Intercultural Competence

People existing in the same environment tend to do things in a certain way that they think suits them. Where a person was born and raised determines their culture. People often think that their culture is superior to others, but this is not the correct perception. To promote peace and harmony, individuals are encouraged to accept and respect each other's cultures. If you live or do business in a foreign country, learning about your host country's culture is essential for better coexistence. Understanding the beliefs of your target market is at the heart of any marketing strategy.

Culture

Culture is a belief that people in a community view as the right way of doing things. Different communities have different cultures and beliefs. Social groups can be religious like the Muslims and the Christians. They can also be tribal, like in some countries, which have different tribes and different cultures amongst the citizenry. Cultures of diverse communities are expressed through dances, their way of dressing, or even the way they relate to people of other cultures. Culture also plays a big role in determining the types of products consumed in different countries.

Intercultural Competence Definition

Intercultural competence is the ability to interact, understand, and effectively communicate with people from different cultures. Intercultural competence is essential in establishing healthy business relationships between individuals of the various cultural beliefs. The good association between people can create a perfect platform for doing business activities. When people from different cultures understand and accommodate the beliefs of each other, relationships are established. Consequently, a peaceful environment for making money through business activities is created (Morley & Cerdin, 2010).

Elements of Intercultural Competence

The basic elements of intercultural competence include empathy, understanding of the behavior of other people, and being able to tolerate and accommodate them. Empathy is sympathy in action. That is when people of other cultures are in need, and one is in a position to help them, he or she should do it without cultural limitations. Listening and respecting the way of thinking of other people is another element that can promote intercultural competence.

4.1. Importance of Intercultural Competence in Marketing Strategies in Islamic Nations

Intercultural aspects are of an essential consideration in the marketing strategies. When people understand and accommodate beliefs and behavior of other people, they are able to implement better marketing strategies. Good relationships are an essential requirement for any business to take place successfully and efficiently. Research shows that intercultural competence leads to success in international business. When designing marketing strategies in the Muslim countries, there must be intercultural competence from the marketers to ensure a successful exercise.

Marketing strategies are the techniques to be used for a particular business to be successful. Intercultural aspect is important in marketing, as it promotes an understanding of the needs of other people (Morley & Cerdin, 2010). For instance, intercultural competence will help the marketers to understand the unique consumer needs of a particular Muslim country. They will be able to comprehend the needs and the limits of the community. For example, they are able to understand the types of commodities that they can trade without interfering with the culture of their target market. Particularly, the products like pork are strictly prohibited in the Muslim countries. When the two parties understand each other, they will understand that Muslims do not accept pigs as per their beliefs as well as the fact that pigs must not enter their compounds. Through the intercultural competence, the marketers will ensure to avoid any pork business in the Muslim countries. They can, therefore, think of the other trading items that are acceptable to the Muslim culture. Trading items such as dogs and pigs are strictly prohibited in the Muslim countries. Intercultural competence enlightens marketers on the type of items that a Muslim consumer would prefer, for instance, their clothing, their foods, and their household items. Such goods would be easily sold in the Muslim countries. Intercultural competence is an important aspect that should be considered when drawing the marketing strategies.

4.1.1. Quran Influence on Islamic Marketing Peculiarities

The source of the Islamic culture and law on how to conduct their businesses is derived from the Quran. Quran is the holy book that Muslims believe they were given by Allah, and it contains the social justice laws and the socioeconomic practices that govern them in business. The Muslim culture specifies that all resources are given to them by God and must be used well and in the most productive way, so that it fulfills the plans of God to humankind. Thus, the marketing strategies in the Muslim countries are conducted in accordance with the Islamic principles putting trust first instead of the self-interest. All the economic activities are to serve the interest of the society in the Islamic culture. Islamic states do not allow the private ownership of some items and most of their social utilities are set aside for the public and not for the specific individuals (Temporal, 2013).

4.1.2. Sharia Laws

The Sharia laws forbid the business activities such as selling of the alcoholic drinks, pork and their products, and gambling among other activities that they consider deceitful according to the culture of Muslims. They believe that these business activities can bring harm to other people. Hoarding and dishonest transactions are other activities that are forbidden by the Islamic laws of conducting businesses. The activities such as gambling are addictive and can make people steal from each other, so that they get some money for gambling. Some people may even end up selling their personal belongings; their gamble, in fact, makes their families suffer.

The acts of corruption like bribery and breaking of the law is against the Islamic culture. The culture considers any profit made from conducting business in a way that is against the Sharia rules to be illegal. The culture affects the marketing strategies in the Islamic nations. The Muslim culture does not allow one person to have excessive properties. That is property exceeding nisab (Temporal, 2013). Nisab is a fixed level that people are not authorized to have the property exceeding beyond. When people accumulate such property, they are supposed to share it with the needy and the poor. Giving to the poor is done through a tax that they call zakat.

Marketing strategies like branding are affected by the Islamic culture. The appearance of the products and services that the business deals with should be accordance with the Muslim Sharia laws. From the economic perspective, it is always wise to provide services that are in accordance with the preference and the needs of the customers. From the points of view of a religion and a culture, Muslims would prefer some items that they consider acceptable as per their beliefs. A business that deals with the clothing in the Islamic countries should adhere to their way of dressing. The western way of dressing is quite different from the Muslim’s one. For the clothing business to work in the Islamic countries, a number of the factors should be considered in the type of the clothing to do business with. There is a unique way they like their products to appear and the names that they would prefer for their items. For instance, when choosing the name of the bank in the Islamic nation, the use of a local name would be a more preferable idea, as the marketing would be easier (Temporal, 2013). They would prefer the name in their local language other than a foreign name.

Embracing of the user-generated content is a marketing strategy that is in line with the intercultural competence. When a nation wants to conduct business with another nation, there are some differences that each one of them should learn about the other, so that they know how to market their products and achieve the goal of the business. One should consider important things like knowing the likes and the dislikes of other nations. All of them might be Muslims, but slight differences may still exist between them. Some of them may be less strict in observing the Sharia laws compared to others. For example, in the banking sector, some of the Islamic countries no longer have restrictions on the interest charged on credit, whereas others still follow the laws strictly. Therefore, conducting a prior investigation to understand the market would be an important marketing strategy that would favor the growth of the business towards prosperity.

4.1.3. Language Barrier

Although the Islamic countries may have the same religion, they may have different languages. It is important in the marketing to learn and know the language of each other. People generally prefer doing business in their local languages. The local names that are used when branding of items would make conducting of the businesses efficient. Some of the local communities within the Muslim countries might be familiar with their mother tongue alone. Therefore, language barrier is a challenge when conducting businesses with them. Learning of their mother tongue will be an important aspect, as it will remove the issue of the language barrier as well as promote understanding for the business to be conducted efficiently.

Marketing strategy such as advertisements would be more efficient if done in the local language of the targeted community. The local language will ensure the “point is driven home” to every individual, even if they do not know the other languages apart from their own local languages. Intercultural aspect is important in an advertisement as a marketing strategy. Learning of the language of other countries eliminates the language barrier, which can be a limitation in conducting business activities.

4.1.4. Education Impact

The level of education in these Muslim countries may vary, and therefore, the marketing strategy to be used in countries with low educational level should be different. Researching on the educational level of the targeted nation to do business in is very important. For instance, in the countries that have low educational level, the advertisements to be used should be audio-visual rather than written in most cases. Using other marketing techniques should be considered instead. When implementing ads in such countries, using of the verbal advertisements in local languages or usage of the relevant pictures might be viewed as a reasonable option. An advert that is wordy will not be effective when implemented in the countries, the majority of people of which are illiterate.

Some of the Muslim countries in the ancient times believed that education was not necessary for a girl child. It was their culture not to educate women; thus, most women are illiterate in the Muslim countries. Although some of the countries have reformed and consider gender equality, some of them still hold to the tradition. Therefore, when planning to do businesses with such a nation, one should take into account the education level as a point of marketing discussion. Products for women such as cosmetics should be advertised in ways that even those, who are illiterate, will be convinced to purchase the product. Intercultural aspects are important when using advertisement as a marketing strategy in Muslim countries (Robbins, 2008).

4.1.5. Differences in Level of Living

There are unique market characteristics in the Islamic nations. The cultural norms and the religious are the key aspects addressed when marketing in the Islamic countries. The Muslim countries can be categorized into two – those that are resource rich and those that are poor. For example, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates are among the richest Islamic countries in the world. They are endowed with many resources. Others like Iran are still developing. When drawing the marketing strategies in the Muslim countries, some of the things to consider are income distribution, economic viability, and policies towards the foreign investments.

Countries with a large educated population like the United Arab Emirates are a good target for marketing consumer goods and services such as household appliances, foodstuffs, consumer electronics, and cars. Youths are highly educated in such countries, and they tend to exhibit purchasing patterns similar to the advanced countries’ markets. The education is mixed with both religious and the secular experiential learning. Consumable items in such countries are different from the other Muslim countries like Kuwait. This is because they have adopted the western culture through their education system, which is a combination of religion and culture.

The marketing strategy in countries like the United Arab Emirates might be different from other Muslim countries, because the culture is mixed up with the western culture. This is because they have higher levels of education. Items sold in such countries are like those in America and Europe. When developing a marketing strategy to use in the United Arab Emirates, marketers should consider the items similar to the ones in Europe and America. This will lead to a successful marketing strategy.

Many progressive Islamic countries generally consider the western products to be of high quality and superior to their goods. Other conservative countries that have strict adherence to the Islamic culture view western goods negatively. Such countries include Iran, which perceives western goods with a lot of ethnocentrism. Conservative Muslim countries are sensitive to the prices of commodities, and they consider the western goods to be expensive. They have little appreciation for the quality of the western goods. They tend to know very little about the value addition.

In most Muslim countries, all the financial activities are governed by the Islamic law. Therefore, all the financial products and services must be adhered to the Islamic laws. For instance, charging of interest on credit is considered ‘haraam’ by Sharia laws. This means they consider it illegal. When drawing marketing strategies for financial products in Muslim nations, businesses must tailor their products to adhere to the Sharia laws. However, progressive Muslim countries like UAE allow non-Islamic banks to operate.

The cultural differences between the Islamic countries prevent the uniform approach to promotion. Therefore, there are standard guidelines that are followed when doing marketing in the Islamic countries. The promotional messages should target the male consumers generally and the female consumers rarely. Men are considered to be superior in the conservative Islamic culture.

The promotional messages should not be deceitful or misleading, as deceitfulness in the Islamic culture is against the Sharia governing them. The use of the religious words in promotions has a positive impact on the marketing. However, the wrong usage of the religious words can make customers repel other than being lured. The religious words should, therefore, be used appropriately. Particularly, promotions should avoid intentional or unintentional negative publicity. The promotional messages should emphasize on opportunity to save money and simplicity of the goods. Some promotions such as coupling may make the consumers lose trust in the retailer, as they will be questioning the fairness of the prices offered (Robbins, 2008). The guidelines give the marketers a chance to understand the basic information on the marketing in the Islamic countries.

4.1.6. Gender Inequality Influence

Muslims believe that women are inferior to men. Understanding this through intercultural competence is essential to the marketing strategy that is put in place. It is their culture to appoint men as leaders to the high positions. Women are considered as the men’s property. Decision-making is mostly done by men. The decisions on what to buy or not to buy are upon the men. Men should, therefore, be the primary targets for advertising, since they are the primary decision-makers. For example, when marketing a car, they should target men, since women are not allowed to drive. When appointing people to work with in business, men are given preference to women, because they believe women were not appointed to lead others, as per the Islamic teachings.

4.1.7. Secularization Impact

The Muslim countries vary in the degree of secularization. For example, conducting business in Kazakhstan is closer to the European style than the Asian style. The business practices like shaking hands after business deals and the dark business attires are practiced in Kazakhstan, as opposed to other Asian countries. However, men’s shaking hands with women is not allowed either in Kazakhstan or in Asian countries. Their culture is more aligned to the European culture, compared to the Asian culture. When setting the marketing strategy between the two countries like Kazakhstan and Iran, there is a need to learn the type of commodities that will attract more customers. For instance, consumers in Iran are more likely to have high degree of criticism on the western products, compared to consumers in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan has rather big population of educated people, and hence, they would prefer most on the western products, because they value the quality. On the contrary, consumers in Iran would prefer their local products, because most of them are still sensitive to the prices of the items rather than quality (Nunez et al., 2017). Consumers in Iran are still strict on the religious aspect and consider the western products as secularized.

Comparing the two countries economically, Kazakhstan is more stable than Iran because of the resources that Kazakhstan possesses. It is a country that produces gas and crude oil in large quantities. Factors that are considered in determining the marketing strategy between these two nations are economic stability and the level of education. All this can be learned through intercultural aspects, which enable determination of the marketing strategy to be used when doing business in different Islamic nations.

4.1.8. Other Effects

Understanding the culture of other nations is not only about the language and the religion. It is also in the small details that are in most cases ignored and taken as if they are irrelevant. In the Islamic countries, they may have common religions and similar ways of doing things. That is that the marketers need to pay full attention to details when advertising their product. For example, while advertising a car in a foreign Islamic country, marketers should not neglect small details like the location of the steering wheel and the driver’s seat. They may assume that it is the same, but it depends on the traffic rules of every nation (Nunez, Mahdi, & Popma, 2017). Different nations have different traffic rules that are unique to their countries. Thus, intercultural competence helps in understanding the slightest details, so that they determine the mode of marketing to use in their business with other countries.

Intercultural competence is important in marketing, because it gives the marketer time to learn on the currency of the targeted market and their policies towards foreign investment. The Islamic countries may have different currency. It is, therefore, valuable for a marketer to know the type of currency that is used and the exchange rates of the target market currency to the marketer’s currency. By knowing the currency marketers can start drawing their financial map, which is determining the capital and the costs. Being conversant with the tax laws and the export duty is important in calculating the cost of production, and therefore, the marketing strategies to be implemented.

In the banking operations, the Muslims countries do not charge interest rates in their banks. This is their unique culture on conducting banking activities. It is against the Sharia laws to charge any form of interest on the credits given to people. Therefore, religious background plays a significant role in the marketing strategies. Islamic banking is considered trustworthy and attracts both the Muslim and the non-Muslim consumers. Their financial institutions are unique and provide services that are acceptable to the Muslims and non-Muslims. Understanding Sharia-compliant banking is important for marketers, who would wish to offer financial services. When establishing of the financial institution in a Muslim country, the marketers should adopt their unique culture of handling the financial institution, so that they become competitive (Marinov, 2014).

5.0 Conclusion

The Muslim cultures are similar, but there are slight distinctions between them. These differences are brought in through the education systems. Most of the Islamic nations with a large population of educated people tend to have a lot of secularism, and therefore, are not strict in their religion. In comparison, conservative Muslim countries are reluctant towards western countries’ products. Through intercultural competence, one country can know more about other nations. Knowing each other better is important in determination of the marketing strategies, as the techniques to be used can be identified easily to meet the consumers’ preference.

References

Marinov, M. (2014). Marketing in the emerging markets of Islamic countries. Palgrave Macmillan.

Morley, M. J., & Cerdin, J.-L. (2010). Intercultural competence. Emerald Group Publishing.

Nunez, C., Mahdi, R. M, & Popma, L. (2017). Intercultural sensitivity. Assen: Koninklijke Van Gorcum.

Robbins, R. (2008). Global problems and the culture of capitalism. Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.

Temporal, P. (2013). Islamic branding and marketing. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.