Marketing To Subcultures Essay Sample

Jane Doe

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The goal of a phenomenal marketing firm is to create campaigns that speak directly to the target markets they are aiming to sell products to. Every section of the world has their particular culture, and inside that culture there are multiple subcultures. In the United States, there is an overall culture of the American people, but this can be further broken down to the various ethnic groups within the U.S. These specific groups based on ethnicity are the subcultures the topic of the paper will focus on. The three cultures to examine in the paper are the African American, Hispanic American, and Asian American groups. The spending behaviors of each group are used to show the methods that marketing firms may use to help develop highly effective campaigns.

African American Consumers

The first subgroup to analyze is the African American consumers. The African American consumer is an extremely valuable commodity to many corporate brands. According to a report by Nielsen Company (2015), “With a current buying power of $1 trillion that is forecasted to reach $1.3 trillion by the year 2017*, the importance of connecting with African-American consumers is more important than ever” (para.1). Investing in market research to understand the behavior of this group is crucial to the success of many companies that may appeal to this subgroup.
One of the first things to notice is what is most important in life to the group. Based on research most individuals from this group spent the majority of their time alone, with their spouse, or with their children. The activities that are common to the group involve socializing, chores, and food prep (Nielson, 2012). Using this information next we could align popular trends associated to these areas of life and activities. A perfect example is to consider the importance of music when the socializing, chores, or food prep is occurring; what musician is favored by the individuals at this time because the purchasing behaviors will be influenced by the trend for the genre of music that is trendy. Media influence is a big factor for the choices the African American population makes when deciding the brands they prefer. Therefore paying close attention to what is fashionable in black culture is going to provide the perfect edge for a marketing tactic to lure the consumer to the product.

Hispanic American Shoppers

The growth of the Hispanic population in the United States continues to rise creating a demand for marketing campaigns aimed at the Hispanic peoples. The Hispanic culture that is rich with tradition is heavily influenced by the family unit (Murphy, 2012). Most activities and choices that Hispanic Americans make involve opinions and agreement by members of the family. Another important point of interest to consider by marketing firms is the importance of the Spanish language in the Hispanic American culture (Murphy, 2012). . Most families are still fluently speaking Spanish in the home and companies that are intending to draw in this group for purchasing their product or service may want to utilize the Spanish language and family-oriented structure in the marketing campaign.
A factor that is also important to note in the purchasing behavior of this subculture is the role of the eighteen and younger youth. These individuals are influential in the purchasing power inside the Hispanic American home because of their connection to both cultures (Murphy, 2012). The younger population is hooked by what is portrayed by media, and likely to urge the decision-makers of in the family to invest in an item of their choice, whether it is clothing, food, or entertainment.
The characteristics that have been described would be ideal starting points for using the purchasing behaviors of the Hispanic American subculture to maximize on a usual marketing campaign specified toward the group.

Asian American Purchasing Behavior

The last subculture group that is influential in the consumer market. Examining traits unique to the purchasing behavior of the Asian Americans is another important study necessary for marketing firms. According to Nielsen Company (2013), “Nielsen reveals that Asian American purchasing behaviors and viewing patterns are different and unique from the total population. By paying close attention to these demographic insights, cultural dynamics, and shopping, and media usage trends, organizations could create actionable opportunities to better connect with this important segment” (“Significant, Sophisticated, and Savvy,” 2013).
The Asian American is another group that is very connected to culture and family values. The importance of efficiency and convenience strongly influence their buying behavior (Nielsen, 2013). As a group who values quality and has a higher socio-economic position, choices to purchase are based on the best made items. The group is technologically advanced and used the Internet in many of their decision to purchase based on access to research various brands prior to investing in them.
Another piece of information that is important in understanding this group is the value that is placed in the materialistic items they own. The cars they drive or clothes they wear are a way to show their status among peers. The group is one of the highest earners of most of the subcultures mentioned in the paper, and the spending habits can reflect that when status is an important priority for the group.
In concluding the topic of understanding behaviors of subcultures in their purchasing choices, one can see the advantage any company can have when finding a way to connect to what is important to people. Ethnic and cultural diversity are very personal aspects of the consumer that cannot be ignored by marketing firms as they create strategies to appeal to the various cultures and subcultures within the United States.

References

Murphy, K. H. (2012). The Influence of Culture: A Comparison of White American and
Hispanic American Teens Information Sources and Store Attribute Preferences.
Nielsen Company. (2015). African American consumers are more relevant than ever. Retrieved
Nielsen Company. (2013). Significant, Sophisticated, and Savvy.  The Asian American
Consumer Report, (p. 1-36).
Peter, J. P., & Olsen, J. C. (2010). Consumer Behavior and Marketing Strategy (9th ed.).
Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/6078770/CONSUMER_BEHAVIOR_and_MARKETING_STRATEGY_CONSUMER_BEHAVIOR_and_MARKETING_STRATEGY.