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Chapter 13
Subculture and Social
Class
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Subcultures
• Distinctive groups of people in a society that
share common cultural meanings for
– Affective and cognitive responses
– Behaviors
– Environmental factors
13-2
Types of Subcultures
• Marketers use a variety of demographic
characteristics to identify subcultures
13-3
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Analyzing Subcultures
• Can be analyzed at different levels and
often done in stages
– A broad subculture is identified based on some
broad demographic characteristics
– It is further segmented into subcultures based
on other demographic characteristics
– If necessary, further segmented into even
smaller and more precisely defined subcultures
13-4
Analyzing Subcultures cont.
• Can follow the same approach as cultural
analysis
– Content of subculture examined based on
description of cultural meanings shared by its
members
• Marketers identify the typical characteristics,
meanings, and behavioral tendencies
shared by people in the subculture
13-5
Analyzing Subcultures cont.
• Marketers need to determine the
appropriate level of analysis for the problem,
and develop appropriate marketing
strategies
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Geographic Subcultures
• The U.S. is a polycultural nation
– A mosaic of submarkets and subcultures
• Ways to analyze the United States in terms
of geographic subcultures
– Joel Garreau’s “nine nations” of North America
• Effective for developing specific marketing strategies
to appeal to area specific consumers
– Borderland Regions
• Represented by a majority of people in the lowerthan-average income bracket
13-7
Eight “Nations” of the United States
Age Subcultures
• Age groups have distinctive values and
behaviors
• Importance to be given to psychological age
rather than chronological age
– Teen market
•
•
•
•
Gaining affluence and fluctuating in size
Own discretionary purchasing power
Large portion of the grocery shopping done by teens
Brand loyalty forms early among teenage shoppers
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Age Subcultures cont.
– Baby Boomers
• People born between 1946 and 1964
• Largest and most affluent group in history
• A blend of “me-generation” and old-fashioned family
values
• Strongly influence the values of other groups
• Characterized as being health conscious, more
educated and have double income families
• Emphasizes quality and is less interested with
bargain hunting
• Most lucrative and challenging group for marketers
13-10
Age Subcultures cont.
– The mature market
• Consumers over the age of 55 – often further
subdivided into narrower age ranges
• Among one of the most rapidly growing subcultures
• Its economic character deserves careful
consideration
• Important to recognize how the market is changing
• Has the highest rate of per capita discretionary
income than any other age group
• Has many retired people who have more time to
enjoy entertainment and leisure activities
• Developing marketing strategies is difficult
13-11
Ethnic Subcultures
• The ethnic makeup in the United States has
changed dramatically in the past two
decades
– Ethnic diversity is not distributed equally across
the U.S.
– The black subculture
• The largest minority group in the U.S.
• Economic conditions vary considerably in different
metropolitan areas
• Marketers could further subdivide this group based
on income, social class, etc.
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Ethnic Subcultures cont.
– The Hispanic subculture
• Unequally distributed across the U.S.
• Diverse
• Three broad segments
– Only Spanish speaking
– Bilingual, but favoring Spanish
– Bilingual, but favoring English
• Getting good information about Hispanic needs,
values, and beliefs is difficult
13-13
Ethnic Subcultures cont.
– Asian subculture
• Among the most rapidly increasing ethnic group in
the U.S.
• Requires special marketing attention for many
companies
• Purchase decisions be based on country of origin
and length of time in that country
• A prime market because they are more affluent than
any other racial or ethnic group
• Very diverse subculture
13-14
Gender as a Subculture
• Gender differences significant enough to
consider the two sexes as separate
subcultures.
– Women either make or greatly influence most
purchasing decisions
– Higher number of working women with
discretionary income to spend
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Income as a Subculture
• People at different income levels tend to
have quite different values, behaviors, and
lifestyles
– American households can be divided into three
income categories
• Downscale
• Upscale
• Middle income
13-16
Acculturation Processes
• Acculturation refers how people in one
culture or subculture understand and adapt
to the meanings of another culture or
subculture
• Consumer acculturation refers to how
people acquire the ability and cultural
knowledge to be skilled consumers in
different cultures or subcultures
• Important in the modern world
13-17
Acculturation Processes cont.
– Important for people who move to different
regions within same country and must adapt to
different subcultural meanings
– Degree to which immigrants, movers, and
marketers become acculturated depends on
their level of cultural interpenetration
13-18
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Acculturation Processes cont.
– Four stages of acculturation corresponding to
four levels of cultural interpenetration
•
•
•
•
Honeymoon
Rejection
Tolerance
Integration
– An important aspect is proficiency in the
language of the new culture
13-19
Social Class
• A national status hierarchy by which groups
and individuals are distinguished in terms of
esteem and prestige
• Four social class groups used for consumer
analysis in the U.S.
– Upper
– Middle
– Working
– Lower
13-20
Social Class cont.
– Identification with each social class is influenced
most strongly by one’s level of education and
occupation
– A composite of many personal and social
attributes
– Families in each social class can be further
classified
• Overprivileged
• Average
• Underprivileged
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Social Class cont.
– Social class and relative standing within a class
are important sources of consumers’ beliefs,
values, and behaviors
– At a conceptual level, are useful for
investigating the process by which consumers
develop their characteristic beliefs, values, and
behavior patterns
13-22
Social Class Groups for Consumer
Analysis
Social Class versus Income
• Controversy as to whether social class or
income is the better variable for use in
consumer analysis
– Each variable has its advantages and
disadvantages
– The choice between using social class, income,
or a combination depends on the product and
the situation
– The choice between using social class, income,
or a combination depends on the product and
the situation
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Social Class Versus Income cont.
• Social class superior to income for method and place
of purchase of highly visible, symbolic, and
expensive objects
• Income is generally used for understanding purchase
of products that require substantial expenditures but
are not status symbols within the class
• Combination of social class and income is usually
superior for product classes that are highly visible,
are symbols of social class or status within the class
and require moderate to substantial expenditure
13-25
Summary
• Discussed two macro social influences on
consumers’ behaviors, cognitions, and
affective responses
• Learned how social factors influence
peoples thinking, feel, and behavior relative
to their physical, social, and marketing
environments
13-26
Summary cont.
• Discussed subcultural influences in terms of
geographic area, age, ethnic groups, and
other factors
• Social class influences were discussed in
terms of their roles both in explaining
consumer behavior and as a strategic tool
13-27
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