Chapter14_Culture.pptx

Chapter 14:Culture

This is the final chapter for the semester.

Over the semester we discussed many things about CB.

Hopefully by now, you know that CB is a process that starts with identifying a need and extends till the act of disposing the product/service.

Then we identified different factors that influence consumer decision making – internal factors like personality, identity; external factors like groups, subcultures as well as technology like social media.

Finally, in this chapter, we dive into broad yet powerful cultural factors that influence the consumer behavior.

Learning Objective:

14.1 A culture is a society’s personality.

14.2 Myths are stories that express a culture’s values, and in modern times marketing messages convey these values to members of the culture.

14.3 Many of our consumption activities – including holiday observances, grooming, and gift giving – relate to rituals.

14.4 We describe products as either sacred or profane and it’s not unusual for some products to move back and forth between the two categories.

14.5 New products, services, and ideas spread through a population over time. Different types of people are more or less likely to adopt them during this diffusion process.

We start by discussing what is culture.

Then we move on to the influence of myths and rituals in consumption activities and the distinction between what is considered sacred and profane

And finally, we will discuss how new products and services diffuse through the population.

Objective 1:

A culture is a society’s personality.

We simply can’t understand consumption unless we understand its cultural context.

Culture is like a lens through which people view products.

Here, we are talking about personality again – earlier we discussed individual’s personality, brand personality, even store personality. Now we will discuss society’s personality – culture

The activities we perform in our everyday lives reflect deeper meanings; be it overcoming challenges like a driver’s test, choosing thoughtful gifts to thank others or even something as mundane as calming ourselves with that daily tea or bowl of favorite ice cream.

Marketers can only appreciate the importance of each of these activities when they understand what they signify.

That’s why in this chapter we will explore some of the underlying elements and cultural context.

We simply can’t understand consumption unless we understand its cultural context.

Culture is like a lens through which people view products.

So, the same activity depending on what cultural context it is embedded in, can have very different meanings attached to it.

For instance, I consider myself as a coffee lover. I drink black coffee with no cream or sugar, because I appreciate the different flavors of different coffee beans & roasts. Yes, the caffeine is a cherry on top, but I also enjoy trying out different roasts and beans variation. I am always on the look out for new cafes, I even like working from cafes. Before pandemic, when we used to regularly go to our offices, everyday post lunch, my colleague and I used to walk to a café nearby to get our afternoon coffee. We probably have tried out every café in and around the UIC campus. This was almost like a ritual. In contrast to that, my brother only drinks coffee for its caffeine. Every morning, on his way to his lab, he picks up the same cup of coffee from his canteen. So, as you can see, its the same activity, i.e., consuming coffee, but the meaning both of us associate with that activity is very different.

You must be aware of the $5 Tuesday AMC movies. That was another ritual we used to engage in as a group. Everyone from our program used to finish our work early on Tuesday evenings and used to go watch a movie at the AMC (typically Block 37 due to ease of access). That had a very different meaning and motivation as compared to the occasional movies we used to watch on weekends with our friends/partners.

Culture:

Culture is a society’s personality. It is the accumulation of shared meanings, rituals, norms, and traditions among members of a society or organization.

Includes both abstract ideas (such as values and ethics) and material objects and services (like cars, clothing, food, and art)

Our culture determines the overall priorities we attach to different activities and products.

Consumers are more likely to want products that resonate with a culture’s priorities

The TV dinner for the United States

Reflected change in the US family structure

Cosmetics made of natural materials without animal testing

Reflected consumers’ concern about pollution, waste and animal rights

The relationship between CB and culture is a 2-way street.

Consumers are likely to accept products/ services that resonate with a culture’s priorities

Products that get accepted provide a window into the dominant cultural ideals

The effects of culture on consumer behavior can be so powerful & ingrained that it’s sometimes difficult to grasp the importance and relevance of culture.

We typically notice cultural effects the most when we encounter a different one and feel the effects of culture shock.

Suddenly many of the assumptions we take for granted about clothes, food, the way we address others no longer seem to apply.

Can you think of certain products that reflect the current culture?

Meal kit services like Blue Apron/Freshly – reflecting the culture of time poverty; convenience and efficiency

Flavored Seltzer Water (as an alternative to sodas) – reflecting the culture of health and fitness consciousness.

Home workout equipment/ Video conferencing s/w – reflecting the post pandemic culture of maintaining social distancing.

Cultural System: Functional Areas

Refers to the way a system adapts to its habitat.

The technology a culture uses to obtain and distribute resources shapes its ecology

E.g., Japanese consumers value products that make efficient use of space because of the cramped conditions of their urban centers.

Ecology

Refers to the way people maintain an orderly social life.

This includes the domestic and political groups that dominate the culture

e.g., nuclear family vs extended family; democratic government vs authoritarianism.

Social

Refers to the mental characteristics of people and the way they relate to their environment and social groups

This relates to the idea of a common worldview, i.e., sharing common ideas about principles of order and fairness.

Members of a culture also share a set of moral and aesthetic principles, known as ethos.

Ideology

Culture is not static.

It continually evolves as old ideas are merged with new ones.

A cultural system consists of three functional areas –

The Movement of Cultural Meaning:

Advertising and fashion industry play a key role in imbuing functional products with symbolic qualities

Culture determines our values and meanings

Meanings reside in everyday products

The products impart their meanings to us as we use these to express our identities

Consumers associate the values and meanings with their identity

Cultural meanings reside in everyday products and these meanings then move through the society.

This figure shows how cultural meaning moves through the society.

Advertising and fashion play a key role in this movement; they link functional products with symbolic qualities such as sexiness, sophistication, or just plain “cool”. (remember – people use products not only for its function but also the meaning)

These goods, in turn, impart their meaning to us as we use these products to create and express our identities.

Culture Production Process :

At any point in time, we might have just a small fraction of the total set of possibilities.

When we select certain alternatives over others our choice is only the culmination of a complex filtration process that resembles a funnel.

Possibilities compete for adoption but then most drop out as they make their way down the path from conception to consumption.

This winnowing process is called cultural selection.

We don’t form our tastes and preferences in vacuum.

*Mass media; those around us

Options constantly evolve around and change

A clothing style or type of cuisine that maybe popular one year may not be the next.

We inhabit a world that brims with different styles and possibilities.

The food we eat, the cars we drive, the clothes we wear, the places we live and work, the music we listen to – the ebb and flow of popular culture and fashion influences all of them.

Sometimes we might feel overwhelmed by the choices available to us in the marketplace.

Despite this seeming abundance, however, At any point in time, we might have just a small fraction of the total set of possibilities.

*The many images that mass media present to us as well observations of those around us drive our choices and desires.

Culture Production Process :

The “Rachel” Haircut

Jeans – Skinny vs relaxed fit

The note section consists of some examples that elaborate this idea of ebb and flow:

The “Rachel” haircut craze – was a big fashion statement in the 1990s when the sitcom first came out — over the years new generation of young women got introduced to this free-spirited character and contributed to the popularity of this haircut. With the pandemic, a new generation got introduced to this – although a lot of trends in this show did not age well, this hairstyle made a comeback.

Clothes is another domain where trends change pretty much every year and make comebacks often

Culture Production Process :

A culture production system is the set of individuals and organizations that create and market a cultural meaning.

It has three major subsystems:

Creative: generates new symbols and products (e.g., singer/artist)

Managerial: selects, makes, produces, and manages the distribution of new symbols and products (e.g., a company the distributes the album).

Communications: gives meaning to the new product and provide it with a symbolic set of attributes (e.g., advertising agencies that promote the artists music).

The cultural gatekeepers filter the overflow of information as it travels down the funnel (e.g., reviewers, and critics).

No single person or company can create popular culture.

Instead, many people and organizations contribute to each new trend.

For a music release,

the creative subsystem is the singer/artist

A managerial subsystem a company that distributes the CDs

A communications subsystem advertising agencies and corporations that work with the singer’s company to promote the music.

Many judges or “tastemakers” have a say in the products we consider.

Objective 2:

Myths are stories that express a culture’s values, and in modern times marketing messages convey these values to members of the culture.

Myths:

Myths are stories with symbolic elements that represent the shared emotions/ideals of a culture.

They often focus on some kind of conflict between two opposing forces and their outcomes serves as a moral guide for listeners.

A myth reduces anxiety because it provides consumers with guidelines about their world.

Marketers tend to use these mythical symbolism and imageries in their messages – brand logos, commercials, etc.

Every culture develops stories and ceremonies that help its members to make sense of the world.

Most of us know a variety of myths that we grew up hearing.

Typically, myths came about to serve as a guide for the listeners.

From hearing the story, we can learn right from wrong and how to deal with wrong when we face it.

Myths: Brand Logos and their mythological origins

The swoosh concept is derived from the wing of the Greek goddess of victory, Nike.

Dove is the symbol of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of beauty and love.

Examples of brand logos inspired by myths

Nike: According to the Greek mythology, the Swoosh inspires the warriors as it gives them immense power.

The company named itself after the Greek Goddess.

And chose the swoosh design to give the message of victory and striding forward in life to the sports people.

Myths: Functions in the culture

Help explain origins of existence

Emphasize that all components of the universe are part of a single picture

Maintain social order by authorizing a social code to be followed by members of a culture

Provide models for personal conduct

Myths serves four interrelated functions in a culture.

Functions

Cosmological

Sociological

Psychological

Metaphysical

Myths: Modern Popular Culture

Myths are often found in comic books, movies, holidays, and commercials

People create their own consumer fairy tales where they tell stories that include magical agents, donors, and helpers to overcome villains and obstacles as they seek goods and services in their quest for happy endings.

Marketers help us live out these fairy tales.

E.g., Popularity of elaborate Disney weddings.

Monomyths: a myth that is common to many cultures

Fictional figures embody properties fundamental to every culture

E.g., Superman

Many movies/commercials present characters and plot structures that follow mythic patterns

E.T. represents a familiar myth of messianic visitation.

We normally associate myths with the ancient Greeks and Romans, but in reality, comic books, movies, holidays, and even commercials embody our own cultural myths.

Disney weddings. Brides dress as princesses and ride to the wedding pavilion in a horse-drawn carriage complete with footmen.

E.T. represents a familiar myth of messianic visitation.

The gentle creature from another world visits Earth and performs miracles.

The neighborhood children help him combat the forces of modern technology and society.

The myth represents that the humans God chooses “children helping the ET” are pure and unselfish

Objective 3:

Many of our consumption activities- including holiday observances, grooming, and gift-giving- relate to rituals.

When you hear the word, ritual, you may think of something formal and serious like the ritual of taking communion at church.

In reality, consumers have many ritualistic activities.

Having Sunday brunch, going daily to Starbucks, and tailgating before football games are all examples of commonplace rituals.

Rituals:

Rituals are sets of multiple, symbolic behaviors that occur in a fixed sequence and that tend to be repeated periodically.

Many contemporary consumer activities are ritualistic.

Trips to Starbucks; Sunday brunch; Tuesday Movies

When individuals consume products (e.g., chocolates) as part of a ritual, they tend to enjoy them more than if there is no context.

Many businesses supply ritual artifacts to consumers, i.e., items one needs to perform rituals, such as wedding cake, birthday candles, greeting cards, etc.

Consumers often follow a ritual script to identify the artifacts they need, the sequence in which they should use them, and who should use them.

Common Rituals –

Grooming – help us transition from our private self to our public self

Gift-giving – symbolically change a commercial good to a unique good

Holiday – Thanksgiving, Christmas

Rites of passage – Graduation, Wedding

Many of our ongoing traditions contain rituals.

Grooming: For instance, when you get ready for work or school each day, you likely have things you always do as part of getting ready.

Gift-giving: In giving gifts, you may have rituals. For instance, you might always wrap the gift yourself or always add a thoughtful personalized note with your gift.

Holidays: During the holidays, families typically have set rituals for who will start the meal, and so on.

Rites of passages: Lastly, during rites of passage like weddings and graduations, we typically have rituals we follow.

Rituals: in Commercials

When individuals consume products (e.g., chocolates) as part of a ritual, they tend to enjoy them more than if there is no context.

So, this is a good way to position your product

Example of how McDonalds positioned their burger as part of the game time ritual

Ritual: Game time ritual

Artifact: your product/ burger

Script: Whatever the people were doing in the commercial

For your Group Project 4, you need to identify a consumer ritual that your marketing opportunity can be an artifact for and develop a ritual script for the commercial (Like the McDonald’s example above)

Objective 4:

We describe products as either sacred or profane, and it’s not unusual for some products to move back and forth between the two categories.

Sacred and Profane Consumption:

Sacred

Involves objects and events that are set apart from normal activities that are treated with respect or awe (not related to religious)

E.g., Graduation robe, Prom dress, Wedding cake, heirlooms

Profane

Involves consumer objects and events that are ordinary and everyday

Not special

E.g., Every day work clothes, Lunch in the cafeteria

Many types of consumer activities involve the demarcation, or binary opposition, of categories such as good versus bad, male versus female – or even regular cola versus diet cola.

One of the most important distinction we find is between the sacred and the profane.

E.g.: a wedding dress is sacred but a dress for work is profane.

Sacralization:

Sacralization occurs when ordinary objects, events and people take on a sacred meaning.

E.g., events like Super Bowl; people such as Beyoncé

Domains of sacred consumption:

Sacred places: religious/mystical and country heritage, such as Stonehenge, Mecca, Ground Zero in New York City

Sacred people: celebrities, royalty

Sacred events: athletic events, religious ceremonies

Objectification occurs when we attribute sacred qualities to mundane items (e.g., shoes, sofa, ring etc.)

This process occurs via contamination whereby objects we associate with sacred events or people become scared in their own right.

Tourism is an example of a sacred experience. People occupy sacred time and space when they are on vacation

The desire of travelers to capture these sacred experiences in objects is the basis for the souvenir industry.

In addition to personal mementos, there are several common types of sacred souvenir icons.

Local products (e.g., regional wine); Pictorial images (e.g., postcards, photos); ‘Piece of the rock’ (e.g., seashells); Literal representations (e.g., mini icons)

Orange couch from ‘Friends’ on a world tour

Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC maintains a display of ruby slippers from Wizard of Oz

The process of contamination is why many fans desire for items that belonged to (or were even touched by) famous people.

The Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC maintains a display that features such “sacred items” as the ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz, a phaser from Star Trek, etc. – all reverently protected behind sturdy display glass.

In 2019, the famous orange couch from “Friends” went on a world tour to celebrate 25th anniversary of the sitcom

Desacralization:

Desacralization – removal of a sacred item or symbol from its special place or duplicate it in mass quantities so that it loses its “specialness” and becomes profane.

Reproduction of sacred monuments like Eiffel Tower

Reproduction of artworks like Mona Lisa or Michelangelo’s David

Printing of sacred symbols like country flags on T-shirts

Just as objects can shift from the profane to the sacred, they can shift from the sacred to the profane.

Reproduction eliminate their special aspects.

They become inauthentic commodities with relatively little value.

Objective 5:

New products, services, and ideas spread through a population over time. Different types of people are more or less likely to adopt them during this diffusion process.

The Diffusion of Innovations:

Innovation: any product or service that consumers perceive to be new

New manufacturing technique (the ability to design your own running shoe at nike.com)

New product variation (Uber; Blue Apron)

New way to deliver product (GrubHub, Postmates)

New way to package product (Campbell’s soup in microwaveable bowl)

Diffusion of innovation: the process whereby a new product, service, or idea spreads through a population

Successful innovations spread through the population at various rates

Marketers may need to encourage adoption of new products among their consumers.

The Diffusion of Innovations:

Types of Adopters:

Innovators are always on the lookout for novel products or services and who are first to try something new

Early adopters are similar to innovators but they are different in their degree of concern for social acceptance.

Laggards are very slow. Last group to adopt.

The early majority and late adopters are in the middle

Behavioral Demands of Innovations:

Innovations are categorized by the degree to which they demand adopters to change their behavior.

Technology Acceptance Model (TAM): widely used approach to predicting whether people will adopt a new form of technology or information system – The likelihood of change/ acceptance is based on two factors:

the perceived usefulness of the new option

its perceived ease of use.

Three major types of innovations based on the amount of disruption or change they bring to people’s lives.

Continuous innovation

Evolutionary rather than revolutionary

A modification of an existing product (such as when Levi’s promotes a new cut of jeans).

The company makes a small change to an existing product. Most product innovations are of this type.

When a consumer adopts this kind of new product, she only must make minor changes in her habits.

Dynamically continuous innovation

More pronounced change to existing product

Present new way to use an existing product

Consumers must alter our habits to use it.

Discontinuous innovation

Creates major changes in the way we live

Major inventions such as the airplane, the car, the computer, and the television all changed modern lifestyles

A continuous innovation Most product innovations are of this type.

Prerequisites for Successful Adoption:

Compatibility

Innovation should be compatible with consumers’ lifestyles

Trialability

People are more likely to adopt an innovation if they can experiment with it prior to purchase

Complexity

A product that is easy to understand will be chosen over competitors

Observability

Innovations that are easily observable are more likely to spread

Relative Advantage

Product should offer relative advantage over other alternatives

A successful innovation, no matter how much we have to change in order to adopt it, should possess certain attributes.

To the extent that the product innovation meets these five criteria, it will be adopted.

Chapter14_Culture.pptx

Chapter14_Culture.pptx

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