Cultural Diversity and its Influence on the Attitudes of Africans and Indians toward Marketing Communication: A South African Perspective

Abosede Ijabadeniyi,Dayaneethie Veerasamy,Jeevarathnam Parthasarathy Govender

doi:10.22610/jebs.v8i6(j).1481

Abosede Ijabadeniyi, Dayaneethie Veerasamy + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.22610/jebs.v8i6(j).1481

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Abstract

Abstract: Culture has been reported to be one of the major factors influencing attitudes toward marketing communication. However, identification across prevailing cultural dimensions could have unique implications for attitudes toward marketing communication. This paper examines how African and Indian cultural values may or may not influence attitudes toward marketing communication. It explores how Africans converge with or diverge from Indians with regards to culturally sensitive attitudes toward marketing communication, based on a Marketing Communication-Specific Cultural Values (MCSCV) model adapted from the individualism-collectivism constructs. Attitudes toward marketing were measured based on the advertising scale of the Index of Consumer Sentiment toward Marketing (ICSM) practices. Data generated for this study were based on responses provided by 283 and 92 African and Indian shoppers at the main shopping malls in the most predominant African and Indian townships in Durban, South Africa viz. Umlazi and Chatsworth, respectively. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Categorical Principal Component Analysis (CATPCA) were conducted on the dataset. Findings revealed that both races displayed more individualistic than collectivistic tendencies toward marketing communication, but Africans exhibited more collectivistic tendencies than their Indian counterparts. In addition, respondentsâ€™ individualistic tendencies have a significant influence on attitudes toward marketing communication which showed that consumersâ€™ indigenous cultural disposition play a moderating role on attitudes toward marketing communication. This study builds on the marketing literature by validating the implications of cultural diversity for marketing communication. The study emphasizes how the interplay between target marketsâ€™ underlying cultural dispositions and cultural values held toward marketing communication, influence the consistency or inconsistency in consumersâ€™ attitudes toward marketing communication. Keywords: Culture, Individualism, Collectivism, Consumer behaviour, Advertising

Highlights

Cultural diversity is a prominent issue in a country like South Africa, which has a history of social segregation (Ndhlovu, 2011) and a diversified racial classification consisting of Africans (80.5%), Coloured (8.8%), Indian (2.5%) and White (8.3%) (StatsSA, 2015)
The ability of marketing practitioners to develop culturally sensitive marketing communication strategies is dependent of the flexibility of campaigns to prevailing cultural cues in target markets
The adaptability and sensitivity of marketing communication strategies is critical for generating new sources of strategic competitive advantage, given that consumers’ attitudes toward marketing communication could be a reflection of their underlying cultural disposition and cultural values held toward marketing communication

Summary

Introduction

Cultural diversity is a prominent issue in a country like South Africa, which has a history of social segregation (Ndhlovu, 2011) and a diversified racial classification consisting of Africans (80.5%), Coloured (8.8%), Indian (2.5%) and White (8.3%) (StatsSA, 2015). Such diversity lends itself to prejudiced interpretations of cues (Ghemawat and Reiche, 2011). The understanding of cultural differences is crucial for successful advertising campaigns, given the proliferation of global trends (Uskul and Oyserman, 2010). The author further argued that individualistic and collectivistic cultural dispositions are a reflection of the importance consumers place on the ‘self’ and ‘community members’, respectively. Morling and Lamoreaux (2008) reported on the diversity in the attitudes of individualists and collectivists toward stimuli

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