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Chapter 10Microcultures

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Learning Outcomes

• Apply the concept of microculture as it influences consumer behavior

• Know the major U.S. microcultural groups• Realize that microculture is not a uniquely

American phenomenon• Perform a demographic analysis• Identify major cultural and demographic

trends

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Microculture and Consumer Behavior

• Culture is hierarchical. Smaller cultural groups (microcultures) link to one larger cultural group– Microculture – a group of people who share

similar values and tastes that are subsumed within a larger culture

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© 2014 Cengage Learning.  All Rights Reserved.  May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Microcultural Roles and Value

• Each microculture has certain role expectations for its members– Role conflict: A situation where a consumer

experiences conflicting expectations based on cultural expectations

– Divergence: A situation in which consumers choose membership in microcultures in order to stand out or define themselves

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Regional Microculture

• Consumer preferences vary by region• In 1981, Garreau identified the nine nation

approach to segmentation• One significant area in the U.S. is the

“borderland” region, or the states that share a border with Mexico

© 2014 Cengage Learning.  All Rights Reserved.  May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

© 2014 Cengage Learning.  All Rights Reserved.  May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

© 2014 Cengage Learning.  All Rights Reserved.  May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Sex Roles and Microculture

• Sex roles refer to the societal expectations for men and women among members of a cultural group

• Marketers must be aware of sex-roles because they are linked to purchasing behavior

• Cognitive structuring is a term that refers to the reliance on schema-based heuristics in making decisions

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Age-based Microculture

• It describes the finding that people of the same age end up sharing many of the same values

• This is especially true if it seems to apply across nations leading to a world teen culture

© 2014 Cengage Learning.  All Rights Reserved.  May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

© 2014 Cengage Learning.  All Rights Reserved.  May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Generation Microculture

• Cohort – A group of people who have lived the same major experiences, which end up shaping their core values

GreatestGeneration Silent Generation Baby Boomers

Generation X Millennials Generation Z

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Religious and Ethnic Microculture

• Religious microculture– Stigmatization

means that the consumer is marked in some way that indicates their place in society

• Ethnic microculture– Hispanic Culture – African-American

Culture – Asian Culture

© 2014 Cengage Learning.  All Rights Reserved.  May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

© 2014 Cengage Learning.  All Rights Reserved.  May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

© 2014 Cengage Learning.  All Rights Reserved.  May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Income and Social Class Microculture

• Social class : Culturally defined group to which a consumer belongs

• Habitus: Mental and cognitive structures through which individuals perceive the world

• Homogamy: Marriages comprised of people from similar classes

• Social stratification: Division of society into classes that have unequal access to scarce and valuable resources

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Street Microcultures

Sports

Gaming

Music

Goth

Virtual

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Demographic Analysis

• Demographics – observable, statistical aspects of populations such as age, gender or income

• Demographic Analysis – A profile of a consumer group based on their demographics

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© 2014 Cengage Learning.  All Rights Reserved.  May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Major Cultural and Demographic Trends

Declining Birthrates

Increasing Consumer Affluence

Increasing Life Expectancy and the Aging Consumer

Increasing Cultural Diversity