Culture and Subculture Influences
Culture and Subculture Influences
culture refers to the set of values, ideas, and attitudes that are learned and shared among the members of a group. Thus, we often refer to the American culture, the Latin American culture, or the Japanese culture. Cultural underpinnings of American buying patterns were described in will explore the role of culture in global marketing.
Subgroups within the larger, or national, culture with unique values, ideas, and attitudes are referred to as subcultures . Various subcultures exist within the American culture. The three largest racial/ethnic subcultures in the United States are Hispanics, African Americans, and Asian Americans. Collectively, they are expected to account for one in four U.S. consumers and to spend about $2.5 trillion for goods and services in 2017, which will represent 16.4 percent of the United States’ total buying power. Each group exhibits sophisticated social and cultural behaviors that affect buying patterns, which provides the basis for multicultural marketing programs described
Why does Best Foods advertise its Mazola Corn Oil in Spanish? Read the text for the answer.
Mazola Corn Oil
Hispanic Buying Patterns Hispanics represent the largest racial/ethnic subculture in the United States in terms of population and spending power. About 50 percent of Hispanics in the United States are immigrants, and the majority are under the age of 29. One-third of Hispanics are younger than 18.
Research on Hispanic buying practices has uncovered several consistent patterns:
1.Hispanics are quality and brand conscious. They are willing to pay a premium price for premium quality and are often brand loyal.
2.Hispanics prefer buying American-made products, especially those offered by firms that cater to Hispanic needs.
3.Hispanic buying preferences are strongly influenced by family and peers.
4.Hispanics consider advertising a credible product information source, and U.S. firms spend about $8 billion annually on advertising to Hispanics.
5.Convenience is not an important product attribute to Hispanic homemakers with respect to food preparation or consumption, nor is low caffeine in coffee and soft drinks, low fat in dairy products, or low cholesterol in packaged foods.
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Despite some consistent buying patterns, marketing to Hispanics has proven to be a challenge for two reasons. First, the Hispanic subculture is diverse and composed of Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and others of Central and South American ancestry. Cultural differences among these nationalities often affect product preferences. For example, Campbell Soup Company sells its Casera line of soups, beans, and sauces using different recipes to appeal to Puerto Ricans on the East Coast and Mexicans in the Southwest. Second, a language barrier exists, and commercial messages are frequently misinterpreted when translated into Spanish. Volkswagen learned this lesson when the Spanish translation of its “Drivers Wanted” slogan suggested “chauffeurs wanted.” The Spanish slogan was changed to “Agarra Calle,” a slang expression that can be loosely translated as “let’s hit the road.”
Sensitivity to the unique needs of Hispanics by firms has paid huge dividends. For example, Metropolitan Life Insurance is the largest insurer of Hispanics. Goya Foods dominates the market for ethnic food products sold to Hispanics. Best Foods’s Mazola Corn Oil captures two-thirds of the Hispanic market for this product category. Time, Inc., has more than 750,000 subscribers to its People en Español.
