Essay on Cultural Influences Of Consumer Behavior

As a country, Americans love to shop. Whether in malls, grocery stores, on the Internet, or elsewhere, the culture of buying is deeply ingrained in American culture. Fueled largely by advertising and the current credit system, America’s consumer culture is depleting our planet’s finite natural resources and polluting our environment. Consumerism has instilled in Americans an artificial, ongoing, and insatiable desire for mass-produced and marketed products, and the money with which to buy them, with little regard to their actual usefulness or necessity. This constant desire to acquire more possessions is poisoning the planet, as it can never be sated and thus results in the never-ending exploitation of the Earth’s natural resources, and

Culture is described as the symbols that individuals, groups and societies use to make decision of daily life and to assure their values. Culture is a model of basic assumptions invented, discovered or developed by a given organization as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaption and internal combination, which has worked well enough to think correctly and, so to instruct to new comers as the valid way to observe, consider and feel in relation to these problems. Culture consists of manner, mind-set, values, rituals, religious belief, law (written and unwritten), arts, ideas, custom, belief, ceremonies, social institutions, myths and legends, individual identity and behavior. Cultural pattern classifies are used to describe the dominant beliefs and values. Culture has been called the way of life for an entire society. It is a group or community living together and sharing a set of norms. Culture and society are coexistent. One does not or cannot exist without the other. Culture and society may have some common elements but the two are not the same; they are not identical.

In today’s world of various products and services, businesses aim to excel and lead the competition by marketing the most number of consumers, which is a full time endeavor of business. To survive in the market, a firm or an organization has to be constantly innovating and understand the latest consumer trends and tastes. Marketers need to understand consumer behavior because the decision-making process for consumers is anything but straight forward. Consumers’ behaviors and their purchasing patterns is a huge advantage to understanding the way customers think and the reason for their purchases. Therefore, the study of consumer behavior is important because it allows the

The Effect of Consumer Culture on Education Consumer culture has without a doubt affected my education. Education

Social-cultural factors outlines the basic beliefs and values of consumers. It is the forces that influences an individual’s way of thinking, lifestyles and behaviors. Marketers must take into consideration the various characteristics of the consumers it is going to sell or target as this is vital in the development of marketing strategies, therefore, making the product or services appealing to customers. One important development is the changing and growth in racial and ethnicity, affecting the changes in culture as new values, ideas and attitudes are learned and shared by different social groups. Sociocultural factors can have an impact on marketing activities which are influenced by the improvements or advances in technology and the ability to instantly transfer ideas via the internet. There are also the advancement of connectivity through social media (i.e., Facebook and Twitter) and telecommunication (i.e., Skype or Viper Chat). In the past, none of these technologies existed, most communications were done via letter writing, telegram and not many had access to computers or the internet. In today’s society, with all these new technologies in our grasps, this gives the consumer the advantage to research about the product or services and comparing prices before buying. It also allows the consumer to buy with safety, security and control in mind. The marketing department of a company need to be aware of the current needs and wants of consumers in order to develop a

Consumer purchase behavior is the sum total of a consumer's attitudes, preferences, intentions, and decisions regarding the consumer's behavior in the marketplace when purchasing a product or service. The study of consumer behavior draws upon social science disciplines of anthropology, psychology, sociology, and economics. Through this research, we will investigate the purchase behavior of Samsung users from the reasons that they purchase Samsung mobile phone.

The rise of brand culture has targeted and influenced the consumer’s thoughts and behavior while purchasing any kind of product in today’s market. There have been numerous studies that clarify how culture does influence the consumption of brands towards consumers. It’s evident that consumers who classify themselves as cultural are likely to be ‘ brand loyal’. By saying this the iPhone plays a strategic role in manipulating consumers into buying the brand. Consumers who love the company behind the iPhone ‘Apple’ have a strong bond with it as the phone itself offers Icloud, IOS, style, design and reliability that no other brand can provide them. That’s one significant reason why consumers purchase and stick to Apple’s products. Not only does it provide trust to its consumers but it also includes upgrading the phones to new versions over years. Once a customer sticks with Apple in general they tend to stay with them for a long time.

Culture refers to the values, rules, norms and behaviour as well as their products that govern the lifestyles of an individual or group. Cultural rules and behaviour are inherited from past generations, may be learned from others and are transmitted to other generation. Additionally, they embody the symbols and systems through which communication, attitudes and knowledge about life takes place. The set a certain group of people apart from others because the manifestation of cultural components represent the conscious elements of the individuals in one culture and helps register the differences or similarities in how other groups and cultures behave.

Culture, according to the textbook, is defined as learned behavior; a way of life for one group of people living in a single, related, and independent community. Some major elements of culture include language, religion, values and attitudes, manners and customs, material elements, aesthetics, education, and social institutions. Language is the basis of interaction and communication among people. The two primary types of language are verbal and nonverbal communication. Religion is a very important cultural aspect when it comes to learning and understanding a new culture. Values are basic beliefs or philosophies of things that most people in a society consider to be true. For instance, American Jews, like their countrymen, place a high value on freedom and autonomy. But Jewish life is based on values like authority, community, and eternity. Thus, American Jews sometimes find some odd differences between the American society values and the Jewish values in which they live. Culture includes some main characteristics which are culture is learned, shared, based on symbols, integrated, and dynamic. For example, a child born in China but was brought to America after birth may not develop traits characteristics of Chinese. He may learn behavior pattern characteristics of American children, including language.

Figure 3: Lush label states "Fresh Handmade Cosmetics" and "Bring back 5 Pots and Get a Fresh Face Mask Free"

The culture may be defined as the beliefs and attitudes and how are these beliefs and attitudes developing. We consider the culture as a main part of every society, it plays an important role in knowing of the needs and the selection of people. The cultures includes the nationalities, geographic regions, religions and racial groups. The culture may satisfy the consumer is need inside the society it helps them to choose the suitable thing for a suitable time. Such as providing people with information about when to eat , where to eat, and what to eat. For example MacDonald's produce Kosher food for Jewish but in the Islamic countries it produces Halal Food which slaughtered in accordance with Islamic

Culture refers to the sum of integrated learned behavior traits shared by members of a society ADDIN EN.CITE Hofstede2001449(Hofstede, 2001)4494496Hofstede, G.Culture's Negation-Comparing values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organization Across Nation2001USASage Publication( HYPERLINK l "_ENREF_2" o "Hofstede, 2001 #449" Hofstede, 2001). In the 19th century Edwad Tylor gave the classical definition of culture as the complex whole including; arts knowledge, morals, custom, law, beliefs and any other habits and capabilities man acquires being a member of a society ADDIN EN.CITE Ghemawat2007448(Ghemawat, 2007)44844817Ghemawat, P. Managing differences; The central challenge of global strategyHarvard Business ReviewHarvard Business Review59-688532007( HYPERLINK l "_ENREF_1" o "Ghemawat, 2007 #448" Ghemawat, 2007). This definition gives us an overall understanding that culture is obtained and observed out of interactions in the society. The international perspective of culture intimates that attributes of a given society need to be observed in business operations.

According to Kim Ann Zimmerman, Culture is defined as "the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts" (Zimmerman, 2015, para. 1). There can be countless characteristics of culture, but five basic characteristics that define a culture are that it is learned, shared, integrated, dynamic, and based on symbols (nowaczyk). “Learned” means that culture has to be taught to an individual, no one is born with a sense of their culture. “Shared” means that culture is common to its members, and allows them to act in socially appropriate ways with one another.

The role of culture and consumer behavior in shaping marketing strategies is explored in the research. The research design includes a secondary literature review as well as primary research using a survey sample size of 30 individuals. The research provides a significant account of the factors influencing cultures, differences between UAE and UK culture. The motives of consumption are also investigated through review of secondary literature and analysis of survey results. The relevance of consumer behaviors with regards to strategy formulation for marketing is also discussed. Finally it is concluded that corporations develop their marketing strategies according to the cultures and target market attributes.

Walt Disney and Disneyland have been symbolic with family and family values since 1955. For decades parents and children have trusted Disney to entertain its public with a very specific standard and ethic. In terms of brand equity the brand of Disney is the value. Disney embodies an intrinsic