ABSTRACT
Widespread poverty, low rates of economic growth, low levels of per capita income, illiteracy, and poor economic and social infrastructure, pose special problems to the marketing managers operating in the developing world. Past research studies have looked at several of these variables which influence marketing practices in developing settings. However, a critical variable, namely, the cultural history of the focal society is often ignored. This chapter discusses the effects of the Hindu caste system and values (for example, emphasis on doing one’s duty without any expectation of reward), and the joint family system on the level of customer orientation of Indian retailers. It is argued that these-along with economic variables-have played a major role in reducing the customer orientation of Indian retailers.
