Chapter 4:
Anthropology:
According to the world book dictionary anthropology refers to the science of man, which deals with his physical characteristics, with the origin and development of races, and the cultures customs and beliefs of mankind. Anthropology has tended to concentrate on the over-all problems of mankind, particularly through the concept of culture.
Cultural factors appear to be the most influential factors affecting a consumer's buying behaviour. The cultural factors are inclusive of culture, subculture and social class.
Culture:
Culture as mentioned previously, exerts one of the most influential forces on the consumer's buying behaviour. Values, perceptions, preferences and behaviours of the young growing children are developed though his/her family and other prominent institutions. Hence, growing children develop the culture of his/her ancestors. These values, perceptions, preferences and behaviours plays a very significant role in the buying process, as it determines what the consumer will or will not purchase. If the marketer understands the influence that culture has on the consumer he/she can facilitate these cultural factors when developing their product. This can also be helpful to the marketer when identifying his/her target market.
Subculture:
Culture can be divided into several subcultures that serve to provide better identification as well as market segmentation. These subcultures include nationalities, racial groups, religions and geographic regions. By understanding these subcultures the marketer can segment the market so as to implement target groups. Target groups can help the marketer to pay individual attention to the particular needs and wants of each target group or segment, making i ...