Question

Procter & Gamble's introduction of All-Temperature Cheer laundry detergent in Japan was a flop at first. The problem was that Japanese women wash clothes in cold water—either tap water or leftover bath water—so they don't care about all-temperature washing (which is a big selling point in the United States). Also, Cheer was first introduced in Japan at a time when the market for fabric softeners in Japan was rapidly expanding. However, when Japanese housewives added lots of fabric softener to the water, Cheer didn't produce many suds (Americans don't use as much fabric softener). P&G reformulated the product so it wouldn't be affected by fabric softeners, and ads for Cheer in Japan pledged superior cleaning in cold water, not all temperatures. Which of the following might have helped P&G avoid the initial problems with Cheer?a. Maslow’s hierarchyb. high- versus low- context culturec. diffusion of innovationd. self-reference criterione. ethnocentric orientation

Answer 1

self-reference criterione. ethnocentric orientation

Step-by-step explanation:

Self-reference criterion could be defined as unconsciously making reference to your own cultural values and experiences, thinking that everyone thinks and does things the way you do and using that knowledge as a basis for decisions.

Ethnocentric Criterion is closely associated is ethnocentrism, which implies the notion that your own company is the best and knows how best to do things.

This obviously was the case for Procter and Gamble in Japan because it is stated in the scenario that ''Japanese women wash clothes in cold water—either tap water or leftover bath water—so they don't care about all-temperature washing (which is a big selling point in the United States).''

Procter and Gamble suffered a product failure because they suffered from Self-reference criterion by thinking 'as it is in America, so it is in Japan.' Furthermore P&G was guilty of being ethnocentric because they must have assumed there products were always the best and failed to conduct proper analysis on culture-related consumer preferences.