In the context of planned and unplanned cultural change, discuss the methods used by marketers to overcome resistance to change in an international marketing scenario.
Marketers have two options when introducing an innovation to a culture: They can wait for changes to occur, or they can spur change.
The former requires hopeful waiting for eventual cultural changes that prove their innovations of value to the culture; the latter involves introducing an idea or product and deliberately setting about to overcome resistance and to cause change that accelerates the rate of acceptance. In fact, much successful and highly competitive marketing is accomplished by a strategy of cultural congruence.
Essentially this strategy involves marketing products similar to ones already on the market in a manner as congruent as possible with existing cultural norms, thereby minimizing resistance. However, when marketing programs depend on cultural change to be successful, a company may decide to leave acceptance to a strategy of unplanned change—that is, introduce a product and hope for the best.
Or a company may employ a strategy of planned change—that is, deliberately set out to change those aspects of the culture offering resistance to predetermined marketing goals.
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