How do Culture and Subculture Affect
Consumer Behavior?
How does culture affect the needs we recognize,
how we search, our evaluation of alternatives, our shopping habits, consumption
habits, how we dispose of products?
Parts of Culture
Culture: norms, roles, beliefs,
values, customs, rituals, artifacts
Culture classifies things into discontinuous
units of value in society
Codes classified units, develops behaviors,
specifies priorities, legitimizes and justifies the classifications
Consumer socialization - the process by
which people develop their values, motivations, and habitual activity
Culture creates meanings for everyday
products
We study how the use and/or collections
of products and their meanings move through a society
Nature of Culture—Components
Norms: rules that designate forms of
acceptable and unacceptable behavior
Customs: behaviors that lasted over time
and passed down in the family setting
Mores: moral standards of behavior
Conventions: practices tied to the conduct
of everyday life in various settings
Ethnocentrism: the tendency to view one’s
own culture as better or superior to others
Key Points about Culture
It is learned: transmitted from
generation to generation
It rewards acceptable behaviors
It stays the same, yet can change
Family, Religion, School and Peers:
what is the relative influence of each?
Values Transfusion Model shows how these
combine
Will any become more, less relevant?
Consumer socialization: the acquisition
of consumption-related cognitions, attitudes, and behaviors.
What is similar about . . .
Marriage
Birth
Death
Shelter
Food
Age grading
Division of labour
Property rights
Family / kinship groups
Status differences
Magic / luck superstitions
Hospitality
Greetings
Joking
Cooking
Personal names
Language
Gestures
Body adornment
Courtship
Music and dance
Incest taboos
Cleanliness training
These are called “cultural universals”
One of the largest surveys of cultural
life was undertaken by the Functionalist sociologist George Peter Murdock
("The Common Denominator of Culture", 1945)
He claimed to have identified approximately
70 cultural features that could be considered universal in human societies.
Cultural Generalizations
Time
Self-time, interaction time, institutional
time
Other “Languages” of Culture
Space
What is the acceptable personal space
across cultures?
Distance
Gestures, postures, or body positions
Symbols—signifiers
Friendship and agreements
Government and Laws
Certain Dimensions of Culture are Relevant
to Consumer Behavior
Power distance: equality and informality
vs. distance and formality
Uncertainty avoidance: comfort with
not knowing
Masculine vs. feminine: are there
rules of behavior related to being a man? Being a woman? Are their nurturing
behaviors that are valued? Aggressive behaviors?
Individualism vs. collectivism:
does country X emphasize the growth and rights of the individual or of
the group?
What Myths and Old Wives Tales Do You
Know?
Throw salt over your _____ shoulder when
_____
Always eat ____________ on New Year’s Day
Always ______________for someone’s birthday
Always give _____________ for Valentine’s day
When sending wedding invitations, how many envelopes are used? __________
Eat __________ when you have a cold
How do these Myths relate to Consumer Behavior?
People may just use products because they
think that they have to
People may not understand if there is
a reason for such use - is chicken soup really good for a cold?
People may not accept your product if
there is a better alternative, even if it’s not in the same product class
– we find this in bringing innovations to new markets
There may be certain expected behavior
for the giver and for the receiver
What About Things You Expect to Receive?
At graduation, you expect that you will
get a ________________.
If you were planning a baby shower, you would expect people to bring __________
If you were consulting for a Party Store,
what types of items would you recommend that they carry?
Balloons, streamers
Plates, napkins, cups
For instance. . .
Core Values in Marketing
What are the basic food groups?
For Whites? Blacks? Hispanics? etc?
What about the aspects of consumer behavior?
Consumer research?
EG - Is the decision process carried out
the same way?
Are the structure of attributes the same?
Compensatory vs. Noncompensatory?
Does someone’s membership in a cultural group affect their consumer behavior?
Suppose you were consulting with
a greeting card company
Which holidays?
Which themes?
What is appropriate language?
What are appropriate pictures/graphics?
Who would send the card?
Does Hallmark really mean “the very best”?
Do you belong to any Subcultural Groups?
Subculture is a distinct cultural group
which exists as an identifiable segment within a larger, more complex society
Some Hard Facts
“Consumer acculturation”- how people learn
consumer behaviors in another culture
Black or African-American Subculture
How to identify genuine needs and wants?
Go back to cultural universals
Foods - based on learned cultural norms
Clothing - styles and colors that are
preferred
Physiologically-relevant: cosmetics
Black Subculture
A high proportion of families are headed
by women
Black women influence many purchases that
might otherwise be purchased by men
Advertising often appeals to the strength
black women portray in life
Often unavailability of shopping areas
in neighborhoods causes great disparity in spending power
Differences in decision making patterns
and in media usage
Asian American Subculture
Asian- and Pacific Island-American
Subculture
Asian Americans - similarities
They are cost conscious and very brand
loyal
They shop mostly within their communities
Language barrier may be a challenge for
marketers
The most effective advertising to Chinese-Americans
reflects traditional family values
Asian Americans - differences
Differences in reasons for coming to,
living in the US, desire to return to homeland
Significant differences in household decision
making - male or female dominance
Difference in innovativeness
Differences in use of homeland media -
English best for broadcast; Asian languages best for print
Similarities and differences in reactions
to marketing stimuli, such as colors, themes in ads
Hispanic Subculture
Hispanics (continued)
They think of themselves as Hispanic or
Latino first and as Americans second
90% indicate that Spanish is the most
important feature of their culture
Two-thirds of Hispanics prefer to speak
Spanish at home
20% of Hispanics do not speak English
at all
Key Ideas
Why Do We Study Cohorts?
Subculture Based on Age
Preteens
They influence purchases in approx. 60
product categories
They select the stores in which they spend
their own money
By appealing to preteens, marketers build
brand loyalty at an early stage
The medium of choice for them is television
Teens
Young Adults—Generation X
Generation X (continued)
Baby Boomers
Those born between 1946 and 1964 (78 million)
Total income is over $1 trillion, increasing
at a rate of 10% per year (versus 5% for the rest of the population)
They have a high level of education
They have more discretionary income than
other groups and they buy more and save less
Boomers are health conscious
Baby Boomers (continued)
They are becoming less materialistic in
outlook and their product and service selections reflect their concern
for the environment and quality of life
They use credit cards and buy expensive
exercise equipment
Boomers keep up with fashions
The marketing of nostalgia works well
with them (especially older baby boomers)
Seniors
There were approx. 35 million people over
65 in 2000—it is the fastest growing segment of the population
Households are small and their need for
new purchases is limited
They enjoy convenience in the marketplace
and appreciate their leisure time
http://www.seniorcitizensmagazine.com/
Their recent feature story:
ARE YOU PREPARED FOR YOUR DEATH?
Seniors (continued)
They spend more on themselves
They perceive themselves as younger than
their years – cognitive age versus chronological age
Although brand loyal, they tend to try
new products or brands if given good reasons to do so
The senior market can further be segmented
on the basis of age, activity level, health, and mobility