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Table of Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................3
1.0 American Core Values...............................................................................................................3
1.1 Achievement and Success......................................................................................................3
1.2 Efficiency and Practicality.....................................................................................................3
1.3 Material Comfort....................................................................................................................4
1.4 External Conformity..............................................................................................................4
1.5 Youthfulness..........................................................................................................................5
2.0 Response of the core American beliefs due to the recent Covid-19 lockdown/Movement
Control Order on consumer behavior..............................................................................................5
References........................................................................................................................................7

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Executive Summary
The Core American Values are significant in the study of consumer behaviour. This paper
discusses the core American values and their application to marketing activities. The core
American values which will be discussed in this paper are Achievement and Success, Efficiency
and Practicality, External Conformity, Material comfort and Youthfulness. The paper also
discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the application of the core American
values, due to significant changes in the way of life induced by the pandemic.

1.0 American Core Values

The United States of America is a country with various ethnicities and subcultures, which
produces varied perspectives on behaviour and life in general. The American core beliefs are a
set of various elements which are considered to be central in the beliefs of the Americans, and
influence the behaviour, preference and lifestyle of the people. Some of the American core
beliefs include:

1.1 Achievement and Success

Achievement and success is a core American value which is reflected in the lifestyle of its
people. Having a work ethic is considered to be an admirable element which is wholesome. This
core belief leads one to find the most efficient way of doing their work while producing striking
results. Achievement and success drives the people to desire to achieve greatly in varied areas of
life; be it sport, business, entertainment and whichever industry that they are in. the goal is not to
merely get by, but to be the best in the particular industry. In marketing, this core belief is used
to market products and services which will enhance one’s performance. This is where marketers
can sell short courses, educational programmes, and products such as furniture that helps one to
be more productive (Ariza-Montez et a, 2018; Wigfield et al, 2017).

1.2 Efficiency and Practicality

Efficiency and practicality is a core American value which is reflected in their attitude towards
time management. Efficiency is greatly appreciated by American, and they are attracted towards
products and services which save them time. If there is a way for products and services to be
delivered using half the time and resources; it would be ideal for them. Americans also consider
practicality, as they desire products and services which will fit into their life bringing

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convenience and ease without interrupting their livelihood (Wiederhold et al, 2017). For example
this stresses the need to have products and services which help one in managing tasks,
accomplishing tasks faster and eliminating distractions. This causes an increase in the market for
time pieces, journals, planners, diaries and appointment reminders. These products help the
individuals establish a sense of control over their time which they consider to be an integral part
of their lifestyle. Practicality is also stressed in the marketing activities, where there is emphasis
on how the products and services would fit conveniently in the life of the individual without any
disruptions (Stankenviech, 2017; Kim et al, 2020).

1.3 Material Comfort

Material comfort is a core American value which is synonymous with progress and success in
life. Most Americans would regard material comfort as a reward for working hard and achieving
their goals. This would lead to the purchase of greater amounts of products, the purchase of
luxury services and better quality of products. Marketers leverage on this core belief and
introduce luxury products and services into the market (Muhamed et al, 2019). They also provide
additional products and services at lower price points to cater across the different income groups.
In this category, goods and services emphasize on the comfort and serve as a reward to the
consumer. This is also presented in marketing activities by emphasizing how it is ‘self-care’ to
reward oneself with experiences such as spas, trips, more consumable goods and improved
quality of products and services. This would also justify higher prices for goods and services as it
would be guised as an expression of material comfort (Ahmed et al, 2019; Elsantil, 2021).

1.4 External Conformity

External conformity is a core value which is reflected in the consumption of goods and services
in groups or in community. Individuals seek to be adaptable to the way of life which is deemed
appropriate in society. The individuals desire to be in sync with the trending goods and services
which are being widely consumed. Conformity is necessary in society, because it prevents
individuals from feeling isolated and inadequate, and it helps in growing their sense of
community (Li et al, 2020). Therefore, through this core belief, the sale of standardised goods
and services is stressed. This is helpful in marketing, where manufacturers can provide a wide
variety of standardised goods and services at uniform prices to their consumers. This belief limits
the customers from having complaints when there are changes to goods and services which are

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standardised, but they would rather adapt to the changes. However, this also leads to the need for
individualism; where consumers seek goods which their close counterparts do not have and also
conformity, when they desire goods because their close counterparts have. Therefore, this allows
for the sale of various standardised goods and services for conformity and provides variety to
cater for individualism (Pourfakimi et al, 2020).

1.5 Youthfulness
Youthfulness refers to the extent to which one maintains their young appearance and abilities.
Americans perceive youthfulness as an important aspect and can go to extreme lengths to boost
their health, ability and overall appearance (Brown et al, 2021). This leads to the promotion of
products which promise cell renewal, rejuvenation or even hair restoration. This is one of the
values which drives the growing market of health and beauty products, together with cosmetic
surgery. With the increase of technology and innovation, there is the emphasis on how products
are new and improved to deliver additional value to the customers. The marketers emphasize
how their products and services have the greatest efficacy in counteracting the effects of aging,
and help one to curb any signs of aging. This is done to amplify the fear of aging in the
consumers and providing a solution to this fear through the use of their products (Japutra et al,
2020)

2.0 Response of the core American beliefs due to the recent Covid-19 lockdown/Movement
Control Order on consumer behavior.
The Covid-19 pandemic impacted the livelihood and lifestyle of people worldwide. The
pandemic saw the deaths of millions, the restriction of movements, lockdown, ban on air travel
and the closure of entertainment services; among other services. Economies were challenged to
concentrate on offering essential services only to the consumers, to curb the spread of the virus
and focus attention on providing the needful health care services (Mehta et al, 2020).

The concept of achievement and success was challenged by the Covid-19 lockdown. When the
new year begins people have aspirations and set targets for what they desire to achieve in the
year. For these goals to be achieved, especially in professional and academic circles; there is
need for movement. However, due to the lockdown and movement control orders, there was an
interruption to the transportation of people across various places to do so (Chauhan et al, 2020).
Many people had to forgo their initial plans and focus on their health and staying safe. This saw

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a transition from focusing intently on achievement and success to appreciating being alive, health
and survival from the pandemic. It made the consumers to realize that achievement and success
can be easily forgotten when one is faced with a life-threatening disease. This scaled down the
expenditure on school, educational programmes and self-development facilities. However, as the
pandemic and movement control orders become less stringent, this value is slowly emerging
again (Salem & Noor, 2020).

The core belief of youthfulness was also challenged by the movement control orders. Due to the
restrictions on movement and scaling down of social gatherings, the focus on youthfulness and
aesthetics was minimized and there was mere appreciation of life itself. The consumption of anti-
aging products and aesthetic treatments was noted. Cosmetic surgery scaled back as the surgeons
were giving priority to the pandemic. Therefore, this led to emphasis on the sale of products and
services which provide health and wellness rather than aesthetics and youthfulness (Paksoy et al,
2020).

Furthermore, the COVID-19 lockdown and movement restrictions challenged the core belief of
external conformity. Due to the lockdown, there was an increase of working form home,
studying from home and virtual events. This reduced the ways in which people meet and keep up
with the changes in each other’s lives. This led to the reduction of opportunities for one to see
what their counterparts are using and buy it (Patil et al, 2020). However there was an increase in
interaction over social media which kept people connected. It is important to note that online
content can be modified to present images of a deceptive lifestyle, but it still provides platforms
from which individuals find content which they need to conform to. With the pressure of the
lockdown and movement restrictions, the need to conform with one’s counterparts was less, as
individuals had to focus on their livelihood and keep up with their responsibilities in the context
of the pandemic (Loxton et al, 2020).

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