Diversity and marketing essay

Globalization has marked a new era of interstate communication. Notwithstanding the earlier conceptions of political and cultural boundaries, the world today is becoming a global village. The foundation of a world economy, the hallowing of the state, and the establishment of transnational institutions are characteristics of globalization.

The first issue that should be addressed is the general relevance of globalization to intercultural communication. In ancient times, intercultural communication was facilitated by trade and commerce. Ancient states typically implemented policies that would strengthen trade and commerce, for the purpose of knowledge acquisition. Today, intercultural communication is facilitated by many factors. Neoclassical theorists often argued that the world today is a familiar table of economic decision-making. Nations or group of nations present their agenda through world conferences or summit.

Added to that, the growing cynicism over a global nuclear war forced many countries to accept the fact that political and cultural isolation is a utopia. Thus, we come to the presentation of the current state of culture in Great Britain. Culture is an amorphous concept, taking many definitions and yet constructing vague conceptions of human ethos (Kluver, 2007). Typically, it is a symbolic construction. It is a symbolic system primarily because it is derived from the values, habits, and beliefs of the British people it represents (Intercultural Communication Defined, 2001). Perception, cognition, and understanding often involve two or more cultures interacting. Ancient wars of rival states were often the result of biased perceptions (Kluver, 2007).

These became incorporated to the beliefs and globalized ideals of the “ conflicting” groups of people in the market. This affects how the market would react to certain segmentation and positioning strategies in Great Britain. To be specific, product purchases that are most likely to result in dissonance include those, which of course, in general, do not satisfy the customer. One example is in real estates, when a seller did not give much about the social information of the place apparently because he knows that the location of the place he is selling is weak at this aspect or he had not investigated a lot on the product that he has been selling.

The customer, who is primarily after “ just the house” itself such as the furnishings, house price and appearance, and the terms to pay the house may probably forget to ask about the culture of the neighborhood where they will transfer and the availability of good schools around. Having the customer discover this need after he had agreed to buy the house or worst, after he and his family had transferred and gave the initial payment would possibly result to post purchase dissonance.          Now let us look at another kind of business. In a restaurant, for example, a customer may be dissatisfied when he goes to a restaurant and orders chicken (fried or roasted) and notices that his food was not cooked very well, as contested by the appearance of some blood inside the cooked chicken. The customer was likely to wait 10 minutes or more before receiving his order and faces that kind of situation.

A different situation may arise in a bakery that has very good advertisement and appearance of cakes but lacks ingredients and therefore, doesn’t taste that good. In order not to dismay the customer and have post purchase dissonance, themanufacturer/owner should think of ways to improve his product or pre-empt the negative feedbacks that may come. The customer will be satisfied with the product if the actual performance is the same as the expected performance. For example, if the products are advertised, the advertisements should really explain the product and do not only advertise to be known. In the advertisement of a certain instant noodle for example, if it delivers that a pack of noodles is enough to satisfy hunger, one pack should be that much to really prove its advertisement.

Another way to equate the expected performance with the actual performance is to make the capabilities of the product visible and exclude those which are no in texts such as those in toothbrushes or pillows. If the pillows do really contain pure cotton, it is safe to say so. However, some manufacturers, in order to appeal to customers include some details which do not conform to the product that they are selling. The life of the product is also one reason to repurchase the product. If the shoes bought in a cheaper price fades and loses its beauty or worst, cannot be used anymore after just a few times of use, it will be better to buy a pair that costs a little much but can be used a little longer and have the customer’s confidence of using it without the worry that it may be worn-out at unexpected circumstances.

I do believe that certain cultures would have more post purchase dissonance than others. This may be evident in this example. Certain cultures don’t pay great attention on their bad odor than other cultures. For instance, those who do not care will not have the disposition to buy an anti-perspirant and deodorant unlike those who really survey on which products really stop perspiration and / or which do not result to rashes or dark underarms. There are cultures which do not care on dark underarms and is only concerned with the discontinue of their perspiration and bad odor. These clients therefore will have less post purchase dissonance than those who have more concerns other than just the control of perspiration. Another example is when a culture is used to drinking carabao’s or cow’s milk.

Others prefer those powdered milks sold in the market while other cultures prefer fresh milk even though some have an after taste. Those which prefer buying in the markets are likely to have greater post purchase dissonance than those who can drink fresh milk, literally. Despite the fact that all manufacturers should make an effort not to dissatisfy the customers, there are levels of dissatisfaction that is beyond their control. These uncontrolled circumstances are the levels which can be acceptable.  For example, in a stall of jeans, even though it passed through a series of quality control, certain customers would still find some defects which can be ignored such as in Harrod’s. This may include some uneven appearance (tear) at the bottom part of the jeans. This can’t be controlled since the nature of the jeans is that it may wear (ignorable) for some reasons. Another example is a book purchase.

The writer is of course very much concerned on the content of the book and not on the appearance of it several years after it was stocked in a bookstore. The book may not look that pleasing so the customers may prefer to buy another book of the same kind and almost of the same price. The old book having not much of a good appearance may only be bought by customers for a cheaper price. Characteristics that contribute to dissatisfaction regardless of the marketer’s efforts include those which are beyond the marketer’s control.

The last time I was dissatisfied with a purchase was when I bought a hotdog which was cheaper than what I used to buy. The taste of the hotdog was very much different from the leading brand and it tastes as if less ingredients were used and as if the food was near to expiration.  However, I did not take any attempt to complain since it is a product that I do not really know and because I only bought it because I was hungry and because the price is very much cheaper than the leading brand. Knowing that it is cheaper, less did I expect from the product.  Having that situation, I prefer not to buy that product again nor try cheap products that may also taste bad.

Consumers who are likely to have more complaints regarding certain products are may be those who are obsessive compulsive, because for them, every detail matters or those which have experienced to taste “ the best of the best”, as they say. People who are likely to be this kind are those who are from the upper-upper to the lower middle social class. Probably because as said, from their experiences and the number of things that they may have known about the product. These things may include the presence of MSG in foods or the capability of the car engine to prevent emitting gases which are harmful to people and to the ozone layer. Another reason may also be because they invest a lot of money on the things that they buy so they magnify small details. Those who are from the upper-lower to the lower-lower are less likely to complain because their concern is to purchase a product for their needs, and less likely for their wants. Because of this reason, every time they go to the store, their intention is to buy immediately, because they have the money at that moment.

Unlike those who have a lot of money to go to the malls and just stroll sometimes to look for something new and compare it with the other products that is available. Also, another reason for them to not to complain is that they are diffident that their complaint is just natural and that because they are not regular customers so they prefer to accept the services, satisfying or not. I am a repeated purchaser of services and brands. I think I am because I don’t want to waste my money in risking products or having services that may dissatisfy me in the end.

I also think that the products that I patronize this time are of good price that is equated with its quality. The possibility that the products will make me unsatisfied are ignorable compared to other products that I have tried before. Customer loyalty is what McDonalds and Yahoo in Great Britain are trying to continuously achieve. I think these two are high in customer loyalty. McDonalds is one of the two that I have chosen primarily because the taste of their foods did not change over the years. My all-time favorite is McDonalds’ french fries because it is always crunchy and its catsup always partner its fries. The restaurant continuously encourages the people to return by trying to have something new to offer such as new foods or beverages to try or happy meals to see and buy.

Children are the greatest fans of this establishment may be because of its attracting ambiance especially made for children and children at heart. The workers in Great Britain are trained on how to interact with customers and how to serve them at less time. They are also used to customers who complain a lot and deal with them as kindly as they could. Aside from the food that they serve, they also have summer trainings for children which open them to the world of service. The generally clean establishments of McDonalds is a plus factor why people constantly go there.

Another factor is the price. The price is comparably cheaper than other restaurants present malls so the students and people from the middle class prefer to go there other than try to enter another fast food. Yahoo is another company in Great Britain which I think tries to develop customer loyalty.

The website includes a lot of information that an internet surfer can gather and the free subscription is a plus for this website. From the easy way of signing up to its fast search engines are just some of the proofs that Yahoo has a high customer loyalty. The site includes news, chat rooms, horoscopes, educational facts, and a lot more that a surfer will initially go because of its wide availability of resources. This website also contains different languages on different nations which is why a lot of nationalities prefer to go to this site. Also, the website is capable of downloading games for free which is why a number of consumers prefer to visit the site which can be stated as a good marketing move. Now, what would be the case if the marketing failed to address some of the demands or grievances of its labor force? In this case, according to Kotler et al (2008) British society females in firms complained of the discriminatory processes directed to them by their male counterparts.

Some high-profile executives of British firms agreed to institutionalize arbitration procedures to resolve the grievances of the female workers. Some were generally successful. Discriminatory practices in several British firms were essentially abolished. Some of the firms were in transitionary period; that is, beginning to initiate changes that would eventually erase discrimination against female workers in the workplace. If the company (which promised to institutionalize arbitration mechanisms) failed to resolve the conflicts (because of discrimination) among the employees in the workplace, four impacts can be noted. Here are as follows: 1)        Relations among employees will deteriorate; forcing the company to streamline its labor pool.

Streamlining the labor pool is costly since the overall budget for recruitment and selection will increase. 2)        The general output of the company will decline. Output, which is denoted by Y, is the sum of the work performance of the labor force. It may be tangible (as in the case of finished products) or intangible (as in the case of new technologies). Because team-building is essential to increasing output, failure of conflict arbitration (in this case, of discrimination against women in the workplace) reduces the work attachment between male and female employees. Thus, the initiative to work across sex becomes a more figurehead of employee dislike. Male and female employees would be left hanging on their work. 3)        Managers will have a hard time implementing policies in the workplace.

Female employees will view the policies of the management as pro-male and anti-women. Hence, female workers will tend to ignore the policies implemented by the management. Again, work performance of female employees will decline. Motivation to work becomes a vague concept.

4)        And, there is no assurance for the management to retain its female workers. It is possible that the propensity to leave the company may become the predominant monde of thinking for female workers. If this is the case, the company will be faced with a major labor debacle (how to replace a large portion of the labor force in a given limited period of time). Recruitment and selection becomes more costly because of the corporate image the company is perceived by female members of Great Britain’s work force. Implementation of Diversity InitiativesAs taken from the quotation from Holt (2002) In order for the implementation of diversity initiatives in Great Britain to become successful, two necessary elements should be followed. Here are as follows: 1)      Recruitment, selection, and orientation.

In terms of recruiting from minority groups, it is essential that the talents recruited should be oriented regarding the benefits and reward systems of a company. The recruits should be well informed of the company’s values, recent market successes, and of course the chances for moving the career ladder. This would initially stimulate the recruits to focus their minds on the possibility of hiring.

In terms of selection, minority groups should be well represented, of course, the main standard of selection is the company requirements. Well- represented minority groups in the company’s pool of laborers may result in a positive net satisfaction of the company (since many ethnicities are represented). However, differences in values and beliefs of the recruits may be resolved through the orientation process, of which differences would be resolved through the framework of mutual understanding. 2)      Training and Development.

The final test of group work (composed of employees who came from different social backgrounds) will be exhibited in the training period. The training would be structured in such a way that each employee would be given a job essential to his/her qualification. This would stimulate group cooperation, essential in developing employee confidence and self-worth. The net effect of this implementation in the current social system in Great Britain is the institutionalization of a bias-free environment. Workers will perceive that their work environment is friendly and conducive to personal environment.  References: Consumer behavior. Retrieved April 26, 2009 from            http://academic. brooklyn.

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