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ANALYZING CONSUMER MARKETS | CHAPTER 6 155
marketing
Memo The Average U.S. Consumer Quiz
Listed below is a series of statements used in attitude surveys of U.S. con- and 100 percent, in the columns to the right. Then check your results
sumers. For each statement, estimate what percent of U.S. men and women against the correct answers in the footnote.*
agreed with it in 2009 and write your answer, a number between 0 percent
Percent of Consumers Agreeing
Statements % Men % Women
1. It’s more important to fit in than to be different from other people. _____ _____
2. Material things like the car I drive and the house I live in are really important to me. _____ _____
3. Religion doesn’t provide the answers to many of today’s problems. _____ _____
4. Businesses care more about selling me products and services that already exist rather than coming
up with something that really fits my lifestyle. _____ _____
5. Most of the time, the service people that I deal with don’t care much about me or my needs. _____ _____
6. I wish there were clearer rules about what is right and wrong. _____ _____
7. I am comfortable with a certain amount of debt. _____ _____
8. It is risky to buy a brand you are not familiar with. _____ _____
9. I try to have as much fun as I can now and let the future take care of itself. _____ _____
10. No matter how hard I try, I never seem to have enough time to do all the things I need to do. _____ _____
Note:
Results are from a nationally representative sample of 4,147 respondents surveyed in 2009.
Source: The Futures Company Yankelovich MONITOR (with permission). Copyright 2009, Yankelovich, Inc.
*Answers: W = 46%; 8. M = 49%, W = 46%; 9. M = 56%, W = 46%; 10. M = 63%, W = 69%
Source: The Futures Company/Yankelovich Monitor. Copyright 2009, Yankelovich, Inc. 1. M = 27%, W = 20%; 2. M = 47%, W = 39%; 3. M = 53%, W = 45%; 4. M = 72%, W = 66%; 5. M = 60%, W = 57%; 6. M = 47%, W = 45%; 7. M = 54%,
president of marketing may be seen as having more status than a sales manager, and a sales
manager may be seen as having more status than an office clerk. People choose products that reflect
and communicate their role and their actual or desired status in society. Marketers must be aware
of the status-symbol potential of products and brands.
Personal Factors
Personal characteristics that influence a buyer’s decision include age and stage in the life cycle,
occupation and economic circumstances, personality and self-concept, and lifestyle and values.
Because many of these have a direct impact on consumer behavior, it is important for marketers
to follow them closely. See how well you do with “Marketing Memo: The Average U.S.
Consumer Quiz.”
AGE AND STAGE IN THE LIFE CYCLE Our taste in food, clothes, furniture, and recreation
is often related to our age. Consumption is also shaped by the family life cycle and the number, age,
and gender of people in the household at any point in time. U.S. households are increasingly
fragmented—the traditional family of four with a husband, wife, and two kids makes up a much
smaller percentage of total households than it once did. The average U.S. household size in 2008
was 2.6 persons. 16
In addition, psychological life-cycle stages may matter. Adults experience certain “passages” or
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“transformations” as they go through life. Their behavior as they go through these passages, such
as becoming a parent, is not necessarily fixed but changes with the times.