Consumer Behavior and Cultural Influences

External Influences on Consumer Decision-Making

• Culture encompasses knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, morals, customs, and behaviors learned by individuals within a society.
• Cultures vary as different societies have diverse learned behaviors shared by their members.
• Culture includes various elements like values (self-oriented, other-oriented, and environment-oriented), norms, rituals, customs, myths, and consumption that is either sacred or profane.
• Acculturation is the process of learning a new culture.

Subcultures

• Subcultures are segments of a larger culture with shared values and behaviors.
• Subcultures are often categorized by nationality, ethnicity, age, geographic region, or religion.
• A consumption subculture is a specialized group within society unified by shared commitment to a particular product class, brand, or consumption activity.

Groups and Reference Groups

• A group comprises two or more people sharing norms, values, beliefs, and interdependent relationships.
• A reference group influences an individual’s behavior based on its perceived perspectives and values.
• Conformity to a group depends on factors like commitment level, consumption behavior's relevance, individual confidence, visibility, and product necessity.
• Groups influence consumption through verbal (e.g., word-of-mouth) and nonverbal (e.g., observation) communication.
• Social contagion is the spread of influence or behavior within a group by imitation.
• Diffusion processes, where product adoption follows a pattern of slow-rapid-slow growth, explain product adoption in groups.
• Product diffusion involves different adopter categories: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards.

Marketing Strategies for Generating WOM

• Marketers employ strategies like advertising, product sampling, buzz creation, and brand community building to generate word-of-mouth within groups.