Sociological Influences on Consumer Decision Making

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Cross – Cultural consumers

 Buying behavior is also influenced
by:
• CULTURAL factors include a consumer’s culture, subculture and social
class. These factors are often inherent in our values and decision processes.

SOCIAL factors include groups (reference groups, inspirational groups

and member groups), family, roles and status. This explains the outside
influences of others on our purchase decisions either directly or indirectly.

PERSONAL factors include such variables as age and lifecycle stage,

occupation, economic circumstances, lifestyle (activities, interests,
opinions and demographics), personality and self concept. These may
explain why our preferences often change as our `situation' changes.

PSCHOLOGICAL factors affecting our purchase decision include

motivation (Maslow's hierarchy of needs), perception, learning,
beliefs and attitudes.
• Cultural Factors:
• Culture:
– Shapes the Wants and behaviors of consumers

• Subculture:
– Nationalities, religion and regional differences

• Social Class:
– Income factor:
» social classes differ in many characteristics-high, middle
and low income groups
» members behave more alike within each class
» members perceived as inferior/superior
» clusters of variation exists in each class
» members move from one class to another.
Examples of Cultural factor influences
• A U.S. consumer needs food but may want a Hamburger,
red meat, Philly cheesesteak and an iced tea. Whereas
Indians are found of rice, parathas, vegetables etc.

• Females staying in India would prefer buying sarees as

compared to Westerns.

• Similarly a male consumer would prefer a Dhoti Kurta

during auspicious ceremonies in India

• In India widows are expected to wear whites. Whereas,

White dress is accepted for marriage in West.
Examples of Subculture Influence
• People in North India prefer breads over rice which is a
favorite with people in South India and East India.

• Religionwise: For Hindus eating beef is considered to

be a sin whereas Muslims and Christians absolutely
relish the same. Eating pork is against Muslim religion.

• Social Classes: People from upper class generally

have a tendency to spend on luxurious items such as
expensive gadgets, cars, dresses etc.You would hardly
find an individual from a lower class spending money
on high-end products.
• Social Factor:
• Reference Groups-membership groups:
– primary-family, relatives, co-workers
– secondary groups
– aspirational
– dissociative
– opinion leaders
• Family:
– Husband, wife and children
• Role and Status.
Examples of Social Factor Influence
• Tim wanted to purchase a laptop for himself. He went
to the nearby store and purchased a Dell Laptop. The
reason why he purchased a Dell Laptop was because
all his friends were using the same model and were
quite satisfied with the product. We tend to pick up
products our friends recommend.

• A Ford Car in the neighbourhood would prompt three

more families to buy the same model.

• A consumer who has a wife and child at home would

buy for them rather than spending on himself.
Examples of Social Factor Influence
• Role in the Society-Each individual plays a dual role in
the society depending on the group he belongs to. An
individual working as Chief Executive Officer with a
reputed firm is also someone’s husband and father at
home. The buying tendency of individuals depends on
the role he plays in the society.

• Social Status -An individual from an upper middle

class would spend on luxurious items whereas an
individual from middle to lower income group would
buy items required for his/her survival.
 Personal Factors:
 Age and Life Cycle Stages
 family life cycle
 Occupation:
 White collor or blue collor workers
 Economic Circumstances:
 Spending/saving
 Life Style:
 Psychographics and Value and life styles
 Personality : Personality can be a useful variable in analyzing
consumer brand choices. Brands also have personalities, and
consumers are likely to choose brands whose personalities
match their own.
Personal Factor- Types of Brand
Personalities
• Stanford’s Jennifer Aaker researched brand
personalities and identified the following traits:

• 1. Sincerity (down-to-earth, honest, wholesome, and

cheerful)
• 2. Excitement (daring, spirited, imaginative, and up-to-
date)
• 3. Competence (reliable, intelligent, and successful)
• 4. Sophistication (upper-class and charming)
• 5. Ruggedness (outdoorsy and tough)
examples of personal factor influence
• Agewise consumption:-Every individual goes through
the following age and shows a different buying need in
each stage:

• Bachelorhood: Purchases Gadgets, Beer, Bike, Mobile

Handsets (Spends Lavishly).
• Newly Married: Tend to purchase a new house, car,
household furnishings. (Spends sensibly)
• Family with Children: Purchases products to secure his
as well as his family’s future.
• Empty nest (Children getting married)/Retirement/Old
Age: Medicines, Health Products, and Necessary Items.
examples of personal factor influence
• Occupationwise-A CEO or a senior professional can
never afford to wear cheap labels and local brands to work.
• College goers and students would prefer casuals as
compared to professionals who would be more interested
in buying formal shirts and trousers.
• Lifestyle- It is really important for some people to wear
branded clothes whereas some individuals are really not
brand conscious. An individual staying in a posh locality
needs to maintain his status and image.
• Personality- A fitness freak would always look for fitness
equipments whereas a music lover would happily spend on
musical instruments, CDs, concerts, musical shows etc
Cross – Cultural consumers
Cross cultural consumer
behaviour
• Schiffman defines cross cultural consumer
analysis as “the effort to determine to what
extent the consumers of two or more
nations are similar or different.”

• The marketer must understand how

consumers in targeted countries are
similar and dissimilar from each other.
Acculturation
• A cross-cultural consumer analysis helps the marketer assess
the market potential and customer reaction for his product and
service offering.

• People’s values and beliefs, customs and traditions, as also

perspectives and orientations have a bearing on customer’s
needs, wants and priorities, finally translating into their desire
for product and service offerings.

• These would vary across nations and cultures, and marketers

must thus go through an acculturation process.

• As has been defined earlier, acculturation is defined as the

process of learning a new or a foreign culture.
MEASURES OF CROSS-CULTURAL
ASPECTS
• 1. Judgments regarding the quality of a
country’s products

• 2. Willingness to buy a country’s products

• 3. Ethnocentrism—willingness to buy foreign-

made products.

• 4. Perceptions of a country’s consumption

culture
Buying styles in Four NAtions
Cross-cultural analysis to Marketing Mix

• Through a cross-cultural analysis, a marketer

would get inputs into how the foreign culture
is different to his native culture.

• When customers across two or more

countries are similar, the marketer can afford
to have a similar marketing program; in case
they are different, he would have to adapt his
4Ps and design a separate individualized
marketing strategy for the foreign country.
Marketing mix
• The four elements mentioned as—product, distribution, promotion
and pricing— constitute the marketing mix of a firm. The marketing
mix is the sole vehicle for creating and delivering customer value.

• The marketing mix is the set of choices the firm offers to its targeted
markets.

• Many firms vary their marketing mix from country to country,

depending on differences in national culture, economic
development, product standards, distribution channels, and so on

• Thus a company’s marketing mix will often be different for different

countries based on
a country’s culture and local preferences,
a country’s economic level,
what product standard certification a country’s system demands.
a country’s distribution channels and media