Cultural Values & Consumer Behavior Flashcards
Culture
Set of shared beliefs, values, customs, traditions, language, art, social behavior
- “Invisible Hand”
Three different “levels” of culture:
- Supranational: reflects the underlying dimensions of culture that affect multiple societies (crosses national boundaries)
- National: reflects shared core values and customs (country)
- Group: level reflects the subdivisions of a country or society (subcultures and reference groups)
Culture & Marketing
Offers order, direction, guidance for problem solving by providing ways to satisfy physiological, personal, and social needs
- Determines whether a product is a necessity or discretionary luxury
- Dictates which clothes are suitable for different occasions (at home vs at work)
Learning Cultural Values
Forms of Learning:
- Formal Learning: parents and other family members teach younger members “how to behave.”
- Informal Learning: children imitate the behaviors of selected others such as friends and TV characters
- Technical Learning: teachers instruct children about what should be done, how it should be done, and why it should be done
Enculturation refers to learning one’s own culture
Acculturation involves learning new or foreign cultures
In advertisements, cultural values are depicted in…
- advertising content
- visual imagery and colors
- music
- other nonverbal elements
Language & Symbols
A symbol is anything that represents something
- verbal or nonverbal
All the elements of the marketing mix are symbols
- communicate the quality, value, image of the offering
Cultural Appropriation
The adoption, borrowing, or imitation of elements from one culture by members of another culture, often without understanding or respecting the cultural significance or context of these elements.
- Lack of understanding
- Commodification of culture
- Misrepresentation and stereotyping
- Power dynamics
Cultural Sensitivity
Sensitivity and respect
- Context, history, and symbolism
Importance of representation
- Authentic
- Empowering
- Collaborating with individuals/organizations from that culture.
Educating and raising awareness
Social media impact
Rituals & Ritualistic Behavior
Rituals can be ceremonial (weddings) or mundane routines (daily grooming)
Typically, ritualized behavior is formal and often scripted (a religious service)
And occurs repeatedly (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
Ritual Artifacts
Many rituals include artifacts.
Some products are marketed specifically for certain rituals.
- Wedding Anniversary: display of photos, montage, party
- Graduation: card, gift, party
- Valentine’s: candy, flowers, chocolates
- Thanksgiving: turkey dinner
- Super Bowl Party: beer, chips, pretzels, nachos
- Starting a New Job: haircut, new clothes
Measuring Cultural Values
Content Analysis: examines the content of societies’ verbal, written, and pictorial communications
- promotional messages.
Field Observation/Ethnographic study: observing the daily behavior of selected members of a society.
- Researchers draw conclusions about the values, beliefs, and customs of the society under investigation.
- Researchers can become participant-observers.
- engage in the same behaviors, rituals, and customs that they study.
Marketers also use in-depth interviews and focus groups to study social and cultural changes.
- Consumers reveal attitudes and behaviors that signal shifts in values.
- These shifts may affect new products and services.
World Values Survey
Traditional values emphasize religion, family, and authority
Secular values are more accepting of divorce, abortion, and suicide
Survival values emphasize security (physical and economic)
Self-expression values tend to be pro-environmental, pro-gay rights, and gender equality
Criteria To Select Marketing Relevant Core Values
Value Must Be Pervasive
- A significant portion of the people must accept the value and use it to guide their attitudes and actions.
Value Must Be Enduring
- Must influence actions over an extended period (i.e., not a fad).
Value Must Be Related To Consumption Behavior
- Must provide insights that help us understand consumption habits.
American Core Values
- Achievement
- Success
- Time
- Efficiency
- Practicality
- Progress
- Individualism
- Conformity
- Freedom of Choice
- Humanitarianism
- Youthfulness
- Materialism
American’s Green Attitudes
Many Americans consider buying green products to be a societal and cultural priority.
Although many consumers claim support ecological causes, such attitudes do not always result in pro-environmental behavior.
Three Types Of Green Consumers
Environmental Activists
- 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
Four Groups Of Green Consumers
True Greens
- switch brands for ecological reasons.
- willing to make sacrifices to protect the environment
Donor Greens
- feel guilty about their lack of eco-friendly buying.
- but they do not want to sacrifice financially or change shopping behaviors
Learning Greens
- are still learning about environmental issues.
- not actively engaged in ecological causes
Non-Greens
- do not care about environmental issues
