The outbreak of coronavirus in US, as well as anywhere in the world has dramatically changed our life and work recently. Each of us is working so hard to adapt to the life disrupted by this virus. It is even harder for firms and brands to survive from such global disaster. Many brands tried different approaches to communicate with their customers, provide services, rearrange their logistic operations, and maintain their connections with the customers during the tough period. Please (1) choose one brand to discuss its current marketing strategies, and then (2) apply what you have learned from consumer perceptions and attitude development to discuss why they made those changes and how that might affect their customers. You might use the following structure in your assignment

Your name: 

Brand investigated in this home assignment: 

Information you have search in preparing this assignment:

The major marketing strategies changes of the chosen brand: 

Apply knowledge learned from consumer perceptions and attitude development to discuss why they make such changes, and how these changes might affect their customers. 

MKT334 Consumer Behavior

Dr. Stella Li

Assistant Professor in Marketing

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Week 11—

Cultural Values & Age Cohorts

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Understand core American cultural values
Summarize changes in self-, environment-, and other-oriented values
Discuss values as they relate to green marketing
Discuss values as they relate to cause-related marketing
Discuss values as they relate to marketing to gay and lesbian consumers
Discuss values as they relate to gender-based marketing

Learning Objectives
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L06

L05

L01

L04

L03

L02

Culture
Culture is a set of socially acquired values that society accepts as a whole and transmits to its members through language and symbols.
Reflects a society’s shared meanings and traditions.
Includes language, knowledge, religions, food customs, music, art, technology, work patterns, products, that distinct it from others.
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Cultural Value
Cultural values are
personally socially worth striving for.
widely held beliefs that affirm what is desirable.
Value systems are the relative importance cultures place on different values.
Asian culture emphasizes “inner harmony”, collectivism.
Western cultures emphasize individual achievement, individualism.
Observable shifts in behavior, including consumption behavior, often reflect underlying shifts in cultural values.

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Traditional, Current, and Emerging American Values
Changes in American Cultural Values
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Characteristics of Cultural Values (1)
Cultural values are learned
Enculturation—learn the values of one’s own culture since childhood
Family passes values to the next generation
Learn through school, religious institutions.
Acculturation—learn the values of another culture.
A person may adapt the consumption values and behavior of another country.
Learn through observation, word-of-mouth communication, and mass media.
Cultural learning can occur through informal learning (e.g., observation), formal learning (e.g., family), technical learning (e.g., school)
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Marketers influence our cultural learning
Repetition of marketing messages creates & reinforces cultural beliefs & values.
Example: ads of coffee , Coffee break
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Product marketing messages enhance informal cultural learning by provding the audience with a model of behavior to imiae. The is true for the visible and conspicuous consumption, where peer evaluation plays a rol.
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Marketers influence our cultural learning
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Green Marketing
Cause-Related Marketing
Marketing to Gay and Lesbian Consumers
Gender-Based Marketing

Marketing Strategy and Values
Will discuss these more in the lecture about marketing ethics
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The gay market is estimated to be approximately 4% of the adult U.S. population, or approx. 10 million people over age18.
The purchase power of the gay market has been estimated at over $900 billion.
Marketing to Gay and Lesbian Consumers
Getty Images/Westend61
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Marketing to Gay and Lesbian Consumers
Hero Images/Image Source
Many companies find the gay market to be a highly attractive segment. Product and communication issues are major considerations.
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Product and Communication Issues Include:
Does the product need to be modified to meet the needs of this market?
Will a firm’s standard ads be effective in gay-oriented media?
When will it be most effective to use ads with gay themes in gay media?
To what extent will the firm be involved in gay community activities?
Which approach (implicit or explicit gay theme) will be most effective in mainstream media?

Marketing to Gay and Lesbian Consumers
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Gender Identity versus Gender Roles
Ascribed versus Achievement Roles
Traditional versus Modern Gender Orientation

Gender-Based Marketing
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Gender roles in the U.S. are shifting, with both genders making many purchase decisions.
Example: Today, women influence 80% of all vehicles sold.
Gender-Based Marketing
Ingram Publishing
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Market Segmentation
Traditional Housewife
Trapped Housewife
Trapped Working Woman
Career Working Woman

Gender-Based Marketing
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Market Segmentation Based on Role Identity
Product Strategy
Marketing Communications
Retailing Strategy

Gender-Based Marketing
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Product Strategy
Moving beyond stereotypes:
Rather than adapting colors to fit stereotypes (e.g., pink power tools), companies are adapting their features in ways that make their products more functional.
Click the online button to link to Barbara’s Way and the “DIYVA” Collection
DIYVA by Barbara K– lightweight handles
Smith & Wesson – redesigned to “fit” women’s hands
Gender-Based Marketing
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Marketing Communications
The top social media sites for men and women:
Gender-Based Marketing
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Retail Strategy
Men and women have different purchasing habits.
Gender-Based Marketing
Jacob Fergus/Getty Images
Differences in loyalty, brand switching, coupon usage, and shopping style must be considered, as more men take on the task of grocery shopping.
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Understand the critical role that demographics play in influencing consumer behavior
Define the concept of generations and discuss the generations that exist in America
Explain the concept of social stratification and the role that socioeconomic factors play
Identify and discuss the major social classes in America
Understand how social class is measured
Discuss the role of social class in developing marketing strategies

Learning Objectives
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L06

L05

L01

L04

L03

L02

Population and Size
Occupation
Education
Income
Age
Demographics
Demographics and Social Stratification
Shutterstock/vetkit
Loonger/Getty Images
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Demographics
Age
U.S. Age Distribution1
Key Growth Categories
1“Resident Population Projections by Sex and Age: 2010 to 2050,” Statistical Abstract of the United States 2008 (Washington, DC: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2008), Table 10.
Demographics and Social Stratification
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A Generation or age cohort is a group of persons who have experienced a common social, political, historical, and economic environment.
Cohort analysis is the process of describing and explaining the attitudes, values and behaviors of an age group as well as predicting its future attitudes, values, and behaviors.
Understanding American Generations
Arial Skelley/Blend Images LLC
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Pre-Depression
Depression
Baby Boom
Generation X
Generation Y
Generation Z
Generation Alpha

Mature Market
Understanding American Generations

PamelaJoeMcFarlane/Getty Images
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Compared to prior generations, Boomers are:
Higher income, higher education
More tech savvy
Defining retirement differently
Boomers also are:
Strong market for “anti-aging” products, travel, and financial services
Often alienated by overly “youth oriented” appeals in ads

Baby Boom Generation: A Closer Look
Understanding American Generations
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Smaller than previous generations
Highly educated, with more college attendance and graduates than previous generations; Xer women more highly educated than men
Entrepreneurial in approach to jobs; less prone to devote life to a large corporation
More diverse and open to diversity than previous generations
Both cynical and sophisticated about products, ads and shopping
Tech savvier than previous generations

Generation Xers (a.k.a. Millennials): A Closer Look
Understanding American Generations
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Really Two Sub-Markets: Young Gen Y and Older Gen Y
Expected to have at least as high of education level as previous generation
Factors they believe make their generation unique
Technology use
Music and pop culture
Tolerance
Intelligence, and
clothes
Generation Yers (a.k.a. Millennials): A Closer Look
Understanding American Generations
Shutterstock/View Apart
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Targeting Generation Z
Known as Digital Natives, Generation @, Net Generation
$200 billion purchase power!
Buying patterns formed as young teen will follow through life
Reaching Gen Z can be challenging for brands, as they easily get bored; they use more digital platforms than older generations, and are known to switch among five screens simultaneously
Understanding American Generations
Eric Ratosh Photography/Blend Images LLC
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What Generation Alpha Has To Say About Technology
YouTube Spotlight
Generation Alpha
Likely to be an only child to Millennial parents
Tech Savvy
Buying power of $18 billion
Understanding American Generations
Ingram Publishing
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Social class matters?
Based on their power & prestige, people in society are classified into a hierarchy of
Upper class
Upper middle
Lower middle
Lower class

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Catherine Elizabeth Middleton
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge is the wife of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. Following his father Charles, Prince of Wales, William is second in line to succeed his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth …
Her family own a business which is valued at well over 25 Million pounds. The family have their own coat of arms.
ll her schooling was conducted at expensive private educational institutions. Her sister’s name is Pippa.
She was definitely upper class when she was single and marrying a future King hasn’t reduced her status any.
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Social Rank and Social Class System
Status Crystallization
Social Structure in the United States
The Coleman-Rainwater Hierarchy
The Measurement of Social Class
Social Stratification and Marketing Strategy
Social Stratification
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We are all familiar with the concept of social class, but most of us would have difficulty explaining our class system to someone outside the U.S.
Societal rank is one’s position relative to others on one or more dimensions valued by society, also referred to as social class and social standing.
A social class system is a hierarchical division of a society into relatively distinct and homogeneous groups with respect to attitudes, values, and lifestyles. “Pure” social classes do not exist in the U.S. or most other industrialized societies.
Social Stratification
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Status dimensions, such as parental status, education, occupation and income, set limits on one’s lifestyle, including one’s residence.

Social Stratification
Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division
Status crystallization, which is moderate in the U.S., reflects the consistency of these status dimensions.

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Social Class (1)
Researchers use the following socioeconomic factors to identify the social class of people.
income/wealth
Occupation/prestige
education
lifestyles
Power (e.g., political, personal influence)

+purchasing power are used by the marketers to classify the social class of consumers
Social status
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Social Standing is Derived and Influences Behavior
Social Structure in the United States
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Social class (2)
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http://katemiddletonstyle.org/
Consumers may purchase certain products because the products are favored by members of either their own or higher social class
Will you buy the same brand of the bag as your boss uses?

Social Structure in the United States
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Social Structure in the United States
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Upward Pull Strategy
Middle Americans
Social Structure in the United States
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Marketers assume that consumers in the same social class share common values, attitudes, and have similar purchasing patterns.
How consumers perceive their social class?
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Subjective measure of social class
Individuals are asked to estimate their own social –class positions
“Which one of the following categories best describes your social class”
Reflect on self-image, product usage and consumption preferences.
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https://news.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/204497/determines-americans-perceive-social-class.aspx
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https://www.cmo.com/content/dam/CMO_Other/Misc./rossow_MiddleClassGraph

Objective measure of social class
Single-variable indexes
Occupation, or
Education, or
Income
Composite –variable indexes
Index of status characteristics
Occupation, source of income (not amount of income), house type, and dwelling area
Socioeconomic status scores
Occupation, education, family income
Hollingshead Index of Social Position
Index of Social Position (ISP)

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Marketers generally think of these as direct influencers of consumption behavior rather than determinants of status that then influence behavior.

There are two basic approaches to measuring social status:
– Single-item index
– Multi-item index
Since an individual’s overall status is influenced by several dimensions, single-item indexes are generally less accurate than are well-developed multi-item indexes.

Measurement of Social Class
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Product development.
Questions: can you think of the brands of cars for consumers from different social class?

https://www.financialsamurai.com/your-car-as-the-ultimate-status-symbol-for-insecure-people/
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Social class and consumer media usage
Lower class less likely to subscribe newspaper
Lower middle class and upper middle class
read different magazines (readers’ digest vs. Times),
choose different broadcast media (Radio vs. Cable TV ) and TV programs.
have different attitudes to ads (receptive vs. skeptical)
shop in different places

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Advertising to blue-collar worker

Advertising to lower-middle class

Advertising to higher social class
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hds_g1UslzE
Advertising to people from different social class
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IhngNcyTlU
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https://www.cmo.com/opinion/articles/2015/4/16/marketing-to-the-new-selfidentified-middle-class.html#gs.bkj8va
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https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-is-betting-against-the-middle-class-2017-11

Walmart: 50 Years of Gutting America’s Middle Class

The only way out of this is to curtail Walmart’s continued expansion, particularly its planned takeover of urban markets, which threatens to cut off other viable economic development options.  Walmart’s growth in cities, for example, could disrupt a small but promising corner of the manufacturing revival: a plethora of new consumer goods manufacturers in cities like New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco that are responding to growing public demand for long-lasting, locally made products. These small start-ups need a diverse marketplace of independent retailers and small local chains to reach consumers — precisely the ecosystem that Walmart, buoyed by its Buy America marketing, aims to eradicate. 
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https://www.campaignindia.in/video/ikea-showcases-offerings-for-india-hopes-to-make-everyday-brighter/445836

he “make every day brighter” TV campaign, designed by advertising agency Dentsu Impact, shows an Indian family in the middle of a typical IKEA house setting, doing everything from cooking to chopping, resting, and feasting.
“Their research showed that all Indian homes were already flexible or ‘multi-purposed’. This is a deep insight. This is applicable to both upper-middle-class and middle-class homes in India,” said Kiran Khalap, co-founder and managing director of brand consulting firm Chlorophyll. “We know this is how you live, and we can be part of your life because we can provide smart and space-saving and mess-proof solutions”: That’s what the ad says, according to Khalap.

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Social status is largely derived from demographics; that is, one’s income, education, and occupation go a long way toward determining one’s social class or status.
Should marketers use an overall measure of social status (a multi-item index) or a demographic variable such as income?
Unless the marketer is interested in social standing per se, he/she will most likely focus on demographic characteristics as direct influencers on consumer behavior!
Demographics or Social Status?
Measurement of Social Class
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