What are groups called in each society with shared value systems based on common life experiences or situations?

Each culture contains smaller subcultures,or groups of people with shared value systems based oncommon life experiences and situations. Subcultures include nationalities, religions, racial groups,and geographic regions. Many subcultures make up important market segments, and marketers often design products and marketing programs tailored to their needs.Social classesare society’s relatively permanent and ordered divisions whose members share similar values, interests, and behaviors. Social scientists have identified seven American social classes: upper upper class, lower upper class, upper middle class, middle class, working class, upper lower class, and lower lower class.A consumer’s behavior also is influenced by social factors, such as the consumer’ssmall groups, social networks, family, and social roles and status.Many small groupsinfluence a person’s behavior. Groups that have a direct influence andto which a person belongs are called membership groups. In contrast, reference groupsserveas direct (face-to-face interactions) or indirect points of comparison or reference in forminga person’s attitudes or behavior. People often are influenced by reference groups to whichthey do not belong. Word-of-mouth influencecan have a powerful impact on consumer buying behavior. The personal words and recommendations of trusted friends, family, associates, and other consumers tend to be more credible than those coming from commercial sources, such as advertisements or salespeople.Marketers of brands subjected to strong group influence must figure out how to reachopinion leaders—people within a reference group who exert social influence on others. Some experts call this group the influentials or leading adopters. When these influentials talk, consumers listen. Marketers try to identify opinion leaders fortheir products and direct marketing efforts toward them. Buzz marketing involves enlisting or even creating opinion leaders to serve as “brand ambassadors” who spread the word about a company’s products.

a. Subculture b. Culture c. Cultural Factors d. Consumer Market

Answer: A