Week 7 & 9 The Influence of Culture in Consumer Behavior
What Is Culture?
What Is Culture?
A set of values, ideas, artifacts, and
other meaningful symbols that help
individuals communicate, interpret, and
evaluate as members of society
What Is Culture?
Blueprint of human activity,
determining coordinates of social
action and productive activity
A set of socially acquired behavior
patterns transmitted symbolically
through language and other means to
the members of a particular society
Ethnicity Race
Religion Regional or
national identity
Influences
CULTURE
Ethnicity Race
Religion Regional or
national identity
Influences
CULTURE
Ethnicity
Race Religion
Regional or
national identity
Influences
Values
Norms
Rituals
Symbols
Physical/material
Artifacts
Technology
Infrastructure
Abstract/behavioral
What Is Culture?
Abstract elements: values, attitudes,
ideas, personality types, and summary
constructs such as religion or politics
Symbol may evolve to represent a
culture
Symbols (with three components of
language, aesthetic styles, and story
themes) often act as shorthand for a
culture, defining its characteristics and
values similar to a brand
What Is Culture?
Material components (cultural
artifacts): include such things as
books, tools, buildings, and specific
products
Products provide symbols of meaning
Products may be used in ritual
behavior such as food eaten on certain
holidays
Material components may become
icons such as McDonalds arches
Characteristics Influenced by Culture
Characteristics Influenced by Culture
Sense of self and space
Communication and language
Dress and appearance
Food and feeding habits
Time and time consciousness
Relationships
Values and norms
Beliefs and attitudes
Mental processes and learning
Work habits and practices
Characteristics Influenced by Culture
Sense of self and space
Communication and language
Dress and appearance
Food and feeding habits
Time and time consciousness
Relationships
Values and norms
Beliefs and attitudes
Mental processes and learning
Work habits and practices
Used to define and differentiate cultures
Values and Norms
Norms: rules of behavior held by a
majority or at least a consensus of a
group about how individuals should
behave(Ej.Japan:Attitudes towards senior
adults)
Cultural (social) values: values shared
broadly across groups of people(Islam-
lifestyle)
Personal values: terminal (goals) or
instrumental (behaviors) beliefs of
individuals
Values and Norms
Values and norms represent the beliefs of
various groups within a society
Macroculture: values and symbols that
apply to an entire society or most of its
citizens
Microculture: values and symbols of a
restrictive group or segment of
consumers, defined according to
variables such as age, religion, ethnicity,
or social class(gang culture)
Values and Norms
Socialization: the process by which
people develop their values,
motivations, and habitual activity
The Values Transfusion Model shows
how the values of a society are
reflected in families, religious
institutions, and schools, all of which
expose and transmit values to
individuals
Values and Norms
People adopt values that influence how
they live, how they define right and
wrong, how they shop, and what is
important to them(Ej. Criollada,la
cultura del vivo)
The values adopted by individuals
today shape the values of society in the
future
Values of Society
Religious
Institutions
Early
Lifetime
Experiences
Family Educational
Institutions
The Values Transfusion Model
Values of Society
Religious
Institutions
Early
Lifetime
Experiences
Family Educational
Institutions
Individual
Internalized
Values Peers Media
The Values Transfusion Model
Values of Society
Religious
Institutions
Early
Lifetime
Experiences
Family Educational
Institutions
Society of
Future
Individual
Internalized
Values Peers Media
The Values Transfusion Model
Adapting Strategies to Changing Cultures
Culture is adaptive, and marketing
strategies based on values of
society must also be adaptive
Marketers must address consumer
socialization: the acquisition of
consumption-related cognitions,
attitudes, and behavior
Adapting Strategies to Changing Cultures
Advertising and marketing efforts
have difficulty changing behaviors
or norms learned early in life
How Culture Affects Consumer
Behavior:
Pre-purchase and Purchase
Activities
Consumption and
Divestment Activities
Influence of Culture on Pre-
purchase and Purchase Activities
Influence of Culture on Pre-
purchase and Purchase Activities
Culture affects what consumers think
they need and what they perceive as
frivolous
Culture affects how consumers are
likely to search for information
Culture affects the importance placed
on certain attributes of alternatives
Culture affects the amount of price
negotiation during the purchase
process(Ej.Bargaining in africa,middle
east)
Influence of Culture on Consumption
and Divestment Activities
Culture affects how consumers use or
consume product(Ej.Eat hand)
Consumers expectations about form
and function vary between cultures
Culture influences how individuals
dispose of productsreselling
products after use, giving them to
others for use, or recycling them and
their packaging when possible
Influence of Culture on Consumption
and Divestment Activities
How Core Values Affect Marketing
How Core Values Affect Marketing
Core values define how products
are used in a society
Core values define acceptable
market relationships
Core values define ethical behavior
Changing Values
Changing Values
Societys values change continuously
even though core values are relatively
permanent
Changes in values may alter the
response to advertising, service
offerings, and retailing formats
Changing Values
Life-cycle explanation: values change
according to life-cycle (as individuals
grow older, their values change)
Theory of behavioral assimilation:
Younger people grow into the values of
their parents as they get older
Generational change: gradual
replacement of existing values by those
of young people who form the leading
generation in value terms
Changing Values
Will people become more like their
parents as they get older, or will
they carry with them the values of
their generation?
Depends on elements in the
Cultural Transfusive Triad and early
lifetime experiences
Values of Society
Religious
Institutions
Early
Lifetime
Experiences
Family Educational
Institutions
Society of
Future
Individual
Internalized
Values Peers Media
The Values Transfusion Model
Changing Family Influences
Less time for in-home or parent-
child influence
Increasing divorce rates
Isolated nuclear family (geographic
separation of generations)
EU vrs latin america
Changing Religious Influences
Traditional churches and religions
have seen a decline in loyalty
Increase in non-Christian religions
A shift from traditional religion to
spirituality
Women are more religious
Religion and spirituality are big
business and influence big
business
Changing Educational Influences
Dramatic increase in formal
education
Teaching has evolved from
memorization to questioning
Digital learning has increased in
popularity
Influence of Age-Related Microcultures on Values
Cohorts: a group of individuals
linked as a group in some way
usually by age
Cohort analysis: investigates the
actual changes in patterns of
behavior or attitudes in a cohort,
those attributed to the process of
aging and those associated with
the events of a particular period
Consumer Age Cohorts
The World War II
Cohort
Trailing Edge Boomers
Cohort
The Depression Cohort
The Generation X
Cohort
The Postwar Cohort Leading Edge Boomers
Cohort
N Generation Cohort
Consumer Age Cohorts
The World War II
Cohort
The Depression Cohort
Consumer Age Cohorts
The World War II
Cohort
The Depression Cohort
Depression Generation
Born 1922-1927
This group was unified by a
common goal and enemy.
It exhibits self-denial
characteristics that have outlived the war, especially
among veterans and their
families.
The G.I. Generation
Born 1912-1921
Living through the
Depression has deeply affected this groupthey
save a lot and spend little.
This was the first group to
be influenced by
contemporary media.
Consumer Age Cohorts
Leading Edge Boomers
Cohort
The Postwar Cohort
Consumer Age Cohorts
The Postwar Cohort
Woodstock Generation
Born 1946-1954
The Kennedy and King
assassinations meant an end to status quo and unified this vast
cohort.
Early boomers pushed for
lifestyles at least as good as
their parents.
The Silent Generation
Born 1928-1945
Generation of war babies
benefited from years of economic growth and social
tranquility.
The youngest were the first
to listen to folk rock music.
Leading Edge Boomers
Cohort
Consumer Age Cohorts
Generation X Cohort Trailing Edge Boomers
Cohort
Consumer Age Cohorts
Generation X Cohort
Baby-busters
Born 1966-1976
A generation of kids raised in
daycare and with divorce is born. Searching for an anchor,
many resort to retro
behaviors.
Whats in it for me cynicism
is prevalent.
Zoomers
Born 1955-1965
After Watergate, the
idealistic youth dis-appeared, giving rise to the
self-help move-ment.
In an age of downward
mobility, debt became a way
to maintain lifestyle.
Trailing Edge Boomers
Cohort
Consumer Age Cohorts
N Generation Cohort
Consumer Age Cohorts
Born 1977-1984
The advent of the Internet is defining for N-Gens with a
different core value structure
than Gen X.
More idealistic and team
oriented.
N Generation Cohort Milenials Youngsters born between 1990- 1995 Techological open Goals orientated
National Culture
Geographic culture: cultures may
exist for an entire country, but
areas within a nation sometimes
develop their own culture
Climate, religious affiliations,
nationality influences, and other
variables are interrelated to
produce a core of cultural values in
a geographic area
National Culture
Individualism versus collectivism
Self-construal
Role of Others
Values
Motivational
drives
Behavior
Collectivism
Defined by
important others,
family, friends
Self-definition
Emphasis on
relationships and
connectedness
Focus on
similarity, need to
blend in
Influenced by
personal
preferences, needs
Defined by internal
attributes and personal
traits
Self-evaluation
Emphasis on
individuality and
separateness
Differentiation, need to
be unique
Reflective of personal
preferences, needs
Individualism
Cases on Culture impact on Consumer Behavior
Arranged Marriage India
Aethetics & Color
White :Funeral in India
Red in China means good luck & Fortune
Symbols of good luck
Symbol of prosperity in china Feng shui
Clothes in Middle East
Global Cousine
China
India
Malaysia
Thailand
Japan
France
Italy
Russia
Egipt
Persia
Turkey
Mexico
Peru
Thali from India
Food in India
Curry laksa Malasia Nasi Goreng Indonesia
Ways of Eating in the World Eating with hands in Middle East,India & Africa With sticks in Asia,cutlery in the western countries
Eating with hands in India, Middle East and Africa