BUS578 Consumer Behavior
Final Exam
Name: Congbo Zeng
Date: 06/May/2014
Instructor: Joseph Huggins
Question:
I. Why is it important for companies to understand the cultural influences on consumer
behavior? What are some examples of behavior, gestures and social influences that differ
between cultures?
II. Why is it better to persuade people to change their behavior rather than force them to
change? What are effective ways to persuade consumers to buy products or services?
III. Identify and describe strategies that companies can use to effectively communicate
their promotions to their target market? How can companies best reach consumers using
social media?
IV. In what ways can a company build a strong brand and continue to improve the brand’s
product life cycle?
V. What three key concepts did you find most useful in understanding customer behavior?
Why are they important to you?
I. Why is it important for companies to understand the cultural influences on
consumer behavior? What are some examples of behavior, gestures and social
influences that differ between cultures?
Culture is hard to define, I would say culture involves thoughts about society, traditions,
languages. materials, attitudes, feelings, religion and so on. One of the elements that make
culture is beliefs. Beliefs of the people in a community can show similarities. For example,
the number eight in China are seen as fortune and luck, because of that Chinese love their
house number or phone number do contain as many 8s as possible.
Understanding the cultural influences on consumer behavior is essential as the following
reasons: First, culture satisfies needs. Culture exists to satisfy the needs of the people
within a society, it offers order, direction and guidance in all phases of human problem
solving by providing “tried and true” methods of satisfying physiological, personal, and
social needs; Second, culture is learned. Unlike innate biological characteristics, culture is
learned. The three distinct forms of cultural learning are formal learning, informal learning
and technical learning; Third, acculturation is an important concept for marketers who plan
to sell their products in foreign or multinational markets; Fourth, to communicate
effectively with audiences, marketers must use appropriate symbols to convey desired
product images or characteristics. These symbols can be verbal or nonverbal; Fifth,
facilitating rituals. Most important from the standpoint of marketers is the fact that rituals
tend to be replete with ritual artifacts that are associated with or somehow enhance the
performance of the ritual; Sixth, culture is shared, various social institutions within a
society transmit the elements of culture and make the sharing of culture a reality. Such
institutions are family, educational institutions, houses of worship and most importantly
mass media; Last but not least, culture is dynamic, to fulfill its need gratifying role, culture
continually must evolve if it is to function in the best interests of a society. For this reason,
the marketer must carefully monitor the socio-cultural environment in order to market an
existing product more effectively.[1]
Misunderstanding always takes place when people are communicating with someone who
are from different culture. Behavior, gestures and social influences are likely to be
different between cultures. Some normal gestures in American culture would be meaning
insult in other cultures; therefore the business people should be aware of these differences
and avoid the conflicts.
For example, Let’s consider eye contact. Kids from many Latin American and Asian
cultures show respect by avoiding the glance of authority figures. A teacher who’s
unfamiliar with this cultural norm, however, might interpret the lack of eye contact as just
the opposite—a sign of disrespect. For many American Indian children, looking a teacher
in the eye and answering her question in front of the class is ‘showing off.” Yet a teacher
who doesn’t know this could think the child was unmotivated or inattentive. What is more,
Culture greatly influences attitudes about physical contact, whether it’s a handshake, hug,
or pat on the back. In Asia, female friends often hold hands and men casually embrace one
another as they walk down the street. Americans, however, may feel uncomfortable with
such public behavior. In some Asian cultures, affectionately patting an adult’s head is
strictly taboo, although it can be acceptable behavior between adults and young children.
II. Why is it better to persuade people to change their behavior rather than force
them to change? What are effective ways to persuade consumers to buy products or
services?
It is no exaggeration to say that persuasiveness is an art when compared with forcing
people to change. Persuasion can provide people a compliment, and respect feeling during
the persuasion process. Forcing people to change is considered as an external power, you
may change people with higher social position, power and wealth. However, negative
emotions such as resistance and dislike may appear, even though they agreed. On the other
hand, persuasiveness is an internal power that motive people to change when you request.
It is a way to help people know more insights, values when your persuasion is reasonable.
Persuasion isn’t rocket science; it involves understanding aspects of human nature that are
often automatic and work at a subconscious level. Here are several ethical ways to
persuade people.
1. Show what others are doing
People look to others and will often do what they’re doing, especially when uncertain
about something. This psychological phenomenon is called social proof. People feel
reassured and often make decisions based upon what other people are up to – the
assumption being that they possess more knowledge or are better informed than they are.
