Marketing Influences in Cambodia

Introduction

The purpose of this brief focuses on the assigned country of Cambodia, as a foreign potential market, and aims to provide critical marketing assessment of the environmental factors and characteristics of Cambodia. Due to the firm currently operating domestically, the desire to expand is practical, however understanding the environmental impacts is critical for the organisation to succeed. Through conducting marketing research, the brief aims to analyse potential influences on marketing in regards to Cambodia’s social-cultural, economic-geographic, technological, political-legal and demographic environments.

Social-Cultural Environment

There are many social-cultural influences of Cambodia which indicate a limited market opportunity for certain products. According to Europa World (2003), in 2010 the religion in 93% of the population in Cambodia was Theravada Buddhism, the sacred language of which is Pali. This type of Buddhism is a pervasive influence in Cambodian life (Australian Government: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2012). Cambodia also has a small Islamic community and a very small Christian community. Thus, meats and other foods, as well as products which dissatisfy the Five Precepts of Buddhist morality (Sivaraksa, 1998) and etiquettes for other religions and language, would have little market potential in Cambodia.

Due to the strong religious beliefs of the Cambodian people, the market prospect for clothing is restricted. The Cambodian people follow a common cultural etiquette of being polite and respectable. The casual dress code in Cambodia must be suitable, especially in religious sites. Women should avoid short, tight fitting, and sleeveless clothing if possible and men should also be well groomed with formal attire. Covering the upper arms and upper legs is essential. Therefore, a slight range of clothing is available as a potential market due to the cultural and religious beliefs of the Cambodian people....