microculture
a group of people who share similar values and tastes that are subsumed within a larger culture
role conflict
a situation involving conflicting expectations based on cultural role expectations
divergence
situation in which consumers choose membership in microcultures in an effort to stand out or define themselves from the crowd
sex roles
societal expectations for men and women among members of a cultural group
cognitive structuring
term that refers to the reliance on schema-based heuristics in making decisions
age-based microculture
term that describes the concept that people of the same age end up sharing many of the same values and develop similar consumer preferences
world teen culture
speculation that teenagers around the world are more similar to each other than to people from other generations in the same culture
cohort
a group of people who have lived the same major experiences in their lives
stigmatization
a situation in which consumers are marked in some way that indicates their place in society
bicultural
used to describe immigrants as they face decisions and form preferences based on their old or new cultures
social class
a culturally defined group to which a consumer belongs based on resources like prestige, income, occupation, and education
habitus
mental and cognitive structures through which individuals perceive the world based largely on their standing in a social class
homogamy
the finding that most marriages comprise people from similar classes
social stratification
the division of society into classes that have unequal access to scarce and valuable resources
status symbols
products or objects that are used to signal one's place in society
demographic analysis
a profile of a consumer group based on their demographics