Subcultures and Subcultural Marketing
Subcultures and Subcultural Marketing
Introduction
We are brought up to follow the beliefs, values, and customs of our society and to avoid behavior that is judged “unacceptable” or considered to be taboo. In addition to segmenting in terms of cultural factors, marketers also segment overall societies into smaller subgroups or subcultures that consist of people who are similar in terms of their ethnic origin, their customs, and the ways they behave. These subcultures provide important marketing opportunities for astute marketing strategists.
So, now our discussion in this chapter on subcultures will be more focused compared to the other chapters. Instead of examining the dominant beliefs, values, and customs that exist within an entire society, we will explore the marketing opportunities created by the existence of certain beliefs, values, and customs shared by members of specific sub cultural groups within a society.
These sub cultural divisions are based on a variety of socio-cultural and demographic variables such as nationality, religion, geographic locality, race, age, sex, and even working status.
Objectives
After studying this chapter we should be able:
Understand the concept of subcultures;
Identify the various types of subcultures and measure their impact on consumer behavior.
Subcultures
Culture can be divided into subcultures:
The term subculture refers to a category of people who share a sense of identification that is distinguishable from that of the total culture.
A sub-culture is an identifiable distinct, cultural group, which, while following the dominant cultural values of the overall society also has its own belief, values and customs that set them apart from other members of the same society.
Sub-culture categories are:
• Nationality: Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani;
• Religion: Hinduism, Islam;
• Race: Asian, black, white;
• Age: Generation X Market, Generation Y Market, Seniors, Baby Boomers Market;
• Sex:
Introduction
We are brought up to follow the beliefs, values, and customs of our society and to avoid behavior that is judged “unacceptable” or considered to be taboo. In addition to segmenting in terms of cultural factors, marketers also segment overall societies into smaller subgroups or subcultures that consist of people who are similar in terms of their ethnic origin, their customs, and the ways they behave. These subcultures provide important marketing opportunities for astute marketing strategists.
So, now our discussion in this chapter on subcultures will be more focused compared to the other chapters. Instead of examining the dominant beliefs, values, and customs that exist within an entire society, we will explore the marketing opportunities created by the existence of certain beliefs, values, and customs shared by members of specific sub cultural groups within a society.
These sub cultural divisions are based on a variety of socio-cultural and demographic variables such as nationality, religion, geographic locality, race, age, sex, and even working status.
Objectives
After studying this chapter we should be able:
Understand the concept of subcultures;
Identify the various types of subcultures and measure their impact on consumer behavior.
Subcultures
Culture can be divided into subcultures:
The term subculture refers to a category of people who share a sense of identification that is distinguishable from that of the total culture.
A sub-culture is an identifiable distinct, cultural group, which, while following the dominant cultural values of the overall society also has its own belief, values and customs that set them apart from other members of the same society.
Sub-culture categories are:
• Nationality: Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani;
• Religion: Hinduism, Islam;
• Race: Asian, black, white;
• Age: Generation X Market, Generation Y Market, Seniors, Baby Boomers Market;
• Sex: