Global Consumer Behavior Analysis: Hofstede's Dimensions and Marketing

This report provides an analysis of global consumer behavior, focusing on the impact of culture on marketing strategies. It begins with an introduction to globalization and the challenges multinational corporations face in adapting to diverse cultural landscapes. The core of the report centers on Geert Hofstede's cultural dimensions, including power distance, individualism vs. collectivism, masculinity vs. femininity, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation. Each dimension is defined and explained, with examples from different countries. The report then discusses how marketers can utilize these dimensions to tailor their strategies, such as adapting product promotion to suit the cultural values of the target market. It emphasizes the importance of understanding cultural nuances to effectively position products and achieve success in international markets. The conclusion stresses the need for marketers to use these dimensions as analytical tools to guide, not dictate, their marketing strategies, ultimately facilitating the growth of multinational corporations in new markets.

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Global Consumer Behavior
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Introduction
Modernization and globalization have brought the world together under a global village
that has increase trade and connectivity between countries. Contemporary organizations are now
more than ever operating in many countries under the banner of multinational corporations.
Mobility and the increase in globalization, however, poses a challenge to the organizations in
terms of growth and positioning of new products. Each country has its unique cultural
characteristics, therefore, multinational corporations have to adapt to the culture of the countries
they branch into and come up with strategies to promote their products. The employees also are
dynamic and have different cultural values, ideas and beliefs. Many cultural researchers such as
Geert Hofstede and Trompenaars have written works on the concept of culture and how it affects
organization operations. Hofstede founded the framework of research on culture and his work is
often used by other researchers as a point of reference.
To understand the dimensions that were discussed by Hofstede, first, it is essential to
understand the culture. Hofstede defines culture as the collective mind programming that
separates the members of one group from the other (Soares, Farhangmehr and Shoham, 2017,
pp.278). Hofstede arrived at this from researching subjects in about 50 countries around the
world. His research was carried out in IBM, a multinational corporation, between 1967 to 1973.
Hofstede carried out a statistical analysis of the answers given by the IBM employees in different
countries (Mazanec, Crotts, Gursoy and Lu, 2015, pp.300). In his findings, he revealed common
problems varying from country to country in the dimensions of; social inequality, the
relationship between a group and the individual, the relationship with the authority, the concept
of masculinity and feminism, and ways of dealing with emotions and controlling aggressions.
Hofstede categorized these cultural elements into power distance, collectivism vs individualism,

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feminism vs masculinity, and uncertainty avoidance. He later broadens the dimensions to include
long-term orientation vs short term orientation.
In the power distance dimension, Hofstede expresses the extent onto which the less
powerful members of the society expect and also accept the disparity in the distribution of
power. This dimension addresses the issue of inequality, whereby the existence of social classes
is very significant. Those people in this kind of society accept to a large extent the power
distance and the hierarchical order in which everybody knows his or her place and there is no
justification needed whatsoever. In societies where there is low power distance, the people strive
to demand equalization and equitable distribution of power and justice for inequalities (Dartey-
Baah, 2013, pp.39). This kind of power distance is evident in some South America, Asia, and
African countries. Countries with high power index include China and Saudi Arabia. The
decisions are mostly done by the head of families and top managers in the business settings
(Valaei, Rezaei, Ismail and Oh, 2016, pp.279) A marketer in such a setting can appeal to the
leadership by portraying how the products will benefit the whole company or family and make
leadership more successful. For the low power index countries, the marketer will need to reach
the masses and emphasize how the product will benefit the ordinary people.
Individualism vs collectivism discusses the relative importance of individual or group
interests. Individualism emphasizes a loosely-knit social setting whereby people only care for
their personal needs and those of immediate family members. In collectivism, the society exists
as a tight-knit framework where people look after each other and social bonds are strong (Venaik
and Brewer, 2013, pp.473). The United States of America is considered to be one of the most
individualistic countries in the world. For the marketer, in countries with high individualism, the
promotion should target individual needs by emphasizing how the product will benefit them as a

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person (Pergelova and Angulo-Ruiz, 2017, pp.889) For collective societies, the promoter has to
ensure he markets to the whole community and portray how if a member buys the product, the
whole community will benefit.
The masculinity vs feminity dimension portrays the values that are considered to be
important in society. The masculine side is more inclined towards heroism, achievement and
material reward for success. The society is consequently more competitive. On the other hand,
feminity advocates for cooperation, empathy, and modesty. Japan is considered to be a very
masculine country while Norway and Sweden are more feminine (Minkov and Hofstede, 2014,
pp.168). A marketer has to evaluate the culture and target the products to the correct gender. For
example, feminity markets are more sexually conscious and respond negatively to gender-
oriented promotions.
The dimension of uncertainty avoidance portrays the degree in which individuals in the
society feel uncomfortable with the future and the unknown. Those countries with high
uncertainty index are close-minded and maintain strict rules and codes of beliefs whereas those
with low uncertainty index maintain a relaxed attitude. Argentina, Peru, and Chile are examples
of high uncertainty in avoiding countries (Fregidou-Malama and Hyder, 2015, pp.532). For the
marketer, cultures with high ambiguity uncertainty prefer to have all the information regarding
the products with advantages and features spell out. The low ambiguous culture accepts lifestyle
promotion and is more open to new products. the marketer can, therefore, use this knowledge to
position the products accordingly in the market.
The time orientation dimension determines whether the society is focused on traditions
and maintains links to the past or they are focused on the future. The Eastern cultures have high

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long term orientation index while the Western societies have short term orientation index. The
marketer has to consequently take into account these differences by generating promotions for
traditional structures and focusing on short-term benefits for the markets that score low.
Conclusion.
The foregone has discussed Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and provided an evaluation of
how a marketer can use these dimensions to expand into new markets. The marketer has to be
conscious and use these dimensions as analytical tools and not as alternative programs for
growth strategies. These dimensions’ act as guide to the marketer on what to expect in the
market. It gives insight into the beliefs, traditions and general perception of the society and the
marketer has to use this knowledge to position the products in such a way that they will be well
received by the consumers. A good marketing strategy will consequently facilitate the growth of
the multinational corporation into these new markets.

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Bibliography
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Minkov, M. and Hofstede, G., 2014. A replication of Hofstede’s uncertainty avoidance
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Valaei, N., Rezaei, S., Ismail, W.K.W. and Oh, Y.M., 2016. The effect of culture on attitude
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Venaik, S. and Brewer, P., 2013. Critical issues in the Hofstede and GLOBE national culture
models. International Marketing Review, 30(5), pp.469-482.