In What Ways Do Social Class and Cultural Capital Have an Impact on Consumer Behavior - Essay Example

? In what ways does “social and cultural capital” have an impact on consumer behaviour? BY YOU YOUR SCHOOL INFO HERE HERE In what ways does “social class and cultural capital” have an impact on consumer behaviour? Introduction Social class and cultural capital play a tremendous role in consumer behaviour, often dictating volume of purchases and the variety of purchases that an individual in society determines is acceptable to fulfil their psychological and lifestyle needs. Social class is defined by the economic resources available to the individual, their educational status, and their occupations. These three factors are deemed valued resources which assist in making distinctions between one member of society and another. It is a form of social stratification which builds a hierarchy where certain goods, such as luxury goods compared to convenience goods, are utilised to make comparisons between social class. Somewhat a form of object worship, some consumers in society in higher social classes, as one example, tend to prefer the outward presentation of consumed products to reflect their social standing. Cultural capital is a bit different than social class, consisting of the values, beliefs and individual tastes that provide differentiation between one member of society and another. Oftentimes, cultural capital is not necessarily determined by social class. It is important, especially for companies attempting to market their products, to understand the social class characteristics and cultural capital of segmented members of society in order to create relevant communications and promotions that reflect these values and social hierarchies. Why is this? Oftentimes, it is the psychological premises pre-existing within consumers that determine their willingness to make purchases of generic or luxury products and marketers must align their selling practices with these values and beliefs. To better understand the level to which social class and cultural capital impact consumer behaviour, the project explores the concept of conspicuous consumption, status consumption, and also the imperatives of service quality in relation to consumption behaviour. It can be reasonably concluded that there are many disparities between social class and cultural capital, as well as changing attitudes and values associated with reference groups and their role in self-assessment that make it difficult to classify, concretely, the correlative relationship between social class and cultural capital. However, both influence consumption behaviour in their own distinct fashion. Social class and the relationship to consumption behaviour In the United Kingdom, there are five distinct social classes that are determined by occupation and income resource availability. There is the lower class which is on the lowest echelon in the social hierarchy, consisting generally of individuals making ?15,000 annually and often holding minimal educational credentials. This follows with a working class that is slightly more resource-rich than the working class, a lower middle class segment, and an upper middle class that generally holds higher-paying administrative and managerial jobs at approximately ?62,000 annually for the single household. Followed with this is an upper class that maintains high capital resources and generally a substantial educational background. Why is understanding the social hierarchy between classes important in understanding consumption behaviour? Henry (2005) performed a primary research study that involved participants from the working class and different levels of the middle class to determine what factors determined their unique or collective consumption behaviours. Henry (2005) hypothesized that class status would determine empowerment or disempowerment in consumption practices that would be impacted by economic factors and psychological impressions carried by the different classes. The findings of the study indicated that those in the working class felt highly disempowered, believing themselves to be in a disadvantaged position over other members of society with higher resources. Participants from the working class viewed the future as being non-opportunistic and threatening in relation to how these participants built their own self-perceptions (Henry 2005). Participants from the middle class, however, found much more opportunity for the future as it relates to products and services consumption with much less subtlety in purchase behaviour than their working class counterparts. What does this all mean when attempting to understand the role of social class in consumption behaviour? Working class individuals recognise that they have legitimate constraints that come from minimal education and income availability that builds a sort of negative self-concept about their role in the social hierarchy. Having had experience with the social stratification that exists in UK culture, they are able to draw conclusions about their role in society that impacts their psychological conditioning. Working class individuals are not able to purchase products that serve as objects which reflect a higher echelon of social standing, which creates negative self-perceptions about their ability to advance within the social systems that determine their worth and value to broader society. Middle class consumers, however, have a much brighter outlook about their ability to advance higher in the social stratification hierarchies which is supported by a better quality of lifestyle achievable through consumption of more quality or higher cost goods and services. Therefore, it should be recognised that even though there are obvious constraints that are imposed by income and educational availability between all different classes, the largest impact of these constraints is a negative psychological outlook both about their roles in society and their ability to procure products that will assist in improving lifestyle quality. Eng and Bogaert (2010) iterate that many middle class consumers will purposefully attempt a more visible methodology of consumption, buying products that will assist them in presenting an outward social presentation that affirms or improves their social standing. Known as conspicuous consumption, some middle class consumers actively purchase products that can be utilised as objects representative of their determination to advance along the social stratification hierarchy. This is a common phenomenon with lower class members of society, where over-consumption of luxury products, despite limited financial resource availability, becomes an effort to improve one’s social standing (Eng and Bogaert 2010). Therefore, there is a strong correlation between the social stratification system in the UK (and in other countries as well) and how society views the relevancy and value of different classes compared to upper class citizens. Individuals in society understand that they are being judged against certain occupational, economic and educational criteria and will be deemed by those with higher resources (the upper class and upper middle class) as being less important within a social framework. For some, the only viable methodology of improving their social standing, in the face of limited resources, is to expand their luxury purchases (even if not generally affordable) to conspicuously indicate that they have intentions of advancing into a higher tier within the social order. This is why it is important to understand how social class impacts consumption behaviour. Marketers that are attempting to identify new markets for luxury products, as one example, have little choice but to target middle class consumers when there are not enough buyers within the upper class brackets to ensure profitability. Marketers must understand what drives the psychological mechanisms behind different classes that would impel them to over-consume beyond their limited or moderate financial resources in order to meet sales and revenues expectations. The notion that lower class individuals will actively deplete some of their own financial resources in order to, essentially, compete against higher resource individuals in society is critical in developing appropriate integrated marketing communications and promotions that will provide the incentives for conspicuous consumption to occur. O’Cass and McEwen (2004) support this notion that conspicuous consumption is a legitimate phenomenon in virtually (if not all) social classes. Consumption, according to these authors, occurs oftentimes as the by-product of attempting to fulfil a psychological need referred to, again, as conspicuous consumption. Whereas some in society purchase luxury goods solely as a means of rewarding themselves for a particular accomplishment or advancement within the social stratification system, many others in society make purchases of goods and services as a means of publicly illustrating their more significant social standing or desire to achieve this goal. Closely linked to conspicuous consumption is status consumption, defined by O’Cass and Frost (2002, p.68) as “the process of gaining social prestige from the acquisition and consumption of goods believed by the individual to be considered higher in status according to others in society”. Thus, again, the notion of social status and one’s recognition of their place within the social order becomes a powerful psychological motivator that determines the nature by which an individual consumes products. A researcher must assume that there are many individuals in society that are either uncomfortable or dissatisfied with their current role in society (prominent with lower class citizens) and seek consumption of products as a means of breaking free from the stereotypes and prejudices that are legitimately or perceived to be held against them for their lower resource availability. Whether genuine or perceived, there are lingering cognitive dissonances that occur for individuals that make comparisons between themselves and others in society. This is when two distinct cognitions are in direct opposition with one another (Bose and Sarker 2012). In marketing theory, cognitive dissonance occurs when a value or belief is directly at odds with another cognition, conflicting the process of gaining market attention and creating incentives to consume marketed products (Bose and Sarker 2012). In the case of social status creating psychological disturbances, the individual is believing that they have value as a member of society (one cognition), whilst at the same time allowing themselves to become disturbed by the belief that their overall value is being chastised by members with higher resources in higher classes (the second cognition). When both cognitions are at odds with one another, it becomes quite difficult for the marketer to establish communications and promotions that will remove this dissonance and get the individual focused on a single thought or value that incentivizes purchases of products. Therefore, it should be established that social class maintains many psychologically-based conflicts within members of society that are in lower classes in society that deeply impacts the nature by which the individual consumes goods. Psychological and marketing theorists inform society that there is a measurable and understood phenomenon in which an individual compares themselves to others in society that they deem credible, powerful or interesting known as reference group comparisons (Boone and Kurtz 2007). Referencing again the work of Henry (2005) which indicated a stark disparity between empowerment and disempowerment with participants of varying class levels in society, there are many opportunities for marketers to establish meaningful communications targeting these psychological issues in order to get new markets to purchase luxury products (even if they are not affordable). Society and researchers understand rather commonly that companies attempting to market goods and services seek new market opportunities in order to grow or prevent declines of a product along the product life cycle. Understanding that members in society in lower classes actively look to higher resource consumers in the upper middle class or upper class as reference groups maintains numerous opportunities to ensure a broader segment of target consumers that can be lured to purchase products. The tangible or perceived realities of the social stratification system and its long-term impact on reference group assessments with lower class members of society becomes a psychological construct that need be addressed by companies looking to sell goods that can absolutely promote a desire for conspicuous consumption. In this event, social stratification and one’s role within the social framework serves as a catalyst for consumption behaviour that is further reinforced by marketing communications and promotions that ultimately lead to a desire within the individual to seek status or conspicuous consumption to justify their identities in the social order. Cultural capital and consumption behaviour Cultural capital is quite different from the social class dimensions described earlier in the project. Cultural capital is a set of enduring values, beliefs, and tastes that make up one’s identity in society. Individuals in society that maintain similar economic capital may very well have different cultural capital, individualized values and beliefs or those that are established by a collectivist mentality that determine what is right or wrong, or good and distasteful within a specific group or subculture. Hence, it is difficult to concretely state how cultural capital impacts consumption behaviour, as there simply is not enough research-supported literature that addresses a finite answer about cultural capital as a predictable determinant of consumption behaviour. Holt (1988) absolutely reinforces this with results of a study involving research using 50 participants and an interview methodology. The findings illustrated significant disparities in consumption behaviours and consumption beliefs related to the values and beliefs and consumers held within their social or lifestyle frameworks. The relationship, then, between cultural capital and consumption behaviour is too diverse to concretely understand, which is why new and contemporary models of segmentation in marketing are being developed. For instance, in the United States, the VALS 2 Framework attempts to isolate eight different market characteristics according to their own values, beliefs and lifestyles in order to create a template by which to target advertising and integrated marketing communications. For instance, the VALS 2 diagram illustrates a striver group, one with limited resources that genuinely wants to be considered more important in the social environment. Yet another market is a high resource market in this diagram, the innovator group, one with high self-esteem and appreciate upscale, technologically-advanced and certain niche products that are cultivated for their sophisticated tastes. In this sense, cultural capital is so difficult to determine by research practitioners and its relationship to consumption behaviour that marketers are now forced to make models that allow for segmentation in an effort to understand how tastes, values and beliefs drive decision-making. However, taking into consideration that the striver group genuinely wants to improve their social position, it again goes back to the influence of the social stratification system as the largest predictor of consumption behaviour. One should take into consideration the work of Boulding et al.(1993) that emphasise a direct correlation between perceptions of total service quality and willingness to recommend products to others and make future purchases. Though these researchers do not iterate specific social classes that are utilised in the study (one should assume largely middle class consumers), for some markets service quality and level of respect achieved through the consumption or shopping experience strongly dictates their willingness to become attached or loyal to a brand and inform others in their reference groups about their experiences. Referring to the social class phenomenon, some members of differing social classes would place much less emphasis on the service encounter as a determinant of purchasing behaviour and would consider price as the major factor for repurchase intention (especially with lower class buyers). It is simply not possible to categorise such a high disparity of values and beliefs to concretely establish a direct correlation between cultural capital and a singular style of consumption that can be predicted and charted statistically. However, the advancement of new marketing models such as VALS 2 absolutely indicate that there is some relationship between cultural capital and certain segments’ consumption behaviours which requires further research to create a definitive model of the correlation between the two dimensions. Conclusion It is abundantly clear that social class and the psychological influencers associated with one’s role in the social stratification framework dictate consumption behaviours. Upper class members of society often serve as the reference group by which lower class members in society compare themselves, creating a sense of empowerment or disempowerment depending on the level by which they believe prejudice or bias is occurring. It would be unrealistic to assume that all members of society in lower class brackets are concerned psychologically about their place in society and would be willing to make subtle purchases without over-consumption of luxury products to build a sense of higher-order social identity. However, the research provided in this project clearly showed a correlation between social status and consumption behaviour, especially related to status and conspicuous consumption practices. There are just too many complexities associated with cultural capital and its predictable role for some market segments in determining a model by which to forecast how a consumer will decide to make consumption decisions. There should be more research studies conducted on this phenomenon, utilising a sampling method that identifies specific social classes and measures each social class values, beliefs and tastes. Utilising a very large group of participants (approximately 5,000 to 8,000), then statistical correlations between identified values and beliefs could be identified to illustrate whether it is specific cultural capital elements (distinct from social class) that determine consumption behaviour or whether it is just to disparate to make any reasonable conclusions about cultural capital’s relationship to consumption. In any event, social class is a major predictor of purchasing behaviour and clearly marketers have ample opportunities to exploit the complex (yet predictable) phenomenon of reference group self-comparisons as a means of gaining better profitability and revenue growth. Clearly, the lower class segment maintains many attitudes and self-perceptions that drive them to seek conspicuous consumption when feasible with resource availability to make themselves feel more welcome within the social stratification framework. Whether these biases against lower class citizens actually exist with upper class citizens is not fully known (or supported by this research project), however the complex and rather predictable connections between status and conspicuous consumption for lower class consumers is often at the heart of contemporary advertising philosophy and direction. Social class absolutely impacts consumption behaviours and it is likely this can be charted statistically to help improve marketer understanding to incentivise a variety of higher-priced products aligned with the psycho-social desire to improve one’s image in the social order. References Boone, L. and Kurtz, D. (2007). Contemporary Marketing, 12th ed. UK: Thompson South-Western. Bose, T.K. and Sarker, S. (2012). Cognitive dissonance affecting consumer buying decision-making: a study based on Khulna Metropolitan area, Journal of Management Research, 4(3), p.191. Boulding, W., Kalara, A., Staelin, R. and Zeithaml, V.A. (1993). A dynamic process model of service quality: From expectations to behavioural intentions, Journal of Marketing Research, 30(1), pp.7-27. Eng, T. and Bogaert, J. (2010). Psychological and Cultural Insights into Consumption of Luxury Western Brands in India, Journal of Customer Behaviour, 9(1), pp. 55-75. Henry, P. (2005). Social Class, Market Situation and Consumers ‘Metaphors of (Dis)empowerment’, Journal of Consumer Research, March, pp. 766-778. Holt, D.B. (1998). Does cultural capital structure American consumption, Journal of Consumer Research, 25(1), pp. 1-25. O’Cass, A. and Frost, H. (2002). Status brands: examining the effects of non-product-related brand associations on status and conspicuous consumption, Journal of Product & Brand Management, 11(2), pp.67-88. O’Cass, A. and McEwen, H. (2004). Exploring consumer status and conspicuous consumption, Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 4(1), pp.25-39. Read More