International and cross cultural marketing
→ Exam – Open questions +multiple choice questions (12 points)
→ Group assignment (8points)
Overview:
Chapter 1: The cultural process
Culture has taken a more prominent place in marketing in the 21e century. Market growth in well-
developed countries has slowed, and attention has turned toward emerging markets, where the
potential is enormous.
The understanding of other cultures is often very limited. It forces us to rely on stereotyped ideas.
Accordingly, international marketers often resort1 to using country or nation-states as primary
segmentation bases, because borders are easily definable. However, few nations are homogeneous,
and many have distinct ethnic, linguistic and religious groups that need to be considered.
Culture is complex!
International marketing gives a prominent place to culture, but not everything is culturally driven.
Individual behavior is influenced, but not determined, by culture. It’s only one of the many layers
that influence behavior.
This chapter focusses on the cultural process and the elements of culture that are likely to impact
international business operations.
Why studying cross cultural marketing?
Ingroup = The group with which an individual
identifies
Outgroup = The others
Samenvatting International and Cross Cultural Marketing 2025-2026 1
, Explanation:
We are studying cross cultural marketing to become successful in other, foreign markets.
❖ The commercial of Fiat in the US was successful, so they translated the commercial in Chinese,
under the assumption that it will work to in China. They also used a symbol against the principles
of China. They used Richard Gere, but he was an outgroup. So they used an outgroup to promote
their product. It became a negative commercial.
❖ Pepsi Cola was brand leader in the South-East of Asia. Cultures give symbolics to colors. The
meaning of dark blue can be very different of light blue. So, smaller differences in the design of
products can have a big impact on the sales of the product.
❖ P&G: In Japan, a man can’t enter the bathroom when his wife is taking a shower or is having a
bath. In some cultures, we can approach people closely (especially in Africa) without feeling
unnatural. P&G affended2 the space rules.
Some facts:
→ High market growth potential in middle class, but growth of this class mainly in non-EU countries
Explanation:
The culture of India is very different of those in China. To become successful in those countries, do we
have to understand the differences in culture.
Beer drinking behavior around the world
For Belgian people, a beer of 50cc is too much. It has a negative
connotation. In Germany, it is mainstream. It is important to understand
the differences in behavior. The habbits of drinking beer is different
accross countries. In Germany beer of 50cc is normal. The shape of the
glass is also different. German associate beer of 255as beer for feminins
and for not beer drinkers. There is a complete different view on beer.
(same example with Pizza Hawaii for Italian people)
Samenvatting International and Cross Cultural Marketing 2025-2026 2
, Some facts – Summary
❖ Growth in developed countries slows down.
❖ Increasing power of middle class in emerging economies.
→ Increasing importance of cross-cultural marketing!
❖ Behavior influenced (but not determined) by culture.
→ Which cultural processes and elements of culture impact internation business.
❖ New world ordering
Wat is the purpose of cross-cultural marketing or business?
Cross cultural marketing is not:
❖ Cross border marketing
❖ Imposing uniformity. (It is not trying to oblige the customers to change their habbits. In the
past McDonalds did that, but they learned to adapt their concept to the ideas of the country
and culture.)
❖ International marketing
It is about:
❖ Diversity
❖ Respect
❖ Interactions
1. What is culture
Anthropology
- Focus on material productions (f.e. art, music, …)
- Impact of culture on individual: social norms
History:
- Focus on symbolic system (f.e. religion, hierarchies, …)
Psychology:
- Focus on (personal & shared) values and norms
Business and marketing:
- Integration of different foci (=verschillende aandachtspunten)
Williams (1960): a whole way of life, material, cultural, intellectual and spiritual
→ highlights the scope of culture
A normative system that indicates preferred solution to a set of universal problems.
→ the combination of preferred solutions by a group of people = culture
A hypothetical, latent or concealed concept to which individuals are exposed to
→ higher exposure → greater cultural knowledge
→ higher exposure → higher degree of internalization (automatization of behaviors)
→ born into a culture newcomers: differences in cultural exposure → large difference in cultural knowledge
→ Flexible and highly dependent on group memberships (age, gender, religion, occupation, …) → large between
and within country difference
Samenvatting International and Cross Cultural Marketing 2025-2026 3
, Cultural impact differs by context (cf. groups) and impact
→ Tight culture: strong norms, little deviance accepted → high impact of culture, less of personal values
• Religion, laws & regulations, control of media, less access to communication, lower crime rates, less
(political) rights
• Pakistan, Malaysia, India, Singapore, South Korea, Turkey, …
→ Loose culture: weaker norms, deviance accepted → lower impact of culture, more of personal values
• EU, Ukraine, Baltics, Australia, New Zeeland, …
Culture is the link between individuals and societies:
• Learned behavior and results of behavior shared and transmitted by the members of a particular society.
Linton, 1945
Societal solutions to common universal problems:
• All solutions are present in all societies at all times, but they are differentially preferred. Kluckhohn and
Strodtbeck, 1961
Useful to, but not a characteristic of, individuals:
• Culture is a set of beliefs or standards (control mechanisms), shared by a group of people, which help the
individual decide what is, what can be, how to feel, what to do and how to go about doing it. Goodenough,
1971
How culture links the individual to a society
How do people internalize (sub)cultures? How do people learn cultural?
At the macro- level
- Dominant normative system
- Imposed by dominant social institutions: political, economic, legal, and educational system
- Impact on lower levels depend on tightness of culture
At the meso-level
- On integration and socialization of individuals in the larger societal structure
- On (how to form) groups: religion, occupation, leisure
At the micro-level
- Smaller groups: family, friends,
- Many and continuous interactions
People operate in many subcultures
Social representations to translate/operationalize macro level ideas and concepts to specific subculture
→ it takes centuries to change macro level concepts, but only 10-20 year to change operationalizations
→ different subculture operationalizations explain why people behave differently according to the context within
the same (broader) culture: the operational culture.
→ Subtle contextual cues may activate different operational cultures (cf. frame switching).
Samenvatting International and Cross Cultural Marketing 2025-2026 4
→ Exam – Open questions +multiple choice questions (12 points)
→ Group assignment (8points)
Overview:
Chapter 1: The cultural process
Culture has taken a more prominent place in marketing in the 21e century. Market growth in well-
developed countries has slowed, and attention has turned toward emerging markets, where the
potential is enormous.
The understanding of other cultures is often very limited. It forces us to rely on stereotyped ideas.
Accordingly, international marketers often resort1 to using country or nation-states as primary
segmentation bases, because borders are easily definable. However, few nations are homogeneous,
and many have distinct ethnic, linguistic and religious groups that need to be considered.
Culture is complex!
International marketing gives a prominent place to culture, but not everything is culturally driven.
Individual behavior is influenced, but not determined, by culture. It’s only one of the many layers
that influence behavior.
This chapter focusses on the cultural process and the elements of culture that are likely to impact
international business operations.
Why studying cross cultural marketing?
Ingroup = The group with which an individual
identifies
Outgroup = The others
Samenvatting International and Cross Cultural Marketing 2025-2026 1
, Explanation:
We are studying cross cultural marketing to become successful in other, foreign markets.
❖ The commercial of Fiat in the US was successful, so they translated the commercial in Chinese,
under the assumption that it will work to in China. They also used a symbol against the principles
of China. They used Richard Gere, but he was an outgroup. So they used an outgroup to promote
their product. It became a negative commercial.
❖ Pepsi Cola was brand leader in the South-East of Asia. Cultures give symbolics to colors. The
meaning of dark blue can be very different of light blue. So, smaller differences in the design of
products can have a big impact on the sales of the product.
❖ P&G: In Japan, a man can’t enter the bathroom when his wife is taking a shower or is having a
bath. In some cultures, we can approach people closely (especially in Africa) without feeling
unnatural. P&G affended2 the space rules.
Some facts:
→ High market growth potential in middle class, but growth of this class mainly in non-EU countries
Explanation:
The culture of India is very different of those in China. To become successful in those countries, do we
have to understand the differences in culture.
Beer drinking behavior around the world
For Belgian people, a beer of 50cc is too much. It has a negative
connotation. In Germany, it is mainstream. It is important to understand
the differences in behavior. The habbits of drinking beer is different
accross countries. In Germany beer of 50cc is normal. The shape of the
glass is also different. German associate beer of 255as beer for feminins
and for not beer drinkers. There is a complete different view on beer.
(same example with Pizza Hawaii for Italian people)
Samenvatting International and Cross Cultural Marketing 2025-2026 2
, Some facts – Summary
❖ Growth in developed countries slows down.
❖ Increasing power of middle class in emerging economies.
→ Increasing importance of cross-cultural marketing!
❖ Behavior influenced (but not determined) by culture.
→ Which cultural processes and elements of culture impact internation business.
❖ New world ordering
Wat is the purpose of cross-cultural marketing or business?
Cross cultural marketing is not:
❖ Cross border marketing
❖ Imposing uniformity. (It is not trying to oblige the customers to change their habbits. In the
past McDonalds did that, but they learned to adapt their concept to the ideas of the country
and culture.)
❖ International marketing
It is about:
❖ Diversity
❖ Respect
❖ Interactions
1. What is culture
Anthropology
- Focus on material productions (f.e. art, music, …)
- Impact of culture on individual: social norms
History:
- Focus on symbolic system (f.e. religion, hierarchies, …)
Psychology:
- Focus on (personal & shared) values and norms
Business and marketing:
- Integration of different foci (=verschillende aandachtspunten)
Williams (1960): a whole way of life, material, cultural, intellectual and spiritual
→ highlights the scope of culture
A normative system that indicates preferred solution to a set of universal problems.
→ the combination of preferred solutions by a group of people = culture
A hypothetical, latent or concealed concept to which individuals are exposed to
→ higher exposure → greater cultural knowledge
→ higher exposure → higher degree of internalization (automatization of behaviors)
→ born into a culture newcomers: differences in cultural exposure → large difference in cultural knowledge
→ Flexible and highly dependent on group memberships (age, gender, religion, occupation, …) → large between
and within country difference
Samenvatting International and Cross Cultural Marketing 2025-2026 3
, Cultural impact differs by context (cf. groups) and impact
→ Tight culture: strong norms, little deviance accepted → high impact of culture, less of personal values
• Religion, laws & regulations, control of media, less access to communication, lower crime rates, less
(political) rights
• Pakistan, Malaysia, India, Singapore, South Korea, Turkey, …
→ Loose culture: weaker norms, deviance accepted → lower impact of culture, more of personal values
• EU, Ukraine, Baltics, Australia, New Zeeland, …
Culture is the link between individuals and societies:
• Learned behavior and results of behavior shared and transmitted by the members of a particular society.
Linton, 1945
Societal solutions to common universal problems:
• All solutions are present in all societies at all times, but they are differentially preferred. Kluckhohn and
Strodtbeck, 1961
Useful to, but not a characteristic of, individuals:
• Culture is a set of beliefs or standards (control mechanisms), shared by a group of people, which help the
individual decide what is, what can be, how to feel, what to do and how to go about doing it. Goodenough,
1971
How culture links the individual to a society
How do people internalize (sub)cultures? How do people learn cultural?
At the macro- level
- Dominant normative system
- Imposed by dominant social institutions: political, economic, legal, and educational system
- Impact on lower levels depend on tightness of culture
At the meso-level
- On integration and socialization of individuals in the larger societal structure
- On (how to form) groups: religion, occupation, leisure
At the micro-level
- Smaller groups: family, friends,
- Many and continuous interactions
People operate in many subcultures
Social representations to translate/operationalize macro level ideas and concepts to specific subculture
→ it takes centuries to change macro level concepts, but only 10-20 year to change operationalizations
→ different subculture operationalizations explain why people behave differently according to the context within
the same (broader) culture: the operational culture.
→ Subtle contextual cues may activate different operational cultures (cf. frame switching).
Samenvatting International and Cross Cultural Marketing 2025-2026 4
