ARABIC CLUSTER AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON MARKETING

1. ERNEST RAYMOND SSENTONGO
STUDENT NUMBER: 3327814
QTN 7 ARABIC CLUSTER

2. Contents
 Who is an Arab and the Arabic cluster
 Description and member countries
 Similarities
 Differences
 Cultural values
 Summary
 Marketing implications

3. Description and member countries
 An Arab may be described as someone from Saudi Arabia , Yemen, Iraq
,Kuwait Syria, Jordan ,or any other states that identify themselves as an
Arab . Kalliny (2010)
 The Arabic cluster consists of Egypt , Morocco, Turkey, Kuwait and Qatar
Liddell (2005)
 The Arabic cluster includes the independent states of Qatar, Morocco,
Turkey, Egypt and Morocco Hayat and Bodur (2002)

4. categorization according to the GLOBE
study
Source: Hayat and Bodur (2002)

5. Map of the Arabic cluster
Source: Hayat and Bodur (2002)

6. Similarities
 Islam is the predominantly accepted
and practiced religion. Hayat and Bodur
(2002)
 Main language is Arabic Hayat and
Bodur (2002)
 characteristic element in the female
clothing of Muslim world is the veil and
head-scarf Hayat and Bodur (2002)
 All Arab countries apply the sharia law
to an extent Kalliny (2010)
 The Koran is the holly book and is a key
unifying force that influences practices
and key driver towards creating a
common culture Kalliny (2010)

7. Differences
 They have different government systems turkey and Egypt are republics , Kuwait
and morocco are run by a constitutional monarchy while Qatar executive
power is vested in the Amir ( prime minister )
 In Saudi Arabia, women are required by the law to cover up, while in , Egypt,
such a requirement does not exist Kalliny (2010)
 There is also a significant difference in the spoken and written Arabic language.
(dialects )
 In Saudi Arabia and U.A.E., businesses must close for prayer while this
requirement does not exist in Egypt or Lebanon
 Not all people are Muslims e.g. 50 % in Lebanon are Christians and 10 % in
Egypt are Christians
 Main language in turkey is Turkish Hayat and Bodur (2002)
 There is a difference in Islam there are Sunni Muslims and Shiites Kalliny (2010)

8. Cultural values
• Indicate high ratings on group and family and collectivism Hofstede
(2008), (Liddell 2005) and power distance (Liddell 2005)
• Uncertainty avoidance, institutional collectivism, humane
orientation, performance orientation, and assertiveness are in the mid-range
(Liddell 2005)
• low on future orientation and gender equality (Liddell 2005)
• The Arab culture is a high context culture Kalliny et al (2008

9. Cultural dimensions
Source: Hayat and Bodur
(2002)

10. Iran v morocco
Source: geerthofstede.com

11. Kuwait v morocco
Source: geerthofstede.com

12. Summary
 Everyone loves children ,automatically confers wisdom; that men
and women have vastly different personalities and characteristics;
that a person’s dignity, honor, and reputation are of priority
importance and must be protected at all costs; that one must always
behave in a way that will create a good impression on others; that
loyalty to one’s family takes priority over personal needs; that
devotion is one of the most admirable traits in a person; and that
there should be no separation between “church and state”—religion
should pervade all aspects of life. Wilson (1996, p. 69) as cited by
(Kalliny 2010 )

13. Arabic cluster and Marketing
 Culture along with other elements of the environment affects all
stages of consumer decision making. Engel et al (1995) ) (NEED
RECOGNITION, SEARCH, PRE PURCHASE ALTERNATIVE EVALUATION ,
PURCHASE CONSUMPION )
 advertising rates are comparatively low for Arab satellite television
due to the lack of a consistent rating system. Kalliny et al (2008)
 Internet advertising opportunities exist as well. For example,
currently 17.4 percent of the Middle Eastern population uses the
internet, comparable to the world average of 20

14. Arabic cluster and Marketing
 because the Arabic society is highly collectivist, people do not depend
much on advertisements to get information about a product, but
rather use other sources such as extended family members and
friends Al- Olayan and Karande (2000 ) ,
 Mentioning prices in television advertisements may be less desirable
because it can be viewed as too direct and rude (Lin, 1993)
 Arabic culture is a high context culture where the interpretation of a
message is based not only on words, but on the context in which the
message takes place. Therefore, advertising to Arabic audiences does
not require a great deal of information and explicit details (Biswas,
Olsen and Carlet 1992, . Kalliny et al (2008)

15. Arabic cluster and Marketing
 Islam stresses that women should
dress modestly and encourages
women not to show too much of their
bodies in public Olayan and Karande
(2000) found women wearing long
clothing in 83 percent of Arabic
magazine advertisements showing
women, compared to 29 percent in
U.S. advertisements. Kalliny et al
(2008)
 depiction of women as housewives in
the Arab countries is accurate Kalliny
et al (2008)

16. Arabic cluster and Marketing
 In Saudi Arabia and U.A.E., businesses must close for prayer
while this requirement does not exist in Egypt or Lebanon.
Kalliny et al (2008)
 marketers' use of comparative advertising may perceived to
result in hate among sellers, which is not consistent with
societal values. Therefore, comparative advertising tactics
would be used to a lesser degree in the Arab world Arabic
culture, in general, encourages people not to compete, at the
cost of harming others. AL-OLAYAN, (2000) , karande et al
(2006)

17. Arabic cluster and Marketing
 Bargaining is still an acceptable practice because
many businesses in the Arab world are either individual
or family owned, and these owners are likely to be
more willing to negotiate prices. AL-OLAYAN, (2000)
 More adverts from the UAE (high per capita GDP)
contain price appeals than those from Egypt and
Lebanon (low per capita GDP)

18. Arabic cluster and Marketing
 advertisers in high per capita income countries such as the UAE tend
to use more hedonic appeals than low per capita income countries
such as Egypt and Lebanon. karande et al (2006)

19. References
 AL-OLAYAN, FAHAD, and KIRAN KARANDE. "A Content Analysis
of Magazine Advertisements from the United States and the Arab
World." Journal of Advertising 29, 3 (2000): 69-82
 Enegel,J.F., Blackwell, R.D, Miniard P.W. (1995) Consumer
Behaviour 8th edn USA
 Hofstede centre [ no date] cultural comparisons available from:
http://geert-hofstede.com/ [Accessed 26 October 2014].
 Hofstede, G., (2008). Available from (www.geert-hofstede.
com/hofstede_arab_world.shtml) [accessed June 12,
2008].

20. References
 Kalliny, M, Dagher, G, Minor, M, & De Los Santos, G 2008,
'Television Advertising in the Arab World: A Status Report', Journal
Of Advertising Research, 48, 2, pp. 215-223, Business Source
Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 27 October 2014.
 Kirian karande ,, Khalid A ALmurshidee and Fahada Al-Olayan
2006 vol 25 . Advertising standardisation in culturally similar
markets : can we standardise all components ? WARC
 KABASAKAL, H., DASTMALCHIAN, A., KARACAY, G. and
BAYRAKTAR, S., 2012. Leadership and culture in the MENA
region: An analysis of the GLOBE project. Journal of World
Business, 47(4), pp. 519-529.

21. References
 Kabasakal, Hayat, and Muzaffer Bodur. "Arabic Cluster: A Bridge
Between East And West." Journal Of World Business 37.1 (2002):
40-54. Business Source Complete. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.
 Kalliny, M 2010, 'Are They Really That Different From Us: A
Comparison of Arab and American Newspaper Advertising', Journal
Of Current Issues & Research In Advertising (CTC Press), 32, 1,
pp. 95-108, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 24
October 2014.
 Liddell William. W 2005, Macroeconomic Processes And Regional
Economies Management Project GLOBE: A Large Scale Cross-
Cultural Study of Leadership

22. References
 LIN, CAROLYN A. "Cultural Differences in Message Strategies: A
Comparison Between American and Japanese TV Commercials."
Journal of Advertising Research 33, 4 (1993): 40-48

23. Class discussion
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixr__OTfbB0 do you think it
was banned and why
Share similarities between your culture and the Arabic culture