Jun 29 2009
The Reciprocal Nature Of Marketing And Culture
By Mrs. Killeen M. Gonzalez
Understanding the process of enculturation is important to the creation of an effective marketing plan because a consumer’s culture determines the overall importance he or she attached to a good or service as well as ultimately whether or not that good or service will be successful in the marketplace. I have discussed this in other articles before but what I haven’t touched upon is that the relationship between marketing and culture is reciprocal. For as much as culture contributes to marketing, marketing contributed to culture.
Marketing contributes to culture by helping to create products, services and symbols that represent cultural ideals. In essence studying successful new products and innovations in product design during any point and time provides a snapshot of the dominant cultural ideals of that period. Take for example the “green movement”. Marketing contributed to it by successfully linking certain products such as hybrid cars and biodegradable packaging to the cultural ideal of being “green”. And culture contributes to marketing by fostering more environmentally friendly marketing techniques like the use of email verse snail mail campaigns.
Another example of this reciprocity is the counter culture movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s. It was those cultural ideas that spurred the creation of the signs and symbols that came to represent both the peace and civil rights movements. Marketers of that time period used those signs and symbols to link the ideals of the culture to everything from clothing to soda. Furthermore, if it had not been for the cultural ideals of that period those particular signs and symbols would have most likely not come into being.
In summary, effective marketers understand the reciprocal nature between their craft and enculturation. In addition, they know that because of that relationship they must continually examine the changes in consumers overall orientation towards life, leisure time activities, and attitudes towards social issues. In doing so a marketer can better forecast potential changes in consumer consumption patters over time. For more information on this topic or other business related topics consult your local marketing professional.
