Intercultural Business Communication in Brazil

Introduction

The contemporary globalizing economy implies the rapid international growth of companies in all spheres. In particular, with the advancement of technologies and transportation, the management of company facilities across countries’ borders has become easier and more efficient. Such a state of affairs validates the expansion of multiple companies to foreign markets. In such a situation, a business organization should address several pivotal factors, one of which is the cultural setting. Indeed, when entering a new country’s market, any business entity is expected to adjust its operations to the cultural particularities of the hosting state to remain relevant and competitive. This case study is designed to explore the particularities of intercultural business communication for proper company product selling in Brazil. In particular, the challenges that the company might face when launching and marketing its products in Brazil are related to the potentially biased perception of the ethnic group residing in Brazil. For that matter, the preconditions of such cultural conflict and possible solutions are presented in the case study.

Country and Culture Background

Brazil is one of the largest countries in South America; its business climate attracts growing companies striving to gain a global presence. Due to the large population and diversity of demographics, the appeal to the Brazilian market might be beneficial for a company seeking foreign development opportunities. Indeed, a diverse Brazilian population provides a beneficial opportunity for a foreign business to market its product successfully with a higher chance of obtaining a large body of loyal customers. According to Park and Paiva (2018), the differences in industrialization and developmental backgrounds inherent in the cultures of various countries are reflected in the selected business strategies for those environments. Thus, Brazil is a country with particularities of business management that should be addressed by the company management.

Culturally, Brazil is a rich and heterogeneous country that is the home to an ethnically, economically, and socially diverse population. The country is characterized by a large gap between the rich and the poor, as well as the geographical unevenness of population distribution (de Oliveira et al., 2018). Moreover, the latest economic crises have significantly impacted the cultural identity of the people of Brazil, shifting consumers’ decision-making prioritization from emotionally based to more rational (Francis & Hoefel, 2020). Therefore, to enhance the prospective benefits of entering the Brazilian market, the company should acknowledge and incorporate potential cultural differences and conflict risks to mitigate them and address them properly.

Key Cultural Business Issues the Company Might Confront in Selling a Product for the First Time in Brazil

Brazil’s business culture is inherently connected with the overall cultural particularities of the state. Since the country’s economically distinct regions are geographically distributed, with some areas being considered richer and some perceived as poorer, the prioritization of a geographical location for company facilities might be decisive. De Oliveira et al. (2018) state that “more than half of the companies are located in the southeast area, which is the richest region in Brazil, reflecting geographical inequalities in the country’s development” (p. 159). Therefore, when opening a facility in Brazil, the company should approach the site selection meticulously with the reliance on evidence.

Moreover, the cultural business particularity of Brazil is related to the use of technology by local organizations. In particular, “the exposure of Brazilian manufacturing companies to international competitors shows the technological distance between Brazil and other countries” (de Oliveira et al., 2018, p. 160). Overall, the industries in Brazil commonly rely on acquired technology, which predetermines its dependence on external parties. Such an issue is predetermined by Brazil’s “scarce investment in technology and R&D” (de Oliveira et al., 2018, p. 160). Thus, it might be a challenge for the company since the use of local technologies will not be possible. Instead, the company might consider launching its own technological solutions without cooperating with local companies.

In addition, another challenge in terms of cultural business issues faced by the company in Brazil is predetermined by the contradiction between the individualist and collectivist cultural dimensions. Indeed, according to research, individualistic culture dominates in “countries where the tasks and activities are more important than personal relationships” (La Falce et al., 2020, p. 8). While the USA’s culture is characterized by the prevalence of individualism, Brazilian business settings are more collectivist, which is demonstrated by the values of people set on relationships rather than individual outcomes (Tuleja, 2022). Therefore, when launching its product in Brazil, the company should consider such challenges as the economic aspects of geographical locations, the use of company-owned technology, and the implementation of management strategies appealing to collectivist values.

Requirements to Establish a Product in Brazil

When establishing a product in Brazil, the company should comply with the characteristics of the local business world. The above-mentioned particularities allow for assuming that the most winnable tactics for the company might be opening its facility in an economically and geographically appropriate area in Brazil. The requirements for opening a new facility include investigating legal, business, and cultural particularities that would enhance the company’s profitable and responsible performance. Moreover, to attract customers to the new product, it is essential to implement a strong targeting strategy that would lead the overall marketing campaign. To do that properly, the managers should be aware of the possible cultural challenges relevant to the Brazilian market.

Possible Cultural Challenges or Problems a Company Might Confront

Bias is one of the problems that a company might face when promoting its product in Brazil. In particular, stereotypical perception of the representative of Latin America might hinder the company’s anticipation of the business outcomes, which might be impacted by the choice of targeting and overall marketing strategies. Indeed, according to Tuleja (2022), identity perception is one of the major defining aspects of human life which allows for meaningful connections with a larger group. For that matter, the understanding of the identity-related issues of the target population for whom the product is marketed is essential for a company that seeks successful launching of its business operations in a new country.

In particular, demographic characteristics play a pivotal role in the selection of targeting methods for a product marketing campaign. Thus, a biased perception of the target population based on the misconceptions about Brazil’s demographic population is general, and ethnicity particularities, in particular, might be a significant challenge for the company in general and individual marketing managers. As stated by Tuleja (2022), the most common stereotype related to the population of Brazil is the confusion between Hispanic and Latino ethnicities. Latino individuals are the ones whose language of origin is Portuguese and who come from Brazil; Hispanic individuals are those speaking the Spanish language and come from Spain (Tuleja, 2022). Thus, the cultural conflict might occur if the managers of the marketing department responsible for the targeting interventions and advertising have difficulty differentiating between the ethnic groups in Brazil.

Another significant cultural challenge is the perception of consumers’ expectations based on the global understanding of the generation characteristics. For example, when targeting a product to the representatives of the Brazilian Generation Z, the managers might face a risk of a cultural conflict when assuming that these consumers are optimistic, as it is conventionally thought, while they are more pragmatic in the choice of products and services (Francis & Hoefel, 2020). Therefore, now that the company has launched its product in Brazil, it is essential to find solutions to overcome these cultural challenges in order to establish the business as a successful entity in the new market.

Possible Solutions

To solve the problem of proper product establishment in Brazil despite the cultural challenges, the managers of the marketing department should think of ways of incorporating their technologies, marketing, and targeting methods to meet the expectations of the target market. For that matter, possible solutions might be found in the areas of research for predominant consumer decision-making motivations. Furthermore, it is necessary to analyze the demographics of the country to determine the particularities of the target market. After that, the synthesis of findings on demographics should be applied to the prospective targeting techniques to build the marketing campaign on the most influential characteristics of the consumers. Finally, a marketing strategy and an advertising message should be developed to ensure that the cultural particularities are properly incorporated into the company’s product placement practices, which allow for reaching consumers successfully.

Conclusion

In summation, Brazil is a large Southern American country with a large population. It allows for a variety of business opportunities due to the diversity of consumers. For the company to establish its product in the country, it is essential to acknowledge such particularities of business culture as geographical distribution of economically distinct population, scarcity of technological investment, and collectivist values. Moreover, the cultural challenges that the company should overcome include bias in the perception of ethnic groups in Brazil and the interpretation of consumers’ decision-making as being optimistic. For that matter, when opening a new facility and launching a marketing campaign in Brazil, the managers of the marketing department should find plausible solutions addressing the identified cultural concerns.

Discussion Questions

1. How is Brazil’s culture different from the USA’s?
2. What factors predetermine the selection of the target population for the product?
3. What appeal to the target population would work best for the prospective consumers in Brazil, emotional or logical? How might it inform marketing decision-making?
4. What might be the methods of data collection to identify the characteristics of the demographics in the country?
5. How should the advertising message be constructed to avoid cultural bias?

Teaching Notes

Purpose of the Case Study

The purpose of the case study is to launch an effective, culturally relevant marketing campaign in Brazil. In order to incorporate the identified particularities and challenges associated with the company’s launching of its operations in Brazil, the employees of the company should adhere to some guidelines. The fundamental basis for proper preparation for advancing business to a foreign culture is to research the cultural differences. For that matter, the findings presented in the case study should be used as a background for more in-depth studying of Brazilian culture to be prepared to work with the consumers representing this state’s population.

Problem Statement

The company should establish its product in Brazil by developing a culturally appropriate marketing campaign to overcome the bias in ethnicity perception and assumptions in consumer decision-making motivation.

Critical Issues

• Diverse population – the issue is critical due to the marketing managers’ addressing the values and expectations of each group of the diverse society of Brazil.
• Economic gaps in the population are reflected geographically – the issue is important because the selection of targeting methods should be guided by the data about the distribution of the target population across the economic-geographic spectrum.
• Collectivist values – the knowledge of the difference between individualist and collectivist cultural dimensions will help managers select appropriate marketing messages for the product and connect with consumers better.
• Latino and Hispanic distinction – the differentiation between the ethnic groups’ particularities is essential for unbiased attitudes.
• Generation-based customer decision-making process – the particularities that are prioritized by consumers predetermine the success of a product in the market.

List of Stakeholders

• Company leadership – high-rank decision-making of the overall project initiation;
• Marketing managers – solution finding for the identified problem.

Country Analysis

Brazil is a large country with a population representing diverse economic, ethnic, and age groups. Its business culture is characterized by collectivist values, adherence to acquired technologies, and prioritization of cooperation. The culture of diversity and rationality combined with the sensitivity to racial and ethnic bias contribute to the body of challenges for a new company entering the Brazilian market.

Desirable Outcome

The desirable outcome of the case study is the successful sales of the product and the obtainment of a large body of loyal consumers.

Possible Solutions

• Research of cultural particularities of Brazil;
• Collection and analysis of demographic data;
• Integration of demographic data into the targeting strategy;
• Development of a marketing strategy;
• Conducting a survey with the target population;
• Launching an advertising campaign;
• Evaluation of initial results;
• Work on drawbacks for continuous improvement.

Plan of Communicating the Solution to Stakeholders

1. Filing a report to leadership for approval of project launching;

• Launching a meeting with marketing managers for project planning;
• Presentation of the project problem and cultural challenges;
• Delegating research tasks to marketing managers;
• Outlining the main cultural issues related to Brazil and its business environment;
• Inquiring about targeting tactics with regard to ethnic particularities;
• Launching collaborative meetings for a marketing campaign development.

Discussion Questions

1. Research states that when addressing cultural issues in business, it is imperative to promote “tolerance to uncertainty” (La Falce et al., 2020, p. 4). How could you apply this statement to your decision-making process in solution-finding?
2. What is the difference between ethnicity and race? How do these concepts relate to marketing a new product in a foreign country?
3. How can managers overcome cultural bias?
4. What are targeting techniques most applicable to the case study?
5. How should the demographic population be collected and analyzed to inform your decision-making in relation to the case’s problem?
6. What methods might be used to investigate the most successful advertising campaigns capable of reaching the target audience?
7. How might one evaluate the outcomes of a marketing campaign based on the cultural appeal?

References

de Oliveira, J. A. S., Basso, L. F. C., Kimura, H., & Sobreiro, V. A. (2018). Innovation and financial performance of companies doing business in Brazil. International Journal of Innovation Studies, 2(4), 153-164.

Francis, T., & Hoefel, F. (2020). Gen Z and the Latin American consumer today. McKinsey & Company. Web.

La Falce, J. L., de Laia Mesquita, S. R., De Muylder, C. F., Silva, J. T. M., Verwaal, E., & Lima, V. L. C. (2020). Organizational culture in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico: A comparative study in the automotive industry. Cuadernos Latinoamericanos de Administración, 16(31), 1-15.

Park, C. L., & Paiva, E. L. (2018). How do national cultures impact the operations strategy process?. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 38(10), 1937-1963.

Tuleja, E. A. (2022). Intercultural communication for global business. How leaders communicate for success (2^nd ed.). Routledge