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Introduction

Sarah Bennett October 13, 2005 Timing is Everything...Culturally Speaking We never have enough time. It's flying, wasted, or spent. In marketing, we strive to be punctual for meetings and deadlines. So when do we have time to consider time? For culturally sensitive marketers, time is key. When we look to establish an emotional link with a Hispanic consumer, we must consider the elements of culture that control values, thoughts, and behaviors; and time is one of these "dimensions [that] provides the nesting place for archetypes to take root."1 Westerners tend to view time as linear. We see events in a straight line, with each successive action following another. Many other cultures see time not as monochronic, but polychronic, which is characterized by events occurring simultaneously. The famous anthropologist, Edward T. Hall, conducted extensive research of monochronic and polychronic cultures found that cultural miscommunication is often the result of not understanding the different structures of scheduling or managing time. ...read more.

Middle

He was born in Costa Rica, and immigrated to the United States when he was fourteen. He is now twenty-one and a college student. I sought to find out how he viewed time in Latin American versus the United States. Juan told me he was not offended by my tardiness, and asking why, he replied, "Maybe you were talking to friends or family." This underscores another important dimension, the importance of interpersonal relationships in the Hispanic culture. Juan explained that when Americans travel to Costa Rica, they adjust to "Tico time", or the timing of Costa Ricans. He described "Tico time" as much more laid back, and without rush. He made a clear distinction, however, between this attitude and procrastination. The culture is not centered on "putting things off" or laziness, rather a certain rhythm or pace. La Agencia de Orci & Asociados launched a successful television campaign for Allstate Insurance Company. One television spot featured a father on the beach watching his children play, picturing their future profession. ...read more.

Conclusion

A polychronic view of time allows Hispanics to do many tasks simultaneously such as, read a magazine while listening to the radio. So a media buyer should consider "advantageously plac[ing] advertisements in both media at the same time to complement each other."8 A Hispanics relationship to time is important to the marketer and can prove important to an effective advertising campaign. Researching this cultural dimension is always time well spent. 1 Korzenny, Felipe, & Korzenny, Betty Ann. (2005) Hispanic Marketing: A Cultural Perspective. Burlington, MA: Elsevier Butterworth- Heinemann. 2 http://www.press.umich.edu/pdf/0472030604-appendixc.pdf. 3 http://www.press.umich.edu/pdf/0472030604-appendixc.pdf. 4 Korzenny, Felipe, & Korzenny, Betty Ann. (2005) Hispanic Marketing: A Cultural Perspective. Burlington, MA: Elsevier Butterworth- Heinemann. 5 Elliott, C.E. (1999) Cross-Cultural Communication Styles. Pre-publication Masters thesis 6 http://www.laagencia.com/flash/portfolio.shtml 7 Korzenny, Felipe, & Korzenny, Betty Ann. (2005) Hispanic Marketing: A Cultural Perspective. Burlington, MA: Elsevier Butterworth- Heinemann. 8 Korzenny, Felipe, & Korzenny, Betty Ann. (2005) Hispanic Marketing: A Cultural Perspective. Burlington, MA: Elsevier Butterworth- Heinemann. ?? ?? ?? ?? ...read more.

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