Question

1. Discuss the importance of cultural factors when assessing a national business environment.

2. What role does the business media play in setting the tone for a nation’s investment climate?

Answer 1

1. Foreign market would have varying product, service, meat / food quality and even brand preferences. The importance of forms, colors and recognizable features may also have specific cultural meaning. Such cultural differences need to be taken into account in order to decide whether goods are ideal for a market or can be adapted for greater business success. For example, for the North American market Fanta soda is orange flavored. The Coca-Cola group, which manufactures Fanta, has modified the flavoring to take into account cultural taste preferences for some markets.

Culture is complex and it requires considerable time, energy, and experience to fully understand its impact. Different characteristics of a culture that create an impression of similarity, but marketers need to dig deeper to make sure they fully understand the people and environments they work in. Only a shared language does not guarantee interpretative similarity

2. Government officials in different countries frequently inform this author how 'researchers' who 'look into the possibility of creating a special story' about their country and its specific holiday and/or investment climate have approached them, usually for a highly respected international newspaper or business journal. Typically it turns out later that the researchers in question are simply sales agents for a public relations, marketing or media distribution firm that has a license from the prestigious newspaper to manufacture pay-for advertising supplements under their name.

Needless to say, media salespeople do not miss any opportunity to bandy about the exciting and mysterious vocabulary of 'country branding' and 'destination branding,' citing the tremendous increase in interest in this important region, showing stunning TV and print campaigns created by (very rich) developed countries as proof of this new phenomenon, and fostering a strong sense of anxiety