directly at this demographic group, especially when selling digital devices. Moreover, you’ve to understand the dominant demographic groups in a country before you can modify your marketing messages. This will help your country to appeal and communicate to the majority rather than the minority.

5. Taste and Preferences

Eating habits are further important cultural differences in marketing that multinational companies need to understand. For a food selling company, it is essential to understand the eating habits of a particular region before marketing its menu. For instance, McDonald’s and other fast-food companies had to start offering vegetable products in India rather than meat products. Likewise, these companies have started to increasingly cater to international tastes, like rice dishes for the Asian market.

6. Religion

Religious beliefs are important cultural differences in marketing that should be considered when selling in foreign markets. They influence how a particular society perceives various products and services. Organizations have to understand the impact of religion and its role in society. For example, in Muslim countries, marketing secular women outfits might be off as the religion in these countries requires women to dress in a modest way, which is highly regulated. Besides, some marketing messages have been at loggerheads with religious groupings after their messages were deemed to be offensive towards a particular religion. Religion is a very critical aspect that companies need to understand before they can start marketing their products at the international stage.

Most of the cultural differences in marketing are restrictive. However, companies should make sure that they fully understand all the cultural factors before they can formulate and roll-out their marketing strategies. Extensive research would help an international company to understand what is good and bad in different countries and regions. Most of the companies that have excelled at the international stage have done so by identifying a product or a service that will be accepted in a particular region.

STAY UP TO DATE

Sign up for our newsletter to get marketing news, guides & best practices straight to your inbox!

Thanks for signing up! Please check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

STAY UP TO DATE

Sign up for our newsletter to get marketing news, guides & best practices straight to your inbox!

Thanks for signing up! Please check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinRedditWhatsappEmail
previous post
How will Marketing change in the Future? – Major Changes ahead?
next post
Marketing Considerations for Developing Markets – Doing Business in Emerging Economies

You may also like

What is Omnichannel Marketing? Developing an Effective Omnichannel...

26th January 2023

Using Psychographics in Marketing – Overview and Complete...

20th January 2023

Understand the Importance of Marketing: Why Marketing is...

22nd December 2022

What is a Unique Selling Proposition? Examples &...

21st November 2022

Market Penetration Strategies – 6 Ways to Increase...

14th November 2022

Creating Buyer Personas to Reach Your Most Lucrative...

31st October 2022

Marketing vs Communications – What’s the Difference?

17th October 2022

Targeting Strategies in Marketing – How to do...

26th September 2022

Marketing vs Promotion – What’s the Difference?

5th September 2022

What is Relationship Marketing? Definition and Guide

29th August 2022

STAY UP TO DATE

Sign up for our newsletter to get marketing news, guides & best practices straight to your inbox!

Thanks for signing up! Please check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

  • Facebook
  • Email

© 2023 Marketing-Insider. All Rights Reserved. Privacy policy | Impressum


Back To Top
Marketing-Insider
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Marketing
  • Pricing
  • About Marketing-Insider
x
x