Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books Saylor.org
- Explain why the culture, subcultures, social classes, and families consumers belong to affect their buying
behavior. - Describe what reference groups and opinion leaders are.
Situational factors—the weather, time of day, where you are, who you are with, and your mood—
influence what you buy, but only on a temporary basis. So do personal factors, such as your gender,
as well as psychological factors, such as your self-concept. Societal factors are a bit different. They
are more outward. They depend on the world around you and how it works.
The Consumer’s Culture
Culture refers to the shared beliefs, customs, behaviors, and attitudes that characterize a society. Your
culture prescribes the way in which you should live. As a result, it has a huge effect on the things you
purchase. For example, in Beirut, Lebanon, women can often be seen wearing miniskirts. If you’re a
woman in Afghanistan wearing a miniskirt, however, you could face bodily harm or death. In Afghanistan
women generally wear burqas, which cover them completely from head to toe. Similarly, in Saudi Arabia,
women must wear what’s called an abaya, or long black garment. Interestingly, abayas have become big
business in recent years. They come in many styles, cuts, and fabrics. Some are encrusted with jewels and
cost thousands of dollars.
To read about the fashions women in Muslim countries wear, check out the following
article:http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1210781,00.html.
Even cultures that share many of the same values as the United States can be quite different from the
United States in many ways. Following the meltdown of the financial markets in 2008, countries around
the world were pressed by the United States to engage in deficit spending so as to stimulate the worldwide
economy. But the plan was a hard sell both to German politicians and the German people in general. Most
Germans don’t own credit cards, and running up a lot of debt is something people in that culture generally