11 culture and social class

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11/14/2010 Prof. U.M. Amin, CMS, JMI 1

Advanced Consumer BehaviorMM-3201


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Environmental influenceson consumer behavior


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Culture and Social class


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Chapter concepts:

Defining culture

Characteristics influenced by culture

Characteristics of culture

Components of culture

Variation in cultural values Cultural variation in non-verbal communication

Marketing implications of culture



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Social class

How is social standing derived and

how it influences behavior?

Social class system

Marketing implications of social classes



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Culture:

Culture is the distinct way of life of a group of people and theircomplete design for living.

It is that complex whole that includes knowledge, belief, art, law,morals, customs and any other capabilities and habits acquired

by humans as members of society.

Culture influences patterns of living, consumption and decisionmaking by individuals.



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Culture refers to a set of values, ideas, artifacts and othermeaningful symbols that help individuals communicate, interpret,

and evaluate as members of society.

Culture includes both abstract and material elements.

Abstract elements include values, ideas, attitudes, personalitytypes and summary constructs like religion or politics.

Material elements include buildings, books, computers, tools andother specific objects.



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Culture is defined as a sum total of learned beliefs, values andcustoms that serve to direct the consumer behavior of membersof a particular society.

Belief and values refer to the accumulated feelings and prioritiesthat individuals have about things and possessions.

Customs are overt modes of behavior that constitute culturallyapproved or acceptable ways of behaving in specific situations.

Therefore, understanding of various cultures of a society helpsmarketers predict consumer acceptance of their products.



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Some of the characteristics influenced by culture are:

Sense of self and space

Communication and language Dress and appearances Food and feeding habits Time and time consciousness Relationships (family, Organizations etc.)

Values and norms Beliefs and attitudes Mental processes and learning Work habits and practices



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Characteristics of Culture:

Culture is invented by three independent systems:

i) Ideological system, mental system consisting of ideas, beliefsand values etc.

ii) Technological system, consists of skills & techniques toproduce.

iii) Organizational system (Family and social class), coordinatesbehavior.

Culture is learned. It begins early in life and is learnt throughgenerations.



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Culture is socially shared by members of the society.

Culture is similar yet different. Athletics, language, music, ritualsare observed but are different.

Culture is integrated and organized.

Culture is acquired. It can be acquired from family & region etc.

Culture forms a boundary within which an individual thinks andacts.



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Culture can be divided into two components:

Culture

External material cultureArt, music, clothing & housing

Internal mental cultureIdeas, knowledge & concepts

Normative componentsValues, conduct & norms

that regulate behavior

Cognitive componentsIdeas, knowledge, belief of

God & after life



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Variation in cultural values

Environment oriented values Self oriented valuesOther oriented values

Objectives/approachesto life, society finds

desirable

Societies view ofRelationship with

environment

Societal view of

Relationshipbetween people

ConsumptionPurchase

Communications



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Other oriented values show relationship between individuals and

society. The relationship influences marketing practices. It givesrise to the following:

Individual / collective: Whether individualism is valued morethan collective activity?

Masculine / Feminine: Whether society is male or femaledominant or balanced?

Competition / cooperation: Whether competition leads tosuccess or is it achieved by forming alliances with others?



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Youth / Age: Are important roles assigned to younger or older

members of the society?

Environmental oriented values include:

Cleanliness: If a culture lays stress on cleanliness, there ispotential for sale of soaps, deodorants, washing powder,

vacuum cleaners, and insecticides. Performance / status: A status oriented society cares for higher

standards of living and chooses quality products, establishedbrand names and high priced products.



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Tradition/change: Traditional societies stick to old products,resist innovation. In upwardly mobile societies, consumers lookfor new products, new ad themes etc.

Risk taking/security: An individual who is in a secure positionand takes a risk can be called venturesome or foolhardy. Itdepends on culture prevailing in the society. Entrepreneurial

societies have new product development, ad themes and newchannels of distribution.

Problem solving/fatalist: Optimistic societies have problemsolving attitude. Pessimistic are inactive and depend on fate.



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Marketing implication involves addressing customer complaintsproactively.

Self oriented values include:

Active/passive: Whether a physically active approach to life isvalued more than a less active orientation.

Material/Non material: In many societies, money is more

important while in others things like comfort, leisure andrelationship get precedence.

Terminal materialism: It refers to requisition of materialism forthe sake of owning rather than for use. Example, acquiring artobjects.



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Hard work/leisure: This has marketing implication on labor

saving products and instant foods. Postponed gratification/immediate gratification: In some

societies individuals tend to sacrifice the present for the futurewhile in others they live only for the day.

Humor/serious: Should one take life lightly and laugh it off oncertain issues or take everything seriously. Advertising, sellingtechniques and promotion may revolve around these things andthe way the appeal for a product is to be made in variouscultures.



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Cultural variation in Non-verbal communications

Each culture assigns a meaning to non-verbal signs used by it.

Variables in non-verbal communication are:

Use of time Use of space

FriendshipAgreements Things Symbols and colors Etiquette



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Marketing implications:

Cultural values are not fixed or static but keep changing. Culturalchange may be due to increased craving for fun, enjoyments andexcitement. This opens opportunities for travel, fun oriented,entertainment & leisure oriented products.

Other factor leading to cultural change may be paucity of time.People want to save time on travel, cooking, shopping and onrepairs of items. This leads to marketing opportunities forproducts and services like food centers, convenience foods,cooking aids, telemarketing and E-business.



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The urge to spend more time at home, also known as cocooning,

has given rise to purchasing of products like exercise machine,owning of computers and DVD players etc.

Another cultural change involves consumers wanting to live amore natural and healthier life by using natural products. Theseleads to rejection of synthetic products.

These cultural changes prompt the marketer to rethink hismarketing mix strategies.



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Social Class

It refers to a hierarchical division of a society intorelatively distinct and homogeneous groups with respect to

attitude, values and life style etc.

Social class is a relatively a permanent and homogeneousdivisions in a society which differ in wealth, education,possession, values, beliefs, attitudes, friendship and manners ofspeaking.

Status difference also reflects on prestige, power and privilege.

The concept of social class involves families rather than theindividuals.



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Social standing: How is it derived and influences behavior?

Socio-economic factors Social standing Unique behavior

Occupation

Education

Ownership

Income

Upper class

Middle class

Working class

Lower class

Preferences

Purchase

Consumption

Communication



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From Status point of view Social class can also beCategorized as:

Upper-Upper

Lower Upper

Upper-Middle

Lower-Middle

Upper-Lower Lower-Lower

These classes may not be permanent and thus difficult to measure.



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Each social class is unique in terms of pattern of purchase,

education, occupation and recreation etc.

Social classes meet the following five criterion:

1. Bounded: Bound by certain tacit restrictions that include orexclude certain individuals, places or objects.

2. Ordered: Social classes have hierarchy in terms of income,prestige and status.



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3. Mutually exclusive: The individual belongs to one class and

behaves accordingly. However, movement from one class toanother is possible with time.

4. Exhaustive: Signifies that every member of a social class mustfit into some class and be identified with it.

5. Influential: There must be behavioral differences betweenclasses and they are expected to vary in behavior.



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Social Class System

Upper class

Middle class

Working class

Lower class

Elite of the society

White collarMiddle class

Affluent workingclass

Blue collar workers

Poor low class

These are identified by marketersLow percentage of population

Concentration of populationin the middle class

Working class and lower classConstitute major percentage

of population



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Marketing strategy and social classes:

Segmentation is done on the basis of social class.

In designing marketing strategy, following process is followed:

A. The marketer relates the status of the group to the product.

B. Data is collected from the targeted social strata.C. Positions the product according to the social status.D. Develops a proper marketing mix.



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Consumers associate brands of products and services with specificsocial classes.

Socioeconomic profile helps in the development of a comprehensivemarketing program to match the preferences and behavior of themarket target.

Marketers put enormous effort in positioning a product into a socialclass segment by understanding the characteristics and attributes ofsocial class.

Some of these characteristics are- occupation, personalperformance, interactions, possessions, value orientations and classconsciousness.



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Recap:

Defining culture Characteristics influenced by culture

Characteristics of culture

Components of culture

Variation in cultural values

Cultural variation in non-verbal communication

Marketing implications of culture



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Social class

How is social standing derived andhow it influences behavior?

Social class system

Marketing implications of social classes



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11 culture and social class

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