CROSS CULTURAL MARKETING

The course presents topics concerning how to develop marketing strategies across different cultures affecting the behaviors, expectations, values of the people as consumers or buyers of a company in choosing and buying products in the international markets, moving from a global to a local point of view. A particular focus will concern new emerged markets with remarkable cultural distance as Far East, South America, etc.
Students should analyze the importance of the cultural context in business behavior and decisions as well in international marketing strategies.
The course aims to provide students with culturally different perspectives from those of their own country, enhancing their ability to understand different business behaviours and customer expectations, thus increasing their ability to work in international markets.

1. Knowledge and understanding
● Knowing the main theories and models of cultural differences in the business.
● Know ing the different ways of adaptation of marketing strategies and solutions used by companies in different cultural contexts.
● Knowing the basics of strategic marketing behavior of companies in international markets and culturally distant markets.
2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
● To Know how to correctly recognize which marketing tools and activities can be used in the various situations of international company-market relations.
● To Know how to do a simple analysis of the marketing problems that a company faces daily in a complex cultural context.
● To Be able to recognize the key aspects of a cross-cultural marketing decision and its implementation.
● To Be able to work in a multicultural team to solve complex problems.
3. Ability to judge
● Knowing how to formulate and argue hypotheses for solving cross-cultural marketing problems, also developing a critical approach to the evaluation of alternative hypotheses.
4. Communication skills
● Knowing how to use the appropriate language in describing aspects of cross-cultural marketing.
● Knowing how to interact with peers, critically and respectfully, problem-solving.
5. Learning skills
● Knowing how to critically consult the reference texts and the bibliography contained.
● Knowing how to find, collect and select useful information from various sources to solve intercultural marketing problems

Students should have the basic knowledge of the Marketing Management course

1. The cross cultural approach
1.1 Concepts of culture and markets
1.2 Models of cross-cultural analysis
2. Towards a cross-cultural strategic marketing model
2.1 Evolution of international markets
2.2 The standardization/adaptation dilemma
3. Cross cultural marketing choices and decisions
3.1 Cross-cultural aspects in market research
3.2 Consumer behavior and cultural factors
3.3 International brands and country of origin
3.4 The product and local cultures
3.5 Importers, distributors and international sales force
3.6 Cross cultural communication
3.7 Cultural context and price perception
4. New cross-cultural marketing challenges

Vescovi T. (2022). CROSS-CULTURAL MARKETING. EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVES. Edward Elgar.
recommended reading (in Italian): T. Vescovi (2023). LA GLOBALIZZAZIONE DISATTESA. Le culture influenzano i mercati. Ronzani editore.

Students will be assessed on their ability to solve cross-cultural marketing and communication problems. Students will be able to present a country in focus groups, concentrating on cross-cultural characteristics and market opportunities, thus gaining a bonus of 0 to 2 points for the exam grade.
The final exam (written only) will include 3 open-ended questions (30% of the grade), a case study (40% of the grade) and 30 multiple choice questions (30% of the grade). The examination will refer to the textbook and topics covered during the lectures.

written

The lecturer has a duty to ensure that the rules regarding the authenticity and originality of exam tests and papers are respected. Therefore, if there is suspicion of irregular conduct, an additional assessment may be conducted, which could differ from the original exam description.

The exam time is 60 minutes.
There are 3 open questions (30% of the grade), 30 multiple choice questions (30% of the grade), and 1 short case study (40% of the grade) .
Answer to the questions at the end of the case study.
Each open question can be judge as follow:
0 points = totally wrong - no answer
1 point = wrong
2 points = partially wrong
3 points = almost correct
4 ponts = correct
5 points = well done
6 points = perfect

Lectures will be concentrated in the first part of the course. Examples will be used to develop group works. Students will be directly involved in the lessons through the presentation of a different country and ist cultural context for each lesson. Some managers and visiting professors will be involved who will present the cultural aspects in the business of the countries in which they operate.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "International cooperation" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development