How Cultural and Social Factors Affecting Consumer Decisions 

The broad study of consumer behaviour helps businesses and marketers understand why and why not an individual purchases goods and services from the market. Many factors influence consumers’ buying decisions, cultural and social factors being one of the most important factors.

Cultural factors

Culture

Culture is a very broad and complex concept that includes many aspects of human existence and daily life. It encompasses key elements of society, including language, education, religion, government, identity and personality of the people who are part of that culture.

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In a simpler word, culture is nothing but a set of values, beliefs and principles of an individual. What an individual learns from his parents and relatives becomes their culture. Since people are not born with culture, it is learnt starting at birth, and the learning continues throughout an individual’s life.

E.g. People living in Asian countries value joint family systems and family ties. Most children in these countries are conditioned to stay with their parents till they get married as compared to Western countries where children are more independent and leave their parents once they start earning a living for themselves.

In analysing the culture of a particular group or organization it is desirable to distinguish three fundamental levels at which culture manifests itself:

• Observable artifacts

• Values

• Basic underlying assumptions

These levels of culture may be viewed as an iceberg, with the most immediately visible level at the top, while the others are generally implicit and hard to recognise.

Subculture

The study of subcultures has its origins in the Chicago School during the 1940s and 1950s. The term came to be used in a much wider sense to describe any group of people who adopt the new norms of behaviour, values, beliefs, consumption patterns, and lifestyle choices that differ to varying degrees from those of the dominant, mainstream culture. It can also include groups of people who share:

• Sexual practices (e.g. LGBT, or lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people)

• Religious beliefs (e.g. Janists, Sunni Muslims)

• Ethnic practices (e.g., Italian Americans)

• Regional cultural practices (e.g., Bavarians in Germany)

• Lifestyle consumption patterns (e.g., hip-hop music, clothing, gaming)

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Subcultures are increasingly recognised and spread rapidly from one country to another due to the rapid development of the Internet and the globalisation of media.

Social class

At its core, social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions between individuals and groups in society based on factors such as:

• Wealth

• Income

• Education

• Occupation

• Social status

These distinctions often influence people’s opportunities, access to resources, behaviours and lifestyle. Social class divisions can vary, but they are typically grouped into three categories as follows:

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Social factors

Reference groups

Consumer behaviour can be influenced by the groups a person comes into contact with, either through friendship, face-to-face interaction or even indirect contact. These are called reference groups. For example – churches, clubs, schools, online social networks, playgroups, professional groups, and even a group of friends and acquaintances.

Reference groups influence individuals in several ways:

• Role expectations – provide people with a reference guideline of the roles and how they are supposed to behave or act given the situation.

• Conformity – set standards and normal behavioural expectations for the members to follow through and integrate better.

• Worth-of-mouth influence – refers to personal recommendations, opinions, or discussions about a product, service, or brand, typically between individuals.

Reference groups can be categorized into several types based on their nature and relevance:

Opinion leaders

Opinion leaders are those in reference groups who exert a significant amount of influence and affect the opinions within their network. They are not necessarily higher-income or better educated, but others may view them as having greater expertise and broader experiences or deeper knowledge of a topic. These people often set the trend and others conform to the expressed behaviour.

At present, with the development of digital technologies and social networks, influencers have taken on the role of opinion leaders worldwide. Those influencers may be bloggers or YouTubers with many followers who post frequently on various social media and even people who write lots of online reviews. The impact of influencers on consumers’ decision-making process is great to the extent that a separate area called ‘Influencer marketing’ has emerged within global marketing.

Bottom lines

In summary, cultural and social factors have a direct impact on consumers’ behaviour and decision-making process. It is worth noting that for marketers anywhere in the world, it is essential to develop a strong understanding of the local culture and its accompanying beliefs, values, and customs so that they can speak the right language to the consumers they want to target.

Likewise, subcultures can represent huge opportunities for marketers to make their products impressive to the population that may feel underserved by companies operating in the mainstream market. Individuals with strong subcultural identities are likely to welcome organizations that seem to understand them, speak their subcultural language, and satisfy their subculture-specific needs.

For marketers, social class can be a useful factor to consider in segmentation and targeting. Let’s say a company targets to serve upper-class customers, given the fact that the market is niche and small, yet customers are willing to pay more for high-quality products and supreme services. In contrast, price sensitivity and value for money are critical for products targeting individuals in the lower class.

Meanwhile, as consumers are living in an era of social networks and online communities, reference groups and opinion leaders are essential concepts in digital marketing. That means marketers need to understand which reference groups influence their target segments and direct marketing activities to focus on winning the opinion leaders of those groups.

References

Akshata, R.N, Stephanie, B & Changiz, M 2023,  How accurate is the information we get on the internet?, Frontiers for Young Minds, available at <https://kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2023.1150335>.

Cutler, C 2006, Subcultures and Countercultures, Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (Second Edition), Elsevier, pp.236-239.

Edwards, M 2024, Understanding social class in sociology, Easy Sociology, available at <https://easysociology.com/general-sociology/understanding-social-class-in-sociology/>.

Herzog, A, Mitchell, J & Soccio, L 1999, Interrogating Subcultures, Rochester, available at <https://www.rochester.edu/in_visible_culture/issue2/introduction.htm>.

Lake, L.A 2009, Consumer behavior for dummies, Indianapolis: Wiley Publishing.

Management Study Guide n.d., Cultural factors affecting consumer behaviour, Management Study Guide, available at <https://www.managementstudyguide.com/cultural-factors-affecting-consumer-behaviour.htm>.

Mushtaq, M. 2012, The influence of cultural factors on consumer buying behaviour, Global Journal of Management and Business Research, 12(4), pp. 1-8, available at <https://journalofbusiness.org/index.php/GJMBR/article/view/1223/4-The-Influence-of-Cultural-Factors-on_html>.

ResearchGate, n.d., Distribution of characteristics of the lower, middle, and upper social class, Social Classes vs Professional Stereotypes in Greece, A View to a Fogy Social Construction, available at <https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Distribution-of-characteristics-of-the-lower-middle-and-upper-social-class_tbl4_314811265>.

Žák, Š & Hasprová, M 2021, The impact of opinion leaders on the consumer behaviour in the global digital environment, The 20th International Scientific Conference Globalization and its Socio-Economic Consequences 2020, available at <https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/20219206043>