Socio-cultural influences on international marketing

Published Date: 23 Mar 2015

According to Doole and Lowe (2004), the socio-cultural influences on international marketing are great. Social-cultural factors concern about demographics changes which organizations should be aware of. It involves age structure of the population, changing nature of occupations, improvement in education, and family size, and so on, which can have a great impact on demand of the products and services. Differences in social conditions, religion and culture can all affect consumers' perceptions and patterns of buying behavior. In some countries, environment of the religion might be a source of opportunities or threats to companies doing the business in that particular location. Development and movement in populations around the world are crucial factors heralding social changes. It will affect the supply and demand of products and services within an economy. Cultural differences, especially language differences can have a significant impact on the way a product may be used in a market, its brand name and the advertising campaign. For example, there are culture gaps between Western and Asian countries where some companies simply do not find their way into a market or where their performance is less than successful.

In comparison, Morocco statistics (Online Central Intelligence Agency Factbook, 1947) shows the social-culture formation. The population of Morocco is about 34,859,364 (July 2009 est.) and the Muslim religion is 98.7% of population. Arabic is an official language in Morocco, followed by Berber dialects, French often used in business, government, and diplomacy. The influence of marketing is the unique of culture. Therefore, the marketing plans have to be considered mainly in prevention of religion offensive. Organizations should be able to analyze and identify the products and services in order to aim the complement and benefit the lifestyle and the behavior of people internationally. If organizations do not recognize changes in society, they will lose market share and demand for their products or services.

Technology

Technology is now used throughout all over the world that supports people's lives more easily and efficient to access. According to Groucutt at al. 2004, technological environment is a major outlook on both in international marketing and in the move towards a more global marketplace. The range of technology is wide which includes computers, medicine, communication, transportation and so on. In new technological areas, observing the technological environment which may result in creating new markets, new products and market opportunities. Many of today's common products have been developed in a relatively short period of time. Now many publications are produced by using computers to enter text, while desktop publishing packages allow texts and images to be arranged on the screen. Production machines make products under the precise control of computers. It is not only the products themselves that are the subject of technological change, but also how they are designed, promoted, manufactured and serviced that is changing at high-speed. Companies will continue to develop, and then adapt, process and production methods to initiate the development of new technological markets. The marketer should watch the trends and changes in technology, taking opportunity and protecting the company against danger.

According to Kotler et al. 1999(p. 49), many organizations invest too much cost in their own research and development. As a result of the high expenditure of developing and introducing new technologies, many organizations are making minor product improvement instead of gambling on major innovations. They should focus on continuous quality improvement, enhances the company's ability to serve the consumer, contain costs and maintain competitive standing. Marketers need to identify and consider the changing technological development to supports marketing objectives and target markets in the ways that marketers reach customers through the use of interactive marketing. For example, companies can advertise and promote their products through Internet or television; it means nowadays technology has become an important aspect which influences marketing greatly.