The influence of high- and low-context cultures on positioning of cosmetic brands

Seminar paper from the year 2017 in the subject Business economics - Offline Marketing and Online Marketing, grade: 2,0, University of Applied Sciences Stuttgart, language: English, abstract: Nowadays the number of brands is significantly increasing, but interchangeability is included in the daily schedule of change: some brands don¿t work in specific markets and end to exist while simultaneously many new brands enter the markets. Contact to brands happens on a daily basis - consumers experience a plethora of offer and advertising of brands which is more and more getting an overtaxing and ¿oversaturation¿ to them. Purchase decisions are influenced by diverse complex factors and communication plays an increasingly important role. Not only social media and all manner of visual advertisements unconsciously do influence it but also verbal recommendations clearly leave its marks.

But how does the positioning of brands works? The connection of the brand and its unique business model has to be sold and is more than decisive to achieve a strong and successful positioning. Currently not only one type of key customer dominates the markets but diverse target groups have to be addressed what more and more complicates the positioning process.

But which influence does culture has on the positioning of brands? Is the procedure of advertising in different cultures the complete opposite? What is the deeper understanding of brands and positioning? What especially differentiates Cosmetic Brands? How does positioning created for a target group in a high-context culture differ from the one created for a low-context culture? The research question focusses on the question if specific criteria of cultures in an anthropological culture concept influence the positioning of Cosmetic brands and if there is an existing correlation. The objective of this assignment is to show if there is a clear difference in positioning Cosmetic brands in the two different concepts of culture.