Globalization/Fragmentation
by
Charles Lamson
It seems that while it is true that globalization is happening in terms of the proliferation of global brands, these brand are being incorporated in different ways in the various contexts in which they are used. The trend is towards globalization at one level and differentiation at another. There is a growing weight of evidence to suggest that differentiation and, indeed, fragmentation are key aspects of existence in consumer societies.
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In Europe, as lifetime employment has become a thing of the past, it no longer confers identity in the same way that it used to do. For example, being a miner, a shipbuilder or an engineer worker in the UK used to give a sense of pride and identity on the individual. The holders of these occupations were men. They felt a sense of pride and community in their work where they labored alongside thousands of others; they also felt a sense of pride in their class identity, of being a member of the working class. The role of women in these men's lives was clear and unambiguous. The key role for a woman was to act as a wife and mother, to nurture and provide for the family. Consumption (shopping) was regarded as being women's work and was beneath the dignity of men. The tradition was that working-class men worked six days a week, took two weeks' annual holiday with their family, going usually to a British coastal resort like Blackpool or Skegness, and worked until they were 65.
In the twenty-first century, in the UK all this has been swept away on the tides of change. Employment in 'traditional' working-class occupations such as mining, steel, shipbuilding and engineering has been decimated. The proportion of women working has increased substantially. The roles played by men and women are no longer so rigid and while the idea that 'new men' have replaced the traditional male role is a myth, there is no doubt that new roles for men and women have been created. The traditional 'cookie-cutter' family consisting of two parents and two children is in a minority. The fragmentation of work, class and gender identities has led to the creation of a 'mix 'n' match' culture and the creation of new 'tribal' identities. The shifting social patterns have made life much more difficult for marketers who use traditional tools for segmenting markets on the basis of family, age, gender, and social class.
As social class has become less useful as a means of segmenting markets, so marketers have turned to lifestyle, to the values which people share in common and the sorts of activities they like to engage in as a new basis for segmentation. Advances in technology have enabled marketers to build massive databases containing all sorts of marketing information regarding the purchase behavior of individuals. Another major force for fragmentation is the coming of the digital age. When people have little in common in terms of their real-life experiences they can share in a discussion of mythical experiences such as what happened in last night's television soap opera, Neighbors or EastEnders. There is a worry that the massive channel choice which will accompany the digital age will remove even that topic of conversation.
Yet another force for fragmentation is the effect of time/space compression (the idea that the logic of capitalism results in a speed-up of time and a reduction in the effects of distance to the extent that they are compressed into a smaller space than ever before) on workers and consumers. Schor (1991) discusses the paradox that while US production doubled between 1948 and 1990, American workers were working longer hours than they were forty years before and so they simply do not have the time to enjoy their hard-won rewards. Schor suggests that:
Schor feels that the consumer society itself and, in particular, the economic assumption that more goods equate with more satisfaction is at the heart of the problem. It is hard to imagine how having more of something might make people worse off. But what if satisfaction depends on relative, as opposed to absolute, consumption? Schor argues that a focus on absolute consumption can lead to an insidious cycle of work-spend-credit-debt. More than anything, the American worker experiences life as a series of packets or episodes filled with time pressure. The need to escape such pressure is evident in the rebirth of movements such as Voluntary Simplicity and Downshifting.
So far discussion has concentrated on Europe and the US. However, forces for fragmentation in the developing world markets suggest that the greatest number of new consumers will come from India and China. The 'one child' policy in China has resulted in female infanticide to the extent that in 1992 it was estimated there were 20 million fewer women than men. Consequently, China's 'little (male) emperors' stand at the center of attention for their grandparents and parents. In 1996 it was estimated that in China there were 250 million young men aged between 5 and 14, and following from the lack of women in society it is anticipated these will be lonely young men with high expectations (Henley Centre, 1998).
*SOURCE: FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKETING, 2007, MARILYN A. STONE AND JOHN DRESMOND, PGS. 51-53*
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