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Unit 11: Culture and Consumer Behaviour

concepts of self and society. The American teen girls are often associated with images of Notes
determination and independence while the Japanese girls are most often portrayed with happy,
playful, childlike, girlish image.
Content Analysis is useful for both marketers and public policy makers who are interested in
comparing the advertising claims of competitors within a specific industry or for evaluating the
nature of advertising claims targeted to specific audiences (e.g. the women, elderly or children).

11.3.2 Consumer Field Work

While studying a specific society, researchers often engross themselves in the environment
under study through consumer field work. The trained and experienced researchers , they are
likely to select a small sample of people from a particular society and carefully observe their
behavior. Based upon their observations researchers can draw conclusions about values, beliefs
and customs of the society under investigation.

Example: Positioning trained observers in department and clothing stores note how
shirts are selected:
1. Single color vs. Multi-colored
2. Plain vs. striped
3. The degree of search before a choice is made
The observers note that the consumers take shirts off the display, compare it with other shirts
and put it back. They even try a few of the shirts kept aside for selection before selecting the shirt
that they finally purchase.

Field Observations: such observations take place within natural environment and are sometimes
performed without the subject being actually aware of it. It focuses upon observation of behavior
of the subject. It puts emphasis on natural environment and observable behavior.
Participant Observations: in this kind of observation, the observers become active members of
the environment that they are studying. For example if researchers are interested in learning
how consumers select mobile phones, they may take sales positions in a mobile store to observe
directly or even interact with consumers.

Both field Observations and participant observer research require highly trained researchers
who can separate their own emotions and preferences from what they observe in their
professional roles.

Marketers often use other techniques also such as, depth interviews and focus group discussions,
to get first hand information about the emerging social trends. When conducted in an informal
environment, the focus group discussions reveal such attitudes and behaviors of participants
that may signal a shift in values. Such a shift might affect market acceptance of a product or
service in the long run. These discussions can also be used to identify marketing programs that
reinforce established consumer loyalty and goodwill. It became evident from these discussions
across various markets that an established consumer wants the sellers and marketers to
acknowledge his loyalty and offer him personalised services.

11.3.3 Value Measurement Surveys

Value Measurement Surveys are used to determine the dominant underlying values of a society.
Traditionally, the researchers observed the behavior of the members of a specific society and
inferred from such behavior the dominant underlying values of the society. But nowadays, the

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