https://doi.org/10.36719/2706-6185/44/383-387
Anar Aghamaliyev
Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University
master student
https//orcid.org/0009-0009-1005-7290
anaraghamaliyev7@gmail.com
Business and Culture: Navigating Cross-Cultural Marketing in the
Age of Globalization
Abstract
The rising prominence of globalization has been a consistent influence on how international companies approach the question of marketing. While globalization has undeniably opened many doors for companies to expand their horizons, the subsequent shift in the commercial landscape of the world has caused a ripple effect on all business-related practices, ranging from logistics to brand management. This phenomenon has only grown more influential and difficult to overlook with the continuous surge in technological advancement of the past century. The incessant leaps in technology have found new ways of breaking down the previously established boundaries between international trade actors. The ability to communicate across immeasurable distances introduced new ways of reaching customers, which subsequently led to the progressing relevance of international marketing. The companies that were unable to adapt to the new world order ended up ceasing to function, while the ones that caught up with the new wave of business communications enjoyed newfound success. Given the everlasting impact of globalization, our society has grown more connected than ever before, which makes the matter of being able to communicate through our existing cultural boundaries all the more important.
This study emphasizes how globalization has diluted the cross-cultural boundaries between different countries to such an extent that most products and services have become standardized to appeal to the most common denominator. This paper examines how standardization has lost its initial appeal and the cultural countermovement that has followed. It also examines how such practices as localization and adaptation are currently being employed by organizations in order to recapture the favor of an average consumer who is no longer interested in products bereft of any presence of their cultural identity. Additionally, it puts forward existing real-life examples that underline how abandoning standardization practices in favor of employing a more locally oriented approach to achieve global success has paid off.
Keywords: globalization, localization, adaptation, cross-cultural boundaries, standardization