Introduction
In a marketing sector, consumer sort themselves into groups based on the products and services they like, their leisure spending characteristics, and their chosen method of spending income (Solomon 227). The current theories of consumption and lifestyle show consumption to play a vital role in the construction and maintenance of personal identity. Consumers sustain their identity by playing around with consumers’ lifestyles that seem easier to adopt. Present day consumers show unpredictable consumption characteristics that are unpredictable, expressive, individualized and more competent. Every culture consists of a group of people expressing some general needs, values, or lifestyle with different consumption patterns. These shared needs supporting a given purchasing priorities are reflected in different distinctive marketing segmentations. Consumer lifestyles fall under nine identities namely: Fashionista, gamer, Red sox Nation, environmentalist, hobbyists, hipsters, music enthusiasts and Trekkies (Fournier, Antes and Beaumier 329-337). The following discussion conducts a research on one-group identities. The aim of the research is to gain a more understanding of the consumption patterns and its unique social cultural contributions.
Discussion
Define your lifestyle
Using the lifestyle inventory, we identified the underlying motivations and thoughts that guide these behaviors. According to this process, the consumption lifestyle was arrived at as fashionista. As fashion consumers, this group wants products that make lived easier. The most essential factor put into consideration while buying a fashion product is price. In addition, the value and quality of the product matters. The value of a good does not mean its price because cheap goods also get expensive. Fashion consumers pay higher prices for fewer goods because fashion product prices keeps rising as more consumers keep on demanding the product. In addition, the use of technology has assisted in providing first hand information concerning new fashion products that enable the group get into the market and buy them before the prices shoot. On the other hand, our group is rationally motivated because it considers various factors such as price, practicality, warranties, and safety before making any purchase. Rational motives play a greater role in the life of a fashionista especially when a person buys fashion merchandise.
The ability of an organization to understand consumer needs determines its success. Consumers are the end users of goods or services produced by manufacturers. Consumers face many decisions each day regarding the type of product or brand to use, and the best place and time to get the product. While selecting the type of product and services to use, consumers always undergoes a number of processes. To start with, the consumer finds the type of product to consume. Secondly, a selection is done based on products whose utility is high. Thirdly, the consumer looks at a price of the product or service and compares with the available money that he or she is ready to spend. Finally, the consumer makes an analysis based on the available money, the prevailing prices of the product or service, and makes a decision on which commodity to purchase (Shah 2010).
Core age and predominant decision maker for this age (i.e.age:4-6, primary decision maker for household – Parents, age: 25-40)
The fashionista lifestyle classification offers a wide variety of people from different ages than any other class. Fashion varies depending on consumer’s age. For example, cloth fashions arrive in the market for different age groups. Teenage woman wearing a miniskirt with the latest style can be seen together with a mother attired in almost the same outfit in the same geographical location. With consumers, having different needs in various age classifications, manufacturers come up with styles aimed at specific consumer groups. In addition, segmenting consumer market into different age groups enables retailers to determine the correct fashion for each group, the growth potential and unique characteristics. The above strategy helps retailers and manufacturers in accessing the best age group to target for a particular fashion. However, the core ages for this lifestyle are consumers of between 18-24 years.
Using the above concept, the group falls under the category of young-middle aged. This age group is made up of people between the ages of 30and 45 years. Most of the group members have highest incomes since they come from the top-level organization executives, they are professionals and business owners. Due to the high income and fewer responsibilities, the group falls in a better place to target fashion products. On the other hand, a fashionista consumer aims at buying prestigious special brands from top stores without considering the prices of other retailers. For instance, I always go for those products whose quality is high and fashionable such brands as Calvin Klein, and Puma. When it comes to entertainment, I prefer loud music from Sony home-theatre and I enjoy driving my Ferrari. Moreover, I am the core decision maker in my house and always chose what is best for my family fashion wise.
Gender
Retailers offer fashion products to the market targeting women because they are more attracted to new fashions than men are. However, our group has 90% men and 10% women that mean the make gender dominates the fashion market. In addition, most manufacturers produce unisex products especially clothing that can attract people from all genders. The concept of style varies from limited segment to the totality of behavior based on gender. Most market analysts today view lifestyle as an operational aspect whereby some important factors like gender are lesser determinants (Cahill 22). Psychographics
Psychology influences the consumer’s decision to purchase a product based on an individual perception, product motivation and values, personality, self and lifestyle, and consumer attitudes and beliefs. Perception is the process through which an individual finds, organizes and interprets given information regarding a product of service. Psychologically, an individual must be attentive while making any selection in order to avoid any distortion. Secondly, once a lifestyle selection is made, the consumer should possess the ability to retain it no matter what the situation. The relationship between consumer behavior and scores obtained from personalized personal data makes consumers use the aspect of psychology in marketing. Lifestyle psychographic provides an insight of consumer behavior that depends on various factors such as income level, social class, culture, taste and preferences. Psychographics focuses on personal traits that enable a person follow a particular lifestyle category (Solomon 13-15). The above explanation strengthens the group’s ability to fall under the fashion category. Social Class and Income
Different people belong to different social classes depending on their financial status, family backgrounds, cultural believes, and norms. People who come from wealthy families always purchase expensive and luxurious goods since they have enough money to spend. Social class determines values, interests and behaviors of particular people in the society, which are not restricted to the amount of income earned. Social class will influence the type of commodity a buyer should possess but has little or no impact on price changes. Moreover, individual’s income level determines the amount of money to use for a given commodity, considering the social class one belongs. Retailers use social class grouping in determining the appropriate merchandise mixes and prices for different fashion products. Marketing segmentation occurs depending on income, occupation, education levels, and background. Coming from an upper social class, I have the opportunity to purchase what I want because my income allows me to do so.
On the other hand, income determines the lifestyle of a consumer because a person’s purchasing power falls under the income level. A shopper may wish to buy an expensive product that is in fashion but the ability to pay holds his or her decision. My income level and social class allow me to opt for fashioista lifestyle category because I am in a position to afford luxury fashion products. How does geography play a role in your lifestyle?
Geographical location of retail in relation to the location of a consumer has no affect on people’s lifestyle. Some businesses are more concerned with the population of consumers rather than considering their lifestyles. In addition, some assume that consumers will purchase their products because they come from the same location as their businesses. Fashion lifestyle consumers have no boundaries because they can travel for long distances in search for a particular brand. Geography does not play a single role in my lifestyle because I can use any means to travel anywhere in the world to search for my likes irrespective of cost.
Is there an element of race/ethnicity to your lifestyle?
The fashion lifestyle shows an element of race and ethnicity. Some races do not value lifestyle, which make them utilize their traditional values. Culture tends to drive the buyers lifestyle with regard to the norms and society beliefs. Culture is capable of affecting the consumer lifestyle, especially the fashion category and eventually affects the marketing mix of a product. Due to the evolving nature of different cultures, businesses have defined better ways of monitoring the social-cultural environment. What is their education level?
The high-class groups of people have attained higher levels of education that makes them secure important posts in the corporate worlds. Most of my group members have attained their masters’ degrees and 30% are already pursuing their doctorate degrees. What are the predominant careers for this lifestyle?
The most predominant careers for this lifestyle are significant corporate managers, senior professors in various institutions, senior doctors and high profile entrepreneurs. The fashionista lifestyle requires an individual who does not take care of the product price as long as it is attractive and fulfils his or her tastes and preferences. How many U.S. citizens belong to this group? What percentage of the population?
About 500 thousand of US citizens fall under the lifestyle category. These high-income earners own popular organizations. This is about 2% of the country’s population (Faris 68).
Conclusion
Learning about consumer lifestyle and psychographic assisted me in understanding the process through which people belong to a particular lifestyle depending on their purchasing behavior. Retailers always try to understand the consumer lifestyle since it assists them in formulating perfect marketing strategies, which in return result to increase sales thus increased profits. From the research, I came across many factors that enable me realize my lifestyle group. These are; age that the group belongs to, gender, psychographics, social class and income, geography, race/ethnicity, and career positions.
Works cited
Cahill, Dennis J. Lifestyle market segmentation. New York: Haworth Press, 2006. Print.
Faris, J. "Report On The American Workforce United States Department Of Labor, Available Online At 〈〉." Journal of Government Information 29.1 (2012): 67-70. Print.
Fournier, S., Antes, D. and Beaumier, G. "Nine Consumption Lifestyles", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 19, eds. John F. Sherry, Jr. and Brian Sternthal, Provo, UT : Association for Consumer Research. 1992.
Maria Alice V. Rocha, Lynne Hammond, David Hawkins, (2005) "Age, gender and national factors in fashion consumption", Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 9 Iss: 4, pp.380 - 390
Shah, A. Factors Affecting Consumer Behavior. 2010. Available online at:
http://www.aipmm.com/html/newsletter/archives/000434.php
Solomon, Michael, R. Consumer Behavior: Buying, having, and Being.
N.S.W: Pearson. 2010.
