SUBCULTURE AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

 SUBCULTURE AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

MBA / BBA MARKETING MANAGEMENT 

                                QUESTION PAPER OCTOBER 2019    

                PUNE UNIVERSITY 

Sub-culture categories

o Nationality

o Religion

o Race

o Age

o Sex

o Occupation

o Social class

o Geographic regions

Regional, Ethnic, and Religious

Influences

• Regional Influences

• Ethnic Influences

• Religious Influences

Age, Gender, and Household

Influences

• How Age Affects Consumer Behavior

• How Gender Affects Consumer Behavior

• How the Household Influences Consumer

Behavior

• Roles That Household Members Play

Psychographics: Values,

Personality, and Lifestyles

• Values

• Personality

• Lifestyles

• Psychographics: Combining Values,

Personality, and Lifestyles

  These sub cultural divisions are based on a variety of sociocultural

and demographic variables such as nationality, religion,

geographic locality, race, age, sex, and even working status

 Subcultures

Culture can be divided into subcultures:

A sub-culture 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

 Let us now look at some of these aspects of subculture in

greater details.

2. Regional, Ethnic, and Religious Influences on

Consumer Behavior

I. Regional Influences

A. Regions within the Country

B. Regions Across the World

II. Ethnic Influences

A. Ethnic Groups Within the Country

B. Multicultural Marketing

C. Ethnic Groups Around the World

III. Religious Influences

The three major aspects of culture that have important effects

on consumer behavior are regional, ethnic, and religious

differences. Firstly, consumption patterns may differ in various

regions of India and the world, and marketing strategy can

sometimes be tailored specifically to these regions.

Secondly, our country has a number of different ethnic groups,

and population trends will dramatically alter the demographic

profile of the country in the next 50 years. Ethnicity

Ethnic origin refers to the genetic heritage group a person is

born in

 Age-

 Age has a major influence on customer behaviour

· Chronological versus psychological age.

· Needs and wants vary with age

· Lifetime revenue: estimated revenue over a customer’s

lifetime.

· Population age changes imply major shifts in markets and

values/demand

· E.g. ageing baby boomers.

Lets look at the four major age groups. Teens, who need to

establish an identity, are the consumers of tomorrow and have

an increasing influence on family decisions. The somewhat

disillusioned Generation X consists of smart and cynical

consumers who can easily see through obvious marketing

attempts. Baby boomers grew up in a very dynamic and fastchanging

world, and this has affected their values for

individualism and freedom. The 50 and older segment can be

divided into two groups-the young again and the gray market.

Neither group likes to be thought of as old.

 Gender

The affect of gender differences on consumer behavior is

examined next. Sex roles are changing. Women are becoming

more professional and independent, and men are becoming

more sensitive and caring. Also, men and women can differ in

terms of traits, information processing, decision styles, and

consumption patterns. Gender

 The proportion of nontraditional households has increased

due to factors such as

(1) later marriages,

(2) Cohabitation,

(3) Dual-career families,

(4) Increased divorce, and

(5) Fewer children.

 Subcultures

A sub-culture 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.

 A subculture is a group of people who share a set of secondary values, such as environmentalists. Many factors can place an individual in one or several subcultures. ... Belief systems – People with shared beliefs may create a subculture, such as a religious group or political party. 

how households play a key role in

consumer behavior.

The proportion of nontraditional households has increased

due to factors such as

(1) later marriages,

(2) Cohabitation,

(3) Dual-career families,

(4) Increased divorce, and

(5) Fewer children.

Households also exert an important influence on acquisition

and consumption patterns. First, household members can play

different roles in the decision process (gatekeeper, influencer,

decider, buyer, and user). Second, husbands and wives vary in

their influence in the decision process, depending on the

situation-husband-dominant, wife-dominant, autonomic, or

syncretic 

Values

Values are enduring beliefs about things that are important. They are

learned through the processes of socialization and acculturation.

Our values exist in an organized value system, with some values

being viewed as more important than others. Some are regarded

as terminal values and reflect desired end states that guide

behavior across many different situations. Instrumental values are

those needed to achieve these desired end states. Domain-specific

values are those that are relevant within a given sphere of

activity. Western cultures tend to place a relatively high value on

material goods, youth, the home, family and children, work and

play, health, hedonism, and technology.

Marketers use tools like value segmentation to identify consumer

groups with common values. Three methods for

identifying value-based segments are discussed: inferring values

based on the cultural milieu of the group, the means-end chain

analysis, and questionnaires like the Rokeach Value Survey and

List of Values.

Personality

Personality consists of the distinctive patterns of behaviors,

tendencies, qualities, and personal dispositions that make

people different from one another. Approaches to the study of

personality include

(1) The psychoanalytic approach, which sees personality arising

from unconscious internal struggles within the mind at key

stages of development;

(2) Trait theories, which attempt to identify a set of personality

characteristics that describe and differentiate individuals,

such as introversion, extroversion, and stability;

(3) Phenomenological approaches, which propose that

personality is shaped by an individual’s interpretation of

life events

(4) Social-psychological theories, which focus on how

individuals act in social situations (e.g., compliant,

detached, or aggressive); and

(5) Behavioral approaches, which view an individual’s

personality in terms of past rewards and punishments.