The importance of cross-cultural differences in marketing communications within Russia and Ireland in tourism and hospitality industry

Research dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MSc in International Business Management

Griffith College Dublin

Dissertation Supervisor: Deirdre Gorman

Iuliia Starokon

25^th May 2017

Candidate Declaration

Candidate Name: Iuliia Starokon

I certify that the dissertation entitled:

The importance of cross-cultural differences in marketing communications within Russia and Ireland in tourism and hospitality industry.

submitted for the degree of: MSc in International Tourism is the result of the my own work and that where reference is made to the work of others, due acknowledgment is given.

Candidate signature:

Date:

Supervisor Name:

Supervisor signature:

Date: 25^h September 2017

Dedication Acknowledgements Abstract

The importance of cross-cultural differences in marketing communications within Russia and Ireland in tourism and hospitality industry

Iuliia Starokon

Table of Contents

Candidate Declaration II

Dedication III

Acknowledgements IV

Abstract V

List of Figures VII

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Research Purpose 4

1.2 Research Objectives 4

1.3 Structure of the Study 4

2 Literature review 5

2.1 Overview 5

2.2 The impact of culture on marketing communication process 7

2.3 Culture and cultural dimensions of Hofstede in marketing communication context 9

3 Methodology and Research Design 31

3.1 Overview 31

3.2 Research Philosophy and Approach 32

3.3 Research Strategy 33

3.4 Collection Primary Data 34

3.5 Access and Ethical Issues 37

3.6 Approach to Data Analysis 38

4 Presentation and Analysis of Findings 39

5 8 Conclusion 54

6 Concluding Thoughts on the Contribution of this Research, its Limitations and Suggestions for Further Research 57

6.1 Implications of Findings for the Research Questions 57

6.2 Contributions and Limitations of the Research 57

6.3 Recommendations for Practice 57

6.4 Recommendations for Future Research 57

6.5 Final Conclusion and Reflections 57

References 58

Appendices A

Appendix A – A

Appendix B – B

Appendix C – C

Appendix D – D

List of Figures

Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)

1Introduction

1.1 Overview

The research topic, which I am going to examine is “The importance of cross-cultural differences in marketing communications within Russia and Ireland in the tourism and hospitality industry”. The chosen area will be predominately focused on the influence of national culture on marketing communications, due to the fact that it is scholarly identified that cross-cultural issues are important in a marketing context, especially for companies spreading their activities internationally (Makhlouk and Shevchuk, 2008).

Firstly, in order to carry out an in-depth investigation of the research topic, a general theoretical background with regards to Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) will be considered, covering some aspects of national culture with reference to the tourism and hospitality industry.

Secondly, it will be researched whether there are cross-cultural differences between Russia and Ireland influence customers’ perception towards marketing communications or not.

For a guideline a set of questions has been formed. These questions are:

1. What are IMC and how they are used in tourism and hospitality?

2. Why cross-cultural differences are worth to consider in IMC for restaurants, hotels and travel offers?

3. Whether there are considerable cultural differences within Russia and Ireland, which affect the perception and reaction of people to marketing communications? In other words, are there any cultural aspects, which should be taken into account by international businesses when applying marketing activities in both countries?

The aforementioned questions will provide the basic framework for the study.