ch. 13

Sex vs Gender

• Sex is defined as “either of the two major forms of a species that differ biologically and are typically referred to as male or female"
  • Sex is biological
• Gender refers to the roles and traits typically associated in a society with one or the other sex
  • Gender is sociological

Gender Role Identity Consumption

• Gender role identity refers to how society thinks of a person simply by virtue of their sex
  • Society dictates "you are a man (or woman), so this is how you're supposed to behave"
• All adopt some notion of gender roles and mold behavior and expectations based on gender
• Gender role identity has two components: work and career, and personality and behavior

Work and Behavior

• Traditional Sex Role Attitudes reflect a view that a woman's place is in the home and a man's place is out of the home, working and earning a living
  • Examples: If women work at all, their jobs are usually more subservient roles such as office secretary
• Egalitarian Sex Role Attitudes reflect the view that men and women are both equal and must share equally in all tasks
  • In this view, women are entitled to and capable of pursuing a career as men are
  • Examples: Women are viewed as entitled to all sorts of jobs in the Army, science and technology, and in politics and business

Personality by Gender

• Femininity refers to the personality traits of compassion, sensitivity, and politeness
  • Persons with these traits tend to value interpersonal relationships over self-cemented gains
  • Expressiveness is the overall life-orientation of femininity
    • It's "how an object or person facilitates or hinders expression and experience of emotion and interpersonal relations"
• Where women are more focused on the goals of the groups, of which they are members
  • Examples: family, neighborhood, coworkers, society)
• Women are more concerned with how everybody involved feels in a situation
• Masculinity refers to the personality traits of independence, competitiveness, assertiveness, and instrumentality- valuing things and people merely for their utility
  • Instrumentality: the overall life orientation of persons with masculinity traits
    • It's "how a particular object or person would be defined useful to me, and what it will do for me personally"
  • In general, men are more focused on individualistic goals
  • Personal victory is more important to men

Differences in Men's vs. Women's Shopping

• A shopping stereotype about men is they focus on buying and do not look around
• Women like to get information by asking store employees

Man or Woman: Who decides?

• Stereotypically, men are the principal decision-makers for machine products, cars, home appliances, and home building and repair tools
• Women are the main decision-makers for products that go into everyday living and homemaking, such as groceries, kitchen supplies, and home furnishings

Food, clothing, home, and beyond: Tastes by Gender

• Gender differences exist in health-oriented perceptions of foods and beverages
  • Women tend to buy more fresh vegetables because these are healthier than canned vegetables
  • Diet foods and diet drinks are also more popular among women than among men
  • In the 25-34 age groups, single men spend 65% of their food budget away from home compared with women, who spend 55% away from home
• Clothing: differences exist around the world
  • Skirts are limited to women (except in Scotland)
  • Most differences are culture based, such as preference for color, fabric, and style
  • Bright, full-spectrum colors are usually used for women
    • Men are mostly clothed in white, black, blue, brown, and gray
  • In many cultures, women are more thoughtful and concerned about what they wear, lest they inadvertently send with their clothing, the wrong messages to men around them
    • Even though unjustified, the male interpretations of women's clothing as "signaling" implicitly communicating attitudes and desires is widespread in many cultures
    • Therefore in office settings, there are some unwritten rules about what is correct office wear
• Home: Men and women's differences can also be observed in homestyle preferences
  • In redecorating their homes, husbands focus mainly on dens, whereas wives focus in the living room and kitchen, where they spend a lot of time daily
• Consumption - at Large: Men-women differences permeate many other domains of consumptions
  • One study of U.S. brides and grooms found that brides considered the wedding ceremony itself as the most important event, whereas the gooms considered the reception as the key event
    • Brides considered the wedding dress immensely significant and even sacred, requiring great planning and extensive deliberations, flowers, church, and minister important too
    • Grooms saw the success of the wedding more closely associated with judicious selection of the reception hall, hearty food, and good socializations during the receptions

Age Distribution of Populations

• To market products to consumers in any country, the first things to know are how many consumers are there
• Age Group Distribution: knowing the total number of consumers is just the beginning
  • The next thing to know as markets is their age distribution, and how many children, adults, and old people there are
• Why do age distributions vary?
  • The total population as well as the age distributions are affected by 3 factors: birth rate, life expectancy, and migration
  • Most importantly, the aging population
• Population pyramids: a layered depiction of males and females by age group
  • Note how by 2050, the pyramid will become top-heavy by 2050, a result of an aging population

Age Based Consumer Segments

• Consumer behaviors differ markedly across age groups
  • The differences are universal; 20-year-olds everywhere tend to have some of the same mindsets and lifestyles and tastes, which are different from those of 30- or 50- or 70-year-olds
• Generational behaviors remain similar across time
  • A young person today behaves like a young person behaved fifty years ago, and a 25 yr old will behave the same way 50 years from now

Baby Boomers

• Born between 1946 and 1964, numbered about 73 million in 2019
  • Named baby boomers because in 1946 the birth rate suddenly skyrocketed
• As a group, they are educated and affluent
  • Contribute disproportionately to the 75,000-200,00 + income brackets
• In education gender groups have narrowed compared to earlier generations: About one-half of baby boomer women have had some college experience and one 1¼ are college graduates
• About 60% of boomer households are married couples
  • Among boomer couples, about one in four is a single parent household, mostly 9/10 headed by a female
• Younger boomers, born in 1964, are at different life stages
  • They still have children in college and busy careers and are burdened with a home mortgage and children's college tuition
• A phenomenon among the younger boomers is the "Sandwich Generation,” a generation sandwiched between the twins burdens of caring for their own children as well as their aging parents
• In their psyche, baby boomers are the most self-absorbed of all generations
  • They have been preoccupied with their careers and material success
  • The older and new boomer generation has a new obsession, to defy aging
• Psychologically, they don't feel old; they don't want to look old (age defiant)
  • Exercising and Dieting: Boomers are increasingly taking to exercise and diet, driven by desire to look good as the desire to be healthy
  • Nutrients, cosmetics, and chemicals: the use of nutrients, cosmetics and chemicals to defy aging
    • Nutrients work on the body internally
    • Cosmetics and chemicals work externally to mask the sign of aging, and anti-aging creams are popular
  • Surgical and Medical Procedures: to actually alter the appearance of the body and face
• Marketing Response: Christie Brinkley was a model for the Covergirl brand of Cosmetics during the 1970s and '80s, in 2005, the company brought back the 51-year-old Superstar who now 66 and 2020, continues to represent the brand
  • This appeals to boomer women
• Marketers are also responding to boomer needs for age to find products. Exercise equipment has been physically modified to suit the aging boomer’s physical stamina
  • Examples: lower impact exercises, elliptical training equipment, Pilates, and big vinyl stability balls can be seen in sports stores in gymnasiums wide

Generation X

• Between 1965 and 1975
  • They represent those born during years of low birth rate, thus busting the sharp gross of the preceding baby boomer era; sometimes called " baby Busters"
  • More than any other generation, gen xers are pragmatic, not ideologues
• The psychological makeup of gen Xers differ from that of Boomers
  • Boomers younger or older came of age when the US economy was of sound
    • Therefore Boomers have been optimistic and have had confidence in their ability to succeed
  • Generation Xers feel financially less secure
  • They also rejected the Boomer obsession with career and making money
    • instead, they sought to work just enough to get by, and for this reason, and somewhat unfairly, they're dubbed the “slackers”
• They want to raise their children and two-parent families, therefore dual careers are less important to them
  • Many of them believe that one parent should stay home with the children
  • Gen X Men are more involved than men from proceeding generation and child rearing, and more of them are advocates of equal gender roles
  • With family building, gen xers are realizing their financial responsibility and a majority of them have already begun to save for their retirement
• Gen Xers' major purchases today compromise larger homes in the suburbs, larger cars, and upgrades to home appliances
  • The younger of them are in their mid-careers while the oldest of them have sons and daughters in college

Millennials (Generation Y)

• Born after 1977
• As a whole, this group is among the most educated: 24% have a college degree and another 35% are hourly in college
• 21% are married and one in five is a parent
• Like gen X, Gen Y has disowned the Boomer values of self-absorption and materialism
• Gen X did not adopt any alternative ideology, staying uninvolved in any social issues
  • In contrast, Generation Y is ideological, embracing social issues such as environmentalism, animal treatment, and racial integration
  • They intermingle with ease with other ethnic groups, with exposure to and close acquaintances among immigrant and Native multi-ethnic groups

Psychographics

• Self-expression with caring for family: early writers characterize millennials (Gen Y) as the "Me Generation"
  • Recent research suggests that this label is undeserved
  • Their self-focus is a search for creativity, self-expression, and uniqueness, not for personal gain
  • Millennials are family-oriented, 63% want to take care of their parents
  • Millennials have philanthropic minds: 40% have donated money and 22% have volunteered for non-profit organizations
• Social Awakening: Social causes are high on millennials' lists of what is important in life
  • Among causes, education, poverty, and the environment top the list
  • In a survey, 64% of Millennials were willing to pay more for rent that supported social causes
  • When cashiers ask customers if they would like to round up to donate to charity, Millennials happily agree to the request
• Preference for urban living and Street consumption:
  • A house in the suburbs is not something the Millennials fancy
  • Millennials prefer living in dense, urban areas of shopping, restaurants, and entertainment at their doorsteps; that is where they live
  • They spend their leisure time on the street, nursing their beverages at sidewalk cafes and drinkers, and dining and non-chained food restaurants with patios sidewalks or open front seating
• Short on Money but high on taste:
  • Although older Millennials are well into their careers, they have the expense of forming new households (some are married, some have newborn babies)
  • The younger Millennials are either in college or, due to the recent economic downturn, awaiting their first jobs
  • Their financial resources are restrained; a full 30% still live with their parents and 46% depend on financial support from parents
  • Yet they have good taste and want to buy unique and high-quality products

Marketing to Millennials

• Meet them on the street
  • Take your products to the city street. Homebuilders need to shift focus from sprawling suburban housing developments to city center lofts with aesthetic architecture and layout. Millennials like to do experimental cooking, look for a convenient fitness center, and need convenient home delivery of all kinds of stuff they buy online, and the loft apartments need to be structured around these must-haves. Merchants of boutique brand clothing, convenience food stores, drinking, dining, and entertainment need to locate their retail outlets in city centers and also take their wares to urban events through nomadic vendor outlets (e.g., food trucks).
• Imbue your brand with a character
  • Millennials want brands that give them identity but it is they (as a group) that give those brands the identity they want. The brand name imprints should be subtle. Abercrombie & Fitch, for example, recently decided to migrate its logo and brand name from the prominent display on the outside of the garment to an inside tag. Also, Millennials want to buy authentic brands-brands that stand for more than the bottom line. Accordingly, they like to patronize brands that support social causes. An ace example is Chipotle, with its mission as cultivating a better world. And Whole Foods likewise has its equally homespun mission statement chalk-boarded on its walls inside the store: our deepest purpose as an organization is helping support the health, well-being, and healing of both people and the planet. TOMS is another Millennials favorite, as it donates one pair of shoes to the poor for every pair sold; besides, its shoes are unique, comfortable, and purposely understated.
• Offer deals as adventure
  • Millennials seek unique and high-quality products, but they are hounds for deals and they will buy them only if they are priced for great value or if there is a deal on them. A coupon in the newspaper or via direct mailing does not appeal to them, for it is available to everyone. Rather it is the new generation of couponing such as Groupon and Living Social that makes them feel especial and connected to the brands on social media and online.
• Sync with their mobile life
  • Millennials are on their smartphones all the time. Before buying anything, they check their mobiles-find out movie times, check out current merchandise in stores, do price comparisons, take a picture of the product and share it with friends, asking for their advice, read restaurant reviews on Yelp, etc. Marketers need to make their websites mobile-friendly, and more importantly, sync their entire interface with customers' smartphones. Starbucks is a prime example: Its app allows consumers to order and pay via their smartphones, and then be rewarded with free games and music downloads via the same mobile app. Taco Bell is a pioneering convert.

Generation Z (Includes Teenagers)

• People born after 1996
• Generation alpha born after 2010
• Ethnically, Gen Z are the most diverse
• Psychographics
  • Millennials came of age during the Great Recession (2007-09) in the wake of the bursting of the house bubble in the US and were economically conservative
    • In contrast, Generation Z inherited a strong economy and were upbeat about their employment prospects until COVID-19 hit
    • The pandemic affected Gen Z the most, because the service industry sector is disproportionately employed

Marketing Preferences

• Their social activism seeps easily into their marketplace preferences
• They prefer to buy from companies that are doing social good; therefore, they prefer ecologically friendly products and like to support businesses that are engaged in climate change and other social justice issues such as racism, sexism, and poverty
  • Incidently, they also prefer to work for companies to support such social justice causes
• Their digital nativity biases them to search for and buy products online
• Because they have experienced the culture of playlists on Spotify and Pandora, and video on demand, they want their product super customized and enhanced interaction with companies for customer service. Ultra House of free and super personalized

Types of Households and Family Life Cycle

• Families: are two or more persons related by blood, mariage, or adoption
• Households: are one or more persons living in the same dwelling unit
  • Households can be a single person
• Family households are of 4 types

1. Married couples
2. Married couples with children
3. Single parents
4. Extended families a. Includes: grandchildren, uncles and aunts, brothers and sisters, even cousins

• Non-family households are of 2 types:

1. Single-person
2. Roommates or housemates

• Family Life Cycle: how a person advances from one stage of family orientation to another
• There are 5 cycles:

1. Bachelor
2. Couple
3. Full nest a. Full Nest I, are families with young children under the age of six b. Full Nest II, are families with children ages between the ages of 6 and 18 c. Full Nest III, are families with grown-up children staying at home

• 4. Empty nest a. Empty Nest I, refers to an early period when children have just left the home, the parent is still fully employed and, for many, the children are out of college b. Empty Nest II, refers to years later (usually several years after children left home) when the parent is retired and consequently has a much-reduced income
• 5. Survivor

Children's Influence in Family

• Children influence household buying in 3 ways:

1. By having individualistic preferences for products paid for and bought by parents
   • Examples: Toys
2. Children in their teen years begin to have their own money and become their own buyers of items for self-use, opening up a very valuable market for business
3. They influence their parents' choices of products that are meant for shared consumption (Family, Vacation, or home entertainment)

Social Orientation

• Considers the degree that families are focused on maintaining discipline. Families are those more concerned with maintaining discipline among children
  • These families are less likely to make independent decisions and less likely to be involved in family decisions

Concept Orientation

• Families are those concerned with the growth of independent thinking and individuality of children
  • Families are likely to have greater product knowledge and their parents are more likely to involve them in family decision-making

Consumer Socialization via Learning

Families can be classified into 4 types:

1. Authoritarian families: The head of the household (mother in matriarchal and father in patriarchal societies) exercises authority, and children learn to obey their elders in all matters

   • Most are found in Asian societies
   • A culture of obedience to elders is considered a virtue, especially in Asian cultures
   • This practice curbs the individuality among children and consequently their influence on family buying decisions

2. Neglectful Families: Children are neglected in these families because the parent(s) prioritizes their individual lives

   • Single parent families risk this behavior the most. This is due to time pressure, lack of personal leisure availability, and other issues which engender responsibility towards their children

3. Democratic families: every member is given equal power

   • Most Family Matters are discussed among family members, especially those who the decisions affect
   • Self-expression, autonomy, and mature behavior are encouraged among children
   • Opinions are sought from all affected members, and the decision could be a joint decision, or could be exercised (or arbitrated) by the family head(s)

4. Permissive families: children are given relative independence in conducting their own affairs, especially in their adolescent years

• Unlike controlling parents and neglectful families, permissive parents closely watch children's interests and exercise the freedom

Consumer Socialization via Learning

• Consumer Socialization: Refers to the acquisition of knowledge, preferences, and skills to function in the marketplace
  • Consumer socialization occurs when one or more of the following are learned or acquired by children
    • Awareness of various products and their role in solving their personal problems
    • Knowledge about the marketplace (what is available where) and about various product features
    • Skills in judging the utility of various product features
    • Preference among alternative brands and products
    • Skills in making “smart decisions,” such as making price and product comparisons, discounting advertising and salesperson claims, and evaluating trade-offs across options (including the option to buy or not to buy
• Learning Mechanisms:
  • Instrumental conditioning: Refers to learning to do those things that are rewarded:
    • In a child's early years, parents control most resources and inculcate values by rewarding what they consider good behavior
    • Children learn those behaviors and the underlying value of rewards from their parents
  • Modeling: Here children look up to their parents as role models and try to internalize and adopt their values, rose, and aptitudes
    • Example: A child who watches a father dressing up in the morning in office clothes makes plans to wear similar clothes one day
  • Cognitive Learning: When parents become the source of information about a product
    • Low involvement cognitive learning- children notice the products parents are using and in later life adopt them without much thought
      • This is not modeling because the product choice is not driven by a desire to be like them
    • High involvement cognitive learning occurs when parents communicate and educate about various brands or buying strategies
      • A mother might educate a daughter about what hygienic products are good
• Intergenerational Influence (IGI):
  • Intergenerational influence from family members refers to the transmission of values, attitudes, and behaviors from one generation to the other
    • From the concept of Consumer Behavior, IGI refers to the transfer of consumption-related values, brands perceptions, and brand choices themselves