Culture. It is beautiful but oh-so complex. When practicing cross-cultural marketing, it is easy to commit a cultural faux pas and hurt your brand.
Over the years, we’ve worked with companies from all over the world. Some of them were targeting a local audience while others were targeting an international one.
As marketers, it’s our responsibility to educate ourselves and to be sensitive to cultural nuances.
What is Cross-Cultural Marketing?
If marketing is the process of getting people interested in your product or service, cross-cultural marketing is doing it to an audience of a different culture.
The goal is to speak to an audience in a way that taps into while still respecting their cultural identity.
Why is Cross-Cultural Marketing Important?
Back in 2018, Toyota created four different advertisements for one car.
The advertisements you saw may not have been the same advertisements I saw. It depended on our ethnicity.
Toyota understands that we respond best to messages that resonate with us. They worked in conjunction with four specialized ad agencies to craft commercials specifically targeted for African-Americans, Hispanics, Asian-Americans, and a “Transcultural” crowd, whatever that means.
The 2018 Toyota Camry commercial targeted for African-Americans.
Why? What difference does it make if you show a commercial of African-American characters to a Hispanic audience? Don’t opposites attract?
Actually, no. They do not.
According to a study by the Journal of American Scientist, we are more likely to marry someone who is similar to us in almost every variable. Naturally, we are attracted to people of a similar race, religion, ethnic background and socioeconomic status to our own because familiarity is safe.
Instinctively, we are most likely to trust a stranger if she or he looks like ourselves, a family member or a close friend. Subconsciously we think, “he looks like my cousin, and my cousin is a good person so this stranger must be like my cousin.”
International brands, like Toyota, understand this. They understand that an advertisement of a girl that looks, talks, walks and acts like me is more likely to get my attention – and my money.
That’s why it is worth marketing according to the audience, but more specifically, to the culture.
How to Use Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions in Marketing
As Claude Hopkins wrote in his book, Scientific Advertising, marketing is not meant to amuse or entertain. It’s meant to strike a chord with your audience and initiate a response.
When we want to speak to an audience based on their cultural identity, we must understand how to speak to them and what makes them tick.
Social psychologist Geert Hofstede has dedicated a large part of his career in helping people understand and better speak to members of other cultures.
Back in the 1970s, Hofstede created a cross-cultural framework. In other words, it’s a set of dimensions that describe the key values of a culture and how those values are related to people’s behaviour within the culture.
There are 5 primary dimensions, and each one represents preferences (or values) that distinguish countries from each other. The 5 dimensions are as follows:
- Power Distance
- Individualism versus Collectivism
- Masculinity versus Femininity
- Uncertainty Avoidance
- Long-Term versus Short-Term Orientation
Like all things in life, the dimensions are relative and they are only meaningful when we compare them. With a deep understanding of each dimension and some creative thinking, we can use Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions in marketing.
At least as a framework.
Read more about cross-cultural marketing examples and see how Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions are used.
Power Distance and Marketing
Power distance represents how power is distributed and how inequalities are handled in society.
High-Power Distance Cultures
Societies with a high power distance have a hierarchy in which everyone has a place in society. Very rarely are those places questioned or justified.
When it comes to marketing, hierarchy, and leaders are highly respected and using fewer but highly influential people are the most effective.
According to Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions, Malaysia has the highest power distance (100/100)
Low-Power Distance Cultures
Societies with a low power distance, on the other hand, actively work towards equalizing the distribution of power.
When marketing to an audience from a culture of low power distance, they will react best to a variety of voices.
They value equality, democracy, and the rule of law (instead of the rule of leaders). They are not easily impressed by status, titles, and fancy names.
In cross-cultural marketing, consider giving exposure to a variety of voices, especially “ordinary” people, in your marketing. New Zealand has the lowest power distance (22/100).
Individualism, Collectivism, and Marketing
To whom does your life belong?
How you answer this question will say a lot about your society. Is it individualistic or collectivist?
Highly Individualistic Cultures
Societies with high individualism are loosely-knit. The individual is the sole proprietor of their life and is expected to be responsible for themselves and their immediate families.
An example of a country with high Individualism is the United States of America (91/100). Surprise, surprise.
They are looking to benefit their own lives, or their immediate families. So, in cross-cultural marketing, messages like “purchasing XYZ will help your status and well-being” are more likely to work. These are individuals that value individual reward and actively invest in themselves.
Interestingly enough, Hofstede’s research suggests that they need extensive communication. These are the kind of people that love lengthy Instagram captions. They want everything to be explained to them up front and in detail.
Highly Collectivist Cultures
Collectivism, on the other hand, represents societies that are closely-knit and members of the society belong to their communities much more than they belong to themselves. In these societies, people expect to be taken care of in exchange for unquestionable loyalty.
With a score of 6 out of 100, Guatemala is an example of a society with strong collectivism.
When marketing these societies, remember that they are willing to give and sacrifice themselves. Messages like “purchasing XYZ will help your family, the environment and so on” are more likely to work.
These are people that invest in their families. Consider preparing group packages and offers when you are creating promotions. They will often make a purchase for someone else so the buyer is not always the user.
Femininity, Masculinity, and Marketing
This dimension does not imply that advertisements need to be blue in highly masculine societies, and pink in highly feminine societies. Not at all.
According to Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions, this dimension gives us further insight into gender roles at home, who makes purchasing decisions, and how people interact with the internet.
Highly Masculine Cultures
Achievement, heroism, assertiveness and material rewards.
These are words that represent what Hofstede calls the masculine side of society and culture. At large, these societies are highly competitive and uphold high standards.
Among all the countries studied, Japan has the highest score for masculinity (95/100).
In highly masculine societies, the father is generally factual and the mother is nurturing.
When marketing household goods, mothers are more likely to respond than fathers. Interestingly, members of highly masculine societies look to social media for information.
Highly Feminine Cultures
Cooperation, modesty, nurture and quality of life.
These are words that represent the feminine side of society. Generally, these are societies that actively work to reach a consensus.
With a score of 5 out of 100, Sweden has the highest score for femininity.
In highly feminine societies, both the father and mother are factual and nurturing. The roles are quite gender-neutral, including who makes household purchases thus it is worth targeting advertisements to both genders.
Members of highly feminine societies, on the other hand, look to social media to build a rapport with the brand.
Uncertainty Avoidance and Marketing
How do you deal with the future? Should we try to control the future? Or should we just let it happen?
High Uncertainty Avoidance Cultures
Countries with high uncertainty avoidance feel uncomfortable with ambiguity and they see uncertainty as a danger. They desire to have rules and formalities in place because anything that is unorthodox or different is scary and often not tolerated.
Greece is an example of a country with high uncertainty avoidance (100/100).
Since they see change as risky and dangerous, they tend to be very loyal customers. It takes a lot for them to change their buying habits so consider using referral programs or introducing trial periods. Anything that reduces the perceived risk is a great option.
When studying Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions in marketing scenarios, they respond well to words like “clean” and “pure” in marketing material and images of white lab coats.
This suggests two key points.
Advertising something that is natural or original implies that it is safe. What you see is what you get, and there is not much room for anything peculiar or risqué.
People respect authority and knowledgeable figures. If you are trying to change people’s buying habits, make your messages informative, and have them come from trustworthy people.
Low Uncertainty Avoidance Cultures
On the other side of the spectrum are countries with low uncertainty avoidance like Singapore (8/100).
They understand that the future can never be known, that change and difference are inevitable, and in fact, it piques their curiosity. If anything, members of low uncertainty avoidance societies seek innovation and challenges.
They are open to trying new products and changing jobs easily. Just the simple fact that something is different is enough to get them curious and willing to try.
When it comes to marketing, they do not need too much convincing or information. Instead, they enjoy messages that use humor and words like “easy” and “ready to use” work well in marketing.
Long Term, Short Term and Marketing
This dimension represents a society’s relationships to its own past, present and future. Frankly, long-term versus short-term orientation is one of the most misunderstood dimensions.
This cultural dimension is typically applied to economic development and finance; however, we can use it to understand a culture’s priorities and motivations when making investments and large purchases.
Long Term Orientated Cultures
Cultures that score high are, according to Hofstede, long-term oriented. This means that they celebrate pragmatic values oriented to future rewards, in particular perseverance, thrift, saving and adapting to changing circumstances.
Egypt (7/100) and Nigeria (13/100) are examples of long-term oriented countries.
In cross-cultural marketing, long-term oriented cultures respond well when future rewards and benefits are clearly emphasized.
Even if it means they will have to save and hustle in the short-term to be able to reap the rewards later on.
They understand that traditions and habits can change, they are interested in learning best practices from other countries and they want to equip themselves with the resources to adapt.
Short Term Orientated Cultures
Short-term oriented cultures are ones that score low and encourage virtues related to the past and the present, such as national pride, tradition, preservation of face, and fulfilling social obligations.
Japan (88/100) and Germany (83/100) are examples of short-term oriented countries.
In marketing, short-term oriented cultures respond well when reminded of what has worked in the past and what is best for them in the present.
They tend to be fundamentalists and extremists, and they seek and appreciate any positive feedback about themselves. Tapping into their national pride and current obligations and desires work best.
Always Work with Local Partners
Collaborating with local marketing and advertising talent can help you understand the nuances of a culture that you may never be able to grasp on your own.
It can also help you to personalize your campaign to the local audience to make it successful.
Besides working with locals, it is also valuable for us to do our part and do what we can to understand the local culture.
