CONSUMERS AND SUBCULTURES

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CONSUMERS AND SUBCULTURES
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What are some demographics

• Age
• education
• occupation
• social class
• Ethnic group
• gender composition
• family size and composition
• distribution of population

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So What Are demographics?
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What does money mean to you?
Our ideas about money affect our consumption
behaviour
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What does the demand for goods and services
depend on?

• the ability to buy
• the willingness to buy

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What influences your willingness to buy?
Tastes desire for this and other
goods Expectations (for income, prices,
tastes) Other goods (their availability and
prices)
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Consumers willingness to buy?

• a measure of consumers opinions on the financial
  position of their own household and the economy
  as a whole
• and to what extent they think it is a good time
  to buy large expensive items such as a TV or a
  computer.
• Demand for necessities remains stable over time
• The underlying data are taken from the consumer
  confidence survey.

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• The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Survey
  
• a monthly report based on a representative
  sample of 5,000 U.S. households across the
  country.
• Consumer assessment of current economic
  conditions. Covers things such as
• Employment
• Spending intentions over the next six months
• Feelings about business conditions over the next
  six months
• Industries that rely on the Survey for
  forecasting include manufacturers, retailers,
  banks, and government agencies

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• The Index for the US at the end of October 2003
  was 81.1 (1985100),

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• Consumption growth displays a positive relation
  to the willingness to buy.
• The index of willingness to buy is a clear
  predictor for the future development of consumer
  spending.

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Confidence and willingness to buy varies by
market segment and is usually higher among
younger than older consumers
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• And among higher income consumers than lower,
• college college graduates over high school
  graduates
• whites or other ethnic groups
• men or women

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Willingness to buy by telephone
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Social ClassWhat is Social Class?

• relatively permanent strata in a society that are
  distinct subcultures

• Occupation
• Education attained
• Behavioral standards taste culture
• Source of Income
• Level of Income wealth
• Dwelling area
• Power
• Religious Affiliation Associations
• lifestyles, buying patterns, motivations and
  values
• possessions

What are the typical factors that differentiate
the social classes?
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Social Classes in Canada

• A. The upper class.
• 1. The upper-upper class. (1 old money)
• 2. The lower-upper class. (2-4)
• B. The middle class (40-50 considerable racial
  ethnic diversity)
• 1. The upper-middle class. (100k )
• 2. The middle-middle class. (50-100,000, upper
  managerial or professional fields)
• 3. lower-middle under 50,000, less prestigious
  white collar, or highly skilled blue collar jobs.
• C. The working class. (1/3 of population) (lower
  incomes than middle class, no accumulated wealth
  less personal satisfaction in jobs
• D. The lower class. (20 of population) (either
  supported by welfare, or are working poor)

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The Importance of Class
What sort of things does social class affect

• tastes
• Lifestyles
• access to such resources as education, health
  care, housing and consumer goods.
• Self Image
• Values
• Political orientation

I.e. Consumption behaviour who spends how much
and on what
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How Much Money Will Be Spent
How Money Will Be Spent

• Vuitton 
• Credit Card Holder 96.00

• Celine
• Boogie Bag
• 990

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Where it will be spent
Harry Rosens
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How Do the Lower and Upper Classes Differ in
Their Consumption Behaviour?

• Lower classes generally focus on more immediate
  and more utilitarian needs
• Upper classes
• are often likely to approach consumption from a
  more aesthetic perspective

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Marketing Implications

• Your company XYZ corp. manufactures inexpensive
  furniture and has targeted the less well off. In
  an effort to upgrade your image the company has
  decided to target higher-class consumers. What
  will the marketing implications be on the
  following.
• Product choices and development
• Product design and packaging
• Distribution
• Price
• Advertising and other marketing communications

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Status SymbolsWhat are They?

• Conspicuously consumed goods which are used to
  provide evidence of wealth

Why do some people feel the need for status
symbols?

• The need to display status through purchase and
  use of products is at least partially derived
  from the anonymous nature of much of our social
  interaction
• If most people are unknown in public, status
  cannot be conveyed by reputation
• Anonymity exacerbates the need for uniqueness

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The Sony Vaio laptop computer
Take a look at this status symbol
Wow you're going to attract attention opening
this in public
12.1" XGA screen 30 gig drive and 256 MB RAM, 2
USB, a Firewire/iLink and network as well as . a
CD writer that also reads DVDs.
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Status SymbolsExamples
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Parody Display
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Fraudulent Symbolism
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SUBCULTURES
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What is a Subculture?

• A distinct cultural group that exists as an
  identifiable segment within a larger, more
  complex society/culture

How do you distinguish one group from another?

• beliefs,
• Values
• Customs
• Lifestyles and interests
• norms
• Language
• insignias
• Every consumer belongs to many subcultures

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What are some Types of Subcultures in Canada

• Ethnic
• Racial
• Age
• Regional
• Religious

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What is an Ethnic Subculture?

• Possess common cultural and or genetic ties which
  are identified both by its members and by others
  as a distinguishable category.
• Ethnic identity is a significant component of a
  consumers self concept

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What makes Ethnic Subcultures Different?
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Immigration in Canada

• Canada has one of the worlds most liberal
  immigration policies and is considered a
  multicultural or pluralistic society (as opposed
  to melting pot)
• New immigrants tend to cluster together
  geographically which makes them easy to reach.
• Concentrated in major Canadian cities
• Bring with them customs, traditions, values, etc.
  
• New immigrants are likely to be Asian

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Population reporting at least one Ethnic Origin
other than British, French or Canadian, 1986,
1991 and 1996 Censuses
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• Ethnic groups in Canada are growing more than 7
  times faster than the general population
• Advertising Canada estimated that by 2001 African
  and Asian populations in Canada would represent
  in excess of 300 billion in purchasing power.
• Ethnic marketing has therefore become
  increasingly important to marketers who wish to
  maintain or increase market share.

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Who are they and where are they?
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Percentage of Visible Minority Population by All
Age Groups, for Canada, Provinces, Territories
and selected Census Metropolitan Areas, 1996
Census
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Visible Minority Population for Provinces and
Territories 1996 Census
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Visible Minority Population in selected Census
Metropolitan, 1996 Census
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Percentage of the Visible Minority Population
Aged 0 to 24, for Canada, Provinces, Territories
and selected Census Metropolitan Areas, 1996
Census
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Asian Canadians

• Asian Canadians are the Fastest Growing Minority
  Group in Canada

• Small, Diverse, Growing
• Above Average Income
• (2000/yr more)
• Native Language Print Media
• Education Oriented
• College Graduation Rate is Twice That of Whites)
• tend to be more brand and price conscious
• Tend to be early adapters of new technology

• .

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Reaching the Asian Canadian Consumer
Problems Encountered by Canadian Marketers

• Translating Advertising Messages Into Asian Media
• Overlooked Complex Differences Among Asian
  Subcultures
• Lack of Media Available to Reach Asian Canadians
• Been Insensitive to Cultural Practices

A British ad for Tennents beer marketed to the
East Asian community
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Marketing Implications of Subculture

• What language does your key ethnic demographic
  prefer that you use in communications with them?
• What media do they read, listen to or watch?
• Does the product or service (or communication
  program) that you are planning to pitch to them
  support their first-language and/or first-culture
  requirements, or are you simply attempting to
  engage them in their first-language about a
  generally available, Canadian (English or French)
  product or service?
• Distribution-geographic concentration of many
  ethnic subcultures means that marketers can reach
  them more easily also in some cases certain
  groups prefer to shop in certain stores

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• Bell Mobility targets Canada's population of
  Chinese through advertising in Chinese in Chinese
  dailies,
• And by a dedicated dealer network with customer
  service reps fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese.
• There targeted advertising speaks to Chinese
  consumer's tendency to regard wireless devises as
  personal security systems.

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Summary of 2003 UK Study on Ethnic Marketing 1.
Minority ethnic audiences represent a significant
opportunity for brands A strong
status-orientation and conspicuous consumption
combine to make brands disproportionately
important compared with the mainstream. Many
major purchases are subject to strong
family-based decision making. 2. Some advertising
fails to connect Advertising is perceived
rationally and consciously as performing a
functional selling role. Non-literal
communications are least likely to connect,
particularly with Asians. 3. There is demand for
culturally-relevant marketing Communities see
an opportunity for brands to augment existing,
mainstream campaigns with more focussed
targeting, sympathetic to the culture
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4. Using minority ethnic characters is a
double-edged sword Use of minority ethnic
actors tends to polarize the community between
those who see the individual representation as
positive and those that see it as tokenistic or
stereotypical. Viewers evaluate the ads not
only on the basis of personal relevance but also
on the basis of "what does this say about us?" to
the rest of society. 5. Local newspapers/radio
are consumed as part of strong community
orientation. 6. Minority ethnic communities are
as internally diverse as they are distinct from
mainstream culture. Generation, age, language,
location and country of origin are significant
variables that determine the extent to which
minority ethnic audiences move outside of purely
traditional culture.