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Retail Business Environment

Notes Srnka, also puts them in a convenient graphical form to back up the explanation and visualise
the different levels and their scope (see Figure 3.3).

Figure 3.3: Levels of Culture: Marketing Perspective

Source: Srnka, 2004
Retailing and Culture

Being members of a particular national culture consumers' attitude and behaviour is influenced
by its cultural values. Various studies of consumer behaviour itself focuses on the question how
people make decisions to spend their available resources (disposable income, and expected
disposable income) on consumption-related items.
Going through the international marketing literature two main debates on culture emerge: the
first is about whether to use universal, standardised methods of retailing for the same products
for penetrating consumers from different cultures, and the other - whether globalisation,
unification of consumption items has affected the different cultures at such extent that they have
converged.

Both proponents of standardisation and convergence disregard the effect of culture over retail
industry and pay little attention to the cultural differences which would affect the marketing
effectiveness.

Many social and economic factors are discussed from the proponents of standardisation, however
they don't give any importance to the cultural differences as possible influence on consumer
behaviour, although "culture is the fundamental determinant of a person's wants and behaviour"

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