Chapter 13

Subculture and
Social Class
 Subcultures
• Subcultures defined
• Demographic characteristics used to identify
subcultures

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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
– Can be further segmented into subcultures
based on other demographic characteristics

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 Analyzing Subcultures cont.

• Can follow the same approach as cultural

analysis
– Examine the content of subculture by describing
the cultural meanings shared by members of
the subculture
• Marketers seek to identify the typical
characteristics, meanings, and behavioral
tendencies shared by people in the
subculture
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 Analyzing Subcultures cont.

• Task is to determine what level of analysis

is appropriate for the problem and develop
marketing strategies for that level
• Geographic subcultures
– The U.S. as a polycultural nation
– Joel Garreau’s “nine nations” of North America
– Borderland regions

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 Analyzing Subcultures cont.

• Age subcultures
– Teen market
• The American teenage population has been gaining
affluence and fluctuating in size
• Several studies have found that teenagers do a large
portion of the grocery shopping
• Brand loyalty has been found to form early among
teenage shoppers

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 Analyzing Subcultures cont.

– Baby Boomers
• People born between 1946 and 1964
• Largest and most affluent group in history
• Characterized by having a blend of “me-generation”
and old-fashioned family values
• Strongly influence the values of other groups
• The most lucrative and challenging group marketers
have ever seen

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 Analyzing Subcultures cont.

– The mature market

• Consumers over the age of 55
• One of the most rapidly growing subcultures in
American society
• The economic character of this market deserves
careful consideration
• Important to recognize how the market is changing
• Because many people in this subculture are retired,
they have more time to enjoy entertainment and
leisure activities

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 Analyzing Subcultures cont.

• Ethnic subcultures
– Marketers must recognize that 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

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 Analyzing 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

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 Analyzing Subcultures cont.

– Asian subculture
• Asian-Americans are among the most rapidly
increasing ethnic group in the U.S.
• Requires special marketing attention for many
companies
• Asian-Americans are a prime market because they
are more affluent than any other racial or ethnic
group
• Very diverse subculture

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 Analyzing Subcultures cont.

• Gender as a subculture
– Ample evidence that men and women differ in
important respects
– For some marketing purposes, gender
differences may be significant enough to
consider the two sexes as separate subcultures
– Today, women either make or greatly influence
most purchasing decisions

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 Analyzing Subcultures cont.

• Income as a subculture
– People at different income levels tend to have
quite different values, behaviors, and lifestyles
– Marketers often divide American households
into three income categories
• Downscale
• Upscale
• Middle income

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 Analyzing Subcultures cont.

• Acculturation processes
– Begins when a person from one culture moves
to a different culture or subculture to live and
work
– Refers to how people in one culture or
subculture understand and adapt to the
meanings of another culture or subculture

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 Analyzing Subcultures cont.

– How people acquire the ability and cultural

knowledge to be skilled consumers in different
cultures or subcultures
– Important in the modern world
– Important for people who move to different
regions within the same country and must adapt
to different subcultural meanings

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 Analyzing Subcultures cont.

– Degree to which immigrants, movers, and

marketers became acculturated into a new
culture or subculture depends on their level of
cultural interpenetration
• The amount and type of social interactions they have
with people in the host culture

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 Analyzing Subcultures 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

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 Social Class
• A national status hierarchy by which groups
and individuals are distinguished in terms of
esteem and prestige
• Four social class groups to use for
consumer analysis in the U.S.
– Upper
– Middle
– Working
– Lower

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 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

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 Social Class cont.

• Families in each social class can be further

classified
– Overprivileged
– Average
– Underprivileged
• Social class and relative standing within a
class are important sources of consumers’
beliefs, values, and behaviors

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 Social Class cont.

• At a conceptual level, social classes are

useful for investigating the process by which
consumers develop their characteristic
beliefs, values, and behavior patterns

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 Social Class cont.

• Social class vs. income

– Each variable has its advantages and
disadvantages
– The choice between using social class, income,
or a combination depends on the product and
the situation

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 Summary

• Discussed two macro social influences on

consumers’ behaviors, cognitions, and
affective responses
• Learned how social factors influence how
people think, feel, and behave relative to
their physical, social, and marketing
environments

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 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

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