Chapter 10
Microcultures
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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
© 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.
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
© 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.
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
© 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.
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
© 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.
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
Greatest
Generation
Silent Generation
Baby Boomers
Generation X
Millennials
Generation Z
© 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.
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
© 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.
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
© 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.
Major Cultural and Demographic
Trends
Declining Birthrates
Increasing Consumer Affluence
Increasing Life Expectancy and the Aging
Consumer
Increasing Cultural Diversity
© 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.