Unit 4: Environmental Factors in Consumer Behavior

Family
1. Family is a basic concept, but it is not easy to define because family composition and
structure, as well as the roles played by family members, are almost always in transition.
2. Traditionally, family is defined as two or more persons related by blood, marriage, or
adoption who reside together.
3. In a more dynamic sense, the individuals who constitute a family might be described as
members of the most basic social group who live together and interact to satisfy their
personal and mutual needs.
4. According to many, the family remains the central or dominant institution in providing
for the welfare of its members and is the major household consumer and consuming unit.
THE CHANGING U.S. FAMILY
1. Although families sometimes are referred to as households, not all households are
families.
2. In most Western societies, three types of families dominate: the married couple, the
nuclear family, and the extended family. Types include:
a) The married couple—a husband and wife; is the simplest structure.
b) The nuclear family—a husband and wife and one or more children. This is still
commonplace but on the decline.
c) The extended family—a husband, wife, one or more children, and at least one
grandparent. At one time this was the norm, but geographic mobility has reduced its
presence.
d) A fourth form, the single-parent family—one parent and at least one child—is growing
due to divorce, separation, and out-of-wedlock births.
3. The predominant form of the family is largely influenced by the culture within which the
families exist.
4. Important demographic changes reflect the dynamic nature of the family.
5. Research results indicate that there is little to no difference between working and
nonworking wives with respect to the purchases of timesaving durables.
6. A husbands’ behavior with respect to household chores remained the same whether the
wife was or was not employed, and the ultimate responsibility for household management
still belonged to the wife.
7. There is no doubt that the “typical” or “traditional” family household has changed.
8. Attitudes with respect to children and child-rearing have also been changing.
SOCIALIZATION OF FAMILY MEMBERS
1. The socialization of family members is a central family function.

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2. In the case of young children, this process includes imparting to children the basic values
and modes of behavior consistent with the culture.
a) These generally include moral and religious principles, interpersonal skills, dress and
grooming standards, appropriate manners and speech, and the selection of suitable
educational and occupational or career goals.
3. Parental socialization responsibility seems to be constantly expanding.
4. A sign of parents’ constant pressure to help their young children secure an “advantage” or
“keep ahead” are the demanding daily schedules that rule the lives of many children.
5. Marketers frequently target parents who are looking for assistance in the task of
socializing their children.
a) To this end, marketers are sensitive to the fact that the socialization of young children
provides an opportunity to establish a foundation on which later experiences continue
to build throughout life
CONSUMER SOCIALIZATION OF CHILDREN
1. The aspect of childhood socialization that is particularly relevant to the study of
consumer behavior is consumer socialization, which is defined as the process by which
children acquire the skills, knowledge, and attitudes and experiences necessary to
function as consumers.
2. A variety of studies have focused on how children develop consumption skills.
a. Many preadolescent children acquire their consumer behavior norms through
observation of their parents and older siblings who function as role models and
sources of cues for basic consumption learning.
b. In contrast, adolescents and teenagers are likely to look to their friends for models of
acceptable consumption behavior.
3. Shared shopping experiences (i.e., co-shopping is when mother and child shop together)
also gives children the opportunity to acquire in-store shopping skills.
a. Co-shopping is a way of spending time with one’s children while at the same time
accomplishing a necessary task.
4. Consumer socialization also serves as a tool by which parents influence other aspects of
the socialization process.
a. For instance, parents frequently use the promise or reward of material goods as a
device to modify or control a child’s behavior.
b. According to research, adolescents reported that their parents frequently used the
promise of chocolate candy as a means of controlling their behavior (e.g., getting
them to complete homework or to clean their rooms).
5. A socialization agent is a person or organization involved in the socialization process
“because of frequency of contact with the individual and control over the rewards and
punishments given to the individual. “
6. Mothers are generally considered to be stronger consumer socialization agents than their
husbands, because they tend to be more involved with their children, and are more likely
to mediate their children’s exposure to commercial messages.

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7. Consumer socialization of children does not function identically in all cultures.
8. There is research evidence to suggest that a child’s age and sex, family size, social class
and race are important factors in the consumer socialization process.
Growing Up in a Materialistic World
1. Children learn to attach importance to worldly possessions at an early age.
2. A recent study conducted with school-aged children in Minnesota found that materialism
increases from middle childhood to early adolescence and then declines from early to late
adolescence.
3. The research also found an inverse relationship between self-esteem and materialism in
children and adolescents.
4. Another aspect of the consumer socialization process, particularly for adolescents, is the
development of skepticism toward product and service claims and advertising.
ADULT CONSUMER SOCIALIZATION
1. Socialization begins in early childhood and extends throughout a person’s entire life.
INTERGENATIONAL SOCIALIZATION
1. It is common for product or brand loyalty or preference to be passed from one generation
to another, sometimes up to three or four generations.
OTHER FUNCTIONS OF THE FAMILY
1. Other basic functions include economic well-being, emotional support, and suitable
family lifestyles.
Economic Well-Being
1. Providing financial means to its dependents is unquestionably a basic family function.
2. How the family divides its responsibilities for providing economic well-being has
changed considerably during the past 30 years.
a. No longer are the traditional roles of husband as economic provider and wife as
homemaker and child-rearer still valid.
b. It is very common for married women with children in the United States and other
industrial countries to be employed outside the home and for their husbands to
share household responsibilities.
c. More than 70 percent of women in United States who are over the age of 18 claim
that it is more difficult to be a mother now than it was 20 or 30 years ago.
3. The economic role of children also has changed.
a. Today, although many teenage children work, they rarely assist the family financially.
b. Teenagers are expected to pay for their own amusements; others contribute to the
costs of their formal education and prepare themselves to be financially independent.
Emotional Support

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1. The provision of emotional nourishment (including love, affection, and intimacy) to its
members is an important core function of the contemporary family.
2. The family provides support and encouragement and assists its members in coping with
decision making and personal or social problems.
3. If the family cannot provide adequate assistance when it is needed, it may turn to a
counselor, psychologist or other helping professional as an alternative.
Suitable Family Lifestyles
1. Another important family function in terms of consumer behavior is the establishment of
a suitable lifestyle for the family.
2. Upbringing, experience, and the personal and jointly held goals of the spouses determine
the importance placed on education or career, on reading, television viewing, the learning
of computer skills, the frequency and quality of dining out, and on the selection of other
entertainment and recreational activities.
3. Family lifestyle commitments, including the allocation of time, are greatly influencing
consumption patterns.
FAMILY DECISION MAKING AND CONSUMPTION-RELATED ROLES
1. Marketers most frequently examine the attitudes and behavior of the one family member
whom they believe to be the major decision maker.
2. Sometimes they also examine the attitudes and behavior of the person most likely to be
the primary user of the product or service.
DYNAMICS OF HUSBAND-WIFE DECISION MAKING
1. Marketers are interested in the relative amount of influence that a husband and a wife
have when it comes to family consumption choices.
2. Family consumption decisions can be classified as:
a. Husband dominated
b. Wife dominated
c. Joint—equal or syncratic
d. Autonomic—solitary or unilateral
3. The relative influence of a husband and wife on a particular consumer decision depends
in part on the product and service category.
a. The relative influence has changed over time.
4. Husband-wife decision-making also appears to be related to cultural influence.
b. In the People’s Republic of China, there were substantially fewer “joint” decisions
and more “husband-dominated” decisions for many household purchases than among
Chinese in the United States.
THE EXPANDING ROLE OF CHILDREN IN FAMILY DECISION MAKING
1. Over the past several decades, there has been a trend toward children playing a more
active role in what the family buys, as well as in the family decision-making process.

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2. This shift in influence has occurred as a result of families having fewer children,
more dual income couples who can afford to permit their children to make a greater
number of the choices, and the encourage of the media to allow children to “express
themselves.”
3. Research reveals that children have considerable influence on family decision-
making.
4. Research evidence supports the notion that the extent to which children influence a
family’s purchases is related to family communications patterns.
5. Children’s influence has been found to be highest in families where the parents are
pluralistic parents (i.e., parents who encourage children to speak-up and express their
individual preferences on purchase) and consensual parents (i.e., parents who
encourage children to seek harmony, but are nevertheless open to the children’s
viewpoint on purchases), because such parents allow their children a significantly
greater amount of influence that do protective parents (i.e., parents who stress that
children should not stress their own preferences, but rather go along with the parents
judgment on what is to be purchased).
6. Research has explored the notion of the teen Internet maven—teenagers who spend
considerable time on the Internet and know how to search for and find information,
and respond to requests from others to provide information.
7. Advertisers have long recognized the importance of children’s “pester power” and
therefore encourage children to “pester” their parents to purchase what they see in
ads.
8. The strategies used by children to influence their parents’ food purchasing decisions
included such persuasive strategies as: stating their preferences or begging; and
emotional strategies, such as asking repetitively for a product (in a way that irritates
the parents).
THE FAMILY LIFE CYCLE
1. The family life cycle (FLC) is a progression of stages through which many families
pass.
2. The current decline in the percentage of families that progress through a traditional
FLC (to be explored shortly) seems to be caused by a host of societal factors
including:
a. Increasing divorce rate
b. The explosive number of out-of-wedlock births
c. The 40–plus year decline in the number of extended families as many young
families moved to advance their job and career opportunities
3. FLC analysis enables marketers to segment families in terms of a series of stages
spanning the life course of a family unit.
4. The FLC is a composite variable created by systematically combining such
commonly used demographic variables as marital status, size of family, age of family
members (focusing on the age of the oldest or youngest child), and employment status
of the head of household.

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5. The ages of the parents and the relative amount of disposable income usually are
inferred from the stage in the family life cycle.
6. The text divides the treatment of the FLC concept into two sections:
a. The first section considers the traditional FLC schema.
b. The alternative FLC stages, including increasingly important nontraditional
family structures, are considered separately.

Traditional Family Life Cycle

1. Traditional family life cycle is a progression of stages through which many families pass.
2. The model has five basic stages.
a. Stage I—Bachelorhood. Young single adult living apart from parents.
b. Stage II—Honeymooners. Young married couple.
c. Stage III—Parenthood. Married couple with at least one child living at home.
d. Stage IV—Post parenthood. An older married couple with no children living at home.
e. Stage V—Dissolution. One surviving spouse.

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REFERENCE GROUPS:
- Groups that serve as sources of comparison, influence, and norms for people’s opinions, values,
and behaviors.
1. Culture:
- The collective values, customs, norms, arts, social institutions, and intellectual achievements of
a particular society which express its principles, standards, and priorities.
2. Source Credibility:
- A source’s persuasive impact, stemming from its perceived expertise, trustworthiness, and
believability.
i) Formal sources:
- Is someone who provides information about consumption and is paid for by an organization?
ii) Informal source:
- Is personally known to the recipient of the message, for example: a parent or friend who
provides information about a product.
ii) Normative influence:
- Consists of learning and adopting a group's norms, values, and behavior, usually from family
and peer groups.
iii) Comparative influence:
- Arises when a person compares himself to others whom they respect and admire and then they
adopt some of the values of that respectable person or even imitate his behavior.
3. Consumption-Related Reference Groups:
- Friendship groups: can be formed in schools, colleges, workplaces.
Friends can be friends and can talk about problems that cannot be discussed in the family.
- Fellow Shoppers: a referral program can be an important element of Fellow Shoppers. Some
businesses oer rewards for members who bring other friends to join.
- Virtual communities: some websites make it easy for consumers to leave comments and they
will respond to each other. Anonymity in a virtual environment allows a person to freely express
his opinion about a product, both negatively and positively.
- Advocacy group: the purpose of advocacy groups is to assist consumers in making decisions
and support consumer rights.

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Examples: a group of parents who protested the opening of an adult video rental business, the
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) group which aims to reduce drunk driving.
4. Factors Affecting Reference Group Influence:
a) Conformity:
- Marketers often highlight the influence of reference groups in their promotions.
- New or non-leading brands may encourage consumers to stand out and not follow the crowd.
- For reference groups to influence you:
i) Inform members that the brand or product exists.
ii) Provide an opportunity to compare thinking with the attitudes and behavior of the group.
iii) Influence individuals to adopt attitudes and behavior that are consistent with the group’s
norms.
iv) Legitimize the member’s decision to use the same products as other members.
b) Groups’ Power and Expertise
- Different reference groups will have different influences and behavior of a person in different
times and situations.
- Power groups can change behavior but do not change a person's attitude.
- When people worry about the power that one person or group has over them, they usually buy
things that conform to that person or group's norms to be praised for their choices.
- In contrast to reference groups that are not based on power, "power groups" can influence
behavior but not attitudes. Individuals may imitate the actions of powerful individuals or groups,
but they are unlikely to change their attitudes or absorb their decisions.
c) Product expertise:
- Individuals who have direct experience with the product are less likely to be swayed by
suggestions from others.
- On the other hand, people who have no experience with the product will seek information from
others.
d) Product Conspicuousness:
- The level of influence of reference groups on purchasing decisions varies according to product
interests.
- A striking product is one that stands out and is noticed by others, such as an expensive watch or
a newly released digital camera. Products that are very flashy and show status are more likely to
be purchased considering relevant reactions from others.

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5. Conveying Company Credibility:
- Past performance
- Good Reputation
- Product Quality
- Good Service
- Image and attractiveness of spokespersons
- Reputation of retailers that carry offerings
- Media where they advertise
6. Institutional Advertising:
- Advertising that promotes a company’s overall image without referring to specific products.
II. Credibility of Spokespersons, Endorsers, and Other Formal Sources
1. Endorsers and Spokespersons:
i) Synergy between endorser and product/service: This means that the person endorsing the
product should be a good fit for what's being advertised. For example, a famous athlete
endorsing sports equipment makes sense, but the same athlete endorsing a cooking product might
not have the same impact.
ii) Demographics of the endorser: People are more likely to trust and be persuaded by someone
who is similar to them. So, if the target audience is young adults, having a young adult celebrity
as the endorser can be more effective.
iii) Trust in the marketer: While the endorser's popularity or likability is important, consumers
still need to trust the company behind the product. Even if they admire the endorser, doubts
about the company's integrity can undermine the effectiveness of the advertisement.
iv) Message congruence: The message in the advertisement should align with the expertise or
qualifications of the spokesperson. For instance, if a doctor is endorsing a health product, the
message should focus on health benefits and medical expertise.
2. Celebrity:
i) Celebrity testimonial: indicate product quality based on personal use.
ii) Celebrity endorsement: the celebrity promotes a product or appears in a product
advertisement, but he/she does not/may not have direct experience with the product.
iii) Celebrity actor, celebrity who plays a role in advertising a product.
iv) Celebrity spokesperson: celebrity represents a brand or company in a certain period.
3. Salesperson Credibility:

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- Sellers who inspire trust and who give the impression of honesty and integrity are the most
persuasive.
- A salesperson who "looks into your eyes a lot" is seen as more honest than someone who
avoids direct eye contact.
4. Vendor Credibility:
- The reputation of the retailer selling the product has a major influence on the credibility of the
message.
- A consumer's previous experience with a product or vendor has a major impact on the
credibility of the message.
5. Medium Credibility:
- The reputation of the media that carries the advertisement also increases the credibility of the
message.
- For example, a Fashion image gives an additional status to a product advertised in a magazine.
Most consumers believe that respectable media will only advertise "famous" good quality
products.
III. WORD OF MOUTH:
1. Opinion Leader:
a) Characteristics of opinion leader:
- Knowledgeable in product category
- Self-confident, outgoing, sociable
- Read special-interest publications and websites
- Often same socioeconomic & age group as receivers
b) Measuring Opinion Leadership:
i) Self-Designation Method: Individuals are asked to identify themselves as opinion leaders
based on their own perception of their influence.
ii) Social Interactions: Observation of individuals' interactions within their social circles to gauge
their influence and leadership.
iii) Identifying Experts: Identifying individuals who are recognized as experts or knowledgeable
in specific domains and assessing their influence within those areas.
iv) Online Influence: Analyzing individuals' influence and engagement on online platforms such
as social media, blogs, and forums to measure their impact on opinions and behaviors.
2. Key Informants:

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- Persons who are keenly knowledgeable about the nature of social communications among
members of a specific group
3. Strategic Applications of Word-of-Mouth:
Approach Description
Social Networks Virtual communities where people share information about themselves with
others, generally with similar interests, with whom they have established relationships that, for
the most part, exist only in cyberspace. Tie strength The strength of the relationship between the
individuals engaging in WOM. Strong ties, such as close friends or family members, typically
lead to more impactful communication.
Similarity The degree of similarity between the individuals involved in the WOM exchange.
People are more likely to engage with and trust those who are similar to them in terms of
interests, values, or demographics.
Source Credibility The perceived credibility or trustworthiness of the person sharing the
information. People are more likely to be influenced by WOM from sources they consider to be
credible or knowledgeable.
Brand Community An online community formed by consumers who share an attachment to a
brand.
Viral Advertising A marketing technique that uses social networks to increase brand awareness
by encouraging individuals to pass along online email messages or other contents.
4. Adopter Categories:
i) Innovators: The first 10% of individuals who adopt a new product or idea.
They are adventurous and willing to take risks to try out new innovations.
ii) Early Adopters: The next 15% who follow innovators. They are opinion leaders within their
social circles and are eager to try new ideas or products.
iii) Early Majority: The 30% who adopt after a product has been endorsed by early adopters.
They are pragmatic and prefer to see evidence of success before committing to something new.
iv) Late Majority: Another 30% who adopt after the average member of society. They are
cautious and tend to adopt new ideas only when they become mainstream.
v) Laggards: The final 15% who are the last to adopt. They are resistant to change and often
skeptical of new ideas or products.
5. Time to Reach Laggards:
i) Nature of the Group Involved: The characteristics and demographics of the laggard group,
such as their age, socioeconomic status, and cultural background, influence how quickly they
adopt new innovations.

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ii) Type of Innovation Decision Required: The complexity of the decision-making process
required to adopt the innovation affects the time it takes for laggards to embrace it.
iii) Extent of Marketing Effort: The intensity and effectiveness of marketing efforts directed
towards laggards can impact the speed of adoption. Persuasive marketing strategies tailored to
address their concerns and preferences can accelerate adoption.
iv) Strength of Felt Need: The urgency or perceived necessity for the innovation within the
laggard group influences their willingness to adopt it. Strongly felt needs can expedite the
adoption process.
v) Compatibility with Values: The alignment of the innovation with the values and beliefs of
laggards aects their receptiveness to change. Innovations that resonate with their existing values
are more likely to be adopted faster.
vi) Relative Advantage: The perceived superiority of the innovation compared to existing
alternatives influences the rate of adoption among laggards. Innovations offering clear
advantages are adopted more quickly.
vii) Complexity: The simplicity or complexity of understanding and using the innovation impacts
the time it takes for laggards to adopt it. Simple innovations are adopted faster than complex
ones.
viii) Observability: The visibility of the innovation and its benefits to others affects laggards'
willingness to adopt. Innovations that are easily observable and demonstrate clear benefits are
adopted more quickly.
ix) Ease of Trial: The availability and accessibility of opportunities for laggards to try out the
innovation before committing to full adoption influence their readiness to embrace it.
x) Perceived Risk: The level of perceived risk associated with adopting the innovation affects the
time it takes for laggards to overcome their hesitations. Lower perceived risk facilitates faster
adoption.
6. Risk Aversion:
- Reluctance to take risks
- Low tolerance for ambiguity
i) They read and follow the manufacturers’ warnings about removing products’ tags and back
plates and use products exactly as instructed.
ii) When it comes to medications (including over-the-counter products), they always obey the
instructions on how to take the medicines and carefully read the restrictions and potential side
effects.
iii) They feel reluctant to buy products that they have never used before.

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iv) If products come in assembled or unassembled forms, they buy the assembled versions even
if these are a bit more expensive.
v) They do not improvise when they cook and follow recipes fully.

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WHAT IS CULTURE?
1. Given the broad and pervasive nature of culture, its study generally requires a detailed
examination of the character of the total society, including such factors as language,
knowledge, laws, religions, food customs, music, art, technology, work patterns,
products, and other artifacts that give a society its distinctive flavor.
2. In a sense, culture is a society’s personality. For this reason, it is not easy to define its
boundaries.
3. Culture is the sum total of learned beliefs, values, and customs that serve to direct the
consumer behavior of members of a particular society.
4. Beliefs consist of the very large number of mental or verbal statements that reflect a
person’s particular knowledge and assessment of something.
5. Values also are beliefs, however, values differ from other beliefs because they must meet
the following criteria:
a. They are relatively few in number.
b. They serve as a guide for culturally appropriate behavior.
c. They are enduring or difficult to change.
d. They are not tied to specific objects or situations.
e. They are widely accepted by the members of a society.
6. In a broad sense, both values and beliefs are mental images that affect a wide range of
specific attitudes that, in turn, influence the way a person is likely to respond in a specific
situation.
7. Customs are overt modes of behavior that constitute culturally approved or acceptable
ways of behaving in specific situations.
a. Customs consist of everyday or routine behavior.
b. Although beliefs and values are guides for behavior, customs are usual and
acceptable ways of behaving.
c. An understanding of various cultures can help marketers predict consumer
acceptance of their products.
THE INVISIBLE HAND OF CULTURE
1. The impact of culture is so natural and automatic that its influence on behavior is usually
taken for granted.
2. Often, it is only when we are exposed to people with different cultural values or customs
that we become aware of how culture has molded our own behavior.
3. Consumers both view themselves in the context of their culture and react to their
environment based upon the cultural framework that they bring to that experience. Each
individual perceives the world through his or her own cultural lens.
4. Culture can exist and sometimes reveal itself at different perceived or subjective levels.
5. Those interested in consumer behavior would be most concerned with three “levels of
subjective culture:

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a. Supranational level – reflects the underlying dimensions of culture that impact
multiple cultures or different societies.
b. National level factors – such as shared core values, customs, personalities, and
predisposition factors that tend to capture the essence of the “national character” of
the citizens of a particular country.
c. Group Level factors – are concerned with various subdivisions of a country or
society. They might include subcultures’ difference, and membership and reference
group differences.
CULTURE IS LEARNED
1. At an early age we begin to acquire from our social environment a set of beliefs, values,
and customs that make up our culture.
2. For children, the learning of these acceptable cultural values and customs is reinforced by
the process of playing with their toys.
a. As children play, they act out and rehearse important cultural lessons and situations.
How Culture Is Learned
1. There are three distinct forms of learning:
a. Formal learning—adults and older siblings teach a young family member “how to
behave.”
b. Informal learning—a child learns primarily by imitating the behavior of selected others.
c. Technical learning—teachers instruct the child in an educational environment as to what,
how, and why it should be done.
1. Advertising and marketing communications can influence all three types of cultural learning..
a. It most influences informal learning by providing models of behavior to imitate.
b. This is especially true for visible or conspicuous products that are evaluated in public
settings, where peer influence is likely to play an important role.
3. The repetition of advertising messages creates and reinforces cultural beliefs and values.
4. Cultural meaning moves from the culturally constituted world to consumer goods and from
there to the individual consumer by means of various consumption-related vehicles (e.g.,
advertising or observing or imitating others’ behavior.)
Does Advertising Reflect Culture?
1. Many marketers and advertisers share the view that advertising mirrors the values and
needs of society, and therefore the claims and/or appeal contained in ads reflect the
behavior or aspirations of potential customers.
2. A study conducted in New Zealand came to a different conclusion, stating that many of
the changes in advertising styles or appeal that occur over time may primarily be the
result of “an internally (industry) driven ‘fashion’ and/or ‘investment’ cycle,” rather than
the commonly held notion that “advertising is society driven.”
Enculturation and Acculturation

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a. The learning of one’s own culture is known as enculturation.
b. The learning of a new or foreign culture is known as acculturation.
c. A consumer can be a “foreigner” in his or her own country.
Language and Symbols
1. To acquire a common culture, the members of a society must be able to communicate
with each other through a common language.
a. Without a common language, shared meaning could not exist and true communication
would not take place.
2. Basically, the symbolic nature of human language sets it apart from all other animal
communication.
3. A symbol is used to convey desired product images or characteristics.
4. A symbol is anything that stands for something else.
a. Symbols can be verbal or nonverbal.
b. Symbols may have several, even contradictory, meanings.
c. Marketers use symbols to convey desired product images or characteristics.
5. Price and channels of distribution are also significant symbols of the marketer and the
marketer’s product.
a. The type of store where the product is sold is also an important symbol of quality.

Brands as Symbols
6. Brands are symbols of the popular culture as well as expressions of management or ad
agency strategy.

Ritual
1. A ritual is a type of symbolic activity consisting of a series of steps occurring in a fixed
sequence and repeated over time.
2. Rituals extend over the human life cycle from birth to death.
a. They can be public or private, elaborate, religious, or civil ceremonies, or they
can be mundane.
b. It is often formal and scripted—i.e., proper conduct is prescribed.
3. Important to marketers, rituals tend to be replete with ritual artifacts (products) that are
associated with, or somehow enhance, performance of the ritual.
4. Ritualistic behavior is any behavior that is made into a ritual.

Culture Is Shared
1. To be considered a cultural characteristic, a particular belief, value, or practice must be
shared by a significant portion of the society.
2. Culture is often viewed as group customs that link together members of society.

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3. Various social institutions transmit the elements of culture and make sharing of culture a
reality.
a. Family—the primary agent for enculturation – passing along of basic cultural
beliefs, values, and customs to society’s newest members.
I. A vital part of the enculturation role of the family is the consumer
socialization of the young.
b. Educational institutions—charged with imparting basic learning skills, history,
patriotism, citizenship, and the technical training needed to prepare people for
significant roles within society.
c. Houses of worship—provide religious consciousness, spiritual guidance, and
moral training.
d. Mass media—is a fourth and often overlooked transmitter of culture.
II. It disseminates information about products, ideas, and causes.
III. We have daily exposure to advertising, and through those ads, receive cultural
information.
e. Virtual communities – is a fifth and somewhat more recent social institution for
sharing cultural values.
I. It has been estimated that over 40 million consumers, worldwide,
participate in such communities.

CULTURE IS DYNAMIC
1. Culture continually evolves; therefore, the marketer must carefully monitor the
sociocultural environment in order to market an existing product more effectively or to
develop promising new products.

a. This is not easy because many factors are likely to produce cultural changes
within a given society.
2. The changing nature of culture means that marketers have to consistently reconsider:
a. Why consumers are now doing what they do?
b. Who are the purchasers and the users of their products?
c. When they do their shopping?
d. How and where they can be reached by the media?
e. What new product and service needs are emerging?
3. Marketers who monitor cultural changes often find new opportunities to increase
corporate profitability.

THE MEASUREMENT OF CULTURE

1. There are a variety of measures of culture: projective tests, attitude measurement
techniques, content analysis, consumer fieldwork, and value measurement
instruments.
Content Analysis
1. Content analysis focuses on the content of verbal, written, and pictorial
communications.

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a. It is a relatively objective means for determining social and cultural changes have
occurred in a specific society or as a way of contrasting aspects of two different
societies.
b. It is useful to marketers and public policy makers interested in comparing
advertising claims of competitors within a specific industry, as well as for
evaluating the nature of advertising claims targeted to specific audiences. .

Consumer Fieldwork
1. When examining a specific society, anthropologists frequently immerse
themselves in the environment under study through consumer fieldwork.
2. Researchers are likely to select a small sample of people from a
particular society and carefully observe their behavior.
3. Based on their observations, researchers draw conclusions about the
values, beliefs, and customs of the society under investigation.
4. Field observation has a number of distinct characteristics:
a. It takes place within a natural environment.
b. It is performed sometimes without the subjects’ awareness.
c. It focuses on observation of behavior.
5. Instead of just observing behavior, researchers sometimes become participant-observers.
a. They become active members of the environment they are studying.
6. In addition to fieldwork methods, depth interviews and focus-group sessions are also
quite often employed by marketers to get a first look at an emerging social or cultural
change.
7. In the relatively informal atmosphere of focus group discussions, consumers are apt to
reveal attitudes or behavior that may signal a shift in values that, in turn, may affect the
long-run market acceptance of a product or service.

Value Measurement Survey Instruments

1. Anthropologists have traditionally observed behavior and inferred dominant or
underlying values.
a. Recently there has been a gradual shift to directly measuring values by means of
survey research.
2. Value instruments ask people how they feel about such basic personal and social
concepts as freedom, comfort, national security, and peace.
3. A variety of popular value instruments have been used in research:
a. The Rokeach Value Survey
b. List of Values (Lov)
c. Values and Lifestyles—VALS
4. The Rokeach Value Survey is a self-administered value inventory, which is
divided into two parts.

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a. Part one consists of 18 terminal value items, designed to measure the relative
importance of end-states of existence (personal goals).
b. Part two consists of 18 instrumental value items, designed to measure the basic
approaches an individual might take to reach end-state values.
5. The LOV is a related instrument.
a. Its scale asks consumers to identify their two most important values from a nine-
value list.
Subcultures and Consumer Behavior
Culture can be divided into subcultures. A subculture is an identifiable distinct, cultural group,
which, while following the dominant cultural values of the overall society also has its own belief,
values and customs that set them apart from other members of the same society.
Sub-culture categories are:
 Nationality: Indian, Sri Lanka, Pakistan
 Religion: Hinduism, Islam
 Race: Asian, black, white
 Age: young, middle aged, elderly
 Sex: Male, Female
 Occupation: Farmer, teacher, business
 Social class: upper, middle, lower
 Geographic regions: South India, North-eastern India
Cross Culture
Cross-cultural marketing is 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.”

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