Adapting to Culture: Strategies for Global Companies in New Markets

This report explores the crucial aspects of cultural adaptation for global companies aiming to succeed in international markets. It defines global businesses and culture, emphasizing their relationship with key cultural elements such as language, religion, aesthetics, and manners/customs. The document provides examples of how these elements impact marketing strategies, highlighting potential pitfalls and best practices. It underscores the importance of cultural sensitivity and thorough research to avoid missteps and foster consumer trust, ultimately leading to enhanced market penetration and profitability. The report concludes that understanding and respecting cultural nuances is essential for global companies to establish a strong presence and build lasting relationships with consumers in diverse markets. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and study resources for students.

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Global Companies adjusting To Cultural Environment 2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The article is about how global companies should adjust to different cultural environment. The
article defines what are global businesses and culture and their relationship with elements of
culture. The document also highlights examples of the elements of culture and how they affect
marketing strategy. There is a conclusion on the topic followed by a list of references where the
information was sourced from.

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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................4
GLOBAL COMPANIES ADJUSTING TO CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT...............................................................5
1. Language.........................................................................................................................................5
2. Religion............................................................................................................................................5
3. Aesthetics........................................................................................................................................6
4. Manners and customs.....................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................................8

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INTRODUCTION
A global company is one that has its headquarters based in the mother country but has
established branches all over the world. Companies need to understand the needs of their
potential customers and to do so they must first understand their culture. Culture is the way of
life of a certain community. In order to establish themselves in foreign countries and have a
ready market for their produce, they need to carry out research on the cultural environment of the
targeted market in order to be compatible and avail the products that the target market requires.
The crucial elements of culture to be considered are language, manners and customs, religion and
aesthetics.

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GLOBAL COMPANIES ADJUSTING TO CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT
For companies to establish themselves in the international market scene, they need to carry out a
marketing research based on cultural differences to avoid embarrassment or offending the
targeted market. Armstrong, et al (2015).
To do this successfully, they need to adjust to the following elements of culture:
1. Language
This is a mode of communication conveyed in a particular way and which can either be written
or spoken. Some countries may have more than one language. Language comes to play in
marketing when advertising. For people to understand a product via advertising, you must the
appropriate language and one that is comprehendible to the targeted audience in case a country
has multiple languages. Also, different countries use different languages in different regions like
Canada which uses part French and part English. For example, like when Coca Cola advertised
in China, the name Coca Cola translated to “female horse stuffed in wax” or in South America
where GM car model Nova translated to it “won’t go”. As evidenced, advertising without prior
understanding the language of a targeted market can be very detrimental and lead to losses. Thus,
caution has to be taken and the only way it to learn the language or use a qualified interpreter.
Gillespie and Riddle (2015).
2. Religion
Religion is the belief and worship of a supreme being. The most common religions in the world
are Christianity and Islam. It is critical that a company considers the religion of the intended
market target since not all products are allowed by all religions. Also, religion has holiday where
Ramadan people do not consume food and Christmas where turkey is in demand can be a helpful
insight to companies in the food industry. A good example is Islam and pork. Muslims do not
consume pork as they consider it dirty and by understanding this, a pork company would not
waste its resources and man power marketing pork in a muslin dominated country. Also, for beef
it should be “hilal” (meat slaughtered in the Islam manner) not “halal” which is the opposite.
Esposito, (2016).

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3. Aesthetics
These are principles which relate to nature and the admiration of beauty. As the phrase goes,
“beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder”, different cultures have a different perspective of
different cultures. Martin, (2015). Aesthetic affects designs, content of music and colors. What
may be appreciated in one country may be also be unappreciated in another country or region.
For example, in African nations, big bodied women are viewed as beautiful but in America and
most of Europe; they tend to have a taste for petite women thus affecting the size of clothing.
Cosmetic companies can take this into consideration when marketing for their produce. Another
example is secular music viewed in the same context where it is not appreciated in Arabia but it
is in America. Liu, et al (2017)
4. Manners and customs
Manners and customs are a similar way of doing things or behaving which is acceptable in a
given cultural setting. Different cultures have different manners and customs and companies
should take this into consideration so as not to offend a certain community and tarnish their
business name. The manners of culture include mode of dressing, handshakes or even making
eye contact. For example, in Islam, a woman is not supposed to show off her hair. So, if a
marketing agent is a woman and wants to close a business deal with people of Islamic culture,
she should cover her hair so as not to offend her potential customers and it will be easy to close
the deal since they view she has respected their culture. Alserhan, (2016).
.

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CONCLUSION
In conclusion, culture is crucial in International business marketing so that the targeted consumer
can have a sense of belief, belonging and association with the company. This will lead to market
penetration thus increasing sales and eventually profitability

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REFERENCES
Alserhan, B. A. (2016). The principles of Islamic marketing. Gower.
Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M., & Brennan, R. (2015). Marketing: an introduction.
Pearson Education.
Esposito, J. L. (2016). Islam: The straight path (Vol. 4). Oxford University Press.
Gillespie, K., & Riddle, L. (2015). Global marketing. Routledge.
Liu, Y., Li, K. J., Chen, H., & Balachander, S. (2017). The Effects of Products’ Aesthetic Design
on Demand and Marketing-Mix Effectiveness: The Role of Segment Prototypicality and Brand
Consistency. Journal of Marketing, 81(1), 83-102.
Martin, G. (2015). Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beholder-Meaning and Origin." phrases, sayings,
idioms and expressions