THE DILEMMA BETWEEN THE UNIVERSAL AND THE PARTICULAR


Universalist cultures tend to feel that general rules and obligations are a strong source of moral reference. People from these cultures tend to follow the rules and look for a single best way of dealing fairly with all cases. They assume that the standards they hold dear are the right ones and attempt to change the attitudes of others accordingly . Particularist societies are those where particular circumstances are much more important than any rules. Bonds of relationships (family, friends ) are stronger than any abstract rules and responses may change according to circumstances and the people involved.

Thus some products for universalistic markets may need to begin by being homogenous and generic, but this does mean that the consumer will buy from any supplier as there is no difference between sources. Buying gasoline is an example-who you buy from matters little. At the other extreme, overparticularizing means small, highly differentiated markets with highly specialized products addressing each small segment-and with associated higher costs.

When a company has developed packaging and presentation of a brand to the point where it is instantly recognized, they are faced with the dilemma between keeping it the same (universal image) and having different versions (particularism) for different markets and over time. Packaging can look out of date very quickly as colors, logos, and fonts come in and out of fashion.

A consumer's capacity to detect or observe such differences is relative and the issue of when and how a difference is observed is relevant to many marketing situations. The stronger the original imagery, the greater the change required in order for that change to be noticed. Thus companies often update their packaging with small, incremental changes over time-so they stay fresh and modern, but don't lose the identity of the product through making noticeable changes or when the consumer is traveling overseas. Because consumers are subject to saturation of stimuli nowadays, with advertisements on every street corner, every web page, every radio or TV program, every page of every newspaper, organizations also need to consider how they can get their product or promotion noticed without irritating the consumer by overexposure and excessive bombardment.

Figure 2.1 shows the relative orientation of a number of countries on this dimension. This should help to link this cultural construct to the interpretations we have given in the examples of dilemmas (manifested in marketing) that follow. The same format will apply with the other dimensions.

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Figure 2.1: Relative degree of universalism-particularism for a number of selected countries

Chic Tailoring

Christian Dior used to complain that American women attached less importance to small details of fit and finish than to general effect; they were more attracted by variety and change.

The survival of small firms, inefficient by American standards, is essential to the survival of the French idea of chic. The French conception of taste is not threatened by the popularity of jeans; they simply claim to cut jeans better than anyone else.

France is important to the world of fashion because it cultivates fine workmanship, beautiful materials, originality, and harmony. There is no evidence that the French as a whole appreciate these ideals more than other people. They have compromised themselves perhaps as much as other nations in accepting cheap imitations. French taste and French good taste are not necessarily the same.

Meeting or Surpassing Standards

Germans avoid compromizing on rules as much as they avoid compromising on quality. They spend money on good, reliable products, and they often define reliability in terms of a worst case scenario. Look at automobile ads in Germany. Brochures and videos briefly touch upon lifestyle issues, only to quickly turn to the "real stuff," a full report on all the environmental and safety standards that the new car meets. Ideally it does not just satisfy current legal standards but will also be able to meet the far stricter standards of the future. While you might dream of a fast race on the autobahn or a peaceful drive on the Romantische Stra e, the ads will show you a series of detailed lab tests demonstrating all the different ways in which your new car could be smashed to pieces without any harm coming to the people inside.

Claims of Exceptional Performance May Create Suspicion

A Dutch insurance company found it difficult to convince German customers to buy their life insurance, even though their product had done exceptionally well in recent years . In their advertising campaign they stated that their customers' capital investment had grown as much as 20 percent annually. German customers were not convinced; such an exceptional increase in the price of shares could not be trusted to continue. To win over German customers, the Dutch company had to change their marketing strategy and promise a much lower return on investment.

Stressing Irish Core Values

Marketing strategies that work well in the US and UK are not always directly transferable to the Irish market. There are many cases of advertising campaigns that succeeded abroad but failed in Ireland because they conflicted with the strong universalist values held by most Irish people. The easygoing, informal nature of communication in Ireland can often camouflage deep-rooted core values. When these are crossed the Irish can react very negatively. It is important to be aware of the conservative, religious, local, and nationalist feelings that underpin many consumer reactions in Ireland. Today's Ireland may appear to be modern, forward looking, and in many ways very "Americanized," but campaigns that conflict with the Irish moral code of behavior are likely to provoke disapproval.

Certain Irish companies emphasize their Irishness and familiarity with Irish values as a means of competing with foreign companies operating in Ireland. For example, they might stress friendly service and the fact that they represent sound family values, saying that they've been a family-run business for the past fifty years or so. Another quality that is stressed is longevity; companies will state that they have no intention of leaving the country for more lucrative destinations when corporate tax incentives run out. The tendency of some multinationals to do this has left many people suspicious of their long- term commitment to Ireland. Some foreign-owned companies have now begun to market themselves in a similar manner, stressing the Irishness of their employees and products, and using Irish accents in their TV commercials.

Village Life and Inefficient Retailing

Japanese social life and consumption patterns are much more particularistic than in most western nations. Tokyo, for example, is a collection of "villages," each with its shopping center. Because houses and refrigerators are small and fresh fish and vegetables are greatly prized, the Japanese shop daily. They go by bicycle or on foot , and shop in thousands of mostly small, mom and pop stores supplied by two tiers of wholesalers. Service is very personal and friendly, and the predilections of individual customers are well known.

Supermarkets and chain stores are hindered by the Large Scale Store Law and its application by local governments . Small shopkeepers are an important constituency and are protected. Quite a few used to work in companies that produce the goods they currently sell. They can exchange defective goods quickly, preventing unfavorable publicity for the company. But such a system is not without its costs. Supermarkets are fewer, standardization is less, and distribution costs are higher. Even successful foreign chains, like Kentucky Fried Chicken, employ twice as many people in Japan as they do in the States. The additional workers wrap the chicken carefully , bow, and smile. Japan spends on honorifics, people whose main task appears to be greeting and thanking customers.

The 24- hour economy has an impact on daily life in Japan. Convenience stores that are open late in the evening are now starting to boom.

Universal Products

The Dutch universalistic orientation is expressed in their preference for universal products: a limited variety, available in large quantities , with a reasonable quality and a low price. The success of Hema department stores, clothing retail company C&A, the Dutch-based wholesaling company Makro, and the company brands of food retailer Albert Heijn can be attributed to this preference. The Swedish furniture retail company IKEA has been extremely successful in the Netherlands by using a strategy that appeals to this preference for the universal product.

This preference might seem to be in contradiction with Dutch individualism. Although the Dutch want to express their individualism in their buying habits, they don't do this by buying specialty products or famous brand names . They try to express their individualism by looking for what they consider to be creative variations and combinations of universal products.

Marketing for Particular Needs

Singaporeans are very particularistic about festive days. A festive day of any ethnic group is welcomed as a reason to celebrate and offer sales specials. Where, other than in Singapore, would you find a shop with a sign saying "Jesus is the reason for the season " to make people aware of the Christmas sales? Just before the Hindu Diwali festival, advertisements in the newspaper for cars , computers, and just about anything are labeled as "Diwali specials."

Singapore has always been a very diverse society in which the need for marketing to different ethnic groups has been taken for granted. Since the beginning of the last century, Chinese Singaporeans have distinguished between "Chinatown business," "ah so business" (Chinese business outside of Chinatown), and "ang moh companies" (western business). Because of rapid economic developments, different age groups in Singapore have very different consumer patterns as well, and it is extremely important to differentiate marketing for the different age groups.

Singaporean companies have a tradition of adapting to different market needs in a flexible way. A major Singaporean bank has this as its slogan for home loans: "The one thing we're very rigid about is flexibility."

Beauty Products Adapted to Local Circumstances

Marketing of products adapted to local circumstances can be very successful in Singapore. The founder of the Singaporean firm Coslab, selling therapeutic beauty products, found that he could not compete with the multinational American and European pharmaceutical companies who had dominated the global market for a long time. Instead he concentrated on developing products that cured tropical skin problems because there weren't many such products at the time. Since the type of rashes that occur in humid countries are markedly different from those in temperate climates, he was able to develop special products that were more effective in treating "tropical" acne, for example. He also developed new products to treat other skin problems particular to the tropics such as sensitive skin, pigmentation, dehydration, and uneven skin. He started a franchise for beauty salons using the products. There are now 200 outlets in Singapore and Malaysia selling his products.

Failure of Giant's Particularistic Logo Policy

When Taiwanese bicycle manufacturer Giant started to globalize , it did not see the need for one universal logo in all its locations. Giant felt that there should be different logos for different locations so that every location would have a logo that would fit the local environment and reflect local creativity. However this particularistic policy did not work out well. Giant could not get equal effort and quality from all locations in the design of the logo and in the end they chose to go with a single standardized logo.

Mass Manufacturing and Mass Market

For most of the twentieth century, America was the world's largest consumer market. Starting in the 1920s, the trend was to mass-market whatever machines could produce. America came to specialize in long manufacturing runs of simple products, cheaply produced, and widely advertised and distributed. It was the triumph of the universal product.

Nowadays customers are more demanding, and today markets are much more customer and niche oriented. As the advertising industry has expanded and evolved, it has also had an impact on the demand for more and more sophisticated and specialized products.

The Global-Local Dichotomy

As we can observe in the above examples, the dominant dilemma in this dimension is the global-local dichotomy. This can be framed as: "Shall we have one standardized approach (identical product range and associated identical marketing support) or shall we go for a local approach (different products and local based marketing in each destination)? Are our customers best served by our becoming global and alike, or will they be more influenced by their particular national or local cultures?" (see Figure 2.1).

The dilemma is reconciled through transnational specialization: We continuously integrate best practice and satisfy customer needs by learning from the diversity of adopting, adapting, and combining the best.

Taiwan has suffered for some time from a reputation for low-end products and inconsistent quality. "Made in Taiwan" used to have the image of low price, low quality. The reputation for cloning led to an image of "me too" manufacturers, known for imitating designs and compromising quality to keep prices competitive. Acer Computers was one of the first Taiwanese manufacturers that managed to change the image of Made in Taiwan for the better. For some time, Acer was forced to use creative ways to avoid putting "Made in Taiwan" on its products because of the bad image. Then it started with its "global brand, local touch" strategy; it wanted to develop Acer as a global brand name that would also be associated with local assembly, local shareholders, local management, local identity, and local autonomy in marketing and distribution. "Me Too is Not My Style" was used as the title of a book by Acer's CEO. "Global brand, local touch" is a good example of the reconciliation of particularism and universalism in business strategy.

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Figure 2.2: The global-local dilemma

In the years of expansion Lego, the Danish toy company, wanted to improve their instruction booklets for the American market so that this would help increase sales. They wanted to be as successful as they were in Germany, which they took as their role model. Lego's research group had videotaped German kids playing with Lego. The children would carefully cut the sticker of the new box out, after which they started sorting the different elements and organizing them according to the colors in which they came. With the same extreme care they then took the instruction booklet and read it from cover to cover. Subsequently they built precise replicas of the models shown in the booklet. When the observers filmed American kids, the results were completely different. The majority of the American children took the box of building blocks and immediately started to tear it apart in great excitement. The pieces dropped on the floor, creating a mess from the start. Then they started to experiment without looking at the instructions; they didn't seem to care about them. Action was what they wanted, making their own things and following their own ideas, and their mothers praised them for their creativity and unique constructions. The German kids , on the contrary, were praised for following instructions. American children have some practical direction so they could learn by doing and by making errors, and seem to love a box of Lego because they see it as having infinite possibilities. In Germany, Lego is a means of learning how to follow instructions and perform tasks in a prescribed manner. The difference here is creativity by making unique combinations versus following universal instructions to reproduce pictures in the booklet.

Clotaire Rapaille eloquently showed that Lego found reconciliation in combining boxes for the international markets:

Lego repositioned itself as a source of developing creativity and imagination . If they explained, however, that with one box of Lego there exist infinite possibilities, consumers would only buy one box, creating a loop. Lego needed to create a spiral, with possibilities for children to create more with two boxes than one, and still more with three than two. Instead of an instruction booklet, they needed a growth map, showing a child's creativity growing from one box to the next .

(Rapaille, 2001)

This dilemma is illustrated in Figure 2.3.

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Figure 2.3: The universal-particular dilemma



Marketing Across Cultures
Marketing Across Cultures (Culture for Business Series)
ISBN: 1841124710
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 82

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