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In what ways are the concept of ‘the market’ and of ‘consumption’ cultural?
What factors affect them? And what are the implications of this for marketers?
‘Culture’ is a concept notoriously hard to define, and for the purpose of this essay I
am going to use Hofstede’s definition, that culture is ‘the collective programming of
the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from
another’
...
In this essay I am going to explore how consumption is a part of this
process, through consumption symbolism, property and possessions, and how culture
has affected the development of markets over time – why some countries for example
have developed more goods than others
...

According to Belk (1995), our consumption choices define and express our lifestyles
and social identities when we are faced with multiple social roles in large-scale urban
environments
...
The aspects of themselves that people decide they want
to express is largely dependent on upbringing and personality, and this will naturally
differ according to the culture in which people live
...

Famously, Veblen explored how consumption is used to express position in a social
class, which questioned classical economics in that for some goods (later named
Veblen goods) demand rises as price rises, because consuming ostensibly expensive
products and services are an indicator to those around us of our societal position, and
thus serve as a pecuniary symbol
...

This could be argued within our own culture as being the fate of the iPhone – once
only available to the most tech-savvy and wealthy consumers, it is now one of the
most common mobile phones in the UK
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Hence consumption behaviours
migrate across cultures
...
The meanings

that people want to and do create again depends on the culture in which they exist, but
also allow people to retain aspects of themselves valued in cultures in which they may
previously have experiences
...
For example in the UK,
Christian festivals such as Easter and Christmas have a large effect on consumption at
these times of year, from buying Easter eggs in March or April, and advent calendars
in December, these are highly predictable consumption patterns
...
Equally the value placed on different holidays may
differ across cultures, as people may chose to recognize the religious aspect of the
holiday to a greater or lesser extent, compared to valuing the materialistic elements
...
The work of Smart
(1997), who examined different representations of the market, supports this view, in
that markets across the world have come to emphasise different aspects over time
...
Hong Kong and Taiwan’s markets are different again, placing emphasis on
network relationships between business associates which are based on trust and
obligations
...
Essentially, market actors
are members of families, localities and possibly religions who incorporate a sense of
social obligation into economic activity, they are not, as we are told in the Western
world, simply self interested individuals
...
However the Asian models
of the market are not only feasible, but may in fact be a driving factor in the huge
economic growth seen in the East, which has allowed major economies like China to
catch up with the West in terms of trade and prosperity
...

In terms of factors that affect consumption and the idea of the market, the first is the
local culture and the subcultures which may exist within it
...
Their findings showed that each subculture valued different
things in consumption; while Lebanese Christians outscored their Muslim
counterparts on stimulation, hedonism and power, Muslims focused on conformity
and security, even though the two groups are in close geographical proximity
...
This effect has been amplified due to the internet, a ‘super
innovation’ (Dickson, 2000), which allows for global-scale supply chains and sales,
and information exchanges and cultural interactions across international borders
...
However, interestingly, Ustuner
and Holt (2010) look further into this phenomenon, and suggest that in these countries
Western lifestyle is more than anything a myth, and is interpreted and constructed
differently depending on the local culture
...
On the other hand, Cleveland et al suggest that rather than
convergence, globalization can also uphold differences among people within national
boundaries
...
A
manufacturer of tools and machines for example might be advised to adopt a German
sounding name, due to the association people make between Germany and technical
reliability
...
Wang et al
investigated the factors that Chinese and Taiwanese tourists valued most in their
tourist destinations
...
Taking this case study, it would seem that marketers would massively
benefit from personalizing their product offerings depending on the market they are
selling to
...

Jacobs (2013) writes that anthropologists contextualise products and services in terms
of social and cultural meanings and practices, which is something companies struggle
to do themselves
...

For example John Curran, a business anthropologist working for a greeting card
company, found that there was a missed market in people remembering their
deceased, who were currently unserved by greeting cards written in the present tense
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In conclusion, markets and consumption operate within cultures, and marketers who
overlook these effects are at risk of missing out on valuable sales
...
There are
always opportunities to discover, and business anthropologists may be the key, but
ultimately what is needed is a far greater cultural awareness, rather than the
conventional Western idea of the efficient market
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W
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(ed
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•

Cleveland, M
...
& Hallab, R
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•

Dickson, P
...
(2000) “Understanding the trade winds: the global evolution of
production, consumption, and the Internet”, Journal of Consumer Research,
27(1):115-122
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, (2013), “Close observers of consumer”, Financial Times, 19th
September
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, et al, (2012), “Non-western contexts: the invisible half”, Marketing
Theory, 12(1):3-12
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& Seong-Yeon, P
...


•

Lien, M
...
(1997) “Conceptualising the market”, chapter 5 in Marketing and
modernity
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•

Shove, E
...
, (2010), “Consumption, materiality and markets”,
chapter 1 in Reconnecting Marketing to Markets, Oxford: OUP
...
(1997) “Oriental despotism and sugar-coated bullets:
representations of the market in China”, chapter 4 in Carrier, J
...
(ed
...


•

Üstüner, T
...
B
...


•

Usunier, J-C
...
(2005) Marketing across cultures
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