chapter 14 ethnic, racial, and religious subcultures consumer behavior, 8e michael solomon
TRANSCRIPT
Chapter 14
Ethnic, Racial, and Religious Subcultures
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR, 8eMichael Solomon
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Chapter Objectives
When you finish this chapter you should understand why:
• Our memberships in ethnic, racial, and religious subcultures often play a big role in guiding our consumption behaviors.
• Additional influences come from our identification with microcultures that reflect a shared interest in some organization or activity.
• Many marketing messages appeal to ethnic and racial identity.
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Chapter Objectives (cont.)
• African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans are the three most important ethnic/racial subcultures in the United States.
• Marketers increasingly use religious and spiritual themes when they talk to consumers.
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Subcultures, Microcultures, and Consumer Identity
• Consumers’ lifestyles are affected by group membership within the society-at-large
• Subcultures of age, race/ethnicity, place of residence
• Microcultures share a strong identification with an activity or art form
• Have own unique set of norms, vocabulary, and product insignias
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Ethnic and Racial Subcultures
• Ethnic subculture• Homogeneous versus heterogeneous cultural
societies
• Marketers cannot ignore the diversity of cultures in society today• Ethnic minorities spend more than $600 billion a
year on products
Click for Crestkids.com
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Ethnicity and Marketing Strategies
Subcultural memberships help shape people’s needs/wants
• Minorities find an advertising spokesperson from their own group more trustworthy
• Ethnic subculture affects level/type of media exposure, food/apparel preferences, political behavior, leisure activities, willingness to try new products
• High-context culture (group members infer meanings from verbal messages) versus low-context culture (group members take words literally)
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Is Ethnicity a Moving Target?
• Defining/targeting an ethnic group is not always so easy (“melting pot” society)• Many identify with two or more
races
• De-ethnicization: a product we associate with a specific ethnic group detaches itself from its roots and appeals to other groups as well• Example: bagels
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New Ethnic Groups
• The dominant American culture exerts pressure on immigrants to become absorbed in mainstream society
• New immigrants are much more likely to be Asian or Hispanic
• Tend to cluster together geographically
• Word-of-mouth is especially important
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America’s Newest Markets
Figure 14.1
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Ethnic and Racial Stereotypes
Many subcultures have stereotypes associations
• Subgroups are assumed to possess certain traits (often erroneously) which can be cast either positively or negatively
• Marketers in the past have made vast use of ethnic stereotypes to communicate product attributes• Aunt Jemima and Frito Bandito
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Discussion
• Locate current examples of marketing stimuli that depend on an ethnic or religious stereotype to communicate a message
• How effective are these appeals?
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A Model of Consumer Acculturation
• Individual differences affect how rocky adjustment will be
• Acculturation agents include culture of origin and culture of immigration
• Assimilation, maintenance, resistance, and segregation
• Progressive learning model• Consumer behavior as mix of original culture and
host culture
• Differences between consumers who retain strong ethnic identification and more assimilated consumers
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A Model of Consumer Acculturation
Figure 14.2
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Discussion
• Locate one or more consumers (perhaps family members) who have emigrated from another country
• Interview them about how they adapted to their host culture
• In particular, what changes did they make in their consumption practices over time?
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The “Big Three” American Subcultures
• African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans
• Hispanic population is now the largest ethnic subculture (12.5%)
• Asian Americans (3.6%) are the fastest-growing racial group (due to immigration)
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African Americans
• The African American market is hardly as homogeneous as many seem to believe
• Overall spending patterns of blacks and whites are roughly similar
• Household income and educational levels are rising for African Americans
• Differences in consumption behaviors can be subtle but still very important
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Hispanic Americans
• “Hispanic” = many different backgrounds
• Hispanics are:
• Brand loyal
• Highly concentrated geographically by country of origin (easy to reach)
• Many are rushing to sign Hispanic celebrities/actors
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Hispanic Americans (cont.)
• Some ad campaigns don’t work well among Hispanics, while Anglos don’t understand some products popular among Hispanics
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Distinguishing Characteristics of the Hispanic Market
• “Young bicultural” Hispanic consumers• Latino youth are changing mainstream culture
• Looking for spirituality, stronger family ties, and more color in their lives
• Large family size of Hispanic market• Spend more on groceries• Shopping is a family affair• Regard clothing children well as matter of pride• Convenience/saving time is not important to
Hispanic homemaker
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Levels of Acculturation: Understanding Hispanic Identity
• Acculturation: process of movement and adaptation to one country’s cultural environment by a person from another country
Segment Size Status Description Characteristics
Established Adapters
17% Upwardly mobile
Older,
U.S.-born
Assimilated into U.S. culture
Young Strivers
16% Increasingly important
Younger
U.S.-born
Adaptable to U.S. culture
Hopeful Loyalists
40% Largest but shrinking
Working class Slow to adapt to U.S. culture
Recent Seekers
27% Growing Newest Strongest identification with Hispanic background
Table 14.2 (abridged)
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Levels of Acculturation (cont.)
• Hispanic consumers are sympathetic to marketing that emphasizes Hispanic cultural heritage
• Many younger Hispanics are searching for their roots and rediscovering the value of ethnic identity
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Asian Americans Are…
• Fastest-growing population group
• Most affluent and best educated
• Most likely to hold technology job and buy high-tech gadgets
• Most brand-conscious but least brand loyal
• Most concerned with keeping up appearances
• Made up of culturally diverse subgroups that speak many different languages/dialects
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Religious Subcultures
• The rise of spirituality
• Explosion of religion/spirituality in pop culture
• Churches are adopting aggressive marketing
• Megachurches
• Religious themes can spill over into everyday consumption
• “Cult products”
• Marketing opportunity among religious subcultures
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Demographics of Religious Subcultures
Figure 14.3
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Discussion
• Should members of a religious group adapt marketing techniques that manufacturers customarily use to increase market share for their products? Why or why not?
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Old and New ReligionsLarge variety of flourishing new
religious movements
• Scientologists
• Wicca
• The Raelians
• The Ahmadis
• The Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University
• Cao Dai
• Soka Gakkai International
• The Toronto Blessing
• Umbanda
Click photo for Beliefnet.com
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The Impact of Religion on Consumption
• Religion is seen as a taboo subject to marketers
• Polygamy Porter beer billboard
• Lipton ad mocking the Catholic Church
• Pirelli tires ad with Christ the Redeemer statue
• Dietary and dress requirements create demand for certain products
• Religious subcultures affect personality, attitudes toward sexuality, birthrates and household formation, income, and political attitudes
• Church leaders can encourage and/or discourage consumption (e.g., boycott of Disney)
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The Born-Again Boom
• Those who follow literal interpretations of the Bible and who acknowledge being born again through belief in Jesus
• Fastest-growing religious affiliations in United States
• Christian merchandising activity is increasing
• Christian bookstores
• C28 stores/Not of This World brand
Click photo for C28.com
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Discussion
• Born-again Christian groups have been instrumental in organizing boycotts of products advertised on shows they find objectionable, especially those they feel undermine family values
• Do religious groups have a right or a responsibility to dictate what advertising a network should carry?