FEATURE ARTICLE 2

Further Insights On VolunTourism Marketing: Better Understanding Their Perception Of Your Passion

by David Clemmons

In 2006, I wrote a short essay entitled "VolunTourism: The New P's of Marketing." It was inspired by my discovery that VolunTourism has elements to it that do not fit well within the traditional marketing model of Four P's attributed to E. Jerome McCarthy in his book, Basic Marketing. To clarify, I suggested that 'peace of mind' (price), 'partnerships' (place), 'perception' (promotion) and 'passion' (product) would more accurately represent the natural characteristics of VolunTourism. As a follow-on to that piece, I would like to review the Hofstede Dimensional Model of National Culture to see how it may assist VolunTourism providers in better understanding potential VolunTourists' 'perceptions' of your resepective 'passions.'

Introduction

VolunTourism is about to undergo a dramatic change in terms of market demographics. Those of you who keep track of where your potential voluntourists come from may have already noticed a shift in interest from a CANNU-centric (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States) marketplace to one that is beginning to include the G-BRICs (Germany, Brazil, Russia, India, and China) and other Asian markets (Malaysia and Singapore, in particular). Social media, 'global weirding,' and natural & manmade disasters are compelling citizens the world over to reconsider, not only where they travel, but how they travel. The notion of responsibility is moving from a thought-based, decision-conscious approach of incorporating such things as carbon offsets to one that demonstrates an active participation in supporting the well-being of destinations and residents.

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Given these shifts, will the approaches to marketing and promotions introduced more than a half-century ago, the original Four P's of Marketing - product, price, place, and promotion, continue to yield the results VolunTourism marketers are seeking? We all know the answer to this rhetorical question. The real question to be asking, and discovering an answer to, is: "What do we do?"

The first item of business is to create some common ground from which to carry on a discussion regarding VolunTourism Marketing. Is everyone comfortable with the idea that although you may be 'promoting' your 'products' and services to potential VolunTourists, what you are really doing is enhancing VolunTourists' 'perceptions' of your 'passion'?

If we are in agreement on this, then we can move to the bulk of this specific discussion which will focus on better understanding how we do so. I will review The Hofstede Dimensional Model of National Culture, the pioneering work of Geert Hofstede. I will then follow up with some suggestions based upon six of the dimensions and their implications for VolunTourism. Here we go.

The Hofstede Dimensional Model of National Culture

"The Hofstede model (Hofstede 2001; Hofstede & Hofstede 2005) distinguishes cultures according to five dimensions: power distance, individualism/collectivism, masculinty/femininity, uncertainty avoidance, and long-/short-term orientation. The model provides scales from 0 to 100 for 76 countries for each dimension, and each country has a position on each scale or index, relative to other countries...

"The power distance dimension can be defined as 'the extent to which less powerful members of a society accept and expect that power is distributed unequally'... The contrast individualism/collectivism can be defined as 'people looking after themselves and their immediate family only, versus people belonging to in-groups that look after them in exchange for loyalty'... The masculinity/femininity dimension can be defined as follows: 'The dominant values in a masculine society are achievement and success; the dominant values in a feminine society are caring for others and quality of life'... Uncertainty avoidance can be defined as 'the extent to which people feel threatened by uncertainty and ambiguity and try to avoid these situations'... Long- versus short-term orientation is 'the extent to which a society exhibits a pragmatic future-oriented perspective rather than a conventional historic or short-term point of view'." (de Mooij & Hofstede 2010)

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Two additional dimensions have been explored and discussed both by Geert Hofstede and others. In the April 2010 Issue of "A Community of Respect Newsletter," published by A Community of Respect at Texas A&M University, we read:

"Dimension Six Indulgence versus Restraint - Hofstede again cites the work of Minkov [Michael Minkov] wherein societies look at the way in which people spend their leisure time -- having fun versus suppressing the needs of gratification to conform to social standards and norms.

"Dimension 7 -- Monumentalism vs. Self-effacement looks at the way a society rewards people. Here my friend Dr. McLean [Dr. Gary McLean, Texas A&M Professor of Educational Administration and Human Resources Development] summarized the dimension as one that rewards proud and unchangeable people while the other end of the spectrum rewards humility and flexibility." (Source: "A Community of Respect Newsletter" April 2010, p.3)

There is an abundance of research that offers support for the Hofstede Model, however, of the most critical reviews comes the work of Brendan McSweeney, author of "Hofstede's Model of National Cultural Differences and Their Consequences: A Triumph of Faith -- A Failure of Analysis." In his concluding remarks McSweeney writes:

"The limited characterization of culture in Hofstede's work, its confinement within the territory of states, and its methodological flaws mean that it is a restricter not an enhancer of understanding and particularities. The identification claims are fundamentally flawed and the attribution of national level actions/institutions to national cultures is an easy but impoverishing move. We may think about national culture, we may believe in naitional culture, but Hofstede has not demonstrated that national culture is how we think... Extreme, singular, theories, such as Hofstede's model of national culture are profoundly problematic. His conflation and uni-level analysis precludes consideration of interplay between macroscopic and microscopic cultural levels and between the cultural and the non-cultural (whatever we choose to call it)." (McSweeney 2002)

Possible Perceptions Of VolunTourism Based On The Hofstede Model

Now that we have provided some critiques of Hofstede's work, let's see what Hofstede's Model might offer in terms of insights into the perceptions of potential VolunTourists and what may assist you, as a VolunTourism marketer, in effectively understanding those perceptions. In the following chart, I offer some suggestions as to what may appeal to members of a given society, in terms of their perceptions, as they consider participating in a VolunTourism experience.

* (Source: Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions)
** (Source: Dimensions of national Cultures)

First, we will take a look at Hofstede's Country Scores for the CANUUs. Then we will take a closer look at the G-BRICs.

(* Hofstede uses Great Britain [GBR] instead of United Kingdom, and offers separate numbers for Ireland: 28, 70, 68, 35, 24, and 65 respectively.)

We can see some similarities among the CANUUs, as well as some distinctions. Let's take a closer look at the G-BRICs and Malaysia and Singapore.

A very different picture from the CANUUs, is it not? And you can even see distinctions within dimensions. Germany seems to align more with the CANUUs in power distance and masculinity/femininity, but not the other four dimensions. And the further 'East' we go, the more distinction we see between the G-BRICs and Malaysia and Singapore and the CANNUs. Alright, is there something that can be learned from all of this and ultimately applied in your respective marketing and communications plans?

Analysis and Suggestions

What we want to pay closest attention to when we take a look at the results of Hofstede's research are data points that are well removed from a middle range of 45 - 55 in any dimensional category. With the CANUU's, the Individual/Collective Dimension represents the best candidate for discussion.

 "The contrast individualism/collectivism can be defined as ‘people looking after themselves and their immediate family only, versus people belonging to in-groups that look after them in exchange for loyalty’. In individualistic cultures, one’s identity is in the person. People are ‘I’-conscious and self-actualisation is important. Individualistic cultures are universalistic, assuming their values are valid for the whole world. They also are low-context communication cultures with explicit verbal communication. In collectivistic cultures, people are ‘we’-conscious. Their identity is based on the social system to which they belong, and avoiding loss of face is important. Collectivistic cultures are high-context communication cultures, with an indirect style of communication. In the sales process in individualistic cultures, parties want to get to the point fast, whereas in collectivistic cultures it is necessary to first build a relationship and trust between parties. This difference is reflected in the different roles of advertising: persuasion versus creating trust." (de Mooij & Hofstede 2010)

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The CANUUs are high on the Individualistic value. I interpret this to mean that they hold a world view that if you cannot help yourself and/or your family does not have the means to do so, you are in a predicament. Such a view lends itself to why CANUUs would be likely to help others, especially those in other countries, when they seemingly cannot help themselves - who else can they rely on but the assistance of 'strangers'? It is assumed that the government or some other over-arching entity isn't going to take care of them. They will need help. Therefore, marketing and communications offered to individuals from the CANUUs would feature language that focuses on 'helping those who cannot help themselves,' for example.

When we look at the G-BRICs and Malaysia and Singapore, it is clear that the Power Distance Index is the Dimension to focus on.

"The power distance dimension can be defined as ‘the extent to which less powerful members of a society accept and expect that power is distributed unequally’. In large power distance cultures, everyone has his or her rightful place in a social hierarchy. The rightful place concept is important for understanding the role of global brands. In large power distance cultures, one’s social status must be clear so that others can show proper respect. Global brands serve that purpose. Luxury articles, some alcoholic beverages and fashion items typically appeal to social status needs." (de Mooij & Hofstede 2010)

In terms of marketing and communications under these circumstances, it is recommended that the discussion of the merits of being a VolunTourist should be based upon how it helps to define one's position in the societal hierarchy and/or matches the overall expectations of the individual in that societal position.

One could also review any of the following for the G-BRICs, Malaysia, and Singapore:

• the Uncertainty Avoidance Index for Russia (95) and Malaysia (8);
• the Individual/Collective Dimension for China (20), Malaysia (26), and Singapore (20);
• the Long/Short Dimension for Germany (83), Russia (81), and China (87); or
• the Indulgence/Restraint Dimension for Russia (20), India (26) and China (24)

Scripting presentations to these audiences along any of these dimensions could also prove a worthy experiment in terms of perceptions.

Final Thoughts

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When I first came across the Hofstede Dimensional Model of National Culture, I was even more intrigued by its potential applicability in developing and maintaining relationships between communities & voluntourists and communities & voluntourism providers. This is something I would like to delve into in the future. In terms of VolunTourism Marketing, however, because much of the application of Hofstede's Model has occurred in the advertising and communications space, the approach of this current article is probably the best under the circumstances. Thus, you will have access to numerous additional articles and publications to assist you in putting it into context with other products and services with which you are familiar.

Geert Hofstede's work, and its subsequent interpretations, most notably herein by Marieke de Mooij, is, in my estimation, perhaps one of the most helpful tools I have discovered for the VolunTourism Community. Yet, and I am more surprised by this than anything, I have not seen any discussion of Hofstede's work in my reviews of volunteer tourism and voluntourism literature. I hope that this will spark discussion on the subject, or, at the very least, some critical thinking.

One Final Point: Hofstede's Model, in my opinion, can also be looked at from an individual's perspective. Rather than thinking of these Dimensions as societal in nature, I think they also provide some insights into individual mindsets. Most voluntourism providers could likely describe someone that had, for example, a high Uncertainty Avoidance Index, whether or not s/he was from a culture/nation that also scores at that level overall. You may determine that these Dimensions can be utilized in your applications for voluntourists. Should someone score outside certain parameters, you may decide that that individual is not a good fit for your program.

References

de Mooij, Marieke, & Hofstede, Geert (2010) The Hofstede Model: Applications to Global Branding and Advertising Strategy and Research. International Journal of Advertising 29(1), 85-110.

McSweeney, Brendan (2002) Hofstede's Model of National Cultural Differences and Their Consequences: A Triumph of Faith - A Failure of Analysis. Human Relations 55(1), 89-118.

Texas A&M University: A Community of RESPECT, International Programs Office (April 2010) For Your Toolbox - - Geert Hofstede's New Cultural Dimensions. A Community Of Respect Newsletter 3(2) 3. http://bcsrespect.tamu.edu/April2010newsletter.pdf (accessed 30 June 2010).

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