Class Recap

Over the course, I understood better how consumers react, why certain types of ads are more attractive than other ones, what makes consumer buy some products, how by having so many choices sometimes we are better off, and how we can;t escape the market. The class made me realize what type of consumer I am, and how I can improve my consumer decisions to be better off. It also make me thing about the different marketing strategies and consumer behaviors in the US, compare to the ones in Mexico.

I really liked the books that we had to read. My favorite one was Predictably Irrational. I learned great things from all the three books, but I really liked the experiments and findings from that one. The in-class writing was good to review what we learned from the readings and the articles.I learned and understood better the subcultures, consumer rituals, brand personality, value-expressive influence, social marketing, gender differences in socialization, and many other topics from the articles and the chapters in the book.

I learned how to create a blog and make a habit of publish constant posts.This is good to improve your writing, understand, and discuss better a topic that is interesting to you. 

In overall, it has been one of my favorites courses at MSU. The class was really fun and interesting. It made me think and analyze my own consumer behavior.

The "big three" American ethnic subcultures

Ethnic subculture is a self-perpetuating group of consumers who share a common cultural or genetic ties, where both its members and others recognize it as a distinct category. African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans are the three most important ethnic/racial subcultures in the United States 

Hispanics live in large, traditional, married-with-children families with lots of participation from grandparents. They’re moving to the suburbs, tend to be community oriented, and have high aspirations for their children’s.  By doing all this, they tried to create identity for themselves. These are different from the mainstream culture since families are closer and have a bigger impact on decisions. Especially the grandparents play a bigger role. Key issues to reach the Hispanic market are consumers’ degree of acculturation into mainstream American society and the recognition of important cultural differences among Hispanic subgroups.  

African Americans comprise a significant racial subculture. The differences we do observe more likely are the result of differences in income, the relatively high concentration in African Americans, but these differences continue to diminish as African Americans move up the economic ladder. There are clearly some differences between blacks and whites in consumption priorities and market place behaviors that demand marketers’ attention. Companies tried to target African Americans different from the mainstream. One example is Procter & Gamble program “My Black is Beautiful” for African Americans after the company found after doing some research that these women think mainstream media does not represent them very well. There are several different companies that launch different campaigns to attract African Americans to their market and to set them apart of the mainstream.

Asian Americans are known from being the most affluent, best-educated, and most likely to hold technology jobs of any ethnic subculture. All this are non-consumption things that set them apart from the mainstream and express their values and lifestyles. Asian Americans are known for trying hard in school and always be updated with new technologies. Asian Americans are much more likely than average Americans (mainstream) to buy high-tech gadgets. This consumption characteristic help them express their lifestyles. Also, not only are Asian consumers the most frequent shoppers of all racial and ethnic groups, but they are also the most brand-conscious.  Almost 43% of them say they always look for a brand name when they shop (Solomon pg. 494). Also Asians are more concerned about keeping their appearances. More than a 26% say they buy what they think their neighbors would approve of. This is higher than any other subculture or the mainstream culture.