Chapter 9: Consumer Culture
TRUE/FALSE
1. An individual’s consumption activity helps determine how accepted he or she is by the other
consumers in the society.
2. Every consumption act has an absolute meaning.
3. Culture guides consumers in deciding the appropriate actions in various consumer situations.
4. Culture determines things that are socially rewarding or socially unrewarding.
5. Popular culture captures cultural trends and shapes norms and sanctions within society.
6. Consumption activities associated with a given role tend to be universal across cultures.
7. Role expectations are the primary basis for cultural norms and sanctions.
8. Role expectations define the types of products that are appropriate for a person within a role.
9. Ecological factors cause differences in culture because they change the relative value of objects.
10. While tradition can be thought of as influencing culture, it can also be stated that, in the long run,
culture also defines tradition.
11. The concept of core societal values (CSV) is based on the assumption that members of a culture tend
to have different values and world views even though they belong to the same culture.
12. Jane lives in a place where an individual is primarily identified as belonging to a “particular family.”
Jane lives in a highly individualistic society.
13. The masculinity CSV dimension tends to be more clearly visible within a feminine culture.
14. Culver is a city in which men are as likely to be employed as nurses as women. Hence, Culver ranks
high on the masculinity CSV dimension.
15. In the masculinity CSV dimension, femininity refers to the prominence of women in society
specifically in the political domain.
16. In high-power-distance nations, certain consumer behaviors are designated exclusively to individuals
by class or status.
17. Low-power-distance nations tend to be less egalitarian.
18. In low-power-distance nations, marketing messages that make use of authority appeals are very
effective in facilitating positive consumers’ response.
19. In a nation low in uncertainty avoidance, the task of the marketer is to make the unfamiliar seem
familiar.
20. The extent to which scarcity drives actual purchase intentions is more pronounced among cultures high
in uncertainty avoidance.
21. Consumers from high-uncertainty-avoidance cultures demand greater amounts of product information
and explanation.
22. Long-term orientation prioritizes short-term benefits over long-term rewards.
23. In societies with a high long-term orientation, consumers tend to be spendthrifts and indolent.
24. Renquing is the idea that when someone does a good deed for an individual, the individual is expected
to return that good deed.
25. Cultural distance represents how disparate one nation is from another in terms of their CSVs.
26. Countries with relatively high cultural distance scores are more similar and tend to value the same
types of consumption experiences.
27. Learning results in core societal values that are relatively enduring.
28. An acquired taste for flavors, considered “unpalatable” in some cultures, is made possible through
habituation.
29. A consumer with a strong ethnic identification is most likely to feel close-minded about adopting
products from a different culture.
30. People who are highly ethnocentric believe that consumers should be more global in their purchasing
activities and buy products from different countries.
31. Ethnocentrism is highly related to the concept of uncertainty avoidance.
32. Media acts as an agent of enculturation.
33. An influx of nonnative media can influence the rate of acculturation.
34. The CSV profile of a culture can influence the effectiveness of cultural shaping.
35. Consumers will face no difficulty in finding value in marketing messages even if they do not
understand the language used in the advertisement.
36. When marketers promote their products in foreign markets, translation of advertisements alone is
sufficient to guarantee effective communication with the consumers.
37. Translation–back translation is a way to try to produce translational equivalence.
38. Metric equivalence is necessary to draw basic comparisons about consumers from different countries
concerning important consumer relationships.
39. Scalar equivalence is necessary to compare average scores for consumer attitudes between cultures.
40. International advertisements that make use of globish slogans place a premium on the correct use of
grammar.
41. Nonverbal communication cues have universally accepted standard meanings that are independent of
their cultural contexts.
42. Low-context cultures emphasize communication through nonverbal elements, while, high-context
cultures emphasize the spoken word.
43. CANZUS consumers are more likely to be physically close to each other during a conversation than
are consumers from Italy.
44. Etiquettes remain the same across cultures.
45. Consumers from collectivist nations define relationships in terms of the ties between a brand or service
provider and a family or relevant group of consumers.
46. The extent to which a contract is seen as binding varies from place to place.
47. The BRIC markets exclusively consist of developed nations.
48. Belgium is categorized as a BRIC nation.
49. The term Chindia refers to the combined market and business potential of China and India.
50. Glocalization represents the idea that the marketing strategy may be local but the implementation of
that strategy at the marketing tactics level should be global.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Which of the following represents the commonly held societal beliefs that define what is socially
gratifying within a specific society?
a.
Consumer network
b.
Consumer advocacy
c.
Consumer culture
d.
Consumer awareness
e.
Consumer base
2. Hannah lives in place where rice is the staple diet of the people and eating wheat or potatoes is
associated with poverty and inferior status. This association that favors the consumption of rice to
wheat or potatoes is an example of consumer _____.
a.
awareness
b.
advocacy
c.
culture
d.
base
e.
network
3. A rule that specifies the appropriate behavior in a given situation within a specific culture is referred to
as cultural _____.
a.
stereotype
b.
bias
c.
transmission
d.
norm
e.
criticism
4. In the United States, people attend funerals in black-colored clothes while in Japan, people wear white-
colored clothes. This expectation of dressing in appropriate color of clothes according to the situation
is an example of cultural _____.
a.
stereotypes
b.
norms
c.
biases
d.
sanctions
e.
roles
5. Penalties associated with performing a nongratifying or culturally inconsistent behavior are known as
cultural ______.
a.
sanctions
b.
roles
c.
limitations
d.
biases
e.
equities
6. In some tribal cultures, commercial exploitation of nature is a serious offence that sometimes calls for
expulsion from the community. Such measures aimed at making people conform to rules are known as
cultural _____.
a.
limitations
b.
roles
c.
sanctions
d.
biases
e.
equities
7. Which of the following constitutes popular culture?
a.
A retail employee treating customers promptly and courteously.
b.
A teen using Twitter or Facebook to inform her friends about an upcoming concert.
c.
A motorcycle driver following the same driving rules as an automobile driver.
d.
A hotel clerk being expected to speak multiple languages.
e.
An individual doing a good deed with the expectation that the other person will return the
good deed.
8. The specific expectations that are associated with each type of person are referred to as _____
expectations.
a.
role
b.
shared
c.
rational
d.
adaptive
e.
interventional
9. In most countries, the Head of State is expected to act with diplomatic strength. This is an example of
_____ expectations.
a.
rational
b.
role
c.
adaptive
d.
personal
e.
local
10. The physical characteristics that describe the physical environment and habitat of a particular place are
known as _____ factors.
a.
intrinsic
b.
physiological
c.
demographic
d.
evolutionary
e.
ecological
11. Jonah lives in a place where summers are unheard of and temperatures hardly rise above sub-zero. As
a result, people living in that region rarely take daily showers, unlike people living in tropical regions.
This difference in the frequency of showers between cultures can be attributed to the difference in
_____ factors.
a.
accommodative
b.
ecological
c.
evolutionary
d.
demographic
e.
physiological
12. _____ refers to customs and accepted ways of structuring society.
a.
Sanction
b.
Evolution
c.
Tradition
d.
Adaptation
e.
Assimilation
13. The customary greetings people exchange when they meet and which differ from culture to culture are
an example of _____.
a.
evolution
b.
tradition
c.
assimilation
d.
sanction
e.
accommodation
14. _____ represent a commonly agreed upon consensus about the most preferable ways of living within a
society.
a.
Cultural trails
b.
Cultural lags
c.
Cultural biases
d.
Cultural values
e.
Cultural sanctions
15. In the core societal values (CSV) dimension, the extent to which people expect each other to take
responsibility for themselves and their immediate family is referred to as _____.
a.
individualism
b.
protectionism
c.
isolationism
d.
pluralism
e.
interventionism
16. Which of the following refers to the extent to which an individual’s life is intertwined with a large
cohesive group?
a.
Protectionism
b.
Collectivism
c.
Isolationism
d.
Pluralism
e.
Interventionism
17. Kamal lives with his extended family consisting of his grandparents and parents. In his country, people
value faithfulness to one’s family to the extent that a person’s identity is closely associated to the
family’s identity. According to the CSV dimension, Kamal’s culture is most likely to be high in _____.
a.
isolationism
b.
pluralism
c.
collectivism
d.
interventionism
e.
protectionism
18. The American society places a high value on being independent as well as attaining personal
milestones. According to the CSV dimension, the American society is most likely to be high in _____.
a.
pluralism
b.
protectionism
c.
individualism
d.
interventionism
e.
isolationism
19. Highly individualistic societies differ from highly collectivist societies in that highly individualistic
societies:
a.
take their identities from the groups to which they belong.
b.
place a lot of importance on group achievements.
c.
are loyal to the groups to which they belong.
d.
place high value on self-reliance.
e.
tend to live in extended families.
20. Which of the following CSV dimensions captures distinctions existing in societies based on
mannerisms typically associated with Western male traits over traditional feminine traits?
a.
Individualism
b.
Uncertainty avoidance
c.
Masculinity
d.
Long-term orientation
e.
Power distance
21. Men tend to share some feminine traits in a culture with low _____.
a.
masculinity
b.
individualism
c.
uncertainty avoidance
d.
power distance
e.
long-term orientation
22. In the CSV dimension, the extent to which people accept as fact the principle of the division of
authority and privilege among different groups within the society is referred to as _____.
a.
masculinity
b.
individualism
c.
power distance
d.
uncertainty avoidance
e.
long-term orientation
23. In Dave’s home country, most restaurants and public places have separate seating arrangements to
segregate customers based on to their “status and position” in society. According to the CSV
dimension, this is an example of a nation high in _____.
a.
individualism
b.
masculinity
c.
power distance
d.
uncertainty avoidance
e.
long-term orientation
24. Daniel’s workplace has no structured hierarchy, and all employees are treated equally regardless of
their designations or roles in the organization. According to the CSV dimension, this is an example of
an organization low in _____.
a.
individualism
b.
masculinity
c.
power distance
d.
uncertainty avoidance
e.
long-term orientation
25. According to the CSV dimension, a culture uncomfortable with ambiguous or unknown things is high
in _____.
a.
masculinity
b.
individualism
c.
power distance
d.
long-term orientation
e.
uncertainty avoidance
26. In the Chinese calendar, 2012 is the year of the Dragon. Chinese consumers are purchasing various
consumer products adorned with dragon motifs as they believe that it will bring good luck and
prosperity. According to the CSV dimension, cultures in which superstitions and myths are given high
value tend to be high in _____.
a.
masculinity
b.
individualism
c.
power distance
d.
short-term orientation
e.
uncertainty avoidance