Cultural Factors: Consumer Buying Behavior

Culture is a key aspect of a human that reflects on their lifestyle, family, traditions and pulls together the external influences that play a role in how one chooses to live their life. For me, culture is something you collect throughout your lifetime. In my lifetime, I have been lucky enough to travel outside of the United States and meet people from all over the world. I have seen how people go about their daily routines in many different ways compared to mine. The main cultural influence that has been present in my life since day one is the closeness of my family. All my cousins are very close it has often odd when I hear about families with weak relationships and small size. Another influence that has shaped my behavior was my exposure of extreme poverty and extreme wealth while living in Mexico. Lastly, a cultural influence that has shaped my belief system is my education.

1. When selecting a UPL the Commander must take into consideration which of the following qualifications? The commander appoints an officer or non-commisned officer ( e-5 r above) on orders as the UPL

People are directly affected by their cultural surroundings when making purchases. Like peer groups, employers, clients, colleagues, boyfriends, girlfriends, mothers, fathers, etc. Consciously, the purchaser has these people in mind when buying certain

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines culture as “the beliefs, customs, art etc. of a particular society, group, place or time” (Culture, n.d.). Cultural norms vary around the globe, which can make the global business

Culture is an important factor that should be considered in today’s market. In fact, many adult Americans are starting to embrace cultural diversity. Culture helps in shaping one’s perspective on the world including his

1.2: Cultural factors affect customers expectations because if you do not provide for a certain culture the customer would have had a negative experience and is unlikely to return. For example, in my organisation we realised that we needed to ensure there was adequate options for vegetarians and vegans and have used this to broaden the cultural scope of our customers.

1- Based on the definition of Ricky W. Griffin, Michael W. Pustay in their book international business a managerial perspective in chapter four they defined culture in saying, culture is the collection of attitudes, beliefs, values, customs, and behaviors that distinguish one society from another. A society’s culture decides the rules that govern how firms operate in the society. many characteristics of culture are worth noting for their relevance to international business.

According to West & Turner (2014), cultural studies is essentially concerned with how elite groups such as the media exercise their power over subordinated groups and is rooted in two fundamental claims; culture pervades and invades all facets of human behavior, and people are part of a hierarchical structure of power (pp. 441). Marketing groups examine very closely the behaviors that many of the people in their target demographic are engaged in and why. Marketing relies on social

The attitude, values, ideals and beliefs of individuals are greatly influenced by the culture in which they live. Precisely, culture is the sum total of the ways of life of people in a particular society.

     Cultures are varying among different parts of the globe. People with different cultures have different characteristics and viewpoints on the subjects due to diverse understanding and method of learning. During the past few decades, the international trade grows in a very rapid rate due to the advantages that it provides; “increased sales, operational efficiencies, exposure to new technologies and broader consumer choices” (Heslin). Therefore, when considering the culture aspect to current business world, it is crucial for business to understand the culture aspect because of the tremendous growth of international business as well as utilize the international market to its maximum

Thus, the terms culture and society are somewhat interchangeable. Characteristics of culture: Culture is narrow. It prescribes that kinds of behavior considered acceptable in the society. The prescriptive characteristic of culture simplifies a consumer's decision-making process by limiting product choices to those, which are socially acceptable. These same characteristics create problems for those products not in tune with the consumer's cultural beliefs. Culture is socially shared. Culture cannot exist by itself. Members of a society must share it. Thus acting to reinforce culture's perspective nature. Culture is learned. Culture is not inherited genetically; it must be learned and acquired. Socialization or enculturation occurs when a person absorbs or learns the culture in which he or she is raised. Culture facilitates communication. One useful function provided by culture is to facilitate communication. Culture usually imposes common habits of though and feeling among people. Thus, within a given group culture makes it easier for people to communicate with one another. But culture may also block communication across groups because of a lack of shared common culture values. This is one reason why a standardized advertisement may have difficulty communicating with consumers in foreign countries. How marketing efforts interact with a culture determines the success or failure of a

Culture: culture impacts consumers’ behaviour as culture is viewed differently across nations, consumers preferences differs due to values, beliefs and customs. Therefore Lidl’s would have to develop marketing communication strategies that appeals to different cultural background in order to gain acceptance in other countries. The marketing messages should connect with its target market in such a way it influences them to make purchase or to enquire about the product.

There are four main factors that influence the consumer’s behavior; cultural, social, personal, and physiological. These factors determine what the consumer will buy, why they buy an item, and if they will be a return customer.

Culture can be defined in many ways due to the fact that everyone can have their own distinct and traditional beliefs and values. “ Culture is fluid, it is not a static entity which one takes out of the box on occasion. It is with us daily” (Cultural Handout). Someone’s culture is set as the characteristics of the group practices in language, religion, types of food, social traits and habits, and the distinct arts and music. There are a variety of different cultures for example, Western Culture, Eastern Culture, Latin Culture, Middle Eastern Culture, and African Culture. All of these different cultures have their own ideas, values, and individualism, laws that are implied, civil rights, and even technology. In our, “ Culture Handout” culture is defined as the tool of the mind, “ it is an individual’s way seeing and interacting within the world. It encompasses one’s values systems, beliefs, and perceptions of the world around them. Race, socio-economic class gender, sexual orientation, ability, geographic location, age, religion language, etc. all impact the formation of culture, but these various context are not culture” (Cultural Handout).

In a first part, we will try to understand the impact on culture on consumption and then the need to look at each country particularly. Then we will discuss the main factors that influence the consumers that is to say: attitudes, values and motivations (combined with socio-demographic factors). Eventually, we will present and analyse the research we decided to base our study on in order to develop the constructs and the propositions of the conceptual framework.