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In today’s global society, consumers can’t help but be aware of cultural icons and influences from other nations. Countries are swapping products and fads in a cross-cultural frenzy. Who has graced the cover of America’s People magazine more times than any other? Diana, the late Princess of Wales. A year or so ago, the US club scene was in a frenzy over ‘foam parties’, a novel form of entertainment brought over from London via the island of Ibiza, Spain. America’s slacker grunge craze even gave way to a new UK invasion: Mod’s third wave, a movement marked by such British pop artists as Blur, Elastica, Oasis and Sleeper and by such American fashion designers as Anna Sui and Marc Jacobs.

To the dismay of many, trends and icons emanating from the US are also leaving their mark around the world. And the results can be incongruous, to say the least! What’s the biggest tourist attraction in Romania today? The painted monasteries of Bukovina? Dracula’s castle? Guess again. The biggest attraction is Southfork Ranch, a US$1 million replica of the homestead made famous by TV’s night-time soap opera Dallas. The centrepiece of the Hermes Vacation Park in the city of Slobozia, Southfork drew more than 2 million visitors in its first year of operation. Explaining the Texas-based TV show’s popularity in his country, owner Ilie Alexandrov told the St Petersburg Times (Florida), ‘[Dallas] was a bridge to the West for us. The average Romanian could only fantasize about such beautiful cars, a ranch, nice clothes. It was a kind of paradise.’

Trends emanating from the US (courtesy of MTV, global marketing efforts, the Internet and the like) range from hip-hop to snowboarding to gun culture. In addition to buying US$100 plastic replicas of guns, some Japanese have travelled to the US for ‘gun tours’, featuring opportunities to hold and shoot a variety of firearms. ‘It’s become a fad, a cool thing, to like guns,’ security company employee Michiko Nagashima told the Washington Post. ‘This is a bad import from the West.’

Another current rage among Japanese youth is chapatsu, or tea hair. Dyeing one’s hair brown is considered an act of individuality and rebellion, akin to American and European hippies growing their hair long during the sixties. Japanese schools have responded by banning dyed brown hair, and many major companies are refusing to hire brown-haired applicants.

Trend Filters

Though many of today’s trends start in the US and Western Europe, the way they are translated around the world varies considerably. Key to the evolution of trends are the ‘gatekeeping’ cities within each country, those places through which trends enter and are then spread throughout a nation.

In China, according to Mila M. Marquez of DY&R Guangzhou, trends start in the key urban centres of Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing. Typically, these trends are primarily brought about by an influx of Western influence – media penetration, tourists and so on. Marquez notes: ‘Guangzhou in the southern part of China is heavily influenced by Hong Kong because of its proximity. This is also the seat of the yearly China Trade Commodities Fair, so a lot of European, Japanese and American traders pass through. Most of the multinational companies have their marketing and manufacturing offices in Hong Kong, so the presence of expats dictates the fast development or evolution of people and culture. Going forwards, Hong Kong’s influence will continue to be evident in fashion, music and lifestyle. Beijing will remain the seat of politics, while Shanghai will be the fashion and lifestyle trendsetter and the centre of finance.’

Sachin Talwar, of Burson-Marsteller Roger Pereira Communications, Mumbai (formerly Bombay), tells us that trends in India also tend to originate in the US, but don’t spread throughout the country until they’ve been filtered through such gatekeeping cities as Bombay, New Delhi and Bangalore. ‘All three cities share several characteristics,’ notes Talwar. ‘They are relatively more Westernized, they are cosmopolitan, they host many more foreigners and foreign enterprises, Indians educated abroad are more likely to find jobs there, and these cities have better schools and colleges – particularly among those that teach through the medium of English.’

The role the English language plays in trend adoption is particularly evident in India. ‘The trendsetters in this country are not necessarily the rich,’ explains Talwar. ‘In fact, Bombay and New Delhi have vast numbers of the nouveau riche but they do not set trends. The trends are set by people the industry calls the “English medium types” (EMTs). Their schooling has been at elite schools – both day and boarding – that teach in English. Traditionally, the sons of professionals, executives and bureaucrats have been to these elite institutions of learning. They are not all wealthy, but most belong to the upper middle class. On the other hand, there are the “Hindi medium types” (HMTs). At school, they have been educated in one of the Indian languages. Many of them would have also learned English but … their familiarity with the language would be more limited. In the big cities a large number belong to the trading classes and are wealthy. Yet, they are looked down upon by the EMTs. Worse, the HMTs often display an inferiority complex. While they are wealthy, they wish to emulate the EMTs in their social behaviour. They tend to wait for the EMTs to adopt a trend before feeling confident about adopting it themselves. HMTs often send their children to elite schools to climb the “emulation” ladder. While this is often successful as far as the child is concerned, it leads to strains within the family as the elders often find it difficult to accept the changed lifestyle of their child.’

Talwar continues: ‘The trendsetters, in the main, emulate whatever is happening in the US. Thus, most trends in the US appear in India after an interval of time – in some cases the time is short; in others, it can be quite long. In areas such as music and clothing, the trends come to Bombay very fast indeed. Yet, in areas to do with sexual mores, trends take a very long time to travel to India.’