Consumer Behavior
Social Categories
aggregates of persons in a society with a common characteristics demographically, plus socioeconomically, psychologically, and/or behaviorally
Post-parenthood Stage
all kids have flown the coop
Social Category
an aggregate grouping within society whose members have a commonality demographically plus psychographically and/or behaviorally.
Anticipatory Aspiration Group
an aspiration group that a person hopes and expects to join
Informal Legitimate Power
appeal to or create social standards
Influencers
individuals whose opinions are sought concerning criteria and which products or brands most likely to fit those criteria
Social Agents
individuals, groups, or organizations that can affect an individual's or social group members' thinking, attitudes, and/or behaviors
Referent Power
induce adoption or imitation of the referent's attitudes and/or behaviors by getting people to either identify with or emulate the social agent
Sociocultural Forces
influences on the consumer from the cultural and social environment.
Social Norms
informal rules or standards for appropriate or inappropriate behavior within a social group.
Initiators
initiator for the family to consider buying a product
Virtual Groups
interactive online communities in which consumers can comment on or contribute to the medium's content
Sociologists
investigate the formation and functioning of social groups, organizations, and institutions within the context of society
Informal Groups
loosely organized groups where structure, goals,positions, and procedures are implicit, not explicit
Society
people within a nation or group of nations sharing a common language, heritage, and other common cultural characteristics
Social Psychology
the scientific inquiry into social behavior within social groups and among interacting individuals, including the influence of group members on each other and the impact of the group on individual decisions
Cultural Anthropology
the scientific study of the development of human cultures/societies and how they influence in individuals and social groups, as well as of comparisons of current and past cultures.
Sociology
the scientific study of the development, structure, and functioning of human society, social institutions, and social relationships
Ethnocentrism
the tendency to make cross-cultural evaluations (good/bad) based on one's own beliefs and values
Hollingshead's Index of Social Position (ISP)
= (occupation score x 7) + (education score x 4)
Social Class System
A hierarchical division of an industrial or post-industrial society into relatively distinct and homogeneous groups based on social prestige and respect.
Legitimate Power
Agent gains either compliance or acceptance by establishing or appealing to social standards
Religious Subcultures
Based on the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially personal God or gods. Members share a worldview.
Expressive Roles
Concerns hedonic decisions expressing the family's aesthetic social, emotional, or normative needs
Generational Subcultures (Generation)
a group of people born in the same era and who therefore experienced a common macroenvironment as well as similar significant, formative life events
Social Referent
a reference group or a reference person
Worldview (religious subcultures)
a set of fundamental beliefs about the nature of the world and what is important.
Social Class (SC)
a social stratification system based largely on achievement. One's position relative to others on one or more social stratification variables-dimensions valued by society
Product-specific values
a subset of domain specific values: evaluative criteria that hold across products.
Etiquette (decorum)
acting politely
Internalization (Acceptance)
adopt the group's values and norms as one's own. accepting group norms and values as one's own.
Sandwich Generation
adults who care for their elderly parents as well as their own children. Often due to revival of Extended Families/multigenerational HHs
Autonomous
an equal number of decisions is made by each spouse, but each decision is individually made by one spouse or the other
Socioeconomic Status (SES)
an individual's or family's economic and social position in relation to others in society
Reference Person
an influential individual used as a reference point or frame of reference for shaping someone's thinking and behavior.
Emergent Groups
groups that come into existence spontaneously: (1) find selves in same time & place and decide to continue meeting or (2) get to know each other in social media
Moral Norms
grow out of a culture's "sense of sacred order" or religion
Formal Groups
highly organized hierarchical groups with explicit structure, goals, membership requirements, and procedures
Domain-specific Values
hold only for a particular set of activities, such as family, religion, in the workplace, or on vacation
Class Average
households have typical income levels for their class and so can afford to purchase products their SC peers typically buy. Buy products for the X SC
Mainstreaming (Crossover sales)
ideas and practices once associated with subcultures and small minorities, with the support of elite opinion makers and the media, become mainstream at astonishing speed.
Value-expressive influence
identify with or aspire to (emulate) the group
Cultural Imperialism
imposing western culture on non-Westerns via the marketing program.
Joint (syncratic)
most decisions made with equal involvement and influence by both spouses
Disclaimant Groups
negative former membership groups whose ideology the individual rejects and therefore leaves
Dissociative Groups
negative nonmembership groups (never belonged) whose values the individual rejects and with which the person wishes to avoid association.
Symbols
objects, characters, and other concrete, tangible representations of abstract, intangible ideas
Marketing Perspective
people in society sharing approximately the same lifestyles, values, and attitudes who are stratified hierarchically on one or more dimensions valued by society.
Users
person who uses the product
Deciders
person(s) with the financial authority or power to choose how the family's money will be spent
Contactual Groups
positive membership groups with which a person has regular face-to-face contact and whose values, attitudes, norms, etc he tends to feel good about
Aspiration(al) Group
possesses a positive attraction that causes people to want to join
Social Stratification
rank ordering either groups or individuals hierarchically in a society with respect to socioeconomic status (SES)
Monitors
regulates or controls consumption by others
Identification
relate to the group- the they "like me" and I "like them" principle. A somewhat closer and more dependent and satisfying relationship with a group that true of compliance.
Maintainers
services or repairs the product
Ethnic Subcultures
share a common: (1) race, (2) nationality, (3) language
Social Group Values
shared ideals within a social group
Primary groups
small intimate groups that meet regularly and communicate face-to-face
Expert Power
social agent has skill in or authoritative knowledge of a subject through formal training, education, occupation, or experience.
Nonmembership Groups
social groups to which a person doesn't belong (but might qualify to join and might wish to join)
Membership Groups
social groups to which an individual belongs, having achieved formal or informal group acceptance.
Reference Groups
social groups used as a reference point or frame of reference for shaping an individual's thinking and behavior.
Trade Up
splurge selectively on luxury brands found emotionally satisfying or conspicuous premiumization prices by marketers
Cohort Effects
stemming from one's birth era and the macroenvironment in which one grew up, determining memories of common life events, core values, behavioral norms, etc.
Social Psychologists
study the influence of social factors on individual and group thinking, attitudes, and behavior
Consumption Subcultures
subcultures whose members share an avocational interest(hobby) and hence a commitment to and ritualistic consumption of a particular product category, brand, or consumption activity.
Culture
the values, symbols, beliefs, and other cultural components shared by a society
Wife-Dominant (matriarchal)
the wife or female head-of-household makes a majority of the decisions
Positioning
upscale, midscale, or downscale especially by user and usage situation, as well as by SC values
Formal Legitimate Power
use formal authority-power to set and enforce social standards, due to position or role in the social group.
Emulation
wannabe
Weighted factor score method
yields a weighted average of several variables to calculate an overall index of a person's SC
Dissolution Stage
"til death do us part."
Rokeach Value Scale
"beliefs about desirable end states or modes of conduct that transcend specific situations, guide selection or evaluation of behavior, and are ordered by importance in relation to one another to form a system of values.
Demarketing
"unselling" products or behaviors associated with a social group whom the marketer wishes to turn into either a disclaimant group or maintain as a dissociative group
Cognitive components
(1) cultural knowledge, and (2) cultural attitudes
Certification Marks
a firm certifies the origin, grade, or quality of goods made by another firm
Honeymooner Stage
Married pre-children
Consumers as Role Players
Much CB resembles actors in a play, with products as props, clothing & accessories as costumes. Service worker interactions are a performance.
Symbolic reference groups
Nonmembership groups that an individual admires but does not expect to qualify to join
Parenthood Stage
One + kids still in the nest
Indirect Reference Groups
Reference groups or reference persons with whom a person lacks face-to-face contact. Nonetheless, the individual can observe and thus be influenced by them
Trade Down
Save $$ on less important goods sold at discount prices to be able to splurge on more important goods
Bachelorhood Stage
Single pre-marriage
Upward-pull Strategy
Target the aspiring X Class but position as X + 1 Class via that class's values, lifestyles, behaviors, users & usage situations, etc.
Warner's Index of Status Characteristics (ISC)
Warner ISC score = (occupation rating score x 4) + (source of income score x 3) + (house type score x 3) + (dwelling area score x 2)
Subculture (microculture)
a cultural subgroup within the macroculture (core culture)-the mainstream culture at large (society). A segment of a larger culture whose members share distinguishing subcultural characteristics. Defined/identified based on demographic, psychographic, and behavioral variables
Social Mobility
appeal to where consumers are headed, plan to head, or wish they were headed
Social Group Roles
appropriate behavior for a particular person or position within a social group.
Life-Stage Effects
arising from moving through important milestone personal life events
Conventions
behaving in everyday life/routine occurrences
Superstitions
beliefs that result from ignorance, fear of the unknown, or trust in magic or chance.
Crossover Sales
broadening the appeal of a product originally marketed exclusively to a particular subculture to the macroculture.
Legal Codes/Public Policy
cofidy morality. the law both reflects our values and teaches values
Instrumental Roles
concerns practical, utilitarian decisions. Relates to functional needs
Utilitarian influence
conform to group expectations and standards in order to gain rewards or to avoid punishment.
The Gilly and Enis Modernized FLC
considers many of the above demographic and lifestyle trends. Ages of parents also considered.
Social aggregates
crowds: members have nothing in common except temporarily occupying the same time and place.
Buying Centers
decision-making units within organizations. the consist of individuals from various functional areas
Status Crystallization
degree of consistency in how one rates on the various SES factors-social status indicators don't correlate with one another
Geographic Subcultures
differences you've noted in your USA travels?
Disposers
disposes of the consumed product
Product Icons
distinctive, enduring brand symbols that hold significant nostalgic value or deep meaning for consumers.
Single-Variable (item) SC indexes
estimate SC and predict resulting CB using a single socioeconomic variable with (1) intuition, (2) index numbers
Composite-variable (item) SC indexes
estimate SC using several socioeconomic variables
Evaluators
evaluates product performance, either for self or others
Underprivileged
families are significantly below their SC's median income and so can't afford some products considered appropriate for their class. Must buy some products for the X-1 SC
Overprivilege
families have an income level significantly higher than the median in their class and so can buy relatively high-priced products, such as those consumed by the X+1 SC
Gatekeepers
gathers and controls information to aid decisions
Cultural Knowledge
general shared awareness.info
Preparers
get the product ready for consumption
Compliance
go along to get along. A relatively weak degree of group influence adopted instrumentally (useful) by an individual to obtain the group's approval or gain extrinsic rewards/avoid punishments
Public Goods
goods free markets cannot (or will not) provide b/c unprofitable. Have to be provided by the government, because no one without taxing power can efficiently provide them
Planned Groups
groups formed by individuals or organizations for some specific purpose. Members usually share close relationships and camaraderie.
Secondary groups
groups lacking regularity of contact and face-to-face communication. Of secondary importance!
Two-tier marketing
targeting marketing efforts upscale and/or downscale due to bifurcation of incomes & wealth into high & low strata and shrinking MC
Reward Power
the agent's ability to gain compliance via administering rewards for desired actions.
Coercive (punitive) Power
the agent's ability to gain compliance via dispensing sanctions for undesirable behavior
Cultural Environment
the complex of meaningful symbols, artifacts, and socially learned knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors acquired and transmitted by members of society from generation to generation with alterations
Informational influence
the consumer uses the attitudes and behaviors of reference group member to gain information and advice.
Social Power
the degree to which a social agent can influence others' thinking, attitudes, and/or behaviors
Role Dominance
the extent to which husbands and wives influence the final decision relative to each other and additional family members
Husband-Dominant (patriarchal)
the husband or male head-pf-household makes a majority of the decisions
Semiotics
the investigation of symbolic meaning
Family Role Structure
the part that each family member plays at each stage of the decision-making process
Family Life Cycle (FLC)
the phases either a family of procreation or a family of orientation typically goes through in forming, developing, and ultimately dissolving
Childhood Socialization
the process by which children acquire the skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary to function as consumers
Family Decision Making
the process by which decisions that directly or indirectly affect 2+ family members are made by 1+ family members
Cohort Analysis
the process of describing and explaining the current values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of a generation, as well as predicting its future values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors
Consumer Socialization
the process whereby children, teenagers, and young adults learn skills, knowledge, and attitudes to effectively function in the marketplace.
Socialization
the process whereby people learn the social roles, knowledge, and behaviors they need in order to effectively participate in society or social groups.
Relative Occupational Class Income
the relationship of a family's total income to the median income of other families in the same SC.
Status Positions
the relative rankings of members of the social group regarding prestige, respect, power, and influence within the group
Demography
the science of describing a society's broad vital observable population characteristics
