Consumer Behavior Chapter 11

Values

the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something.

Ascribed Status

the social status a person is assigned at birth or assumed involuntarily later in life. It is a position that is neither earned nor chosen but assigned.

Psychographics

the use of psychological, sociological, and anthropological factors to construct market segments

Disposable income

total personal income minus personal current taxes. In national accounts definitions, personal income minus personal current taxes equals disposable personal income.

What is conspicuous consumption? Give a current example.

People's desires to provide prominent visible evidence of their ability to afford luxury goods

How does consumer confidence influence consumer behavior?

A consumer's beliefs about what the future holds reflects how optomistic or pessimistic people are about the future health of the economy and how they're doing. This influences how much money eople pump into the economy when they make discretionary purchases.

Components of Social Class

Occupational prestige - Is stable over time and similar across cultures - Single best indicator of social class Income - Wealth not distributed evenly across classes (top fifth controls 75% of all assets) - How money is spent is more influential on class than income

AIO's & Lifestyle dimensions

Activities - Work, Hobbies, Special Events, Vacation Interests - Family, Home, Job, Community Opinions - Themselves, Social Issues, Politics, Business

What is a taste culture?

Describes consumers in terms of their aesthetic and intellectual preferences; helps illuminate the important/subtle distinctions in consumption choices.

What is the basic philosophy behind a lifestyle marketing strategy?

Recognizes that people sort themselves into groups on the basis of the things they like to do, how they like to spend their leisure time, and how they choose to spend their disposable income. Products are the building blocks of lifestyle.

Define social mobility and describe the different forms it takes.

Social Mobility refers to the passage of individuals from one class to another. horizontal - person moves from one position to another that's roughly equivalent in social status downward - downgrade in social status upward - lower status fills positions of higher status

What is social class? Is it different from income and if so how?

Social class is the overall ranking in society ~income is not a good indicator of social class because the way we spend money is more telling than how much we spend ~ex: if a family adds wage earners and the household income increases, added jobs will be lower in status than the primary wage earners ~Social class is a better predictor of purchases that have symbolic aspects but low to moderate price ~income is a better predictor of major expenditures that do not have status or symbolic aspects ~social class and income are both needed to predict purchases of expensive, symbolic products

What one variable is the best indicator of social class? What are some other important indicators?

The way we spend our money is more telling than how much we spend. It also depends on family status and how well a person is known.

Why might a person's social class not change when he or she earns more money?

The way we spend our money is more telling than how much we spend. It also depends on family status and how well a person is known.

Status-seeking

a motivation to obtain products that will let others know that you have "made it"

Lifestyle

a pattern of consumption that reflects a person's choices of how to spend his or her time and money

VALS2

a psychographic segmentation system

Status hierarchy

a ranking of social desirability in terms of consumers' access to resources such as money, education, and luxury goods

Achieved Status

a relative position in an organization or culture awarded on the basis of accomplishment or mastery of some task

Attitudes

a settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something, typically one that is reflected in a person's behavior.

Occupational prestige

a way for sociologists to describe the relative social class positions people have. It refers to the consensual nature of rating a job based on the belief of its worthiness.

Spendthrifts

consumers who derive pleasure from large-scale purchasing

Tightwads

consumers who experience emotional pain when they make purchases

Frugality

fashion-conscious consumers who pride themselves on achieving style on a limited budget

Consumer confidence

the extent to which people are optimistic or pessimistic about the future health of the economy

Discretionary income

the money available to a household over and above that required for necessities

Social Mobility

the movement of individuals from one social class to another

Social class

the overall rank of people in a society; people who are grouped within the same social class are approximately equal in terms of their income, occupations, and lifestyles

Social stratification

the process in a social system by which scarce and valuable resources are distributed unequally to status positions that become more or less permanently ranked in terms of the share of valuable resources each receives