Interrelationship between Culture and Marketing Strategy: Multiple Case Studies from the Netherlands

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to find out whether or not culture plays a critical role in the choice of a marketing strategy. Overall, the key findings reveal that culture has greater influence in the formulation of a sustainable worldwide marketing strategy. Culture is a critical factor in the global business milieu. Thus, there is the need for marketing managers to have a good understanding of the cultural issues within the environments that they operate. This will enable them to realize the objectives of their companies through the marketing strategies that they design and implement. However, it was not very clear whether such a marketing strategy needs to be localized or standardized. In general, the findings indicate that a competitive marketing strategy must align with the local culture so that it can meet the needs and requirements of the target customers.

Keywords: adaptation, competitive, culture, standardization, The Netherlands, marketing strategy