Cultural Issues in Marketing

Explain the cultural, social, and personal characteristics that affect people when they choose a restaurant at which to celebrate their birthdays.

A birthday celebration occurs at all ages, for people from all walks of life.  It is an event that everyone has experienced in their life, regardless of social standing, cultural background, or lifestyle characteristics.  We love celebrating them as toddlers , grow lukewarm about them as teenagers, become resigned to them from the 20’s into our 40’s, then grow concerned about them in our 50’s and 60’s, realizing that our mortality is starting to run-out and that we have limited time left on earth. Then, for those fortunate enough later in life, it’s back to sheer joy with the realization that we are continuing to age well and holding off the final calling.

Birthday parties take many forms, but for a lot of families the decision is to celebrate at a local restaurant to mark the occasion. The decision itself is a reflection of family demographics, as you are guaranteed to incur a minimal expense the moment you decide to go to a restaurant to celebrate. For many families, the preferred choice is for a simple celebration at home with the nuclear family. There may be a few gifts or perhaps just a card and a cake to commemorate the occasion.

Before we go into more detail as to the reasons why a person may choose a particular restaurant, let’s delve into the underlying cultural, social, and personal characteristics that form the decision making process.

Cultural Factors:

As people grow, they learn their basic value system from family members and other members of the subculture that hold influence over them. In many countries without the openness of the United States, conformity is seen as the standard and cultural factors are homogenous, so a majority of the population has a similar background and upbringing. In this country, though, there are many different sub-cultures, such as the...