Consumer Behavior - Cultural Values PDF

Consumer Behavior Twelfth Edition Chapter 11 Cultural Values and Consumer Behavior Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2010 Pearson Education, I...

Consumer Behavior Twelfth Edition Chapter 11 Cultural Values and Consumer Behavior Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved  Learning Objectives 11.1 To understand culture’s dynamics and impact on consumer behavior. 11.2 To understand cultural learning. 11.3 To understand what it means to study cultural values. 11.4 To understand core cultural values and their marketing applications. This chapter describes the societal role and dynamics of culture; explains how cultural values satisfy needs; investigates how cultural values are learned, expressed, and measured; discusses ten American core values; and concludes with a discussion of green marketing. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved  Learning Objective 11.1 11.1 To understand culture’s dynamics and impact on consumer behavior. Loading… We often refer to culture as an “invisible hand” that guides the actions of people of a particular society. When consumer researchers ask people why they do certain things, they frequently answer, “Because it’s the right thing to do”—a response re ecting the ingrained in uence of culture on our behavior. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved fl fl  “Levels” of Cultural Norms Supranational Some researchers conceptualized different “levels” of cultural norms: National 1. The supranational level re ects the underlying dimensions of culture that affect multiple societies (i.e., subcultural cross- Group national or cross-cultural boundaries). 2. The national level re ects shared core values, customs, and personalities that represent the core of the “national character” of a particular country. 3. The group level re ects the subdivisions of a country or society, such as subcultures, and the in uences of various reference groups. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved fl fl fl fl  Culture and Marketing Culture’s continuous evolution Cultural beliefs reflect societal needs Marketers must always monitor cultural changes to discover new opportunities and abandon markets that have “dried up” because of cultural changes. Marketers should periodically reconsider why consumers are doing what Loading… they do, who are the purchasers and the users of their offerings, when they do their shopping, how and where they can be reached by the media, and what new product and service needs are emerging. Culture expresses and satis es the needs of societies. It offers order, direction, and guidance for problem solving by providing “tried-and-true” methods of satisfying physiological, personal, and social needs. Culture determines whether a product is a necessity or discretionary luxury. Culture also dictates which clothes are suitable for different occasions (such as what to wear around the house, and what to wear to school, to work, to church, at a fast-food restaurant, or to a movie theater). At times, society’s collective interest contradicts an emerging custom. For instance, because most young Americans are now electronically connected all the time and at almost any place, distracted driving because of Source: United States Department of Transportation Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved fi  Learning Objective 11.2 11.2 To understand cultural learning. To be considered a cultural value, a belief or custom must be shared by a signi cant portion of the society, because culture is essentially a series of norms that guide personal and group conduct and link individuals into a largely cohesive group. Generally, members of a society share their values and customs through a common language, although some cultures include more than one language. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved fi  Learning Cultural Values Formal learning Informal learning Technical learning Enculturation (consumer socialization) v s. acculturation er us Marketing’s influence Formal learning takes place when parents, older siblings, and other family members teach younger members “how to behave.” Informal learning takes place when children imitate the behaviors of selected others, such as family, friends, or TV and movie heroes and characters. Technical learning happens when teachers instruct children, in educational environments, about what should be done, how it should be done, and why it should be done, in social as well as personal settings. Our ethical values (e.g., the importance of kindness, honesty, and responsibility) are also formed during childhood as we learn them from parents, teachers, and other signi cant adults. Enculturation is learning one’s own culture. Acculturation is learning new or foreign cultures. The contents of media, advertising, and marketing re ect cultural values and convey them to all members of society very effectively. The repetition of marketing messages both conveys and reinforces cultural beliefs and values. In advertisements, cultural values are not only depicted in the advertising copy, but are also coded in the visual imagery, colors, movements, music, and other nonverbal elements of an advertisement. Marketers also transmit a lot of information that enables consumers to express shared cultural values. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved fi fl  Language and Symbols Verbal symbols Nonverbal symbols – Product – Promotion – Price – Stores at which product is available Cultural values are re ected in the languages, symbols, communications, and artifacts of a society. A symbol is anything that represents something else, and symbols can be either verbal or nonverbal. Words are verbal symbols, so the text of any ad is a composition of symbols. Nonverbal symbols, such as gures, colors, shapes, and even textures, are cultural cues that appear within advertisements, trademarks, packaging, and product designs. Prices and channels of distribution are symbols and re ect cultural meanings of products. For instance, the stores where clothes are sold (and also the prices of the items) symbolize their quality. In fact, all the elements of the marketing mix—the product, its promotion, price, and the stores at which it is available—are symbols that communicate the quality, value, and image of the offering. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved fi fl fl  Ritual Defined A type of symbolic activity consisting of a series of steps (multiple behaviors) occurring in a fixed sequence and repeated periodically. Rituals can be public, elaborate, or ceremonial (e.g., weddings), or mundane routines (e.g., daily grooming). Typically, ritualized behavior is formal and often scripted (e.g., a religious service or proper conduct in a court of law), and occurs repeatedly (e.g., singing the national anthem before the start of a sports event). Ritualistic behavior is an action or series of steps that have become a ritual. For example, golfers who take a few practice swings before actually hitting the ball display a ritualistic behavior. Personal-care activities are often ritualized, such as the ritual of a woman’s facial care. Many rituals include artifacts, and some products are marketed speci cally for certain rituals. For instance, turkey, stuf ng, and cranberries are part of the ritual of Thanksgiving Day. Rituals such as graduations, weekly card games, or visits to beauty salons include artifacts. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved fi fi  Learning Objective 11.3 11.3 To understand the means to study cultural values. Culture re ects a society’s values, customs, and rituals, which in turn re ect how we live and communicate. The most widely used measurements of cultural values are content analysis, consumer eld observation, and value measurement instruments. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved fl fi fl  Measuring Cultural Values Content analysis, as the name implies, focuses on the content of societies’ verbal, written, and pictorial communications, including promotional Content analysis messages. Content analysis can determine what social and cultural changes have occurred in a speci c society or compare different cultures. Field observation Field observation consists of observing the daily behavior of selected members of a society. Based on their observations, researchers draw Depth interviews conclusions about the values, beliefs, and customs of the society under Focus groups Loading… investigation. In some cases, researchers become participant-observers; that is, they become active members of the environment that they are studying and engage in the same behaviors, rituals, and customs that they study. Questionnaires Marketers have used depth interviews and focus groups to study social and cultural changes. In focus group discussions, consumers are apt to reveal attitudes and behaviors that signal shifts in values that may affect, for example, the acceptance of new products and services. Focus groups have been used to generate ideas for persuasive strategies designed to reinforce customer loyalty and retention. Self-administered questionnaires measure individuals’ cultural values, such as the Rokeach Value Survey, the Values and Lifestyles VALS measure, and Gordon’s survey of personal and interpersonal values. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved fi World Values Survey Traditional v s. Secular ersu Survival v s. Self-Expression ersu Traditional values emphasize religion, family, and authority. Secular values are more accepting of divorce, abortion, euthanasia, and suicide. Survival values emphasize security, whereas self-expression values tend to be pro- environmental protection, accept foreigners, pro-gay rights, and gender equality. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved  Learning Objective 11.4 11.4 To understand core cultural values and their marketing applications. Core values that both affect and re ect the character of American society. Designating American core values is dif cult because some are contradictory, the United States is diverse and dynamic. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved fl fi  Criteria to Select Core Values The value must be pervasive The value must be enduring The value must be related to consumption behavior We used the following criteria to select and designate core values: 1. The value must be pervasive. That is, a signi cant portion of the American people must have accepted the value and used it to guide their attitudes and actions. 2. The value must be enduring. That is, it must have in uenced Americans’ actions over an extended period (as distinguished from fads and short-lived fashions). 3. The value must be related to consumption behavior. That is, it must provide insights that help us understand Americans’ consumption habits. The core values identi ed include achievement and success, time and activity, ef ciency and practicality, progress, materialism (comfort and pleasure), individualism and conformity, freedom of choice, humanitarianism, youthfulness, and tness and health. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved fi fi fi fl fi  Three Types of “Green” Consumers Environmental Activists Organic Eaters Economizers Environmental activists are green enthusiasts who adopt lifestyles focused on health and sustainability. Organic eaters are concerned with sustaining their own health, not with sustaining the planet. Economizers experiment with buying eco-friendly products to save money. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved  Four Groups of “Green” Consumers True Greens Donor Greens Learning Greens Non-Greens True Greens switch brands for ecological reasons and are willing to make sacri ces to protect the environment. Donor Greens feel guilty about their lack of eco-friendly buying, and sometime they think about environmental impacts, but they do not want to sacri ce nancially or change shopping behaviors. Learning Greens are still learning about environmental issues and are not actively engaged in ecological causes. Non-Greens do not care about wildlife or environmental issues. Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved fi fi fi