CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Module-4• Influence of reference group• Impact of social class, culture, sub culture, and cross cultural factors on CB

Lekshmi S NairMBA/50026/11

INFLUENCE OF

REFERENCE GROUP

Any one can be influence by other peoples specially whom are coming in contact with or observe

A person or group that serves as a point of comparison (or reference) for an individual in the formation of either general or specific values, attitudes, or behavior that called (Reference group )

Reference Groups

Types of Reference Groups

Friendship

Shopping

Work Celebrities

• Its are typically called informal group becous they are unstructured and lack specific authority levels

• Friends fulfill a wide range of needs they provide companiship, security and opportunity to discuss problems that an individual may be reluctant to discuss with family members

Friendship groups

SHOPPING GROUPS

• Tow or more peoples who shop together , whether for food, clothing or simply to pass the time , can be called (Shopping groups )

• A special type of shopping group is the in home shopping party, which typically consist of a group that gathers to gathers in the home of a friend to attend a party devoted to demonstrating and evaluating a specific line of products.

• Celebrities can be a powerful force in creating interest or actions with regards to purchasing or using selected goods and services, its may be based on admiration, aspiration, empathy or recognition,

• There are five major types of appeals which market common usage like (celebrity, expert, common-man, executive and employee )

Celebrities groups

WORK GROUPS

• The sheet amount of time that people spend at their jobs frequently more than 35 hours a week those can be easily influence on each others behavior.

• The both formal and informal groups can be influence the consumer behavior , the formal group consist of individual who work together as pare of team and those they have sustained opportunity to influence each others,

SOCIAL CLASS

The division of members of a society into a hierarchy of distinct status classes, so that members of each class have either higher or lower status than members of other classes.

CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIAL CLASS

• Is hierarchical• Is a natural form of segmentation• Provides a frame of reference for consumer behaviour

• Reflects a person’s relative social status

SOCIAL CLASS AND SOCIAL STATUS

Status is frequently thought of as the relative rankings of members of each social class

• wealth• power• prestige

SOCIAL COMPARISON THEORY

States that individuals compare their own possessions against those of others to determine their relative social standing.

SOCIAL CLASS MEASUREMENT

• Subjective Measures: individuals are asked to estimate their own social-class positions

• Reputational Measures: informants make judgments concerning the social-class membership of others within the community

• Objective Measures: individuals answer specific socioeconomic questions and then are categorized according to answers

OBJECTIVE MEASURES

• Single-variable indexes• Occupation• Education• Income

Composite-variable indexes– Index of Status

Characteristics– Socioeconomic

Status Score

INDEX OF STATUS CHARACTERISTICS (ISC)

A classic composite measure of social class that combines occupation, source of income, house type / quality of neighborhood into a single weighted index of social class standing.

SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS SCORE (SES)

A multivariable social class measure used by the United States Bureau of the Census that combines occupational status, family income, and educational attainment into a single measure of social class standing.

SOCIAL CLASS AND MARKETING STRATEGY

• Clothing, Fashion, and Shopping• Where one shops• External point of identification

• The Pursuit of Leisure• Type of leisure activities differ

• Saving, Spending, and Credit• Level of immediate gratification sought varies

• Responses to marketing communication• Upper classes have a broader and more general view of

the world• Regional variations in language rise as we move down

the social ladder• Exposure to media varies by social class

LIMITATIONS

• Social class is more difficult to measure than income

• Many purchase behaviours are related more to income than social class

• Consumers often use expected social class for their consumption patterns

• Dual incomes have changed consumption patterns

• Individual dimensions of social class are sometimes better predictors of consumer behaviour

ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

CULTURAL INFLUENCE

The sum total of learned beliefs, values, and customs that serve to regulate the consumer behavior of members of a particular society.

CULTURE IS LEARNED

• Enculturation and acculturation• Language and symbols• Ritual• Sharing of culture

• Enculturation• The learning of one’s own culture

• Acculturation• The learning of a new or foreign culture

LANGUAGE AND SYMBOLS

• Without a common language shared meaning could not exist

• Marketers must choose appropriate symbols in advertising

• Marketers can use “known” symbols for associations

RITUAL

• A ritual is a type of symbolic activity consisting of a series of steps

• Rituals extend over the human life cycle

• Marketers realize that rituals often involve products

RITUAL

SELECTED RITUALS TYPICAL ARTIFACTS

Wedding White gown (something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue)

Birth of child U.S. Savings Bond, silver baby spoon

Birthday Card, present, cake with candles

50th Wedding anniversary Catered party, card and gift, display of photos of the couple’s life together

Graduation Pen, U.S. Savings Bond, card, wristwatch

Valentine’s Day Candy, card, flowers

New Year’s Eve Champagne, party, fancy dress

Thanksgiving Prepare a turkey meal for family and friends

SHARING OF CULTURE

• To be a cultural characteristic, a belief, value, or practice must be shared by a significant portion of the society

• Culture is transferred through family, schools, houses of worship, and media

THE SOUTH KOREAN DIAPER COMPANY GOOD-NITES  SPOOFED DAVID BECKHAM’S SEXY ARMANI ADS

THE MEASUREMENT OF CULTURE

• Content Analysis

• Consumer Fieldwork

• Value Measurement Instruments

A method for systematically analyzing the content of verbal and/or pictorial communication. The method is frequently used to determine prevailing social values of a society.

CONTENT ANALYSIS

A cultural measurement technique that takes place within a natural environment that focuses on observing behavior

FIELD OBSERVATION

CHARACTERISTICS OF FIELD OBSERVATION

• Takes place within a natural environment

• Performed sometimes without the subject’s awareness

• Focuses on observation of behavior

Researchers who participate in the environment that they are studying without notifying those who are being observed

PARTICIPANT OBSERVERS

VALUE MEASUREMENT SURVEY INSTRUMENTS

• Rokeach Value Survey (RVS)• A self-administered inventory consisting of eighteen

“terminal” values (i.e., personal goals) and eighteen “instrumental” values (i.e., ways of reaching personal goals)

• List of Values (LOV)• A value measurement instrument that asks

consumers to identify their two most important values from a nine-value list that is based on the terminal values of the Rokeach Value Survey

• Values and Lifestyles (VALS)• A value measurement based on two categories: self-

definition and resources

IMPACT OF SUBCULTURE FACTORS ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

WHAT IS SUBCULTURE????

• Subculture is defined, as a distinct cultural group that exists as an identifiable segment within a larger, more complex society.

• Each subculture has its own unique traits.

• Sub cultural analysis enables the marketing manager to focus on sizable and natural market segments.

TYPES OF SUB CULTURE

• NATIONALITY SUBCULTURES

It’s a composition of citizens who come from different nationalities or belong to different races.

Subcultures tend to vary in their values, aspiration and beliefs which get reflected in their consumption priorities, spend save patterns, purchase behavior, social mores and customs etc.

• RELIGIOUS SUBCULTURES

Most societies of the world today consist of people belonging to different religions, which may differ in their beliefs, values and customs.

Consumer behavior is directly affected by religion in terms of products that are symbolically and ritualistically associated with the celebration of various religious holidays.

• GEOGRAPHIC AND REGIONAL SUBCULTURES

They take into account of geographical and climatic condition which displays the regional differences that are distinct enough to enable marketer to identify a country as consisting of different regional subcultures.

Of special significance to the marketer are the various food preferences of these geographical regional subculture and the languages spoken in different regions.

Geographical subcultures also result in different consumption patterns in clothing, housing patterns and food habits on account of climatic conditions.

Example: Cottons may be the most preferred in North West India, silk materials in South, Woolen cloths have a very low priority in coastal regions.

• AGE SUBCULTURES

Its explains about the stages in family life cycle(culture) and understands how consumption priorities change as the age pattern of the family changes.

Age is a basis of identifying different sub cultural identities - youth market and the elderly market.

The youth market (14-24) is important to marketers not only because it is a growing and profitable segment but also because consumption preference found at this age are likely to continue for a long time.

The youth market is distinctive enough in terms of its spending patterns, demographics, psycholography, profiles etc.

The youth market differs significantly from the elderly market in term of its norms, purchase preferences, information sources used, media habits and preferences and to an extent values and beliefs, to constitute a sub cultural segment for the marketers.

The `Elderly Market' constitute the 50 plus Market segment. In subculture segment term, this segment has been found to

display value orientation which are more stable, have identified shopping patterns and store preferences, and are a very attractive market for home improvement, investment, insurance, health services and home equipment enabling convenience in living.

Though they tend to view advertising as a less reliable source of information, their media habits are more stable to enable the marketers to carve out communication positioning better.

GENDER AS A SUBCULTURE

Men and women vary in terms of dominant traits they posses. For instance, aggressiveness and competitiveness often were considered traditional masculine traits ,whereas neatness, tactfulness, gentleness, and talkativeness were considered traditional feminine traits.

In terms of role differences, women have historically been cast as homemakers with responsibility for child-care and men as the providers or bread earners.

SUB CULTURAL INTERACTION

• All consumers are simultaneously members of more than one sub cultural segment this can be viewed as sub cultural interaction.

• Marketers should strive to understand how multiple sub cultural memberships interact to influence target consumers relevant consumption behavior.

• Promotional strategy should not be limited to a single sub cultural membership

CROSS CULTURE INFLUENCE

• A Broad groups of consumers having different values that distinguish them from society as a whole.

Cross Culture Marketing- defined as "the effort to determine to what extent the consumers of two or more nations are similar or different. This will facilitate marketers to understand the psychological, social and cultural aspects of foreign consumers they wish to target, so as to design effective marketing strategies for each of the specific national markets involved."

PROBLEMS IN CROSS CULTURAL MARKETING

Problems related to product selection: The marketer going for cross cultural marketing has to select the market not on the basis of age or income, but by using the real motivating factors that prompt them to accept or reject products.

Problems related to promotion/marketing communication

Problems related to pricing: The marketer has to adjust his pricing policies according to the local economic conditions and customs.

Problems related to selection of distribution channels

CROSS-CULTURAL CONSUMER ANALYSIS

Cross-cultural consumer analysis can be defined- as the effort to determine to what extent the consumers of two or more nations are similar or different.

Such analysis can provide marketers with an understanding of the psychological, social, and cultural characteristics of the foreign consumers they wish to target, so that they can design effective marketing strategies for the specific national..