Chapter 12

• Consumer diversity is influenced by the consumer's age, gender, regional influences, ethnic and religious influences, and more.
• Age cohorts are a group of consumers who are born in the same period, such as Millennials born between 1980 and 1994, also known as Generation Y.
• Boomerangers are consumers who move back with their parents after college or after being on their own.
• Brand awareness and preference are built early in life.
• Products that help deal with establishment of identity, rebellion, and peer acceptance are popular among teens.
• Incorporating symbols, issues, and language of teens in advertising messages can be effective in reaching this audience.
• Traditional and social media can be used to showcase the brand or product in a lifestyle or sports setting.
• Gen Xers, individuals born between 1965 and 1979, are a diverse group of 49 million with few owning homes and being cynical about obvious marketing techniques.
• Gen Xers can be reached through alternative music radio stations and cable TV, advertisements in music-related publications, messages displayed at concerts, sporting events, and popular vacation spots, and internet, mobile marketing, and social media.
• Variation exists in values and lifestyles among consumers within a region, and clustering is the grouping of consumers according to common characteristics using statistical techniques.
• Seniors are a growing market for health-related products and services, retirement communities, and are brand-loyal.
• Religion plays a significant role in consumer behavior, and cultural influence is based on religious beliefs.
• Marketing tactics should demonstrate understanding and respect for the targeted group’s beliefs and customs, and the use of religious symbols and themes in ads is recommended.
• Acculturation is the process of learning how to adapt to a new culture, and consumers acquire knowledge, skills, and behavior by modeling the behavior of others, through social interaction and reinforcement or receipt of rewards for certain behaviors.
• Gender is the biological state of being male or female, while sexual orientation is a person’s preference toward certain behaviors, which can be masculine, feminine, and androgynous, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender.
• Hispanic Americans are acculturated people who speak mostly English and have a high level of assimilation, and their level of acculturation and intensity of ethnic identification affect consumption patterns.
• Marketers can segment the market by focusing on religious affiliation, delivering targeted messages and promotions, and using certain media to deliver them.
• African Americans believe that people should feel free to live, dress, and look the way that they want to, and have a strong desire to preserve cultural identity as incomes rise.
• Cultural differences across the world include individualism versus collectivism, horizontal versus vertical orientation, and masculine versus feminine.
• Ethnic influences affect how consumers think, feel, and act, and an ethnic group is a sub-culture with a similar heritage and values.
• Seniors perceive ads with positive older role models as credible and benefit from an age-friendly shopping environment.
• Asian Americans are the fastest growing subculture with a large diversity, and they place a strong emphasis on family, tradition, and cooperation.
• Baby Boomers, individuals born between 1946 and 1964, consist of 76 million individuals and are an influential consumer segment due to their size and buying power.
• Baby Boomers are labeled the sandwich generation and value individualism and freedom.
• Seniors, individuals over 65 years old, are a diverse group with women outnumbering men and engaging in schematic processing due to reduced information processing skills.
• Seniors are susceptible to the truth effect.