A communitarian system calculates on a different basis. What is the customer's continued loyal patronage worth? Might she not feel an obligation to that particular druggist and spend more money later? Communitarians ask what the relationship is worth, not the cost of the lipstick itself.
Self-Sacrificing Consumers
Consumers are subordinated to corporations in Japan. But is this a willing sacrifice? They wish to support Japanese business in its export drive by shoring up domestic sales and "buying Japanese." Criticism of Japanese markets often assumes that Japanese consumers would want to buy foreign produce for a few yen less, given the choice, and that consumers think only of themselves. But is this so? So-called non-tariff barriers could be the result of concerted community choices, not the result of cheating or plotting against foreign imports. Certainly Japanese consumer organizations state that they willingly bear higher prices to sustain their nation. This is in part because they are not only buying a product, but are also buying the whole corporate contribution to society.
Communitarian Yogurt
The main product of the Japanese company Yakult is a fermented yogurt drink that claims to have a positive effect on health. Yakult developed a unique delivery system for this product in Japan: house-to-house delivery by so-called Yakult ladies. These Yakult ladies are young women, dressed in a company uniform including a hat and gloves, who distribute the product in their own neighborhoods.
Yakult tried the Yakult lady system in the Netherlands when they first introduced the product there in 1994. However, being more individually oriented than the Japanese, the Dutch viewed unannounced visits to their homes as violations of their privacy. Another problem resulting from Dutch individualism was that it was difficult to find women who were willing to sell products in their own area. The fact that company uniforms are not very popular among the individualistic Dutch made it even more difficult to find women willing to take these jobs.
The problem was that the Japanese company was used to distribution systems based on personal contacts, loyalty, and communitarianism, while Dutch distribution systems are more impersonal and individualized. The Dutch see large scale supermarkets as efficient and practical and couldn't really see the advantage of the Yakult lady system. In the end, Yakult managed to reconcile its communitarian orientation with the individualism of the Dutch by redirecting its personalized marketing efforts to homes for the elderly and social gathering places such as train stations.
Commitment to Singapore
Commitment to Singapore and Asia in general is another communitarian theme that is frequently found in advertisements in Singapore. CMS Energy, an international company involved in a power plant project with a local Singaporean partner, placed an advertisement in Singaporean newspapers in order to show its commitment to Asia in general and to Singapore in particular. The advertisement emphasized that the company was committed to the people of Singapore and to bringing energy to Asia. The ad gave details about plants in other Asian countries. In addition, there was a personal presentation of the management team at the new Asian regional headquarters in Singapore. The presentation included pictures and information about their personal backgrounds and their Asian experience. It explicitly stated that one of the executive directors-who was from Singapore-had a wonderful wife and three delightful daughters born in Singapore and that he would bring Singaporean family values into the management team.
Distribution Systems in South Korea
Retailing in Korea is still dominated by small shops. Distribution systems in Korea are quite complicated because they consist of networks with many chains based on close relationships. This distribution system is hard for a foreign company to enter. The most successful western companies in Korea have not tried to set up their own distribution networks, nor have they completely delegated distribution to local distributors. They are the ones that started an alliance with a local distributor and went out of their way to build a close relationship with that distributor. In Korea it is important to make sure that an alliance partner and the distribution and sales force feel that they are part of the company "community." To that end, some western companies offer training to their distributors' staff, give advice on marketing and promotion, and work closely with the distributors to get information about the retailers and the end customer.
Family Restaurants in Seoul
Family-style restaurant chains such as TGI Friday's and Sizzler do very well in Seoul. Seoul has a strong tradition of restaurant business. There is a fairly large middle class of professionals in Korea who have a greater disposable income and are willing to spend this partly on entertainment. Family-style restaurant chains successfully cater to this market because they offer a night out for the whole family for a relatively low price. Many of these establishments are franchised to local Korean operators who are able to adapt the atmosphere to local expectations.
Family Life in Taiwan
Demonstrating the values of family life and taking care of your family is a strong selling point in Taiwan. A company that sells pots and pans introduced a popular commercial starring two movie star lovers. In the commercial, the man was invited to a romantic candlelit dinner. The advertisement was reasonably popular, but based on feedback from the public the couple was replaced by a film star and his wife in the following season. The two come home and have an intimate dinner together as a happily married couple. Showing a warm and loving family life made the commercial more successful.
Alone Means no Friends
Advertisements for beer in Europe sometimes show someone enjoying a beer while alone. When the Taiwanese see an ad like this they think "That person is lonely. They have no friends." Advertisements for beer in Taiwan show lots of people, all having a good time together.
Shareholder Sovereignty in the UK
Individualistic cultures disagree with communitarian ones about how much power individual shareholders should wield over the corporation they own. In Britain, shareholders have enormous power. The corporation is their property and they have the right to sell to the highest bidder. Senior managers often describe themselves as shareholder representatives working to ensure a high price per share and a good dividend. Many think that the purpose of a corporation is to make money for its shareholders. Shareholders can overturn management decisions or enforce their own decisions, and in the last few years shareholders have forced senior directors of some UK companies to resign.
Communitarian cultures, on the other hand, tend to encourage cross shareholding by banks, suppliers, subcontractors, and employees of the corporation. This effectively blocks hostile takeovers and gives banks and other institutional lenders veto power over would-be acquisitors. Changes of ownership are then friendly rather than hostile.
Marketing to Individualists
Independence is encouraged in Britain and this has become more apparent in recent years. Demographic trends, such as fewer people getting married, single person households, and the increasing age profile of the population seem to be encouraging individuals to be self-reliant and independent.
Advertising in the UK often appeals to this self-reliant aspect of Britons, as shown in the text of a recent ad from the Prudential Assurance Company Limited:
It wasn't your style to burn your bra.
Instead, you burnt the midnight oil building a career.
What drove you on?
It wasn't feminism, more individualism.