Problems and Perspectives in Management, Volume 12, Issue 1, 2.docx

Problems and Perspectives in Management, Volume 12, Issue 1,
2014
172
Marcel Schnalke (South Africa), Roger B. Mason (South Africa)
The influence of culture on marketing communications: critical
cultural factors influencing South African and German
businesses
Abstract
The area of international communication possesses great
potential for research. This study is undertaken in order to
understand the influence of national culture on marketing
communications between South African and German
businesses. The study is undertaken as a cross-sectional
quantitative survey combined with qualitative in-depth
interviews to provide better understanding of the information
obtained from the survey. The data was collected with the
aid of a research questionnaire, which was emailed to the
research sample. Collected data was analyzed using SPSS
(Version 17.0) and descriptive analysis was carried out using
tables and figures as well as the application of inferential
statistics. The research sample was obtained from the
Membership Directory 2010/2011 of the Southern African-
German Chamber of Commerce and Industry with contact
details of 500 companies located in South Africa and
dealing with German businesses. Findings of the study revealed
the following as critical cultural factors to marketing
communication: language, value systems, religion, level of
education, attitude towards time, as well as the marketing

communication style and marketing messages. The study has
revealed the emergence of new challenges for companies
operating internationally. The national culture of each country
is highlighted as an area of importance whose variables
exert considerable influence on the communication process. In
light of the research findings, recommendations for
improving international communication between South African
and German companies are provided.
Keywords: cross-culture, national culture, marketing
communication, Germany, South Africa.
JEL Classification: M14, M16, M31, M37.
Introduction1
Globalization has increased people’s need to be
involved in international activities. Due to the fact
that people from different cultures become more and
more interdependent on each other, intercultural
communication is becoming a common issue to deal
with. Regarding the increasing importance of
intercultural communication, many scholars and
researchers have produced works on various topics
related to intercultural communication (Boroditsky,
2010). According to Samovar et al. (2007, p. 10),
“intercultural communication involves interaction
between people whose cultural perceptions and
symbol systems are distinct enough to alter the
communication event”. As summarized by Peltokorpi
(2010), intercultural communication has been defined
by various scholars as communicative encounters
between people or groups with different back-
grounds. ‘Intercultural’ means the comparison of
cultures in contact, which in the context of business,
refer to ‘intercultural business communication’.
Palmer-Slveira et al. (2008) state that, due to recent

developments in the business world, like the
expansion of the European Union and the growth of
some Asian economies, intercultural business
communication has become one of the most impor-
tant fields of research. According to Ablonczy-
Mihalyka (2009), globalization has also produced a
workforce with diverse cultural backgrounds at the
same workplace whose business encounters are at an
international level. Cultural differences between
Marcel Schnalke, Roger B. Mason, 2014.
employee’s and between businesses provide the
potential for misunderstanding and disagreement.
1. Literature review
1.1. Culture. According to de Mooij (2005), there are
different meanings of culture. The most common
definitions of culture are found in anthropological
literature. According to Albaum et al. (2002), culture is
human-made, so it is learned and is communicated
from one generation to another. This definition
corresponds with the statement of Keegan (2002) who
stated that cultures are ways of living built up by a
group of human beings, which are transmitted from
one generation to another. One of the most popular
definitions was given by Hofstede (2001, p. 9), who
stated that, culture is “the collective programing of the
mind that distinguishes the members of one group or
category of people from another”. In accordance with
Hofstede’s (2001) definition, Zhao (2011) stated that a
national culture is a set of collective beliefs and values
that distinguish people of one nation from those of
another.

1.2. Elements of culture. Various authors have
written about the elements of culture and have tried
to explain its influence on the national culture and the
value and norm systems of a society. Elements of
culture like education, religion and language
influence the values and norms of a society (Cateora
and Graham, 2007; Samovar et al., 2007; Hill, 2011).
“Each of these ingredients plays an equally important
role in determining the nature and values of a
particular culture” (Lillis and Tian, 2010, p. 100)
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One of the elements of culture is education which
plays a major role in a society. At school, individuals
learn the substantial skills which are needed in a
modern society. Cultural norms, like respect for
others, obedience to authority, honesty, neatness and
being on time are taught at school (Hill, 2011).
Another cultural factor, of importance, is religion.
Cateora and Graham (2007) stated that the
importance of religion on the value systems of a
society and the effect of value systems on marketing
must not be underestimated. The influence of religion
is often quite strong. The issue of time is also treated
differently amongst different cultural groups. Cultural
attitudes towards time are reflected by different time
orientations. In a monochromic culture, time is seen
as having an economic value. Therefore, activities are
undertaken at one time and schedules and agendas

are respected. Polychronic cultures do multitasking,
i.e., doing two or more things at the same time
(Gillespie et al., 2007). “In cultures with this view,
people view the ability of being involved with many
issues involving other people all at once as more
important than completing an individual task by a
deadline” (Brodowsky et al., 2008, p. 246).
Language is also another cultural element of key
interest. Language is part of culture and plays a very
important role in it. According to Jiang (2000),
without language culture would not be possible,
because the former reflects culture and is
simultaneously influenced and shaped by it. Facts or
ideas or events that are communicable refer to shared
knowledge between people as well as beliefs and
attitudes which are shared with others. As stated by
Chaney and Martin (2010), there is a need for
understanding a common language to communicate
successively with people from other cultures.
Resultantly, several studies have examined the rela-
tionship between language and culture. Boroditsky
(2010) summarized different studies which measured
how people talk and think and identified people’s
understanding of space, time and causality could be
constructed by language. According to Boroditsky
(2010), several studies have shown causality between
the language being spoken and the way people think.
If a bilingual person switches from one language to
another, he/she starts to think differently. Hence, by
learning a new language, people also learn a new
world view.
The linkages between language and culture are also
evident in non-verbal and verbal communication.
Specific cultural behavioral patterns are learned and

culture is shared. Non-verbal communication is not
only influenced by factors such as gender and an
individual’s personal characteristics, but is also
affected by culture. People who are culturally,
linguistically and racially similar may be able to read
the non-verbal behavior of each other more
accurately (Gabbott and Hogg, 2000).
1.3. Marketing strategy. Companies are always
searching for competitive advantage and the
emerging global landscape defines the firm’s
opportunities and challenges. Open markets, rise in
discretionary income and modern tools for accessing
global markets provide great opportunities for
businesses to pursue their international customers.
Beside the opportunities for companies to enter a
global market, there are challenges as well. The
complexity of managing multiple markets and
coordinating the marketing communications strategy
as well as the difficulty of managing geographic,
cultural, political barriers are factors which hinders
the companies’ success in the global markets
(Cavusgil and Cavusgil, 2011). Therefore interna-
tional companies have to develop an international
marketing strategy
International marketing which is defined as the
“performance of business activities designed to
define plan, price, promote and direct the flow of a
company’s goods and services to the consumer/user
in more than one country” (Cateora and Graham,
2007, p. 9). Companies inform, persuade and remind
customers (directly and indirectly) about the products
and brands they sell through their marketing
communication. The focus is, therefore, placed on the

promotion (or marketing communication) element of
the international marketing mix.
According to Cheon et al. (2007), the general
requirements of effective marketing communication
can apply to global communication as well. This is
largely dependent on the environment and situation,
resulting in variances in the marketing communi-
cation between markets.
When planning an international marketing commu-
nication strategy, companies have to decide whether
to standardize, for example, have a single marketing
strategy in all operating countries or to adapt a
strategy to fit the unique dimensions of each local
market (Vrontis et al., 2009). Cross-cultural research
in advertising tries to connect observed differences
with cultural dimensions, mostly based on
frameworks such as the cultural dimensions of
Hofstede (2001) or Hall (1976). A growing trend in
advertising has been to combine a global advertising
strategy with local adaptations referring to cultural
differences of the target markets. Wilken and Sinclair
(2011) discovered that Coca Cola, McDonalds and
Colgate-Palmolive combined their global strategies
with local adaptations, the so called “glocalization”.
Every culture has its own social time and the social
context of individual cultures is one of the critical
issues for marketing managers by developing a
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global marketing strategy (Harvey et al., 2008).
According to Harvey et al. (2008), time is the
competitive tool of the 21st century and a good
understanding of time can be “the key advantage for
a company in the future to withstand the market
dynamics”. The alignment of individual concepts of
social time to those that exist already in the
environment must be dynamic, given the changes in
the environment that exist between different
countries.
2. Research methodology
The study was undertaken as a quantitative survey
research combined with qualitative in-depth
interviews to help interpret the information obtained
from the survey. The sampling frame was based on
the Membership Directory 2010/2011 of the Southern
African-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry
with contact details of 500 companies located in
South Africa and dealing with German businesses.
From this Membership Directory, relevant staff
formed the sampling frame. The final number of
respondents depended on how many responded.
Thus, the final sample was a self-selected sample.
The instrument used to collect the required data was a
standardised questionnaire. It consisted of structured,
closed-ended questions which asked the respondents
to make choices among a set of alternatives (Sekaran
and Bougie, 2009). Questionnaires were sent via
email to the selected respondents at the companies
with a German background. Collected data was

cleaned to verify that the data values were correct as
well as to detect and remove errors and
inconsistencies, thereby improving quality (Rahm
and Do, 2000). Data was then entered into the SPSS
(Statistical Packages for Social Sciences, Version
17.0) and analyzed using appropriate statistical
methods.
3. Research findings
In Figure 1, the results of the responses about culture
and value systems are summarized. Four out of five
statements had a high level of agreement (between
81.4% and 91.6%), which confirms that the different
elements of culture do have an effect on marketing
communications. The statement about people’s
religious background had an agreement level that was
only 45.1%, with 38% of the respondents neither
agreeing nor disagreeing and 16.90% disagreeing
with the statement. This is interesting because it was
expected that all statements would have a high
agreement level since religious background is
strongly related to culture. One of the reasons for this
finding might be that the respondents interpreted the
questions in a different way than the researcher
intended.
Fig. 1. General cultural aspects of marketing communications
3.1. Influence of the value system on marketing
communications. Figure 1 indicates the opinion of
respondents about the way the South African value
system influences marketing communications with
German business partners. The findings from the
qualitative interviews highlighted two keys
characteristics that play a role in South Africa’s value

systems and which are important for German
companies operating in South Africa to know. The
first characteristic identified is trust. Together with
the marketing approach of word-of-mouth (WoM),
building trust can be the key factor for successful
business relationships in South Africa. If one can
create trust in one’s product, people will spread
WoM, which will have a positive effect and lower the
cost of promoting one’s product (Kim et al., 2009).
The second key factor identified in South Africa’s
value system is the price of the product. In general,
respondents felt that there is a tendency in South
Africa to rather buy the cheaper product which could
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lead to conflict with the German approach of quality
and high-priced products. This means, in terms of
marketing communications, that efforts should focus
on convincing the customer of the good quality of the
product, even if it is priced high. Despite these two
key factors, there seems to be an advantage for
international companies operating on the South
African market.
3.2. The role of the religious background on
marketing communications. Figure 1 also reflects
whether the religious background plays an important
role in developing a marketing communications
strategy. The qualitative research findings showed a

wide variety of responses. The overall feeling was
that one has to be aware of the religious background
and that it influences the perceptions of marketing
messages, which explains the overall agreement with
the statement of 45.1%. The high rating for neutral
(38%) can possibly be explained through different
interpretations of the statement. The respondents see
the religious background as important, especially for
the high cultural diversity within South Africa, but in
terms of the interpretation of the questions, people
thought of the marketing message itself. They stated
that they use a neutral approach with no religious
influence in their marketing messages, to simply
avoid any offense. The overall attitude was that
religion does not play a big role for marketing
communications with a German business partner. In
conclusion, the South African market is more
sensitive about religion compared to Germany.
3.3. The level of education and its influence on the
perception of the marketing messages. Figure 1
also summarizes opinions about how people’s level
of education influences their perception of specific
marketing messages. The high agreement (88.73)
with this statement in the quantitative study is
supported by the findings of the interviews.
Respondents felt that the educational level in
Germany is higher, compared to South Africa and
that technical literacy is often lower in South Africa
than in Germany, even in management positions. The
respondents stated that the educational level between
South Africa and Germany in business is at the least
on a similar level. As a result, the interviewees were
consistent in their belief that the levels of education
of the partners were suitable for successful marketing
communication. In conclusion, marketing communi-

cation with German business partners in the specific
fields of business operations is not problematic.
However, when a product is marketed to the general
public, there are big differences in the educational
level between South Africa and Germany and
companies would have to adapt their marketing
messages accordingly.
3.4. Language – written and non-written commu-
nication. Figure 2 illustrates the findings for the first
category of non-written communication, namely
speaking the business partners’ language. The first
statement shows a higher level of agreement
(52.86%) than of disagreement (15.71%). However,
the second statement shows similar levels of
agreement (38.57%) and disagreement (40%).
Fig. 2. Non-written communication
The results show uncertainty as suggested by the
high level of “neutral” ratings. It might be that not
all of the respondents have contact with foreign, or
especially German, business partners. In Figure 3,
the findings of category two, written commu-
nication are presented. The results show high
levels of agreement and very low levels of
disagreement for all three statements. The results
of the quantitative research support the finding of
the review of the literature (Chaney and Martin,
2010). A comparison to South African preferences,
when it comes to the style of a marketing message,
will be provided in the summary of the qualitative
findings.

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Fig. 3. Written communication
Interviewees were asked if it is necessary to
communicate with business partners in their mother
tongue, and if it would improve business
relationships if they were able to speak the language
of their partner. The level of disagreement found in
the quantitative study (40%) is supported by the
responses of the qualitative interviews. The overall
consensus was that it is not essential for a South
African to speak German, in order to communicate
successfully. One of the reasons given was that
English is accepted as the official business language
and, therefore, Germans do not expect their business
partners to speak German. Furthermore, German
business people generally speak good English
because the German education system has established
English as the second language at most German
schools. Another reason was that German business
partners prefer to speak English with their English-
speaking business partners to improve their own
language skills. Although all respondents presented
the same opinion, namely that it is not necessary to
speak your business partners’ mother tongue, a
consistent belief was that it is seen as a mark of
respect if one speaks the other person’s language and
it would definitely improve the business relationship.
Figure 3 summarized the preferences of the South

African business partners when it comes to the style
of a marketing message. Marketing messages should
be in a casual style, straight to the point, in a simple
(“keep it simple”) and short style. The language
should not be fancy and the message should not
contain too much information or technical details. In
other words, it should be clear-cut and uncluttered.
3.5. Attitudes towards time. Figure 4 shows the
responses to time planning. The two statements show
similar levels of agreement, with a low level of
disagreement, but a relatively high level of uncertainty.
The findings show that time management plays an
important role for both South Africans and Germans.
Fig. 4. Economic time planning
It is interesting to note that the agreement level for the
statement of South African personal time planning is
higher than the level of agreement about the time
planning of German business partners. However, this
question was difficult to answer, because one does not
know exactly how strict a business partner is in
working to strict time schedules, which explains the
relatively high rate of uncertainty (21.74%). The
responses to the statement about time submissi-
veness/tenacity are captured in Figure 5.
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Fig. 5. Time submissiveness/tenacity
Levels of disagreement are low across this category,
implying that time management is important for both
South Africans and Germans. With agreement levels
of almost 90% on average, the first four statements
are consistent regarding the importance of time
management. All questions about the personal
attitude towards time were answered with high
agreement levels. This shows that South Africans
seem to be very time submissive, being punctual and
tenacious in completing working activities. The fifth
statement shows an interesting result in terms of an
uncertainty rating of 24.64% and an agreement level
under 70%. Germans are stereotypically seen as very
time conscious and reliable in keeping deadlines. The
level of disagreement is low, which indicates a
general agreement with the statement. However, one
in four respondents was uncertain about the
statement.
The findings of the qualitative study give deeper
insight into the topic of attitudes towards time. In the
qualitative interviews, respondents were asked about
the differences in attitudes towards time between
South Africans and Germans and how it affects their
business relationships. A common statement of all
interviewees was that Germans are, in general, very
punctual and more time conscious. Another result
was that Germans have a higher adherence to
deadlines than their South African business partners.
This finding provides general agreement with the
statement “German business partners always keep
deadlines” (Figure 5). The high uncertainty in
answering this question might be a result of the
wording of the statement, because a higher adherence

to deadlines does not mean that Germans ‘always’
keep deadlines.
The planning of a business activity, in Germany, is
done more in advance and with a stricter time
schedule of the planned event. South Africans do not
plan as much in advance but are more spontaneous.
This may then lead to pressure, and also frustration,
on both sides. South Africa has great diversity,
which would lead to big differences in attitudes
towards time. It was felt that White South Africans
have a more European-centered approach towards
time, whereas Black South Africans view time as
less important and have a lower time consciousness.
As a result, such a mix of different cultures could
influence the corporate culture and attitudes to-
wards time.
Another discovery was the existence not only of
cultural differences but also regional differences. In
coastal regions such as Durban and Cape Town,
respondents displayed a more relaxed attitude
towards time, unlike Johannesburg and Pretoria
respondents. This may be explained by the existence
of the highest levels of industry and competition
operating in Johannesburg and Pretoria. However,
respondents generally stated that business relation-
ships are not really affected by these differences in
attitude. German businesses are aware of the
differences in attitudes towards time, while South
Africans try to adapt to German standards.
4. Discussion
Respondents felt that the educational level in

Germany is higher, compared to South Africa and
that technical literacy is often lower in South Africa
than in Germany, even in positions of management.
Respondents stated that the educational level between
South African and German business is at least on a
similar level. As a result, the interviewees were
consistent with the response that companies have to
adapt or tailor their marketing messages to the level
of education of the target market. In conclusion,
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marketing communication with German business
partners in the specific fields of business is not
problematic. However, if a product is marketed to the
general public, the big differences in the educational
level between South Africa and Germany mean that
companies have to adapt their consumer marketing
messages.
Religion has an impact on the value system of a
society and the effect of value systems on marketing
must not be underestimated, which means that
religion often has quite a strong influence (Cateora
and Graham, 2007). The literature and the findings of
this study are not that clear whether religion has a big
influence on marketing communications. The results
of the question on the influence of the religious
background showed a wide variety of responses. The
consensus of the interviewees was that one has to be
aware of the religious background and that it can

influence the perceptions of marketing messages.
Religious background is seen as important, especially
for the high cultural diversity within South Africa.
For marketing communications with a German
partner, however, religion is not seen as a very
important factor. Consequently, South Africans are
more sensitive to religion than the Germans.
According to Thitthongkam et al. (2011), language
encompasses what people create to express values,
attitudes and norms. The study showed that it is a
mark of respect if business people can communicate
with their business partners in their mother tongue,
and business relationships can be improved if indi-
viduals can speak their business partners’ mother
tongue. The findings reflect the statement made by
Chaney and Martin (2010) who stated that there is a
need for understanding of a common language to
communicate successfully with people from other
cultures. The overall consensus, however, was that it
is not essential for South Africans to speak German,
because English is accepted worldwide as the official
language of business.
When asked about their marketing message
preferences, Germans stated that they preferred
simple, written, uncluttered and clear-cut messages.
South Africans, however, stated that they also prefer
simple, clear-cut and uncluttered messages, but with
a more casual style. They also stated that the
messages should contain less information.
Lastly, a difference in attitudes towards time was
discovered amongst German and South African
business people. The research revealed that there is
overall agreement about time planning, which means

working according to a schedule and planning daily
activities, in both countries. The result of the
quantitative study on time submissiveness/tenacity
indicated a high level of agreement, highlighting the
importance of time management. However, the
qualitative research pointed out that Germans are
more time conscious and have a higher adherence to
deadlines than their South African business partners.
This difference in attitude may be attributed to the
cultural diversity in South Africa. Amongst the
different cultural groups in South Africa, there are
different attitudes towards time, which may influence
the way South Africans relate to Germans. Although
these differences exist, they do not negatively
influence business relationships.
Conclusion and recommendations
The study was an investigation of the difficulties that
companies have when operating in foreign markets.
The following questions were asked, “What are the
main marketing communication problems that
companies have when they operate in foreign
markets?” and “What do successful international
companies do to avoid these communication
problems?” It can be summarized that the main
problem came about as a result of diverse cultures.
Research findings showed that the various cultural
elements were viewed in distinctively different ways.
The level of German education was felt to be higher
when compared with South African education levels.
Respondent’s from the two countries also displayed
variances in their views of time and religion.
Germans were discovered to be more time conscious
and less religious when compared with South

Africans. These variances are likely to be reflections
of the views and perceptions of the general public,
thereby requiring international communications
between the two countries to adapt accordingly. This
is, of course, important for marketers, but could also
be enlightening for managers in other business
functions, especially those who have to relate to
foreign customers, suppliers, partners or inter-
mediaries. Such functions could include purchasing,
logistics, finance, creditors, debtors as well as senior
managers and executives.
Although some companies seem to find it difficult to
adapt their marketing messages to suite different
cultural groups, successful international companies
often employ agents who know the target market in a
given country, to operate in that country. Another
option has been to work together with local
marketing agencies that are experts on the behavior
of the specific target market. The consumer
communication problems hinted at in this study could
indicate that classical advertising approaches such as
print media are not adequate to get messages across
in a dynamic cross-cultural business environment.
New media and Internet communication are maybe
the approaches which promise the most success for
communicating effectively. This is consistent with
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the statement made by Michaelidou et al. (2011),
who highlighted that new media and the Internet offer

new ways of communicating between companies and
between companies and their target audience.
These findings suggest that future research studies
should be carried out on larger population samples in
order to improve applicability of the results. Future
studies should also investigate the relationships
between multiple countries, as the current study
focused on only two countries, namely Germany and
South Africa. Studies should also be conducted on
other African countries and Germany as well as other
European countries and South Africa. Although the
study focused on marketing and communications, it
is probable that the findings about inter-cultural
communications will also be relevant to other
management activities. Thus, further research could
also focus on how the various cultural elements
possibly influence other aspects of international
management, for example, supervision of foreign
cultures, aspects of planning and control, leadership
approaches and human resource activities such as
selection of managers for foreign businesses or
performance appraisal of other cultures.
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