Starbucks Operation: Hofstede Cultural Dimension, Global Marketing, and Social Media Marketing

This article discusses the comparison of Hofstede cultural dimension between New Zealand and India, global marketing process in New Zealand and India, dual adaptation strategy, and 6C social media marketing model used by Starbucks.

Running head: STARBUCKS OPERATION
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Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author Note:

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Question no 1.
Comparison of Hofstede cultural dimension New Zealand and India:
Greet Hofstede has pointed out six cultural variables which identify the differences of the
organisational culture of the countries.
Power distance: in power distance dimension, New Zealand sores low as within the
organisations, hierarchy are set only or convenience. The communication gap between the
superiors and inferiors is not much critical. The employees work in teams and share their
expertise without any problem. The managers and other employees are informative and they
consult one another quite frequently (Saleem & Larimo, 2017). the Indian society along with
business are highly hierarchical. There is a strong gap in the people power privileged and those
who do not have power. The communication and sharing of knowledge among the employees
with the managers are highly critical and showing respect to the powerful people for doing
business in India. In Starbucks, hierarchical structure is not followed hence new Zealand can
easily match the criteria
Individualism: in New Zealand, the individualism dimension is high as the employees of
the organisations are expected to have self-reliance as well as display initiatives. The hiring
process highly depends upon the merit. Indian organisational culture has both collectivist as well
as individualistic traits which means that the people prefer to work in teams but if condition
appears, they also work individually to solve problems. As India has collectivist culture,
employees can easily work in teams and perform better than any other region.
Masculinity: New Zealand is a masculine country as the people on this country take
pride in success and achievements in life rather than focusing on the quality of life or caring for
others. India scores high in masculinity dimension as the visual display of success and power
has importance in the society. The focus remains on achievements that is validated by material
gains. The incentive structure of Starbucks can be well utilised in this way.
Uncertainty avoidance: in this dimension, New Zealand does not show any preference
as this dimension. India scores low as the people are accepting of imperfections. The tolerance
of unexpected is higher as people do not feel driven to take action initiatives. Starbucks follow
perfectionist way of service that does not allow any mistake in its products and service.
Therefore, in New Zealand, it will perform better.

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Long term orientation: in this dimension New Zealand scores low for which it is a
normative country. These people have strong concern to establish absolute truth. In Indian
culture, the idea of Karma dominates the idea of long-term orientation. The people here believe
that truth as many ways to be found so they forgive the lack of punctuality. The general comfort
with discovering the fated path rather than playing to an exact plan is preferred. The company
will be profitable in the country where long term orientation is practiced.
Indulgence: New Zealand scores high in the indulgence dimension as the people exhibit
willingness for realising their impulses as well as desires for enjoying their lives by balancing the
work with their personal lives. On the contrary, India scores low in the indulgence dimension
and has the tendency of pessimisms and cynicism. This restraint society control the gratification
of desires as the people are restrained by the social norms (Taras, 2017). This helps Starbucks
to keep employees motivated more in New Zealand.
New Zealand India
Figure 1. Comparison of Hofstede cultural dimension New Zealand and India
(source: Saleem & Larimo, 2017)
Question no 2.
In case of operating in New Zealand, Starbucks have followed the standardised global
marketing process. This is due to the fact that the culture and customer preference in New

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Zealand is more or less the same with those of the USA market from where the company has
been emerged. Therefore, the company does not have to pay some special marketing methods
and the marketing strategies it follows in the other western countries, can be applied in New
Zealand also. As the company has a strong brand effect, it can operate in the market of New
Zealand without any difficulty. However, the localisation of products and services have been
also followed. Waitangi flavours of New Zealand is also available in the coffee served by
Starbucks New Zealand.
In case of the Indian market, the company follows the adapted global marketing so that it
can first create a strong customer bases then maintain that in the Indian market. The company
follows this method as the culture and customer preferences in the Indians market is much
different from that of the USA market (Beugelsdijk & Welzel, 2018). However, the product
adaptation process has to be balanced with the standardised marketing. This will incorporate
specific needs or cultural practices in one hand and maintain the quality of the brand on the
other. This helps the company to reach the customers including some regional ingredients to
customise the products for the Indian customers.
Question no 3.
Starbucks while operating in the global market, mainly follows the dual adaptation
strategic option. In this process, both product as well as communication methods are
successfully adapted. As the company operates in the different markets of the world, it needs to
sustain the blow of the differences in cultural and physical environments across the countries
(Dijkmans, Kerkhof & Beukeboom, 2015). This is the reason why; dual adaptation strategy has
been properly utilised by the company in operating in both New Zealand as well as India. In any
circumstances, the most viable option for the international expansion is the adaptation of the
products and communications styles of the company.
In case of product adaptation, the company follows the localising process of its
product. As the coffee consumption rate in the Indian market is very low with consumption of 82
grams per capita as compared to 4 kilograms per capita in the USA. In addition to this,
Starbucks cannot keep the taste of the products similar to that of the New Zealand. Therefore,
the company has used local ingredients in making the coffee in the global markets. For
example, in Japan, the company has introduced green tea ‘matcha’ which has enhanced the
market reach of the company in that particular market. The changes have been brought in

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tastes also. As the people of New Zealand and other western countries prefer bitter coffee than
those of Indians.
In case of the communication, each of the market expects customised style of
communication. Therefore, the company uses promotion by using local language in service
which will reach the customers in a more engaging way. Therefore, the company tries to apply
something different in communicating their services or product utility. Secondly the company
promotes its products and services through the television advertisement. Thirdly, it has
used social media communication strategy more engagingly so that it can target the young
generation.
Question no 4a.
Without social media marketing no business can thrive in this highly technological world.
6C social media marketing is a unique model based on which the companies design their
marketing strategies. The 6c model comprises of conduct conversation, content, context,
cadence and crisis.
Conduct: in case of Facebook, it complements the professional relationships. It is
effective to present the brand towards a bigger and dependable customer base (Niedermeier,
Wang & Zhang, 2016). Through honest and transparent brand image the company can create
awareness about the brand. The company always remain attentive about the content it is talking
about and conducts itself online under any public circumstances (Rodriguez, Peterson & Ajjan,
2015). Through Facebook, Starbucks has created a brand image by deciding the process
through which it will get engaged with the audience. The messages the company shares with its
customers have special mediums like videos photos and many other written messages which
keep the audience alert about its online presence.
Conversation: Facebook is the best platform for Starbucks to convey information about
the new and existing products to more people within a limited period of time. There is a chance
of open dialogue, be accessible as well as responsive to the audience (Ngai, Tao & Moon,
2015). Through this platform the company can engage more people and get the diet feedback
on the spot.
Content: Facebook provides opportunity to attract and engage the customers true great
content. Through creativity, originality and freshness the marketing becomes more leave it

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which attracts people's attention and maintains the interest. This also stimulates the thinking of
the customers. with the alluring visuals, the company gets the chance of storytelling.
Context: with the changing time, the social media is getting dynamic. The company may
have nice content and visuals to support those contains but gradually the content alone does
not remain sufficient that keeps the customers engaged (Wang, Pauleen & Zhang, 2016).
Online customers ask for more surprising and engaging therefore content along with context will
serve good for the brand.
Cadence: It helps the company to understand the constant flow of real time data. It helps
to deliver the right message to right audience and dean right time. This allows the brand to
respond to the interest and attention of the customers. It also allows to understand the
preferences of the customers and make them engaged. Along with this, IT publishes contents
with audience which improves the ROI.
Crisis Facebook as a social media when both create and solve any type of prices. It is
the incredible fickle nature of the social conversations which requires the brand to be baby
constantly (Hassan, Nadzim & Shiratuddin, 2015). The traditional crisis management typically
requires the process used for written religious or press conferences but in social media, the
company always remains ready with multimedia content. The company keeps on launching
content in a variety of circumstances and formats.
Question no 4b.
Social media site –
Facebook
New Zealand India
Site details: Yes No Yes No
Clearly identifies
the purpose of the
site
In the about
section, no
information
about the
company is
shred
(Facebook.com,
2019).
The about
section bears
very little
information
about Starbucks
Has titles,
descriptions and
It has titles and
visuals like
A lot of visuals
are present in

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visuals that
resonate
with the audience
photos shared
by customers
as well as the
company. Most
of them reflect
on the
availability
introduction of
products
the site. A short
description of the
products that
resonate with the
audiences
(Facebook.com,
2019).
Answers users’
questions
effectively
Authorities
allow the
customers to
know more
about the
products
shared in
Facebook
In most of the
cases, other
customers are
answering one
another.
Question
answer type of
communication
is not present.
Encourages
audience
engagement
Through videos
and photos, the
authority allows
enough
audience
engagement
The sharing
photos or
videos of new
products are no
so frequent
(Facebook.com,
2019).
Makes it easy to
share, befriend
and connect
The photos and
videos are quite
easy to share. It
accepts friend
requests fast
and remain
connected
always.
Takes longer
time to befriend
and connect.
The photos and
videos are easy
to share.
Has a sense of Has a sense of The social

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community community as
the product line
changes with
festivals like
Christmas and
Waitangi Day
that encourage
more people to
get engaged
with this
company
(Facebook.com
, 2019).
media has not
even used
properly. The
local festivals
do not get
priority.
Localisation of
products have
not yet been
successfully
applied.
Question no 4c.
Effective reach has been used to analyse media for calculating the effectiveness of and
means used for advertisement. It is a time-dependent summary for the aggregate audience
behaviours. This has increased the company’s interaction with the customers, lead to build a
strong relationship with audiences. It is helpful to bring changes in the products and know the
preference of the customers.

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References:
Dijkmans, C., Kerkhof, P., & Beukeboom, C. J. (2015). A stage to engage: Social media use
and corporate reputation. Tourism Management, 47, 58-67.
Facebook.com. (2019). Starbucks India. Retrieved from
https://www.facebook.com/starbucksindia/
Facebook.com. (2019). Starbucks New Zealand. Retrieved from
https://www.facebook.com/pg/StarbucksNZ/community/?ref=page_internal
Hassan, S., Nadzim, S. Z. A., & Shiratuddin, N. (2015). Strategic use of social media for small
business based on the AIDA model. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 172, 262-
269.
Ngai, E. W., Tao, S. S., & Moon, K. K. (2015). Social media research: Theories, constructs, and
conceptual frameworks. International Journal of Information Management, 35(1), 33-44.
Niedermeier, K. E., Wang, E., & Zhang, X. (2016). The use of social media among business-to-
business sales professionals in China: how social media helps create and solidify guanxi
relationships between sales professionals and customers. Journal of Research in
Interactive Marketing, 10(1), 33-49.
Rodriguez, M., Peterson, R. M., & Ajjan, H. (2015). CRM/social media technology: impact on
customer orientation process and organizational sales performance. In Ideas in
Marketing: Finding the New and Polishing the Old (pp. 636-638). Springer, Cham.
Saleem, S., & Larimo, J. (2017). Hofstede cultural framework and advertising research: An
assessment of the literature. In Advances in Advertising Research (Vol. VII) (pp. 247-
263). Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden.
Taras, V. (2017). Cultural Dimensions, Hofstede. The International Encyclopedia of Intercultural
Communication, 1-5.
Wang, W. Y., Pauleen, D. J., & Zhang, T. (2016). How social media applications affect B2B
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