Consumer Traits and behaviors

Today, people consume for necessity and pleasure. The act of consuming goods may allow one to fit in, feel confident, or participate socially in shopping culture. Consumerism has become a universal behavior amongst most people and

In this section, I will break down the common consumer in attempt to understand what sways him/her into purchasing certain goods—especially those that “they do not need” In addition, I will discuss how consumers determine a certain product to be “worth it”

Many people in today's society are distressed greatly with ones rank in the social hierarchy; material possessions of all sorts seem to construct, shape, and style the lives of consumers all over the world. Consumers all over the world are becoming more and more demanding as more and more is being advertised. Many companies, such as Apple, often advertise months in advance for products creating commotion, attentiveness, and desire among the world. Stores, such as Old Navy, inspire consumers to shop at stores like theirs to feel pleased and satisfied with how much can be bought with such small amounts of money; when in reality, the consumers are spending money on their identity.

To be an effective marketer, one must acknowledge that cultures may vary drastically around the world, and that marketing strategies must be adjusted accordingly. Hofstede’s framework of cultural dimensions helps us understand international values and beliefs by analyzing power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long term orientation, and indulgence. The company that I have chosen to analyze is Nivea and its commercials regarding their body lotions targeted to women in the United Kingdom and India. A comparative analysis between these two commercials reveal the cultural differences and marketing strategies that Nivea adopted to sell its products in these two different markets.

Competition in the business world is fierce and in order to survive companies must expand. “With the increasing globalization of markets, companies find they are unavoidably enmeshed with foreign customers, competitors, and suppliers, even within their own borders,” (Cateora-Graham, 2007). One way in which many companies have done this is by going global. International marketing, although more prominent than ever before, is still a difficult arena for marketers to master. Although religion and culture are not immediately brought to mind when business is brought up, marketing is one aspect of business that is highly sensitive to culture. Not only culture, but also politics, the economy and the law effect marketing strategies. This paper

Whoever said money can’t buy happiness? Today, the argument can be made that happiness and consumerism are directly linked. It is fair to say that happiness is a relative term for different people. However, the obtaining of new and shiny things has become such a part of everyday life, that it provides happiness when people are purchasing something new, and causes sadness when no buying is taking place. For many, it seems to be a protective coating against the harsh realities of everyday stresses from a job, or family life.

Cultural differences between nations often require a company to have multiple marketing strategies. What may be acceptable in on country may not be acceptable in another country. The cultural differences require companies to develop marketing plans that are suitable for each individual culture. Not being aware of and understanding the cultural differences can create costly and embarrassing errors that may actually offend those in other countries. Cultural differences can affect the colors of products, the graphics used on packaging, and how the product is communicated to the foreign target market.

Advertising and Societies: Global Issues. New York, NY: Peter Land, Inc., 2003. Rpt. In Advertising. Ed. Laura K. Egendorf. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web 30 July 2015

From this course, I learned plenty of international marketing principles and knew that international environments are quite different from countries to countries. Each market you enter is different, and what works in one country or region will not work in another. As technology creates leaps in communication and transportation, the world continues to feel smaller and smaller. It is not that hard for companies and consumers to conduct business in almost any country around the world thanks to advances in international trade, and no doubt, the world is tending to be more international, diverse and muti-cultural in multiple ways. In most factors that influenced international marketing, culture has a great impact on it. A marketer always has to study about the local culture in-depth before offering a product to them, and I think that well- understanding of a country’s culture is really essential for international marketing.

The impact of national cultures on marketing practices has been such that it brought about the creation of an academic field, with as a lead-researcher, Geert. Hofstede, on whose writings I have based my analysis.

It provides a basis for comparison for the data that is collected by the researcher.

In American culture, consumerism is both used to boost status as well as a stress reliever. People purchase items not only to add to their collection, but to use it as a distraction from their daily routines. To escape the stresses that accumulate from either a long day of work or the stresses of studying, people purchase goods that serve as a means of entertainment. Shopping in itself for items that are not particularly needed can be seen as an outlet to relieve stress, because it allows one to add to a collection that one has accumulated over a period of time, such as when a female has an assortment of shoes, or when a boy collects baseball cards. In today’s society it is not always about the collection, but the distraction that the consumer goods can provide, whether going out to the theatre to see a movie, immersing oneself into a novel, or playing a video game, American consumer culture thrives off of the purchase of items that serve as a distraction from one’s mundane continuation of everyday life.

Competition in the business world is fierce and in order to survive companies must expand. “With the increasing globalization of markets, companies find they are unavoidably enmeshed with foreign customers, competitors, and suppliers, even within their own borders,” (Cateora-Graham, 2007). One way in which many companies have done this is by going global. International marketing, although more prominent than ever before, is still a difficult arena for marketers to master. Although religion and culture are not immediately brought to mind when business is brought up, marketing is one aspect of business that is highly sensitive to culture. Not only culture, but also politics, the economy and the law effect marketing strategies. This paper

For the course of International Management the following assignment has been giving with the objective to select a topic in the field of International Management. The topic for this paper is Cross-cultural Communication in Marketing/advertising.

The process of consumer decision making has 3 stages: input stage, process stage and output stage.