Literature Review - The Complexity Of Culture

Buyer Behaviour& Relationships

MKT207

Matthew BraileyWord Count - 1467

The Complexity Of Culture As An Influencer On Consumer Behavior: A

Literature Review On Hofstede’s Framework And Its Limitations Over Time.

Over the last century various theories and studies distinguishing culture and

cultural values have been developed. During this time many have attempted

to define culture although, accomplishing this has proven much more complex

than first anticipated. In the words of Erikson (1979) ‘Culture consists of the

beliefs, behaviors, objects, and other characteristics common to the members

of a particular group or society’. However, Kroeber and Kluchhohn (1952)

thoroughly reviewed culture in the attempt to discover the true meaning. This

research uncovered the broad nature of culture with 164 different definitions

from a diversity of countries. Research demonstrates numerous elements

between how cultural values affect factors of an individual such as attitudes,

behavior, norms and routine (e.g. Hofstede 1980; Schwartz 2006; Ronen and

Shenkar 1985; Barsade and O'Neil, 2016). Due to the impact culture has, it is

fundamental to understand when considering consumer behavior. One of the

most well-known and influential studies in culture is Hofstede’s theory on

‘Cultural Dimensions’. The scope of this literature review will focus on the

reception of Hofstede's model and the increasing importance and

understanding micro-level influences in culture have on consumer behavior.

As cultural environments change so to does the need to evolve models

defining cultural influence and consumer behavior (Lindblad, 2007).

The Dutch researcher Geert Hofstede unintentionally began conducting his

empirical research towards cultural dimension in 1967, this occurred while

working in an international role at IBM (Hofstede, 2001, P.41). He started

interviewing colleagues of different cultures and noticed individuals from the

same ethnic group often answered questions in a similar way (Hofstede,

1997, p.13–15). Further investigations into cultural dimensions prolonged as

Hofstede created a survey sample with a size of 116,000 IBM employees

(geert-hofstede.com, 2010). After collecting and analyzing the results,

Hofstede concluded his theory and published the 4 cultural dimensions in

1980.

Cultures Influence On Consumer Behavior 2

Figure 1 – Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions (Hofstede, 2001)

It is believe that over the last 35 years ‘Cultural Dimensions’ has proven a

successful model helping businesses develop a greater understanding of

cultural behavior and traits (Stajkovic and Luthans, 2002). Despite the

benefits Hofstede has had on understanding culture in business, an

increasing number of people are criticizing his research (Portugal Ferreira et

al. 2014). Bergiel et al. (2012) describes it as outdated, invalid and unreliable

when implemented with modern civilizations. These allegations are due to a

rapidly changing multi-cultural environment and a range of new and changing

reference groups. Harrison and McKinnon (1999) reinforce this and believe

that younger Europeans can no longer be distinguished into one common

segment of values.

With a pessimistic attitude Hofstede (1999) addressed the point by arguing

that ‘cultures change slowly’ and attempted to eliminate uncertainty through

further research. A study was carried out and surveyed 1,335 business

students of multiple cultures (Contiua et al., 2012). This research in

attempting to disprove the limitation actually uncovered that European

countries have become more multi-cultural which has resulted in reference

groups becoming more diverse. The result was Hofstede revisiting the model

to strengthen the theory and added a 5th dimension called ‘Time Perspective’

in 2001 (Maclachlan, 2013). Finally, in 2010 a final dimension was added

called ‘Indulgence versus Restraint’, this is still to be adopted by intercultural

management and cultural specialists (Maclachlan, 2013). These additional

two dimensions support the prior claim that an evolving model is required


when defining cultural influence and consumer behavior. See figure 2 for

additional Dimension.

Figure 2 – Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions (Hofstede, 2001)

With aspects of culture being so broad and continuously fluctuating many

anthropologists are skeptical about Hofstede’s cultural dimensions believing

that he has oversimplified culture (e.g. Magala, 2004; McSweeney, 2002;

Baskerville, 2003). Hofstede’s model supports culture on a macro level

however, it fails to take into account the changing role of micro stimuli of an

individual within that culture (Marsiglia, 2010). Group influence on individuals

is commonly known as the power of reference groups (Erez and Gati, 2004).

Mishra (2015) defines a reference group as ‘a person or a group of people

who have a significant influence towards an individual’s behavior’. The lens in

which a consumer will perceive and process marketing material will vary on

the reference groups they belong to (Rijken and Louw, 2004). Reference

groups influence consumer behavior in three different ways: Informational,

Utilitarian and Value-Expressive (Figure 3).

Figure 3 – Influencing Reference Groups (Mishra, 2015)

With culture being defined as beliefs, values, knowledge and customs within a

group of people (Szmigin & Piacentini, 2015), it suggests that the framework


of reference groups are intertwined with culture. With such close correlations

between the two, it is no surprise that reference groups have such an impact

on consumer behavior (Childers and Rao, 1992). Sherif (1936) demonstrated

the effect of reference groups and how they can influence behavior through

an experiment. This consisted of seeing how the subject would answer a

question when his reference group all gave an opposing answer. It soon

became apparent that the subject’s opinion would follow his peers in the

attempt to fit in with the group’s opinion. This illustrates how an individual’s

cultural context impacts behaviour.

Since the introduction of Hofstede's model the key trends of globalization and

the rise in multi-cultural societies have impacted cultures and their

subsequent influence on behavior. Marketers commonly encounter problems

when people of one culture migrate to another country. This creates an array

of cultures in one location and presents the impossible advertising challenge

to create a ‘one size fits all’ creative. Reference groups enable marketers to

create adverts that appeal to that target audience and eliminates the stress of

cross-cultural differences as the reference groups create their own micro

culture (Douglas and Craig, 2011). An example of this on a macro scale is

advertisements in Japan verses USA, the Japanese population would react

completely differently to Americans when viewing American ads and vice

versa. This is a result of both countries being opposite ends of the

‘individualistic vs collectivism’ scale causing different responses in behavior.

In depth examples of how culture creates differences in consumer behavior

would warrant an even more in-depth, independent review that is beyond the

scope set. However, here follows some examples that help establish the

importance. In America it is deemed normal and polite to leave a service tip of

10% - 20%. However, in Japan this would create employee confusion in

thinking that you have over paid or could possibility insult. Other studies show

that generation Y In Mexico is more likely to seek advice with their parents

and also have a higher positive response when parental figures are presented

in the advertisement of products compared to United States (Bush, A., Martin,

C. and Bush, V. 2004). The reasoning for this differential in consumer

behavior is due to values towards the family. In America family is not


cherished as much due to the individualistic nature of the culture whereas in a

more collectivism country such as India family is highly valued (Bush, Martin

and Bush, 2004).

Hofstede helped establish the importance of culture on behavior. His model is

considered macro-level and over-simplified. It misses important micro-level

influences, as illustrated by changes in reference groups, difficulties in

effective messaging across multi-cultural groups and differences in cultural

values held across countries. A key trend in literature debate is how best to

map an individuals context, within and, across cultures. The development of

online has accelerated and changed the way human’s precede and interact

on a day-to-day basis (Hermeking, 2005). Greater exposure to a wide range

of cultures has become apparent through the power of social media. It has

merged geographic locations which where once isolated and has accelerated

collaboration between cultures forming groups known as crowdcultures (Holt,

2016). Friendships in the Y and Millennial generations have becoming more

reliant on Social media and mobiles resulting in an atmosphere of a new

culture to form and thrive (Li, Xianzhong and Mingsheng, 2011). Within this

online environment, language has evolved, new symbols created and rituals

emerged. Emojis hold symbolic meanings and have been adopted globally in

all cultures creating a common understanding and reducing language barriers

(Sternbergh, 2014).

In conclusion, it is clear that culture has a very important influence on

consumer behaviour. Equally, culture itself is multifaceted. It operates at a

macro (ie. Hofstede's model), micro (ie. reference groups) and individual level

(ie. social media). Updates made to Hofstede's original model as a result of

critique, illustrates the broadening debate of cultural influence on consumer

behaviour. It also illustrates the complexity of capturing the many levels of

cultural influence in any one model. Big Data is important to marketing today

(HBR, 2012). There is a clear opportunity, even marketing imperative, to map

cultures and cultural values to group and individual behaviours. Our ability to

see beyond Hofstedes original model illustrates its importance and its

limitations in better understanding culture's influence on consumer behaviour.


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Literature Review - The Complexity Of Culture