How Important to Understand Culture in Marketing - Example

Running Header: Class and Culture Class and Culture Author’s Name Instructor’s Name Course Number Date of Submission “In order to target consumer culture(s), marketers need to understand class”. Introduction In marketing, culture is considered a fundamental determinant of the consumer behaviour with research indicating that culture, sub-culture and social class as of particular importance in influencing consumer buying behaviour. Different communities have different consumer cultures which differ in demographics, language, non-verbal communication as well as values among other factors (Lott, 2002). As such, consumer behaviour change dramatically across differing cultures depending on their knowledge, beliefs, morals, customs and similar capabilities and habits that people acquire as society members. Culture being a comprehensive concept includes almost all that influences the consumer thought process and behaviour. It influences preferences and decision making process. In a certain culture, different sub cultures exist which equally determine the consumer behaviour in the culture (Navarro, 2006). Subcultures may be determined by such factors as language and class among other factors. Of particular interest is how different cultures view class. In many cultures, people of high social standing or the upper class are viewed with utmost respect. In a bid to show class, the upper class will for instance lead a luxurious life while those of the lower class will consume just the basic needs. Thus, although two people may belong to the same culture, their buying behaviour may greatly differ depending on their respective class. This means that in order to target consumer culture(s), markets need to understand class. This essay aims at explaining why marketers need to understand class in order to target class. Culture influences consumer behaviour by setting restrictions within which the people in the culture think, feel and act in a manner that is consistent to that of the other members of the same culture since culture makes it seem natural to behave in such a manner. This happens through cultural values which affect the norms that specify an acceptable range of responses to specific situations. Thus, it is possible to target consumer culture sine values inherited by the consumers differ from one culture to the other (Veneklasen and Miller, 2002). The differing cultural values among customers for instance dictate how different customers will react towards certain goods, advertising, and preferred information sources. Attitudes towards work and leisure will also differ from one culture to the other and this affects customers’ lifestyle and hence demand for leisure activities. Even within a certain culture, subcultures exist based on class and this is a major determinant of consumer behaviour. For instance, though a person from a person from a Muslim, Hindu or Christian culture will generally observe the dictates of their culture in deciding what to consume, his or her class will determine what he/she consumes within that culture. For instance if a culture does allow consumption of Pork, everyone within that culture may consume pork. However, class will dictate what kind of pock an individual within that culture consumes. While a person of high social standing or the upper class will may only choose to consume processed pork in line with his status, the one from middle class may choose to consume unprocessed one since he/she may not afford the processed one (Lee, 2000). As such, class is an important factor to consider when marketers attempt to target consumer culture as it will be an indication of how consumer behaviour within that culture will change depending on the various classes within that culture. Thus, markets can be able to tailor make their offerings to suit differing class tastes and preferences within the culture. Different cultures are characterized by differing levels of social stratification where they organize themselves in a hierarchy of levels ion the basis of various dimensions including power, wealth, education, social status, prestige of one’s career, social standing among other factors. The modern social classes are clustered along educational attainment, wealth and occupational prestige. Thus, social class is a cultural phenomenon that has to be considered by marketers seem to target culture. Class causes variation in values, beliefs and practices within the society which is thought to share a single homogeneous culture thus influencing consumer behaviour across differing social classes within the culture (Schor and Holt, 2000). Class can be defined as what people do day to day in the context of the situations they find themselves in. the situations result from how the society maintains itself through production of goods and services, how it produces the goods and how it consumes them and this is part of culture. People from different social classes within the same culture thus have differing ideologies concerning life since they live different kinds of lives thus influencing their consumer behaviour. This is because they face differing situational contingencies as they participate in differing parts of the ecosystem. They participate in differing infrastructures as they are involved in different activities for producing goods and services to make a living. Social classes are people that share differing versions of the culture’s ideology thus forming a sub-culture within the culture. They differ in values and beliefs about how to live, they practice different variants of the same religions and have differing political and social attitudes and hence their consumer behaviour also differ greatly. It is worth noting that these class specific ideologies are not learnt through experience but are culturally passed down over generations in families and communities through socialization. If I am born in a certain social class within a certain culture, the sub-culture adopted by the social class is the culture I will adopt and hence my consumption habits will be dictated by the ideals of the social class (Holt, 1998). Thus, it is important for marketers to understand class in their attempt to target consumer(s) culture. The need to understand class in targeting consumer culture could be explained further through the Veblen’s theory of conspicuous consumption. The theory is based on the cultural evolution of a leisure class whose members are not required to work but appropriate a surplus produced by those who work. Once the societies produce surplus, the relationship between private property and status is given more importance. Thus, it becomes more indispensable to accumulate and to acquire property in a bid to retain one’s status. A hierarchy thus emerges with some people owning property while others do not with those who own property being described as having status and those who don’t being described as lacking status. The theory postulates that the key to the transformation of wealth into social status is the social performance of members of the leisure class. In this regard, status derives from how the society views an individual position in the society and for the position to be established, one has to display wealth. According to the theory, wealth can be displayed through extensive leisure activities and through lavish expenditure on consumption and services (Savage et al, 2013). The theory argues that since societies are more mobile today, wealth is displayed through consumption of goods as opposed to through leisure. Though the leisure classes may not exist today, this theory is a clear indication of what happens in different cultures. The top class and the middle class have consumption habits that completely differ from those of lower classes with their consumption habits being more luxurious than those exhibited by the lower class. In many cultures, societies still assign status based on a person’s class which in turn determine the person’s consumption habits. Those of top and middle class will consume high quality products that are expensively priced while those of low class may not consume some goods and services for they deem them expensive and hence they only consume what they deem basic wants. Even in basic consumption, consumer behaviour within different cultures will differ depending on a person’s class with those of higher class consuming more which may also be of higher quality than what those considered to be of lower classes consume (Smith, 2014). Thus, in targeting consumer culture, consumers may need to know what social classes exist within the cultures as well as how the consumption behaviour change across the classes whether vertically or horizontally so that they can tailor make their offerings on this basis. Bourdieu (1986) sees class from the concept of capital which he describes as social cultural or symbolic capital. He states that the forms of capital can be accumulated and transferred from one arena to another and that the means by which it is created or transferred from other forms of capital plays a central role in societal power relations since this provides the means for non-economic form of domination and hierarchy as classes distinguish themselves through taste (Warde, 2005). He studies the French society and shows how the social order is progressively inscribed in people’s minds through cultural products including educational systems, values, judgements, language, methods of classification and daily activities leading to unconscious acceptance of social differences and hierarchies to a sense of one’s place and to behaviour of self-exclusion. Class within a certain culture will thus determine taste and hence consumer behaviour. Bourdieu (1986) argues that consumer tastes are socially conditioned and the objects of consumer choice reflect a symbolic hierarchy which is determined and maintained by the socially dominant order so as to enforce their distinction or distance from other societal classes. Thus, taste is seen as a social weapon which defines and marks of the high from the low, the profane from the sacred and the legitimate from the illegitimate as far as consumption is concerned (Bourdieu, 1985). It is also worth noting that one’s occupation and hence income is also a vital determinant of social class within different cultures with those with more disposable income being awarded higher social class while those with less income being considered to be of lower social class. In addition, those of higher social classes are able to own more property than those of lower. Whether they own the property as a way of expressing status or whether the property is what gives them the status, it is clear that class influence their consumer behaviour given that many cultures glorify higher classes and hence the need to spend more in a bid to rhyme with one’s status in the society (Longhurst and Savage, 1996). In this way, class will determine consumption behaviour as those in higher classes are able to spend more and buy even expensive things as compared to those of lower classes. As stated above, social class is a sub culture with a system of behavior, a set of values and a way of life. Class serves to adapt people to the lifestyle they lead and hence their consumer behaviour. Growing up in a social class prepares one to assume the class status (Trigg, 2001). The passing of sub-cultural patterns of behaviour and related values and norms to successful generations takes place through socialization as stated above. Though there are some overlapping and exceptions amongst various cultural classes, it is true that the average middle class person has socialization that is totally different from that of an average lower-class individual. People from middle class in any culture will for instance be surrounded by educated people who are ambitious and who always go to work and who work hard to achieve success. Their consumption will also be of superior products and will follow the footsteps of their elders, friends and acquaintances in ensuring they achieve something in life (Negus, 2002). Their consumption habits will also be dictated by their class on the other hand, those of lower class will scarcely be educated and will lead low quality of life just as their elders. Thus, even their consumption habits will reflect their class since even affording money to afford a middle class level of consumption will be hard (Camic, 1986). Thus, if a marketer does not understand these class differences in targeting customer culture, they will fail to tailor make their products to fit the various classes within the culture which may lead to strategy failure. Conclusion This paper has conducted a broad analysis of the reasons why marketers need to understand class if they are to correctly target consumer culture. Class has been described as a subculture within a culture with people from the same class say middle class portraying completely different consumer behaviour from those of lower classes. Although people may belong to the same cultures, their social class may make them to do different things. For instance they may worship differently, they may acquire different types of properties while their income status may make a great difference as to what they are able to afford and what they cannot afford. People from a certain class tend to associate with people of the same class and hence they acquire habits that differ from those of another class. Furthermore, it has been argued that children born in a certain class will in no doubt acquire consumption habits that fit the status dictated by that class. As such, it is important that the marketer understands the various classes that exist in the cultures they want to adopt so that the products and services are tailor made to fit the tastes and preferences in those classes. Thus, it is true that “in order to target consumer(s) culture, marketers need to understand class”. References: Lott, B2002, Cognitive and behavioral distancing from the poor: American Psychologist, vol. 57, no. 2, pp. 100-110. Bourdieu, P1986, The forms of capital. Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of capital. J.G Richardson. New York, Greenwood Press. 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