Culture is the culmination of core values and beliefs that form the customs and habits that regulate the society in a given direction and ideology. The way people live affects their buying patterns that in turn affect the economic and social functionality of a given society. The United States holds a trendy culture that is further facilitated by competitive world of individualism and youthfulness that requires that complacent fitness and sense of well being in the products the consumer buys. Therefore Cell phone market in the United States market is affected by social and demographic factors that are defined by education, religion and age group trends of the society
Cell phones have become an important aspect of most Americans with about nine out ten owning at least one cell phone. Culture can also be divided into subcultures namely geographic regions and human characteristics such as age and ethnic backgrounds that equal affects the purchasing behavior of individuals. America with its large population it s composed of people from different ethnic backgrounds diffused into the American culture. According to research conducted by MultiMedia Intelligence between July 29, 2008 and 2007, 91% of US 17 year old girls and 78% boys owned at least one cell phone (Multimedia intelligence 1). It is observed that the teenagers and young adults are influenced by the feature that a phone can offer phones. The US youngsters have access to microcredit financing in form of credit cards that allow them to purchase technology enhancing phones like Blackberry and thus 57% of US teenagers own cell phones. On the other hand, the number of Cell phone usage among the adults is also on the increase as about 87% of American adults owned mobile phones in 1997 up from 1996 percentage of 69.However, the rate of cell phone ownership reduced by 1998 due to economy recession that led to decline in consumer purchase (Experian 1).
The young people who believe that cell phones are part and parcel of life without which life could stop are below 30 years with 93% owning phones that allow them to perform functions like buying online and requesting entertainment. According to Experian Simmons research US consumers below the age of thirty adults and teens about 70% of their of their phone activity borders multimedia culture of taking photos and uploading them to share with friends through phones, email and social networks (Experian 1). Online transaction and social cell phone usage are among the chief enlisted values that a potential phone manufacturer and seller can tap into in the US.
The majority of the middle class use the phone for social networking especially by calling and texting as a special tool that forms the connection to the outside world. The old generation use cell phones mostly for emergence communications and staying in contact with friends and family and thus a simple phone is likely to get high sales in this kind of closed culture. Professional have developed a kind of a fashionable culture around special features of the phone especially for getting professional information, reading special magazines as well as for online transactions besides staying in touch with the young generation through the social networks for marketing purposes.
According to Schiffman the criteria for selection of the phone products is defined into three core values; the value got to be persuasive- just like Blackberry phone that is quite common amongst the young and the professionals is a persuasive functionality value of internet access and easy tying ability. The second factor is that the value must promise endurance and warranty since the post 9/11 American culture is quite cautious and lastly the phone product satisfies the consumer immediate need-whereby for the young generation the aesthetic value is important coupled with functions like photo taking, email and internet. The comfort capabilities of the cell phone especially its color, shape and the software and hardware interactivity is a commanding requirement that has successful created a competitive cell phone market (Schiffman 29).
Inc conclusion, the consumer culture in the United States is influenced by value-oriented factors and demographic functional needs. Individualism and access to credit services increased the buying capacity of the consumers and therefore expensive and fashionable phones can easily be bought by youngsters who influence the market trend culture of the day.