Decision making and culture

Culture and Decision Making

Culture is defined as social attitudes and beliefs in a society . These attitudes are developed while an individual is growing up in a society along with his family members and friends and the cultural influences It is under this influence that individuals are taught right and wrong based on which individual makes their decision and express their opinions and attitudes . A person living in US has a different set of values compared to a person living in India . The Western societies emphasize individualism where an individual is responsible

for his decision and actions . In Indian culture collectivism plays part in every day decision-making . For example in the West marriage life cannot be thought without romance and love among two individuals but in Indian culture marriage is always a collective decision where the people who are getting married have little power to say yes or no instead it 's the parents , brothers , sisters and uncles who decide for the people who are getting married . It may look absurd from Western perspective to decide for individuals but in Indian society people are dependent on each other marriage is a social alliance between two families where status and fortune is exchanged

As culture difference change from place , so do cultural perceptions Individual or nation can end up in trouble if they lack the knowledge of cultural values of their host culture . One famous example of a culturally wrong decision was the Black Hawk Down in Somalia . The purpose of US force was to keep peace in Somalia , but US policy makers made a wrong decision by miscalculating the cultural perspective of the Somali people who considered it as invasion on their country proving disastrous for US peacekeeping force

In Western culture , solution is sought regardless of outcome often certain outcomes are surprising . For example the theory of earth flatness was turned down when it was scientifically proved that earth is round . In the East contradiction is the part of culture people tend to avoid confrontation and they can live with contradictory ways of life . It is natural that East favour compromise in crisis rather than revolt . Similarly among Russians the staff can agree with the superior (Boss ) due to severe repercussions however the secret sabotage of superior is more common in Russian compared to West

Among the marketers , consumer behaviour is an essential issue to understand how consumers make purchase decision . For example in US consumers buy car not mere for transportation purpose only . Has that been the case only the cheapest car would be selling . Instead a car buying decision is based on status and prestige as it gives the buyer a different social value (if car is expensive . Thus we can say that the US buyers attach their self-esteem with car buying . The decision to spend extra money on car means projecting the self-value to others which has been a norm in US society but in developing any car is fine as long as its cheap

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