Concept of Status Consumption in Marketing a Specific Brand - Essay Example

?Discuss the concept of status consumption with regard to how a marketer might be able to use status to market a specific brand or product type. Overview There is a popular African saying that the fingers are not the same in length. This proverb seems to suggest that all people cannot be the same in status and social standing. In the view of Maiese (2004), Social status can be understood as the degree of honour or prestige attached to one's position in society.” Whereas there are people with very little degree of honour in society, there are others with extremely high degree of honour in society. People with high degree of honour in society are simply referred to have status. Logically, people with high social status have much recognition than people with low social status. In this direction, there are people who believe that real success in life has to do with the attainment of status. Regrettably though, Waytz (2009) observes that the eagerness to acquire social status leads to aggressive and self-defeating behaviour. However, once achieved, becoming a person of status or class live its ‘benefactors’ with a conventional ways of life. One of these conventional ways of life has to do with what these people with social status consume: thus status consumption. As there become a pedigree of standard placed on the kind of purchases people with status consume, marketing as an industry also become a benefactor if well harnessed with status consumption (Haruna, 2003). What is Status consumption? Schertz et al (2007) argue that status consumption has to do with the “intent of showing off wealth to others when the good is publicly consumed – ranging from applying an expensive lipstick in public to driving an expensive car” (p. 2). Also referred in some quarters as conspicuous consumption, Farrell (2004) notes that the modern society has become a horde for conspicuous consumption with an average cost of over $1,000 per couple spent on limousines, hotel suites, formal wear and so on (Schertz et al 2007, p.2). From the definitions, it can be explained that status consumption has to do with the deliberate attempt to live within certain standards in other to attract public attention. These standards, when influenced by the purchasing of products that are publicly consumed constitute status consumption. As Maiese (2004), notes in Harold (1983, 113), there could be several reasons accounting for why people would consume conspicuously but the most outstanding reason could be due to the fact that “ most societies do have some form of social hierarchy with some people in stronger, more dominant positions, and other people in weaker, lower positions.” So in other for the one-time ‘ordinary’ person to be noticed and accorded necessary social respect, he or she would then resort to status consumption. Again, with the blame still going to society as the cause of status consumption, it would be in place to argue that society expects people occupying certain positions to live within a certain conventional class. To this effect society always want to see people such as politicians, music icons, movie stars and sports personalities own certain property, that are tagged as expensive or of class. These are the major reasons why status consumption continues to exist among both the one-time ‘ordinary’ person and the so-called people with status. There are people who presume that status consumption automatically leads to social status acquisition. This is of course another reason why people resort to status consumption. To such people, there is a level of benefit to them. Nobel Laureate economist, John Harsanyi, said that “apart from economic payoffs, social status seems to be the most important incentive and motivating force of social behavior” (Waytz, 2009). For this reason, people who succumb to status consumption with the hope of gaining social status get a level of psychological satisfaction of the presumed lens with which society sees them. Empirical Scenarios of Status Consumption One group of people who are easily associated with status consumption are movie stars. Movies stars, male and female alike are tagged by society to be people with class. As a matter of fact, society has a special adoration for people who appear on TV. For this reason, very high status premium is placed on movie stars because they are people who are seen on TV and in our movies day in and out. As mentioned already, these movie stars are forced to reply to the tag placed on them by resorting to the use of expensive products and services – and this common with movie stars the world round. So to some extent, these stars cannot be blamed for their conspicuous consumption. There are most movie stars who would remark; “I have to do it to please my fans”. There is a global awareness that movie stars make some really good movie. To this effect, Ladi (2004) blame the status consumption that exist among movies stars to the fact that they have enough to spare. According to Ladi (2004), “most of them now earn good money from their acting career. This is evident in the parade of exotic cars most of them now use.” A proof of the empirical nature of status consumption is seen in the different report to that effect that goes on in the media the world over. For example the India Site (2011) reports of Dalits, whose lifestyle suddenly changed to conform to status consumption, barely after featuring in some movies. Smith notes that “In the Indian caste system, a dalit is someone who is without caste. Some of these are outcasts. ” According to the site, “There have been major changes in the grooming, eating and ceremonial consumption patterns of Dalits, signalling their higher social status by adopting higher status consumption patterns.” Status consumption among movies stars is therefore worldwide. Finally, the practice of status consumption among movie stars may be attributed to unofficial rivalry and competition among them. Unofficial is a preferred word in this contest because most often than not, movie stars wake up to find both the print and electronic media comparing them with others and deciding whose car or dress or wrist watch is the best. Such situations leave most movie stars with very little to do than to ‘consume to impress’ – after all, the more often the media say you are ‘hot’, the brighter your chances of landing on stage contracts (McMillan, 2009). Maximizing Status Consumption to Market a Products The fact that status consumption will continue to exist means that marketers will continue to have an advantage. But this advantage will be short-lived if a marketer is not up to date with modern theories, models and methods of marketing. A very good knowledge of modern marketing models, theories and methods helps one in developing a comprehensive marketing strategy and plan (Cornell, 2008). As noted by Xomba (2007), “For successful business best marketing strategy must be adopted.” In this regard, the writer seeks to examine consumer behaviour as a marketing knowledge or theory, needed to be possessed by a marketer to maximize status consumption. This is because both consumer behaviour and status consumption has to do with the psychology of people. According to Anissimov (2011), psychology has to do with “different disciplines within this field study why people behave, think, and feel the way they do”. Consumer behaviour is considered to deal with the psychology of people because it is considered as the psychology of marketing (Perner, 2010). Status consumption also deals with the psychology of people because from the explanation given earlier, it concerns how people think about themselves and society. Tatum (2011) elucidates that “consumer behaviour consists of the actions that consumers take in regard to making decisions about purchasing various goods and services”. In this instance, movie stars take into consideration, the impression their dressing makes on their fans and the media. (Perner, 2010) reiterates that “the study of consumers helps firms and organizations improve their marketing strategies”. This means that even before putting any strategies in place, a good understanding of what movie stars would want to wear at what time and to what occasion or function is the first step a fashion designer can take to market the clothing he or she makes. On the consumer behaviour levels propounded by Mason (2010), he describes this as consumer needs. To most movie stars, once they are off-stage, there is nothing casual as far as dressing is concerned. This is because they are never aware when the camera may be catching them and the story that shall accompany. Tucker (2010) confirms this by saying “when celebrities leave home they never know who they will see or who will be poised to take their photo, so they always go out looking their best.” This means that the first point a fashion designer who wants to market dresses to movie stars should focus on making dresses that are not casual wears. This would meet the exact consumer needs of status consumers under the principle of consumer behaviour. The next consideration and actually the core aspect of status consumption as far as fashion among movie stars are concerned is that movie would want to be in expensive dresses and not cheap and inferior once. They would do this to reflect the definition of status consumption which is given by Schertz et al (2007) as the “intent of showing off wealth to others when the good is publicly consumed – ranging from applying an expensive lipstick in public to driving an expensive car” (p. 2). In advanced countries such as United States, Germany, Australia and Britain, how much actors or actresses get for their roles in movies are open to the public via entertainment magazines, websites and TV shows. Shukla (2010) for instances claims how much highly paid movie stars take; quoting that Johnny Depp earned $75m for 2010. Once these actors and actresses know that the public know how much they are taking, they are forced to live lifestyles that portray or show-off their wealth and the simplest way most of them do this is by wearing expensive clothing whose prices may also be known. Fashion designers with the intension of maximizing the status consumption nature of movie stars must resort to the use of expensive materials that render cloths every expensive. For a fashion designer to make expensive clothes for movie stars promotes marketing and increases earnings with movie. Again, for a marketer, and in this case a fashion designer to fully take advantage of the status consumption that goes on among movie stars, he or she must understand the fact that movie stars would want to be up to date with their clothing. This thought can be linked to purchase patterns of consumer behaviour as described in Mason’s (2010) level of consumer behaviour. Under purchase patterns, Mason notes that consumers would want to change their trend of purchase to meet current situations. According to The People History (2004), the pattern of fashion has been changing decade after decade since the 1920s. even though the journal admits that “some fashions are classic, meaning that they stand the test of time and may never “go out of style””, it is quick to add that some clothes however “just “fads”, meaning that they are only in style for a short season and then no one seems to want to wear those certain clothing items any more.” As public figures, movie stars would want to be the least said of that their style of fashion is outmoded. For this reason, movie stars go every extent to spend even the last piece of their earnings to ensure that they are also referred to as ‘modern’. So as the quest to be modern and up-to-date exists among movie stars, the marketer who is into clothing must see to it that the kind of clothing produced are abreast with time. Without this there are chances that no movie star who is ready to spend on clothing to show off would ever patronize such a marketer’s clothing. Having realized the criteria a movie star who is ready to spend conspicuously would want to spend his clothing on, the marketer has yet another responsibility. In the concept of consumer behaviour, Mason (2010) describes this as ‘influencing customer behaviour’ and actually argues that this is more of a strategy than a responsibility. In the view of Mason, “if marketers can convince consumers that they need a product or service for some "legitimate" reason, customers will be more likely to make a purchase.” This means that marketers, who may be dealing in clothing for movie stars must have publicity medium and programs that explain to movie stars why they need to purchase their products. In this kind of explanation, it is important to respect the consumer by letting him or her know why it is prudent for him or her to purchase the product. The marketers should not have a preconceived idea that the movie stars just want to spend money and so no matter how raw the explanation and publicity is, they would patronise their products. Finally, it is important for fashion designers and marketers to realise that once they play their roles well in getting movie stars to patronise their products, there would be a perpetual effect in a positive sense towards their trade. One of such effects is the fact that fans and idols of the movie stars would see the products on their icons and would want to be in something of the same kind. This way, marketers would have to produce replica clothing of various movie stars – an action that boosts the fashion industry. Tucker (2010) refers to this phenomenon as celebrity clothing phenomenon. So as much as the market may be taping the status consumption behaviour of movie stars, he or she would be creating more and more people out there who may also fall in the queue of status consumers and thereby use status in marketing in a positive manner. Conclusion Most movie stars fall in the category of status consumers. Most of these stars spend on clothing to show off their wealth and popularity. The choice of clothing should be very integral for them because as the saying goes, “you are addressed by how you are dressed.” Again, clothes are easily noticed because apart from ones skin, the largest layer on the body is cloths. But the fact that movie stars want to spend on clothing to show off does not mean that they would welcome just any clothing. They have religious criteria for selecting their choice of clothing, which has been identified as how fashionable, costly and modern a piece of clothing is. Once this religious routine is followed, Perner’s (2010) definition of consumer behaviour being “the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society” become fulfilled because in our case, the process of selection, security, usage and disposal talked about by Perner (2010) would be linked to the three criteria discussed in this essay. Without a marketer’s ability to follow the criteria, it would be extremely difficult to use status to market clothing to movie stars REFERNCES Anissimov M (2011) What is Pschology? Retrieved March 19 2011 from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-psychology.htm Cornell I.K , (2008). Taking Marketing a Step Further. London: Research Fellow Publication Farrell, J. (2004). Prom 2004. Clergy Journal, 7(80), 10. Harold K. 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