SOCIO- CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT

BUSINESS AND SOCIO-CULTURE

Culture – Acc. To Taylor “ Culture of civilization is that
complex whole which includes,belief,art,morals,law,custom
knowledge and other capabilities and habits acquired by
man as a member of the society.”

ELEMENTS OF CULTURE :
1. Knowledge & beliefs – Includes myths , beliefs & scientific
realities.
2. Ideals – refers to societal norms which define what is
expected, customary, right in given situation.
3. Preferences – Things which are attractive or unattractive
as objects of desire.
Cultural Adaptation – Term refers to the manner in which a
social system or an individual fits into physical or social
environment.
 Eg. While introducing new products, techniques, ideas,
segmentation one should consider the extent to which the
different categories of consumers adapt to the new things or
environment.

Cultural Shock – Environmental changes sometimes

produce culture shock which leads to confusion, insecurity
and anxiety caused by strangeness of new environment.
Cultural Transmission – The elements of culture are
transmitted among the members of the culture from one
generation to the next and to the new members admitted
in the society. As the time goes culture accumulate more
techniques, ideas, product and skills.

Literature, Film, T.V, Social institutions, advertising,

mkting techniques, etc. play a important role in cultural
transmission.
Cultural Traits :-

1. Masculine & Feminine Culture

2. Universalism vs. Particularism
3. Individualism vs. Communitarianism
4. Neutral vs. Emotional
Religion – The cost of ignoring certain religious aspects
could be very high, sometimes fatal in international
business.

E.g.. 1 – When an American fast food chain was planning

to enter India, one political party stated that it would
oppose the mkting of beef product in the country.

E.g. 2 – Christians do not consume non-veg during lent

(50 days preceding Easter).

E.g.. 3 – Most Hindus do not purchase goods during Rahu-

Kala .
E.g. 4. – The Islamic holy book Koran prohibits
payment & acceptance of interest. Islamic banks do
not pay interest to the depositors nor they charge
interest to borrowers .Rather the banks share the
profit with depositors. The profit sharing ratio is
fixed.

E.g. 5. – The customs of marriage, naming ceremony

of child, festivals etc. wary significantly between
religions. These have implifications for many types of
business like textiles, jewellery, catering, consumer
durables etc..
Ethno domination – In many countries one or other
industry or trade is dominated by certain ethnic
groups.

E.g. 1 – The automobile spare parts business in India

is dominated by Sikhs.

E.g. 2 – Punjabi restaurant's, chinese resturants,

Udupi restaurants are popular in several countries.

E.g. 3 – The business in India is particularly

dominated by Vaishya Community.
Language – Differences in language is a very
important problem area in business.

E.g. 1 – Ford’s third word truck brand name Fiera

meant “Ugly old woman” in Spanish.

E.g. 2 – The Arabic language is read from right to left

and many Arabians sequence things from right to left.
A multinational blundered in the middle east when in
the advertisement of its detergent it pictured soiled
clothes on the left, the box of detergent in the middle
and clean clothes on the right.
Consumer Preferences, Habits and Beliefs
What is most likes by people of one culture may not be
liked by those of other culture. Many companies modify
their products and promotion strategies to suit the tastes
and preferences of the population of other countries.

E.g. 1 – Nescafe has a 3/4 share in Mumbai but poor mkt.

share in Banglore & South whereas Bru has a good market
share in Banglore and not in Mumbai & North India. The
reason is Nescafe add. projects cosmopplitan image of the
product whereas Bru add. projects South Indian family
particularly Tamilnadu culture.
E.g. 2 – Even when a product serves the same
purpose, the relative importance of various product
attributes may differ b/w markets.
Goodyear tyres for example stress tyres safety in Britain,
durability and mileage in U.S and agile performance in
Germany

E.g. 3 – Headless shrimps are sold primarily in Europe but

not in Spain.

E.g. 4 – It is pointed out that much better quality of

packaging is needed in Japan than in U.S. as U.S peoples
sees the pack as a means of getting the product home.
THANKS

ANANT SAXENA
LECTURER – MGMT. STUDIES
ITMUNVERSE
GWALIOR