Multicultural Marketing Communication.

Chapter 3 of Barbara Mueller’s book built further upon the information presented in the first two chapters of the book and, in my opinion, began to delve into the most significant material presented thus far. Though it is important to note the growth of the multicultural markets in the U.S. as well as the overall marketing mix in relation to different cultures, it is the exploration of the influence cultures have on marketing and advertising that really brings to surface the urgent necessity of taking a multicultural approach to marketing in today’s world.

First, Mueller began the chapter by explaining the root concept of culture itself and how, while often thought of as inherent, it is in fact learned in most instances. Also, she was quick to point out the relationships that exist between cultures as well as the differences within cultures. I think the latter is probably the most important, as it seems that marketers are being forced to deal with increasingly segmented cocultures. The thought that blacks, white, Hispanics, etc. can be marketed to as single cultures is now the old way of thinking, and the future of marketing lies with the realization of the broad range of individuals within cultures. Mueller obviously thinks along these same lines, as the majority of Chapter 3 focuses on this.

The thing I found most interesting throughout the chapter was the plethora of information I was unaware of in regards to other cultures as well as my very own culture. For instance, I was aware that, as a whole, the non-Hispanic white culture in America is considered very ethnocentric (this is something that seems to be impressed upon us from a very early age), but I found it interesting that this is a thought not exclusive to this culture. I also thought that another of the more important parts of the chapter focused on the widely varying acculturation rates of different cultures. The three acculturation groups which immigrants are segmented into present unique opportunities for marketers. This segmentation also provides several challenges for marketers-instead of having one marketing message for a culture, it may be essential to create three distinct messages that will pertain to individuals as they go through the acculturation process. This adds to the cost and effort incurred on the marketer’s behalf, but if handled correctly, the potential effectiveness of a campaign would hopefully outweigh the costs. The more effective use of acculturation-based marketing, however, is to create one message that addresses each level of acculturation. The Dr. Pepper example showed how a singular campaign could transcend acculturation levels.

One of the more interesting topics of the chapter concerned how sensitivity and preferences to the different methods of communication (verbal, nonverbal, symbolic, etc.) vary throughout cultures as well as the importance of recognizing these sometimes subtle nuances. After reading this section of the chapter, one realizes the almost dizzying array of considerations marketers must respect when marketing across cultures. Without doing so, marketers face almost certain failure of their campaigns, as individuals from a wide range of cultures will often be, at the very least, confused by messages not properly executed. Consideration regarding symbols and colors, space usage, and overall values of different cultures are necessary when marketing across cultures as well. The topic of simple translation of English marketing messages was once again brought up in this chapter, with several examples provided, signaling that this seemingly simple thing has been a major problem for marketers in the not-so-distant past. Again, it became apparent that in order to successfully carry out a campaign focused on a cultural group other than non-Hispanic whites, it is often necessary to not only learn as much as possible about a culture, but also to hire someone to make sure that any seemingly brilliant marketing themes will still seem brilliant when presented in another language or to another culture.

In regards to language, I found it interesting that data was presented in the chapter suggesting that the Spanish language is actually becoming more important to Hispanics in the U.S. This indicates that although they are becoming acculturated, Hispanics are also hanging on to their Spanish-speaking roots. On the other hand, as second and third generation Hispanics grow up in the U.S., the argument against advertising in Spanish can also be made. Regardless of whether or not marketers decide to utilize the Spanish language when marketing to Hispanics in the U.S., the acknowledgement of the importance of the Spanish language and overall culture to Hispanics (or to any other culture) is essential to marketing effectively.

The latter section of Chapter 3 explored the broad topic of cultural influences on consumer behavior. By applying Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to consumer behavior, we see that, while all consumers differ wildly from one another in purchasing behavior, the underlying motivational factors of consumers follow the basic principle of fulfilling a need (no matter where in the hierarchy that need falls). I also read in this section of the text that discovering what products individuals from different cultures purchase most frequently can help position new products and create the marketing messages to accompany a new product introduction. As we have learned before, it was again emphasized that brand names seem to mean more to ethnic minorities and that they are likely to pay a premium for “status brands.” This behavior falls in the higher-order portion of Maslow’s hierarchy-a level that many ethnic consumers are just beginning to reach. This provides an interesting opportunity for status brands, as many consumers are finding that they are able to purchase such things for the first time (this seems to be an ongoing thing). This, coupled with the fact that ethnic consumers are usually much more brand loyal that non-Hispanic whites, presents another significant opportunity for growth in these cultural groups.

As we have also seen before, discovering the person in the household who is the primary purchaser, where different ethnicities like to shop, and the underlying factors influencing these choices can also help identify marketing opportunities. Since these can vary not only among different cultures but also between cocultures and between individuals of the same culture who were born in the U.S. and in other countries, the differences between consumers can be staggering. When thinking in this way, it’s not inconceivable to imagine creating not only a targeted marketing campaign but also an entirely new product line for consumers of different ethnicities. In fact, this is often deemed necessary. A perhaps more cost effective method of tailoring a product line to a specific group is to suggest ways which consumers can customize something, whether it be food, drink, or even a car to their specific tastes.

The chapter ended with a note on differences in not only how people of different ethnicities spend money, but also what money really means to them. I thought this would again be a factor that would, by default, impact the spending habits of different ethnic groups, as those without credit cards or checking accounts are limited to spending only the cash they have available. I think it would be safe to say that these individuals would be most likely to purchase items that fulfill their basic lower order needs and then use what money they had left on other purchases. This cuts down on their ability to purchase big ticket and spontaneously purchased items. I suppose this is also the reason that non-Hispanic whites in this country are more likely to make large, spur-of-the moment purchases. In these ways, we see that understanding what money means to different cultures is another big thing to take into consideration. We not only have to examine what money means to consumers right now, but also what it will probably mean to them in the future, as the chapter led us to believe that this is also changing.

The overall theme of this chapter once again pointed to the necessity of recognizing both obvious and subtle cultural preferences in regards to the product purchase process and addressing them methodically in order to achieve marketing success in a multicultural world. The failure to do so can lead to embarrassing situations, miscommunication, and utter failure of marketing both new and existing products to ethnic consumers. As I have written in a previous paper, the sheer amount of considerations that must be made when targeting ethnic consumers is incredible, and I believe that in the future, the term “general market” will no longer exist. As even non-ethnic consumer tastes become more refined and different cultural groups continue to increase in numbers in the U.S., marketing will most likely become more segmented as well. I believe that terms like “general marketing” will cease to exist (in real world applications, anyway), and that all of us, regardless of race, will be grouped into new marketing categories, many of which we have yet to discover. It’s not unrealistic to think that one day we will all be placed into new categories, whether based on race, language, acculturation level, income, geographic location, etc. With the continued development of custom-tailored marketing utilizing the internet and mobile devices, the possibilities and implications for multicultural marketers are endless.

Jacob Ward
Student
Florida State University