The quest for regional values: inputs into the discussion of marketing strategies

Abstract

There have been dramatic changes in regional development patterns and business expansion throughout Brazil. This certainly poses both opportunities and challenges for marketing activities due to regional particularities. One way to identify and understand regional aspects is the study of social values. This paper tries to identify differences in social values among four Brazilian state capitals: Belém, Porto Alegre, Salvador and São Paulo. It presents a literature review on microculture, emphasizing the issue of social values. The analysis is based on Rokeach's list of terminal and instrumental values. This list formed the basis for document and content analysis of eight transcriptions of focus groups on business and leisure trips. The identified values show interesting variations among the studied cities, indicating a predominance of imagination and logic in Belém, whereas Porto Alegre is characterized as gentle and useful. In Salvador there seems to be a predominance of capacity and intellectuality, while ambition and love stand out in São Paulo. The results also show that there is a body of common values, such as independence and responsibility, besides work and family. This study provides evidence that, despite belonging to the same country, Brazilians from different areas have different patterns of social values. Companies need to consider these differences when they draw up their marketing strategies.