Marketing Implication of Cross-cultural Influences on Consumer Behaviour

Abstract

When entering into a new country, marketers must be aware of various environmental differences that they may have to address such as media restriction and legal and cultural factors. Culture is a strong binding force in human lives. It exists everywhere and varies from place to place. Culture is the changing patterns and products of learned behaviour, which consists of attitude, values, knowledge, motor skills and material objects that are shared and transmitted among members of the society. œIts concept is as fundamental as understanding human social behaviour. Today, almost all major corporations are actively marketing their products beyond their original homeland borders. As more and more consumers come in contact with the material goods and lifestyles of people living in other parts of the world, they have the opportunity to adapt these different products and practices.  How consumers in our culture secure exposure to the goods of other people living in other culture is an important part of consumer behavior. The heightened awareness and appreciation of differences in values and cultures from a personal and organizational perspective has rendered an increased attention to their influences. Since the late 20th century the world has experienced an increasing exposure to œforeign cultures characterized in particular by the promotions of western values. The acceptance, implementation or indeed relevancy of these values in a culturally dissimilar or diverse environment remains questionable. This paper sets out to reflect cross-cultural values in three West-African countries- Ghana, Gambia and Nigeria as it affects consumer behaviour. Secondary analyzed data are displayed to x-ray the different cultural values as it affects life style values, family life values, social and community, environment values, job and work values to support their relevance to marketing.