PSY603 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Acculturation, Enculturation, Ethnocentrism
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PSY603 Consumer Behavior
LECTURE 9
Learning Culture
• Culture is learned in different ways
• Enculturation- the way a person learns their native culture
• Learns and develops shared understandings of thing with their family. Mimic behaviours,
overt social rewards- reinforcing
• Acculturation- consumers learn culture other than their own
• Ethnic identification- degree to which a consumer feels a sense of belonging to the
culture of their ethnic origins. Strength of this identification can make consumers close
minded adopting products from different culture
• Age- older consumers adapt to new cultures more slowly
• Consumer ethnocentrism- belief among consumers that their ethnic group is superior
to others and that products that come from their native land are superior to other
products
• Highly ethnocentric- only right to support workers in their native country by buying
products from that company
Factors associated with Faster Acculturation
Hard/ little acculturation-
- Strong ethnic identification
- relatively old
- highly ethnocentric
- male
Acculturation-
- low ethnic identification
- relatively young
- low ethnocentrism
- female
Institutions of Culture
Get culture through enculturation or acculturation influence of cultural institutions
1. family
2. school
3. church/ religion
4. media
Emerging Cultures
• marketing efforts largely directed at developed nations
• less developed nations offer attractive markets and emerging economies
• sociopolitical changes allowing new markets to possibly become leading consumers
• BRIC(S) Markets- Brazil, Russia, India, China (south Africa)
• Rapidly growing economies
• Large emerging middle classes-rising standard of living, attractive markets for goods and
services
