World Civilization I Professor Cieglo Spring 2019 “Cracking the Maya Code” Assignment (15 Points) DUE Thursday, March 7th by 11:59pm on Blackboard Link to Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQLG0RF5UZY Link to Transcript: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/cracking-maya-code.html Answer each of the three questions below with a minimum of 75 words per question (although you may need more to fully answer one or more of the questions.) THIS ASSIGNMENT MUST BE SUBMITTED AS A .WORD OR PDF attachment on Blackboard, or I will not accept it and you will receive a “0.” You can number your answers 1, 2, and 3. 1) What was the common historical view of the Maya before their writing was deciphered? 2) How did the events of a) World War I and b) the Cold War influence J. Eric Thompson’s study of the Maya? Be sure to explain the influence of BOTH World War I and the Cold War. 3) How did the decipherment of the Maya writing system change scholars’ understanding of the Maya Civilization? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQLG0RF5UZY http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/cracking-maya-code.html MK390 Marketing across Cultures – Individual Assignment 2 – 2018/19 – subject to external examiner approval Tutors: Dr Keith Perks and Dr Carmen Lopez Aims of the Assignment · To enable students to learn about a new culture of their choice · To explore the effects of a different culture on consumer attitudes and behaviour and how exporting firms can use this knowledge effectively · To identify and review appropriate literature on culture and social media to apply relevant theories and concepts on consumer and exporting firms use of social media. Assignment Brief Select an overseas country of interest (but it cannot be the UK, your home country, or the main one selected for assignment 1). You should then address the following 4 points: 1. Based on the theories and concepts from the literature, describe, discuss and interpret what is known, in general, about consumers, customers and managers motivations and behaviour in the social media environment. 2. Using your research of what is known from the literature about social media discussed in point 1, critically evaluate and apply appropriate cultural theories and concepts to explain how and why they might affect motivations and behaviour in social media in your selected country. 3. From your findings discuss the implications of this knowledge of culture and social media for SME exporters. 4. Identify any future avenues for further research. 5. Conclusion Marking Scheme Marking criteria Proportion of Marks Secondary research Use of relevant secondary data and research literature from a suitably wide range of sources, appropriately integrated, summarized and referenced (Harvard system). 25% Relevant discussion, application and integration of knowledge and theories in the areas of culture and social media Demonstration of a sound understanding of cultural .

1. World Civilization I
Professor Cieglo
Spring 2019
“Cracking the Maya Code” Assignment (15 Points)
DUE Thursday, March 7th by 11:59pm on Blackboard
Link to Documentary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQLG0RF5UZY
Link to Transcript:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/cracking-maya-
code.html
Answer each of the three questions below with a minimum of 75
words per question (although you may
need more to fully answer one or more of the questions.) THIS
ASSIGNMENT MUST BE SUBMITTED AS A
.WORD OR PDF attachment on Blackboard, or I will not accept
it and you will receive a “0.” You can
number your answers 1, 2, and 3.
1) What was the common historical view of the Maya before
their writing was deciphered?
2) How did the events of a) World War I and b) the Cold War
influence J. Eric Thompson’s study of the

2. Maya? Be sure to explain the influence of BOTH World War I
and the Cold War.
3) How did the decipherment of the Maya writing system
change scholars’ understanding of the Maya
Civilization?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQLG0RF5UZY
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/cracking-maya-
code.html
MK390 Marketing across Cultures – Individual Assignment 2 –
2018/19 – subject to external examiner approval
Tutors: Dr Keith Perks and Dr Carmen Lopez
Aims of the Assignment
· To enable students to learn about a new culture of their choice
· To explore the effects of a different culture on consumer
attitudes and behaviour and how exporting firms can use this
knowledge effectively
· To identify and review appropriate literature on culture and
social media to apply relevant theories and concepts on
consumer and exporting firms use of social media.
Assignment Brief
Select an overseas country of interest (but it cannot be the UK,
your home country, or the main one selected for assignment 1).
You should then address the following 4 points:

3. 1. Based on the theories and concepts from the literature,
describe, discuss and interpret what is known, in general, about
consumers, customers and managers motivations and behaviour
in the social media environment.
2. Using your research of what is known from the literature
about social media discussed in point 1, critically evaluate and
apply appropriate cultural theories and concepts to explain how
and why they might affect motivations and behaviour in social
media in your selected country.
3. From your findings discuss the implications of this
knowledge of culture and social media for SME exporters.
4. Identify any future avenues for further research.
5. Conclusion
Marking Scheme
Marking criteria
Proportion of Marks
Secondary research
Use of relevant secondary data and research literature from a
suitably wide range of sources, appropriately integrated,
summarized and referenced (Harvard system).
25%
Relevant discussion, application and integration of knowledge
and theories in the areas of culture and social media
Demonstration of a sound understanding of cultural theory
through appropriate critiquing, application and discussion of
how and why culture affects motivations and behaviour in social
media in your selected country.
45%
Implications

4. Implications of your research for knowledge, exporting SMEs
and future directions for research.
20%
Presentation
Quality of written communication in terms of use of English,
relevance, structure and flow,
10%
1
SOCIAL MEDIA AND CULTURE 12
Read the report and check the grammar , and if the sentence are
good , and check if the assignment is good if the theories are
relevant
You should add more references and in text citation to show
that I did lots of researches
You will be checking according to the assignment brief if
everything is been put in the report if no you add .. plz highlet
me what did u delete and make the report look structured and
making sence

5. Contents
Theories of Social Media and Culture 3
Introduction 3
Theories and Concepts 3
i. Motivations of social media for consumers 3
ii. Motivations of social media for managers 4
Theories of Social Media and Culture 4
Social Media in Singapore 7
Critical Evaluation of Cultural Theories and Concepts of Social
Media in Singapore 8
Implications 10
Areas of Further Research 10
Conclusion 11
References 12

6. Theories of Social Media and CultureIntroduction
While different cultures across the globe value their individual
norms, beliefs, and traditions that portray their uniqueness, the
rise of social media has linked people all over the world
regardless of their inherent demographic differences and
geographical boundaries. The Social media has greatly led to
the convergence of globalization and the compression of space
and time, and as such the world has been shrunk so that it has
become a smaller interactive field (Goodrich and de Mooij,
2016). Regardless of the size of a business, social media is
undoubtedly a critical part of a business, particularly in
enhancement of business marketing strategy. Different social
media platforms greatly help a business in connecting with the
consumers, increasing brand awareness, as well as boosting the
sales and leads of the business. Social media has been able to
boost the visibility of businesses among potential consumers at
significantly low costs. Social media is also important in
encouraging engagement between consumers and the company
through different media posts. Additionally, business have
managed to obtain support from social media because it has
successfully broken down the communication barriers with the
customers.Theories and Concepts
i. Motivations of social media for consumers
The availability of social media sites has increased the
reach for businesses to the target customers, with the more
effective communication channels. There are numerous
motivations for the consumer behavior of joining social media.
In this case, consumers are able to communicate freely to
business, which implies that social media offers the consumers
with an opportunity of voicing their opinions regarding the
products or services provided by a company (Heinonen, 2011).
In addition, consumers are attracted to media sites to obtain
more information about a company. For instance, before a

7. customer makes a purchase, they may go into a social media
network and collect information regarding how other consumers
feel about the company and its products. High availability of
information regarding a product increased the chances of the
consumer in making buying decisions (Berthon, et al., 2012).ii.
Motivations of social media for managers
The use of social media has greatly helped managers off
business in terms of how they communicate to different
stakeholder in the business such as employees and customers.
For instance, social media platforms have provided instant
messaging between the manager and employees regarding
critical business endeavors (Kellner, 2011). In addition, social
media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have been
largely utilized by business managers to communicate regarding
new brands and developments in existing brands, which
promotes brand awareness among the consumers (Kellner,
2011). Managers have also utilized social media ads and posts
as a way of driving traffic to the websites for the companies. In
participating in different social chats, managers are able to
increase the visibility of the business, showcasing their
expertise, and getting attention from new individuals and
potential customers. As such, social media use by managers
greatly boost sales for businesses, and attribute that has the
potential of further growth considering the increased use of
social media.Theories of Social Media and Culture
One critical social media theory is the Uses and Gratifications
Theory (UGT), which seeks to describe the way humans are
actively engaged in seeking out particular media content to be
utilized in specific intentional goals and purposes (Peters et al.,
2013). This theory develops an active, as opposed to passive,
audience, which is capable of consciously examining and
evaluating the media as a way of accomplishing some specific
results. This theory is critical in the manner in which it
embodies the functional communication shift, from the
examination of what humans can do with the media, as opposed
to what the media can do to people (Peters et al., 2013).

8. The Uses and Gratifications Theory developed from the
needs and motivation theory, which asserts that humans act on
consistent with their specific hierarchy of needs and
motivations (Bernoff and Li, 2010). Researchers in the
communications field have largely agreed with the notion and
sought to perform an examination of the typologies of the needs
related to the use of media by different people from different
cultural backgrounds. Based on this, the UGT establishes a
framework that provides a clear understanding of how and when
a particular user of media becomes more or less involved in
media use, and explains the impact of the decreased or
increased involvement (Peters et al., 2013). The theory (UGT)
performs under numerous assumptions. These include: the
media users are goal-oriented and active in their media use,
media is utilized for gratification purposes, media use competes
with other ways of satisfaction of human needs, individuals
clearly understand their motives and interests in media use, and
that the audience is capable of making informed judgments on
the value of the content manifested in the media (Bernoff and
Li, 2010).
The acquired-needs theory is a theory of culture that
asserts that the particular needs of an individual acquired
overtime are greatly influenced by the life experiences of the
individual. The acquired needs are classified into three classes:
power, affiliation, and achievement (Bernoff and Li, 2010). The
needs for power of an individuals can either be institutional or
personal. In the cultural setting, the individuals who desire to
obtain power seek to direct others. However, the power need is
largely considered to be undesirable in the society. Individuals
who seek out for institutions power aim at organizing other
people’s efforts as a way of furthering the social goals
(Heinonen, 2011). High need for social power is regarded as
more effective than the need for individual power.
The high need for affiliation represents the desire of
establishing harmonious relationships among social beings.
Individuals with high need for affiliation usually adhere to the

9. norms of their group. These individuals have a high preference
of working in a manner that provides significant interactions
among individuals (Peters et al., 2013). On the other hand, the
high need for achievement aim at realizing excellence, thus
avoiding both high-risk and low-risk situations. The individuals
with the need for high achievement portray a greater preference
towards working that has a moderate success possibility. High
achievers require constant feedback as a way of effectively
monitoring how their achievements are progressing, and they
largely prefer working with other high achievers of alone
(Peters et al., 2013).
The Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DOI) describe the
way new ideas and advancements have been transferred within
the society (Ngai, Tao and Moon, 2015). Based on this theory,
humans have adopted the social media behavior, which can be
explained through five perceived characteristics, which are
complexity, observability, trialability, compatibility, and
relative advantage (Ngai, Tao and Moon, 2015). As such, the
social networking across the globe has been enhanced through
communication and information technology, which is largely
depended on continuous participation of the users. The diffusion
of social media has also influenced the individual cultures, and
has significantly promoted the understanding and
interconnectedness between consumers and companies.Social
Media in Singapore
As noted earlier, Singapore is composed of a multicultural
society that has embraced cultural and racial diversity. The
country is known for its unique identity that acknowledges
different traditions, but embraces the change associated with the
traditions. Currently, Singapore is considered to be a hub that
hosts many international brands (Kellner, 2011). Notably,
Singapore has been on the forefront of embracing both
economic and technological advances, and has consistently
aligned itself with the current regional and global news, trends,
and culture (Kellner, 2011). The recent increase in the use of
social media across the globe has tremendously influenced and

10. reshaped the manner in which the citizens of Singapore
collaborate, work, and consume information, particularly within
the sectors such as communications and marketing (Mathews et
al., 2016).
Social media giants such as Facebook and WhatsApp have
remained to be commonly utilized social media platforms in
Singapore, and they have greatly helped consumers and
businesses regarding how they access and sell products
(Heinonen, 2011). Statistics indicate that the country has over
2.4 million users every day. Due this attribute, consumers and
businesses in the country have utilized social media sites such
as Facebook and Twitter, which has proved to be critical in
improving company brands in the saturated and competitive
marketplace (Trainor et al., 2014). Because the country
embraces change and is always on the forefront of encouraging
use of technologies, businesses have greatly embraced
diversification in the outreach in social media platforms, with
Instagram, LinkedIn, as well as other mobile messaging
application on the rise (Rialp-Criado and Rialp-Criado, 2018).
The country is expected to witness more brands engaging in use
of mobile messaging platforms as a way of connecting with
customers beyond the use of common platforms such as Twitter
and Facebook.Critical Evaluation of Cultural Theories and
Concepts of Social Media in Singapore
Based on the discussed theories of social media and
culture, it is clear that social media communities are currently
benefiting from decline in costs that were associated with
traditional brand communities. The Uses and Gratifications
Theory (UGT) has been applicable in Singapore as it has
influenced the behavior of consumers and businesses in terms of
obtaining information that makes them actively engaged in
seeking out particular media that is consistent with their goals
and purposes. In this regard, it is easier for businesses to make
connections with their customers without bothering about the
geography. Through this manner, different cultures have been

11. able to interact, where strangers are able to meet and engage in
constructive economic, social, and cultural interactions
(Kellner, 2011). This has been a great motivation for consumers
to use social media.
The acquired needs theory is a theory of culture that
asserts that the particular needs of an individual acquired
overtime are greatly influenced by the life experiences of the
individual. The needs and wants of Singaporeans are
dramatically changing with the general dynamism experienced
in the world. With technological advancements, different
companies have closed down physical offices and have moved
to online stores, which requires consumers to use online
platforms such as social media to access information and make
purchase of the products or services needed (Rialp-Criado and
Rialp-Criado, 2018). This is an indicated that the consumers in
Singapore are left with no choice but move with the time and
join online platforms and social media so that they can
effectively fulfil their various needs. This attribute makes the
acquired needs a critical theory that explains the behavior of
Singaporean consumers.
The Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DOI) is also relevant
in Singapore, as both businesses and consumers in the country
have tremendously embraced the new ideas and advancements
are associated with the recent technological advancements,
particularly in communication media (Ngai, Tao and Moon,
2015). With more than 60 percent of the Singaporean citizens
using social media, it is clear that the diffusion of innovation
from other countries such as United States has greatly impacts
the Singaporean citizens (Okazaki and Taylor, 2013) With more
people using social media, businesses have taken that advantage
to communicate with their consumers regarding their products
and services. This has been advantageous as the
interconnectedness between customers and business has been
largely enhanced. In addition, the diffusion of innovation that
has resulted in social media in Singapore has contributed to
decrease in cultural gap because consumers have been able to

12. interact with other from diverse cultural backgrounds as they
share information about various products (Heinonen, 2011).
As noted earlier, social media has been an integral part of
Singaporeans because it has promoted interdependence and
interconnectedness of the culturally diverse nation. In this
regard, social media has been utilized as a social interaction
tool whereby people have communicated and engaged with
information that has been transferred across the Internet
(Heinonen, 2011). The communication that has been endeavored
through different online contexts has significantly promoted
interactive dialogues, which have created an understanding of
numerous perspectives. As such, different individuals,
businesses, and companies have been granted the opportunity of
expressing their opinions and product offerings to the other
individuals and the general public (Heinonen, 2011). In
addition, social media platforms have helped individuals and
companies to engage in constructive dialogue and conversations
that have promoted the wellbeing of the society.
Implications
The social networking sites in Singapore have allowed
individuals and businesses to develop profiles, which facilitate
sharing connections and interaction with others in the systems.
Based on this attribute, the Small and Medium-Sized
Enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore has greatly benefited as they
are able to increase their customer base through spreading
awareness to potential consumers through social platforms that
have attracted massive users in Singapore (Okazaki and Taylor,
2013). In this regard, the social media is bound to greatly
promote exchange of messages between individuals and SMEs,
not only in the country, but elsewhere (Hoffman and Novak,
2012). As such, SMEs will engage in an intercultural dialogue
that will critically identify the specific tastes and preferences of
the consumers based on their cultural orientations (Samuel
Craig and Douglas, 2006). With increase in social media, the
businesses in Singapore will gain a great competitive advantage
owing to the fact the Singapore hosts many social media users.

13. As a result, the businesses will experience increased
productivity, revenue, and profitability (Ngai, Tao and Moon,
2015). In addition, the businesses will utilize the social media
to advertise their products and brands at very low costs, thus
boosting their sustainability amid increased competition in the
globalized market (Okazaki and Taylor, 2013).Areas of Further
Research
From the analysis of this paper, it is evident that social
media has played an integral role in influencing consumer
behaviors and those of businesses in equal measures. Businesses
have strived to undertake marketing through social media, while
consumers obtain information regarding products and services
offered by companies through the sites. However, much of the
existing research has focused role of social media on strategic
marketing. Future research in the field needs to focus on the
relationship between use of social media and intercultural
adaptation. There is also need to perform research on how
different theories of social media and culture influence the
political climate in Singapore.
It is recommended that Singapore needs more tremendous
embracement of technological advancements of social media use
and cultural diversity. As such, many individuals and businesses
in the country will greatly use social media in business
endeavors, with customers able to gain awareness regarding the
product offering of companies and SMEs.
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