As the forces of
globalization create a movement towards product standardization,
cultural issues seem to continuously emerge. Several authors and researchers such as Hofstede, Hall and Trompenaar, whose main theories are explained in the paper, try to respond to these issues. However, large multinational enterprises (MNEs) seem to always fall into the trap and disregard concepts such as differentiation, localities, and
adaptation. This essay identifies the impact of
culture on global
marketing by investigating the existing theories with the aid of examples of large-scale marketing decisions. Table of Contents: 1.0 Origins of Culture and Impacts in
Global Marketing 1.1 Political and Economic Forces 1.2 Technology 1.3 Geography 1.4 Social Institutions 2.0 Hofstede's Framework for Understanding Cultures 2.1 Individualism vs. Collectivism 2.2 Power Distance 2.3 Uncertainty Avoidance 2.4 Masculinity vs. Femininity 2.5 Long Term vs. Short Term Focus (Orientation) 3.0 Critical Evaluation of Hofstede's Framework 4.0 High/Low Context Cultures 5.0 Cross Cultural Negotiations and Communication 6.0 Environmental Sensitivity: Globalization, Localization and Adaptation in Marketing 7.0 Conclusion Bibliography