International Marketing Issues. Проблемы международного маркетинга, страница 15

Peers and peer groups. The peer group includes persons with whom an individual has regular contact. Peers can be co-workers, friends, fellow-students, neighbors, members of athletic groups (tennis, aerobic dance, surfing, hiking), or social groups (bridge clubs, gourmet cooking clubs, Bible study, professional associations), to name a few. These types of reference groups have the strongest influence on consumption patterns in sophisticated and urban societies, and especially for products that are visible when consumed (automobiles, clothing, beverages). In less-sophisticated societies, the relevant peer groups may be limited to the family, church, and close friends. The important characteristic of peer groups to remember is that they sanction consumption behavior through group acceptance or approval and they illustrate appropriate life styles.

The role of women. The role of women varies widely from society to society. Women are not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia, but they are the dominant merchants in public markets. The marketer is particularly interested in the amount of influence women exert over economic factors. Women affect the economic environment both as workers and as consumers. In those societies where women work primarily in the home, they contribute only indirectly to family buying power by making the things (like clothes) which, if purchased, would decrease family buying power. However, even in these societies, women may have a particularly important role as the family purchasing agent in consumption decisions and actual buying. In societies where women are a part of the paid labor force, they contribute to total family purchasing power, but their dominance over family buying decisions may actually be reduced because they do not have the time to be the specialized family purchasing agent. In designing any marketing strategy, it is necessary to start by identifying the prospective buyer and factors or persons that affect his or her buying decisions.

Social Patterns. A society dictates how its members should behave in many kinds of personal relationships. A pattern of traditions and rules of behavior evolve in each society, and people who ignore these rules are considered naïve, crude or uncaring. These patterns of social usage vary from society to society, but they all have the common purpose of facilitating and structuring communication between individuals.

In many societies the rules of social usage are the same in all personal relationships, whether of a business or personal nature. The Arab business-person may apply the same rules of hospitality to a business caller as to a visiting friend. Japanese businesspersons consider it impolite to flatly turn down a business proposal; instead they merely suggest that there are too many difficulties. Latin American businesspersons would not think of hurrying a business deal any more than they would think of hurrying a conversation with a friend. Foreign businesspersons must adjust to local rules of social usage if they expect to compete successfully in the local market; otherwise, they may be perceived as boors. For example, continuing to try to close a deal with a Japanese businessperson who has suggested "difficulties" would be perceived by the Japanese as tantamount to trying to force a social relationship with an individual who has tactfully shown a lack of interest.

Comprehension

1. Complete the following sentences.

1) The aim of the institutionalized bases each culture develops is …

2)  The international marketer needs to know these relationships in order …

3)  In primitive and/or rural societies, the family function includes …

4)  In some of the more sophisticated urban societies the family may provide…