Definition of culture

There are several definitions for culture. So, some of them will be presented below. 1. Culture consists of a collection of symbols and methods in one society which is transferred from one generation to the other generation. It determines and controls humans behaviors. These symbols can be intangible (e.g. indoctrinate, beliefs, values and language) or can be tangible (tools, products, shelter, work of arts0 2. Culture means a trained and integrated behavior model which is seen as a specification for all the persons in a society. This contains their speech, deeds, thoughts, products, customs, norms, languages, art and feeling and views. So, culture is both a materialistic field and a spiritual one. Thats why both of these aspects must be considered in marketing. 3. Culture can be described as a system of knowledge or a standard for imaginations, beliefs, evaluation and performs. Culture is a social system to transfer behavioral models. It can be a linking factor between the people and the environment. Culture grows during the time and its evolution happens gradually. Sometimes, negative point of views in a society toward materialistic culture can interfere marketing. For example, Gandhi believed in negative effects of materialistic culture and stated that western technology and industrialization can ruin human values because it turns people to machineries. If his point view was still present in India, industrialization in India would never happen. This fact shows familiarity with other countries culture is very important in international marketing. The more progress in wider environments of marketing fields like international markets; the more importance of the cultural factors we see. Paying close attention to cultural factors is very important for exports because language and life style and values are different in different countries. Everything is under influence of culture of a society; form packing and labeling to quality, services, time & location of purchasing, price and advertisements and so on. These factors must be investigated very carefully. The results of such investigation can lead to product or service compatibility with a special market. For complying with a target market environmental

culture which is a main point for succeeding in that market; it is necessary to put aside cultural prejudices and have suitable attention to target market culture in different point of views. There is a proverb as Do in Rome as Romans do. According to U.S. Department of commerce; American companies successes in Middle Easts markets were only 20% in spite of their long history of activities. The reason is dont know the culture of these countries or even their language. Also they think every country all over the world negotiate or deed as Americans do.

Companies attitude toward challenges of international marketing

Some companies are hardly involved in international markets but the others in the same industry show less interest in selling their products in international markets or even in other countries. U.S. vehicle industry was known as the most powerful financial system and the most innovative industry but had a little interest in improving its activities in global market. Apparently, this industry was not interested in manufacturing small cars with less interest for each vehicle unit so it not only lost its grow chance in new markets but all caused U.S. to be the looser in competition market. The point is paying no attention to global markets means no interest in potential growth and gaining benefits from other markets. This can put limitations to the industrial benefits and at last this industry will lose its power to compete with the other companies in internal markets. Every industry must try the global market competitions. Generally, companies have different attitudes toward their external sales activities. Some of them as follow: 1. Ethnocentric companies This kind of company assumes external market environment as an internal market; so it uses the same sales strategies in external markets as internal markets. Senior manager tells marketing personnel to send the products to the other countries in the same shape and appearance and find a buyer for it. In an ethnocentric company, all branches or subsidiaries are not very important. This company pays no attention to comparative analysis. Thats why they wont be so successful after long term marketing in global markets.

2. Polycentric companies In this attitude, only national markets differences and its environment is important. Every external branch prepares a marketing strategy according to its knowledge about target market needs and resources. These marketing strategies can be effective but in long term attitudes they cannot produce enough benefits. They consider each country as a unique one and separate them according to previous actions and activities so every experience in a country will be repeated in another one. This causes extra costs for the company. 3. Geocentric attitude The ideal attitude for an organization that is involved in international marketing is geocentric attitude. A geocentric company uses comparative analysis for determining similarities and differences between markets. These companies do not consider countries national borders and try to find international market opportunities. For these companies; foreign or external market is meaningless. They consider all markets with similarities as one market. This is the real philosophy of the international marketing. Today, countries are dependent on each other hardly so exchanging ideas and goods are increased very rapidly. In such environment, a company cannot be apathetic to global markets. Today, all companies need competitions to survive. This competition is important not only in internal market but also in international markets.

Language and its influences on marketing activities

In this part we discuss verbal and nonverbal language effects on marketing activities. a) Verbal language Language is the most important means for communication between people. Language reflects the nature and values of a culture. Language is a fundamental factor in culture because it is the main tool for transferring ideas and information. Learning a language means learning a culture. Language is not only a means for understanding a culture but is the most important means for communicating that culture. If there are several languages in a country, it means there are

several cultures in that country. If we consider the language as the mirror of the culture and we can see that there are about 3000 different languages all over the world so we can conclude that there are 3000 different cultures in the world. Incorrect use of a language can lead to weak communication results. Literal translation of sentences can change the meaning of sentences completely. For example; in English language love means like a lot and also means strong preference or interest. So, this advertising motto: I
love crispy crunchy cereal means I have great interest in eating crispy crunchy cereal. But when they translated it to French and Spanish language, the meaning changed to: I have fallen in love with crispy crunchy serial. Or look at another advertising motto in U.S.A: accessories for closet, it means some tools that you can put in your cupboard or dresser but its meaning in England changes to tools for toilet. In some languages, Pepsi Cola motto: come alive which means drinking Pepsi Cola makes you fresh; translated as come out of the grave. The shape and words in an advertisement must have equal and clear meaning to all message receptors all over the market. Otherwise, selling this product will face some problems in target market. A seller tried to present a bicycle made in England in Nigeria. He wanted to show that this bicycle is very strong so designed a poster which showed an elephant is riding that bicycle. He wanted to show the potential power and durability of the bicycle but selling was not successful. An investigation was made to show the reasons. Public idea was this: we have never seen a cycling elephant! The idea behind the poster wasnt that an elephant can cycle but it wanted to induce an image of a very strong bicycle in the mind of people. As you see the message is not received correctly. While translating words from Persian to English we must pay attention to which of the followings are the majority of the consumers of the products; are they British English or American English or Canadian English speakers. For example; American says lift but British says elevator and American says truck but British says lorry and American says gasoline but British says petrol. Chevrolet Nova was the name of a model of General Motors productions. Selling this model was not successful in Spain because Nova in Spanish language means it doesnt go! It is obvious that customers will not be eager to buy a car which name means it doesnt go.

Ford Company presented its cheap truck namely Feira in some semi-developed countries. This name in Spanish language means ugly old woman so selling this truck was not very successful in that country. Tabling a proposal in British English means a decision making about a prompt action but in American English it means postponing the decision making.

The following advertisement shows another difference for received concepts in two countries with similar language: Nothing sucks like an Electrolux. In British English this advertisement motto means no sucker can act like Electrolux but in American English in means nothing is as bad as Electrolux. IBM Company presented its computers in 44 series to Japan in another name because the word four in Japanese language means something like death. Brownif Air Lines chose this motto:flying on leather for advertising the leather armchairs in its airplanes but when this was translated in the language of Latin American people, its meaning was bare flying. So, an international marketer must get help from a translator who is familiar with both cultures and is completely dominant on host countrys language. Having no or little familiarity with foreign language can be very dangerous, both in translating and in negotiations. It can ruin a marketing activity. b) Nonverbal language (silence) Language of silence means a nonverbal communication and consists of body gestures, standing in a special position, using colors and observing distance and so on. We can recognize happiness or sorrow of people from their face color, their position while sitting or walking and how their put their hands. Body language is under influence of culture. For example; in U.S.A people observe a distance of 18 (45cm) while talking. This distance is reduced to 12 (30cm) in Latin American countries but in Arabic countries, it is less.

In Philippines, moving your head downward means No and moving it upward means yes. In Western Europe, U.S.A and Brazil putting your thumb upward means you are announcing you confirmation but in Greece and Iran it has a very ugly and vulgar meaning (completely no). This movement in Sardine, Italy means an indecent proposal. Moving your hand in the air that means goodbye in most of the countries; means come here in Philippines. English people hardly move their hands while talking but for Italian people and most of the Latin American Countries; this is an essential part of their communications. Indian people shake their head continuously while talking; it seems they cannot talk when you fix their head. Pulling the auricle of ear of citizens of five countries in the Mediterranean region has five different meanings. Paying to attention to its different meanings in different cultures can lead to assault to them. For a Spanish citizen it means you are a sinecure! for a Greek it means it is better for you to watch your behavior, buddy! for a citizen of Malta it means you are a Gyp! for an Italian it means get lost swindler! But pulling the auricle of ear of a Portuguese means: something very unusual that has made other person surprised. When a citizen of Saudi Arabia pulls his/her eyelid downward (like something has fallen in his/her eye) means that he/she thinks you are calling him a jerk! But this action for a miss from a South America countries means she is offering you a positive answer. When American people make a circle by their thumb and index finger; it means a very cheap and suitable product but this position in Japan means paying money for something.

Colors in different cultures and their effects on marketing activities

Colors transfer different and symbolic concepts in different cultures. For example; green in U.S.A means health and succulence but it means sickness in some countries that are covered with thick jungles. Green is the favorite color of Arab people but in a part of Indonesia is a forbidden color. Japanese use green color to show a superior technology but green electronic equipments will not be sold in U.S.A. Green is the national color in Egypt to it must not be used for packing goods. An English bank wanted to improve its activities in Singapore. Its trade mark was in green and blue. Investigations in target market show that green color means death in

that country; so the bank changed its trading mark. Malaysian people do not like green color because it reminds jungles and death to them. Agents of an American country who wanted to present their products in Taiwan market had a very bad experience. They entered to that country while wearing green caps belong to American basketball players. They entered to Taiwan 1 month before elections and green was the color of opposite political party. Worse than that; they realize that in that country a man wears a green hat to announce his wife is a treacherous one. The manager of the team said: I dont know what the hell these green hats were but this trip proved cultural differences to us. Black color is a sign of howling for most of the countries. But in some countries, white is the color of howling. Purple in Brazil, yellow in Mexico and dark red in Ivory Coast are the colors for howling. Blue is a masculine color in U.S.A but red is a masculine color in France and Britain. Pink is a feminine color in U.S.A but yellow is a feminine color for some other countries. Red means good luck in China but it is a symbol for death in Turkey. Never write by red ink on a gift for a Chinese businessman because it means you are going to cut your friendship with him. An international marketer must be familiar with the concept of colors in different cultures to plan for packing goods and product advertisement. Choosing colors in a foreign market must be according to buyers culture and their aesthetics not to sellers culture.

Customs & cultures of consumption

Each country has its own customs, norms and traditions. So, a seller must first investigate in how customers use or consume a product and then plan for marketing. Usages, tastes and priorities makes a product or trading mark very popular in a country but not for sale in another country. The followings are some of examples in international marketing about the above mentioned case: American people like to drink fruit juice with their breakfast but French people are not eager to have fruit juice for breakfast.

German & French people prefer to buy packed spaghetti with famous trading mark, in comparing with Italian people. Italian children like to have chocolate pieces with bread like sandwiches.

Selling a kind of shampoo was not successful in Latin America. Investigating about market shows people in those countries wash their hair with soap and then use a little shampoo, next.

Conserved soups in Britain are suitable for 2 persons but in Mexico, the conserve must be bigger because the families are bigger.

An American company decided to present its product which was a mixture of chocolate and peanuts; and very successful in U.S.A; in Japan. An investigation of market shows that Japanese elder ladies believe that eating chocolate and peanuts by together causes nose bleeding.

Philips Company was successful in Japan market when it could reduce the size of coffee makers to be suitable for Japanese small kitchens and also reduce the size of electric shavers to be suitable for Japanese small hands.

When Coca Cola understood a few people have large refrigerators in Spain to keep 2liter bottles beverages; selling them was stopped in that market.

A beverage named Tang from General Foods Company was not successful in capturing France market. American people liked it and replaced it to breakfast orange juice but French people do not drink orange juice for breakfast so consumption of this beverage is in a low level in that country.

Special bread for toast from Clock Company was not very successful in Britain because a few of British people have toaster in their homes and also it was too sweet for their taste.

Crest tooth paste from P&G Company had a failure in Mexico market. Generally, Mexican people do not pay any attention to benefits of preventing tooth decay so scientific advertisement was not attractive to them.

Floor polish produced by Johnson Company was not successful in Japan market. This polish made the floor very slippery. The company didnt pay attention to this fact that Japanese people do not wear shoes inside the house.

Swiss watch manufacturer understood that they must make their watches according to different sizes of hands. Japanese people have the smallest wrist size among the other countries so they designed their watches considering this fact.

Helen Cruits Company in Sweden changed the name of its shampoo from every night to every day because Swedish people use to wash their hair in the morning.

French whole sellers do not eager to be active in improving their sales. They ask from their retailers about their needs and then send the products. So, if an American company wants to use its improvement sales strategies based on retailers in France, it wont get any successful results.

In Middle East countries, retail selling is more important than whole selling.

Packing model in countries culture

Differences in marketing environment lead to complying with special packing for products. Changing weather conditions implicate a change in packing because we want to be sure a product will be transferred in safety. Sending packed products must be done according to the market. Numbers, color or shape of the packing can have a special meaning in target market. A special number, color or shape for a packing can be very suitable for a country but in other country it can reduce selling or even make it forbidden. For example, one kilogram packages of tomato paste is very popular in Iran because Iranian people use it in most of their foods but a 250 grams package of tomato paste is popular in Europe. Four liter packages of milk are very popular in U.S.A but in Iran 0.5liter packages are very popular. A very famous American golf ball manufacturer targeted Japan market because this game was growing to be popular in Japan. The packages in U.S.A contains six to twelve balls but Japanese people prefer to buy less quantity so a new package contained four balls designed for Japan market. Unfortunately the sales were in a very low rate so the company investigated the reasons. The results show that number four is an infelicitous number in Japan like number 13 which is infelicitous in Iran.

Packing has a leading role in improving sales according to retail selling market structure. For example; Winston Company needed more than 250 different packing designs for its cigarettes in different external markets. Packing design with U.S. word on it; was used for less than six markets. For example; number of cigarettes in a package must be mentioned in front of the package. Descriptions on the package must be prepared in two languages in Canada. Every decision about size, shape, materials, color and descriptions are under influence of packing method. The countries with high national incomes prefer to have large packages. In countries with low national incomes, consumers buy less quantity. Size and shape of packages depend on tradition in a market so the materials for packing can be varied. American people prefer to buy things in glass bottles but German people prefer to buy things in cans. Color and the description on the packages must have harmony; this is a strategic way for improving a product. Sales improvement is very important in consumables because companies must pack their products considering standard points for color and designs. Standard colors help to recognize products faster. It is obvious that sales improvement strategies depend on a collection of colors and designs that are accepted in the target culture.

Religion in consume culture model of the countries

This part is designated to religion, beliefs or religious attitudes. An international marketer must know that religion has a very strong effect on economy in a society and marketing activities. Religion creates some special attitudes in people that have a great influence on consume and purchase model. In the followings we present some of them: Religious holidays influence on peoples consumption model in different countries. Sunday is a holiday for Christians and Friday is a holiday for Moslems. In Christian countries, Christmas holidays are best times for marketing a product. But in Iran, Nowrooz holiday is the best time for marketing and selling some kind of products like clothes, shoes or candies. Eating beef if forbidden for Hindus and eating pork is forbidden for Moslems or Jewish. On the other hand, Moslems do not drink alcoholic drinks so the rate of selling

beverages is very high in these countries. Pepsi & Coca Cola have great markets in Islamic countries. Exporting meat to Islamic has special considerations. Animals must be slaughtered according to Islamic tradition otherwise they are not accepted. A Thai businessman wanted to export shoes to Saudi Arabia. He put the name of Allah on it. He wasnt successful in capturing Saudi Arabia market because Allah is a very holy name for Moslem people and they never wear shoes with Allah name on it. Totem is a word that describes religion and philosophy of primitive people. They worshiped ghosts instead of God. In some under developed countries; this kind of belief can influence on peoples behavior. The main factor in Totem is magic. When people are not aware of the relations between cause and effect; talisman and magic will be the reason or cause of the results and effects. These kinds of beliefs create some special attitudes towards modern products. For example; in Zaire talisman and magic is very popular so they explain some European products in an odd manner. They had a very strange description for Penicillin, they said white people have a magic that its effects are more than any other prays. Cow veneration is one of the specifications. Thats why most of Hindus are vege tarians. Needless (Nirvana) is one of the other Hindus specifications similar to Buddhists. On the other hand, heavy thrives for gaining wealth is an admirable way in Protestants. Sometimes religious groups can influence on companies marketing activities . American Moslems called for boycott of the Walt Disney Co. products because Disney Company has made
a fair in its entertainment park in Florida and Israel was attended in that fair and they were going to show a film in which Jerusalem (Beit-al-moghadas) was introduced as Israel capital city. So, American Moslems called for boycotting all Disneys products and the company itself.

Important Islamic groups and famous Islamic persons banned English & American products in protest to Americas attack to Afghanistan. This made Coca Cola Company branch in India very angry.

Negotiation culture in different countries

Considering negotiation cultures is very important for business negotiation. Sometimes ignoring them can prevent signing a contract by the parties. Here we name some of them: A German marketer says that we ignored social traditions in establishing long term trading relations with Japanese people. After that we noticed thats why we have so many problems because we have ignored their traditional culture. In Saudi Arabia Stretch the legs to the other person canceled a multi-billion dollar contract
with America because they consider this action as a great assault.

Never use yellow color while negotiating with Mexican people because this means death in that country. While negotiating in Germany, never offer knife and fork on the table because they believe this put an end on friendship. Never present a clock to a Thai person because in Taiwan it means the relationship is cut. Never talk about life insurance in Spain Never give a white flower to a person in Hong Kong. In France, yellow flower means treason. South American managers like to sit or stand very close to each other (nose to nose) while negotiating but American trading managers like to have a suitable distance while negotiating. In face to face trading negotiations, Japanese managers never say No directly to American party. If they have to say no; usually produce a sound like SAH between their teeth which is meaningless or they say it is very hard instead of saying no directly. In these conditions, Americans assume the negotiation was fruitless because they dont know the result. Generally, Americans like to gain the results very soon but Japanese think this is very rude.

When 2 American managers exchange their visit cards, the other manager have a very quick look at it and put it in his pocket for next calls. On the other hand, Japanese managers investigates the others visit cards very carefully. They read every detail on it like the position of the person in the company and even the number of subsidiaries. They try to give their visit cards to the most important persons in other companies.

When an American manager says yes it means I accept the terms. But in Asian countries this word has different meanings. Sometimes it means I understand what has said completely but

it doesnt mean that he/she agreed. Or in other cases, it means that they need to consult with the other persons. And sometimes it means complete agreement. Considering these meanings and using them correctly is very important in trading negotiations.

In Japan, parties must be present for negotiating sooner than the time of starting negotiation. Being later for negotiations is not very important in Arabic countries, Latin America and some of the Far East countries. So, being on time for a negotiation is not an advantage in Latin American countries.

When Arab people or Latin America people talk to a person, usually get very close to him/her. It the other person take a step backward, it causes resentment. American companies have very rapid investment return in their own country but when they want to have relations with Japanese companies they consider their customs and traditions although they do not have rapid investment return in their trading activities in that country. Sometimes they face with failure and losses during the first 5 years or more. The reason is that investment returns in Japan is planned according to a long term program.

Silence and stillness in Japanese people is a negative concept for American but Japanese people use silence & stillness to reach a better price. They believe that American people are in a hurry so if they are made to loiter, they will accept every condition.

Signing a small contract may takes several days for Arab people because they speak about everything during negotiations or do lots of other things. An American manager thinks about benefits in the first place. He/she is not patient and wants to sign an agreement as soon as possible. An American manager acts very friendly and calls other persons with their first names and frequently uses surnames. But in European countries, they use only surname unless they have a very long term friendship.

French managers like to start negotiations very quickly but never decide very quickly because they like discussions and eager to investigate a matter from all aspects. If a person does not know their language; he/she must have studied about their history and culture to put a positive effect on them.

If you want to present a gift to a French manager, it must a thing that admire his/her intelligence; for example a book. Because French people admire personal success, higher education and professional successes. Never give a home appliance to them as a gift. Sending flowers is customary in France and send odd numbers of flowers (other than 13).

In Germany do not present very ornamented gifts. Never sent red roses. Send flowers in odd numbers other than 13. Never use white wraps for your presents. Never use black, brown or white ribbons for wrapping your present. Never give a present in your first visit. It must be given when you have more contacts.

English people behave very formally but they are very social people and prefer not to talk about job cases after working hours.

Japanese insist to know the job position of other persons in negotiations so they recommend the others to have visit cards showing their job positions while traveling to Japan. The back of this card must show the information in Japanese language. And you must give it to the other party in first visit. Japanese people want to know the other party personally so they invite the negotiator for dinner or other programs after working hours as a Japanese proverb says: you can watch the persons souls at night.

If you want to give a gift to one person, do it when he/she is alone otherwise you have to give gifts to every person in the room. If you are invited to a Japanese house, do not forget to bring a gift. Remember, wrapping of the gifts must not have strong colors, white, black, dark grey or a combination of black and white. Never use ribbon. Brass paper for wrapping a gift shows your good style. Selecting red color is very good because this color is the symbol of health.

Never give a gift containing 4 parts to Korean or Japanese business man because 4 is an infelicitous number in those countries.

In some Arabic countries, wearing shirts with short sleeves in trading visits is a kind of disrespect. In Iran, women must have complete covering (Hejab).

Summary
It was tried to investigate all cultural factors that have influences on international marketing activities in different aspects. These aspects were investigated from companies attitude while challenging with international marketing activities, verbal & nonverbal role of language role, considering color, traditions and customs and attitudes of the countries in consuming goods,

packing, the effect of religions on countries purchase model and also negotiating culture in marketing. The scope of these factors is very vast. We have investigated a small part of these factors to show the effects of cultural factors on international marketing activities. It is obvious that ignoring them can make problems in companys marketing plans in foreign markets or even can cause a complete failure.