Chapter 11

The Influence of Culture on Consumer Behavior

CultureCulture

The sum total of learned beliefs, values, and customs

that serve to regulate the consumer behavior of

members of a particular society.

Forms of Cultural Learning

• Formal Learning

• Informal Learning

• Technical Learning

Learning and Advertising

• It seems that advertising can influence all three forms of learning. It most influences informal learning by providing models.

• The repetition of advertising messages creates and reinforces cultural beliefs and values.

• Cultural meaning moves from the culturally-constituted world to consumer goods.

EnculturationEnculturationThe learning of the culture

of one’s own society.

AcculturationAcculturationThe learning of a new or

“foreign” culture.

The Rokeach Value Survey InstrumentThe Rokeach Value Survey Instrument

TERMINAL VALUES INSTRMENTAL VALUES

A COMFORTABLE LIFE AMBITIOUS

AN EXCITING LIFE BROAD-MINDED

A WORLD AT PEACE CAPABLE

EQUALITY CHEERFUL

FREEDOM CLEAN

HAPPINESS COURAGEOUS

NATIONAL SECURITY FORGIVING

PLEASURE HELPFUL

SALVATION HONEST

SOCIAL RECOGNITION IMAGINATIVE

TRUE FRIENDSHIP INDEPENDENT

WISDOM INTELLECTUAL

American Core Values

• Achievement and success• Activity• Efficiency and practicality• Progress• Material comfort• Individualism• Freedom• External conformity• Humanitarianism• Youthfulness• Fitness and health

Chapter 12

Subcultures and Consumer Behavior

SubcultureSubculture

A distinct cultural group that exists as an identifiable segment within a larger, more complex society.

Issues in Studying Hispanic Subcultures

• Hispanic Consumer Behavior– Next biggest minority

– Stronger preference for well-established brands

– Prefer to shop at smaller stores

– Some are shifting food shopping to non-ethnic American-style supermarkets

– Youths are more fashion-conscious

• Defining and Segmenting the Hispanic Market– Six ways of defining and segmenting the market

Major Racial Subcultures

• The African-American Consumer– Largest racial minority in U.S. (= 13%)– Purchasing power estimated at $469 billion

• Asian-American Consumers– Currently about 10 million in size– Estimated at 10.9 million in 2001– Gain of almost 50% since 1990

Asian-American Consumers

• Where Are the Asian-Americans?– Largely urban

• Asian-Americans As Consumers– Buying power of $110 billion annually

(largest buying power per each Asian)– Brand loyal customers– Frequently male-oriented consumer

decisions– Attracted to retailers who welcome

Asian-American patronage

Major Subcultural Categories

CATEGORIES EXAMPLES

Nationality French, Puerto Rican, Korean

Religion Catholic, Hindu, Jew

Geographic region Southeastern, Midwestern, Eastern

Race African-American, Caucasian, Asian-American

Age Teens, Xers, middle age, elderly

Gender Female, Male

Occupation Engineer, cook, plumber

Social class Lower, middle, upper

Age Age SubculturesSubcultures

Age subgroupings of the population.

Issues in Understanding Older Consumer

• Defining “Older” in Older Consumer• Segmenting the Elderly Market• Shopping Experiences of the Older Consumer• Perception of your age is key in defining older

consumers

Issues in Understanding Sex as a Subculture

• Sex Roles and Consumer Behavior– Masculine vs. Feminine Traits

• The Working Woman– Segmentation Issues– Shopping Patterns

Chapter 13

Cross-Cultural Consumer Behavior: An International

Perspective

The Imperative To Be Multinational

• Global Trade Agreements– EU– NAFTA

• Acquiring Exposure to Other Cultures

• Country-of-origin Effects

Cross-Cross-Cultural Cultural

Consumer Consumer AnalysisAnalysis

Research to determine the extent to which consumers of two or more nations are

similar in relation to specific consumption behavior.

Issues in Cross-Cultural Consumer Analysis

• Similarities and Differences Among People– Time Effects

• The Growing Global Middle Class• Acculturation

– Research Techniques

World World BrandsBrands

Products that are manufactured, packaged,

and positioned the same way regardless of the country in

which they are sold.

Alternative Multinational Strategies: Global Versus Local

• Favoring a “World Brand”• Adaptive Global Marketing• Framework for Assessing Multinational

Strategies– Global– Local– Mixed

Chapter 14

Consumer Influence and the Diffusion of Innovations

Opinion Opinion LeaderLeader

A person who informally gives product information

and advice to others.

Reasons for the Effectiveness of Opinion Leadership

• Credibility• Positive and Negative

Product Information• Information and Advice• Opinion Leadership Is

Category-Specific• Opinion Leadership Is a

Two-way Street

Motivations Behind Opinion Leadership

• The Needs of Opinion Leaders– Self involvement– Social involvement– Product involvement– Message involvement

• The Needs of Opinion Receivers– New-product or new usage information– Reduction of perceived risk– Reduction of search time– Receiving the approval of the opinion leader

• Purchase Pals• Surrogate Buyers Versus Opinion Leaders

The Interpersonal Flow of Communication

• Two-Step Flow– Views opinion leader as a middleman between

the impersonal mass media and the majority of society

• Multistep Flow– Takes into account the fact that information and

influence often are two-way processes

Market Market MavenMaven

Individuals whose influence stems from a general knowledge or market

expertise that leads to an early awareness of new products and services.

Adoption Adoption ProcessProcess

The stages through which an individual consumer passes in arriving at a decision to

try (or not to try), to continue using (or

discontinue using) a new product. The five stags of the traditional adoption process are awareness,

interest, evaluation, trial, and adoption.

Defining Innovations

• Firm-oriented definitions• Product-oriented definitions• Market-oriented definitions• Consumer-oriented definitions

Adopter Adopter CategoriesCategories

A sequence of categories that describes how early (or late) a consumer adopts a new product in relation to other adopters. The five

typical adopter categories are innovators, early

adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards.

Figure Adopter Categories

Innovators2.5%

EarlyAdopters

13.5%

Laggards

16%

Percentage of Adopters by Category Sequence

EarlyMajority

34%

LateMajority

34%

Chapter 15

Consumer Decision Making

Levels of Consumer Decision Making

• Extensive Problem Solving

• Limited Problem Solving

• Routinized Response Behavior

Extensive Extensive Problem Problem SolvingSolving

A search by the consumer to establish the necessary

product criteria to evaluate knowledgeably the most

suitable product to fulfill a need.

Use of Heuristics in some cases to simplify = Use of a

single criteria to simplify decision. E.g., brand, price, …

Limited Limited Problem Problem SolvingSolving

A limited search by a consumer for a product that will satisfy his or her basic

criteria from among a selected group of brands.

Routinized Routinized Response Response BehaviorBehavior

A habitual purchase response based on

predetermined criteria.

Models of Consumers: Four Views of Consumer Decision Making

• An Economic View• A Passive View• A Cognitive View• An Emotional View

A Model of Consumer Decision Making

INPUT

PROCESS

OUTPUT

Need RecognitionNeed Recognition

Information SearchInformation Search

Evaluation of AlternativesEvaluation of Alternatives

Purchase DecisionPurchase Decision

Postpurchase BehaviorPostpurchase Behavior

The Buyer Decision ProcessThe Buyer Decision Process

Need Need RecognitionRecognition

The realization by the consumer that there is a

difference between “what is” and “what should be.”

Prepurchase Prepurchase SearchSearch

A stage in the consumer decision-making process in

which the consumer perceives a need and

actively seeks out information concerning products that will help

satisfy that need.

Evaluation of Evaluation of AlternativesAlternatives

A stage in the consumer decision-making process in

which the consumer appraises the benefits to be

derived from each of the product alternatives being

considered.

Issues in Alternative Evaluation

• Evoked Set, inert + inept set of Brands• Criteria Used for Evaluating Brands• Consumer Decision Rules• Lifestyles as a Consumer Decision Strategy• Incomplete Information and Noncomparable

Alternatives• Series of Decisions• Decision Rules and Marketing Strategy• Consumption Vision

Consumer Decision Rules

• Compensatory• Noncompensatory

– Conjunctive Decision Rule– Disjunctive Decision Rule– Lexicographic Rule

• These decision rules are particularly helpful for Promotional purposes (more than the 3 other Ps).

Postpurchase Postpurchase EvaluationEvaluation

An assessment of a product based on actual trial after

purchase.

Relationship Relationship MarketingMarketing

Marketing aimed at creating strong, lasting relationships

with a core group of customers by making them

feel good about the company and by giving them some

kind of personal connection with the business.

Very important to create trust and commitment between

Organization and consumers (exchange goods for loyalty).