1. What are the characteristics of culture? -Culture is a set of traditional beliefs and values that are transmitted and shared in a given society. It is also the total way of life and thinking patterns that are passed from generation to generation. 1st characteristic- Culture is PRESCRIPTIVE-It prescribes the kinds of behavior considered acceptable in the society. It simplifies for us product choices that we know will or will not be acceptable. 2nd – Culture is SOCIALLY SHARED- Must be b

4. Discuss the reliability and validity problems in conducting a cross-national comparison study with the use of a standardized questionnaire. When taking a questionnaire from one culture to another, special care must be taken if the reliability and validity of the measurement are to be ensured. A measuring instrument is considered reliable when it yields the same results repeatedly with no change. When questionnaires are used within a foreign market, there is an increase in the chance that misinterpretation, misunderstanding, and administration variation will occur. Validity on the other hand, is the indication of whether or not the measuring instrument is able to measure what it purports to. Reliability is a prerequisite for the existence of validity. If it is not reliable there are no circumstances under which it can be valid. Some ways to check to see if it is reliable and valid is to have ten people translate your questionnaire to the other language. Then have ten other people from that country translate it back to English. If nothing has changed from the original then you know that you have solved that problem. Then you have to make sure that your survey fits the culture. Some cultures may not even are willing to take a questionnaire so it would be a waste of time and money. Also you have to find someone that knows the culture well enough to tell you if they will answer it honestly or if they just will say what we want to hear.

2. Are the same buying motives effective worldwide? Motives can vary and there are various types of motives. Motives are classified as rational and non-rational. Rational examples are price, durability, and economy in operation. Non-rational examples are prestige, comfort, and pleasure. Also sometimes it is hard to classify which ones are non-rational and rational. For instance, convenience can be classified under both and also many people can’t distinguish between emotional motives and rational motives. An example is that Chinese place more emphasis on convenience

Some topics in this essay:
Latin Americans, , Culture DYNAMIC-, Japs Hispanics, Northern Europe, Middle East, Germans Swiss, SOCIALLY SHARED-, FACILITATES COMMUNICATION-, Culture PRESCRIPTIVE-It, gray market, generation generation, passed generation, passed generation generation, low context cultures, secondary data, shared society, americans comfortable, context cultures, low context, non-rational rational, reliability validity,