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CULTURE DETERMINES GOODS AND SERVICES

WHAT IS CULTURE?

CULTURE can be viewed as the customs, arts and social interactions of

a particular nation, people, or other social group. It can also be defined
as an appreciation of the arts and human intellectual achievement. the
arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement
regarded collectively. Culture is the characteristics and knowledge of a
particular group of people, encompassing language, religion, cuisine,
social habits, music and arts.
The Center for Advance Research on Language Acquisition goes a step
further, defining culture as shared patterns of behaviors and interactions,
cognitive constructs and understanding that are learned by socialization.
Thus, it can be seen as the growth of a group identity fostered by social
patterns unique to the group.
"Culture encompasses religion, food, what we wear, how we wear it, our
language, marriage, music, what we believe is right or wrong, how we
sit at the table, how we greet visitors, how we behave with loved ones,
and a million other things," Cristina De Rossi, an anthropologist at
Barnet and Southgate College in London, told Live Science.
The word "culture" derives from a French term, which in turn derives
from the Latin "colere," which means to tend to the earth and grow, or
cultivation and nurture. "It shares its etymology with a number of other
words related to actively fostering growth," De Rossi said.
Culture is an important force that has a deep impact on several things in
people’s lives from their taste to their wisdom and basic choices. It
affects the style a person loves to the music he prefers and even the
literature he reads. Even in this era of globalization, the power of culture
is intact. It is why, the marketers focus upon cultural factors while
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marketing to diverse populations of consumers. A Chinese customer is

bound to have a different taste than a Malaysian and so will be a
Japanese from an American or Indian.
“Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience,
beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time,
roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and
possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations
through individual and group striving” (CHOUDHURY). It is defined
by several things from language and religion to art and music as well as
social habits and cuisine. Culture is a way of life for a specific group that
affects its values, beliefs, behavior and acceptable norms. Simply put
culture controls what is acceptable for a person and what is not.

HOW DOES CULTURE AFFECTS A PRODUCT BEING

SUCCESSFUL IN MARKET ???:

Something that is acceptable in the Western societies may not be

as acceptable in the East and the Middle Eastern nations. Culture is also
understood as the traditions passed on from generation to generation. If
culture is as effective and as important, it is bound to influence people’s
perception and how they think of certain things including the products
they buy. From interior decoration to their choice of cars and products of
daily use, their choices are going to remain affected by their cultures.
There are several theories which support the idea that people make
judgments within the realms of society and culture.
Their everyday decisions including their buying decisions are affected or
rather deeply influenced by culture. The theory of cultural determinism
holds that people are what they learn. The ideas, values and beliefs that
people learn as members of society determines their nature. There are
two versions of cultural determinism and the optimist version holds that
human nature is malleable and that people can be the way they want to
be. Still, for a person living in East, it is difficult to think and be like
someone in West. So, however best we try, culture still affects us and to
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go beyond its boundaries is difficult for people.This is what can also be

understood as cultural conditioning. The pessimistic version of this
theory holds that people will be what they are conditioned to be. This is
something not under their control. This also explains to some extent why
people make buying choices influenced by their cultural values. Zara
creates fast fashion and sells in several markets. However, before trying
to sell a particular design in any of the markets, it conducts research to
study and understand the local people’s lifestyles, their choices and the
local culture before releasing any product there. A lot of research is
required to understand the local culture and people’s likes and dislikes
before a product can be introduced into the local markets. However,
since Zara conducts the preliminary research, its products sell like
hotcake.
The theory of cultural relativism states that people from different
cultures think, feel and act differently. The Indian culture has its own
beliefs and values, the French culture has its own and the American
culture its own. So, an Indian would be less akin with the American
cultural symbols than an American and vice versa. As per this theory
every judgement of right and wrong is based upon societal and cultural
norms. It is why the emphasis is on cultural awareness in the
21st century. Cultural awareness provides us with cultural perspective
which helps to know why certain things may be right in certain societies
and wrong in others. Culture also affects consumers’ perspectives in this
way because after all the consumers belong to the society.

Below is an example of the food basic ltd. That tells you how cultural
factors affect the business of the company.

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About the company:

NAME: FOOD BASICS LTD.

TYPE: SUPER MARKET

INDUSTRY:RETAIL

FOUNDED: 1995

HEADQUARTERS: ONTARIO, TORONTO, CANADA

NO OF LOCATIONS: 115+

PRODUCTS: FOOD AND GENERAL MERCHANDISE

Food Basics Ltd. is a Canadian super chain owned by Metro Inc. The
company operates over 130 stores throughout Ontario.[1] Food Basics
was created by A&P Canada to compete with the successful No
Frills warehouse-style supermarket operated by Loblaw Companies. It
became part of the Metro group when A&P Canada was sold to Metro in
2005.

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Food Basics lowers its prices in a number of ways: low maintenance (no
free plastic bags, just free cardboard boxes), store decor is kept to a
minimum and fewer staff are employed, mostly in part-time positions.
The chain operates by pushing higher volumes on a limited selection of
products than Metro stores allowing it to compete price-wise with other
grocery stores. There are 117 locations in Ontario. 36 were franchise
stores until Metro Inc. purchased all stores back by the end of 2008.
Some Food Basics feature a pharmacy known as Drug Basics.
Some locations are former Super Fresh or A&P supermarkets, dating
from when both chains were operated by A&P,[2] or formerly bore
banners such as A&P-owned Dominion or Métro-owned Super C.
In the past, the owners' names appeared on the banner (e.g., 'John/Jane's
Food Basics'); however, all stores are now simply called 'Food Basics'.
Concurrent with this change is a different slogan, which was changed
from "Best Prices Everyday!!!" to "Always more for less!"
In Fall 2006, Metro Inc. began to renovate Food Basics stores. The
design and format of these new stores closely resemble Metro's Super C
banner in Quebec. New store signs feature broken lettering and a larger
emphasis on yellow, green and beige colours. In Spring 2007, Metro Inc.
initiated their new BDMS inventory system into all of its warehouses.

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Food Basics is a grocery store that operates over 115 stores across the
province of Ontario in Canada with the positioning of "always more for
less". To reach out to ethnic communities, the store promoted an offer in
one of its printed flyers with the notion of celebrating Baisakhi (a Sikh
religious holiday).

Baisakhi is a spring harvest festival for Sikhs and Hindus. It is usually

celebrated on April 13 or 14 every year. It marks the Sikh new year and
commemorates the formation of Khalsa panth of warriors under Guru
Gobind Singh in 1699. Vaisakhi is also an ancient festival of Hindus,
marking the Solar New Year and also celebrating the spring harvest.
Since the time of Guru Amar Das it has been customary for Sikhs to
assemble before their Guru on three of the most important Hindu festival
occasions – Vaisakhi, Divali and Maha Shivaratri. The alternative view
is that Guru Amar Das chose Maghi, instead of Maha Shivaratri.[20][21]
Subsequent events gave a new meaning to the festival which is, in part, a
remembrance of the foundation of the Khalsa Sikh order which started
after the ninth Guru Tegh Bahadur was persecuted and then beheaded

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under the orders of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, after he stood up

for freedom of religious practice and refused to convert to
Islam.[11][12] The guru's martyrdom triggered the coronation of the tenth
and last Guru of Sikhism, and the formation of the sant-sipahigroup
of Khalsa,[22][23] both on the Vaisakhi day.[12]
The Vaisakhi festival Khalsa tradition started in the year 1699,[9] as it is
on this day that the 10th Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh laid
down the foundation of the Panth Khalsa, that is the Order of the Pure
Ones, by baptizing Sikh warriors to defend religious
freedoms.[24][25][26] This gave rise to the Vaisakhi or Baisakhi festival
being observed as a celebration of Khalsa panth formation and is also
known as Khalsa Sirjana Divas[27] and Khalsa Sajna Divas.[28] The
festival is celebrated on Vaisakhi day (typically 14 April), since 1699.
The Birth of the Khalsa Panth was either on 13 April 1699[29]or 30
March 1699.[30] Since 2003, the Sikh Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee
named it Baisakh (Vaisakh), making the first day of the second month of
Vaisakh according to its new Nanakshahi calendar.[31]
The big mistake that the food basics company did was romoting Halal
chicken, a Muslim product along with the traditional food items of
Sikhs.. Had the store's marketing people known more about the
community it was targeting, they would not have targeted Sikhs in this
manner, as Sikhs do not consume meat or alcohol on Baisakhi.as
baisakhi is considered the most auspicious festival of Sikhs they are
prohibited from having non vegetarian food or consuming alchohol. In
fact, Halal meat is forbidden for practicing Sikhs, and many would
consider it insulting when it is offered to them.this led to the hurting of
the cultural sentiments of the sikh community that led to the removal of
product advertising in many of the countries where the food basics
operated and where the sikh community resided. What’s more, Sikhs
and Muslims are often mistaken for one another—a problem that has
angered many Sikhs who are mistaken for radical religious terrorists.
This flyer suggests that Food Basics doesn't know the differences either.
Thus the less understanding of cultural values in the area food basics ltd
operated led to the loss of sikh religion customers.

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CONCLUSION:

culture had played a very important role in the past where improper
research on cultural factors had led to the rejection of products or
services of many companies from the society. Some of the major
examples are the Nike’s black and tan shoes in Ireland, Volkswagen’s
golf cars in china, Starbucks campaign on race together, beef burgers of
McDonalds in India and many more. Thus the above case proves that
culture is an important determining factor for success of goods and
services. A careful research on culture is a must for the companies to
achieve success of the product and if not done it leads to the blunders in
marketing causing heavy losses for the business.

Thus culture determines goods and services.