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The Effect of Language on International Marketing

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Index

* Introduction

* Definition of Culture

* Significance of Language

* The Impact of Language on Communication Decisions

* The Impact of Language on Product, Distribution and Pricing Decisions

* Examples of Language Blunders Made by International Marketers

* Conclusion

* Recommendations

* References

Introduction

Marketing in the simplest description attempts to understand customers in terms of what they buy, when they buy, why they buy, how much they buy, where they buy it, and with what they buy. Internationally, this means understanding culture. How marketing efforts interact with culture determines the success or failure of a product. "There are many examples of cultural differences that have affected marketing success or …show more content…

Unconsciously, individuals tend to use the standards of one's own culture, including language, to evaluate others. "Foreign marketers should never take it for granted that they are communicating effectively in another language." (Cateora) The important thing for marketers is to consider how these biases may come in the way when dealing with members of other cultures.

A country's language is key to its culture. Language expresses the thinking patterns of a culture; what is important and what is not important to a particular culture can be ascertained by what is present and what is not present in its language. The words of the language are merely concepts reflecting the culture from which it is derived. It is the spoken language that dominates as it changes more quickly and reflects the culture more directly.

Eskimos have many words to describe the concept of snow because the difference in the forms of snow plays a much more important role in their daily life than say, a native of Bermuda or Haiti. Furthermore, regional differences and dialects may be subtle, but they can produce substantial differences within the same language. Americans, British, Canadians, Australians, and New Zealanders, although from the same Anglo background with less than a 250-year spread, are diverging. It is not only with humor that one speaks of the Americans and British as two nations divided by a common language.

For example, natives from Minnesota, Mississippi, and

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