Revisiting Middle-Class Consumers in Africa: A Cross-Country City-Based Investigation Outlining Implications for International Marketers

Abstract

This article reports on a cross-country city-based investigation that profiled the middle class in Africa and distinguished discrete segments that demonstrate the importance of heterogeneity when studying the middle class. The authors identified three distinct middle-class segments by administering both qualitative and quantitative questionnaires across ten cities. Consumer-behaviour-related factors, like lifestyle and purchasing, were explored to answer calls to provide more marketing insight into the African middle class. The discussion also outlines theoretical and managerial implications.

Basic human values drive food choice decision-making in different food environments of Kenya and Tanzania

“…As chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes ( Vorster, Kruger, & Margetts, 2011 ), cardiovascular disease ( Keates, Mocumbi, Ntsekhe, Sliwa, & Stewart, 2017 ), cancer ( Bahnassy, Abdellateif, & Zekri, 2020 ), and kidney disease ( Kaze, Ilori, Jaar, & Echouffo-Tcheugui, 2018 ) continue to skyrocket in Africa, there is a growing need to promote healthy sustainable eating patterns. In the last 15 years, the rising middle class in East Africa has bought more disposable income to families that once experienced poverty ( Chikweche, Lappeman, & Egan, 2021 ). How this new middle-class values hierarchy and symbolism of status foods will be critical to achieving healthy diets and better health outcomes.…”

An Investigation on Consumer Perceptions of Email and Social Media Marketing: An Advertising Case in South Africa

“…Digital technologies are reducing information and time asymmetries between customers and sellers in significant ways (Kannan and Li, 2017) resulting in consumers having more information to consider moving through the different stages in the buying process; awareness, familiarity, consideration, evaluation and purchase. Consumers are acquiring information concerning goods or services in a variety of ways, Chikweche et al (2021) concluded that early global consumers in Africa are more likely to be influenced by the media whilst middle class African consumers are influenced more by peers. Highly valuable information concerning such products or services are available online and lead to repeat purchases in brand communities (Zaglia, 2013;Hua et al, 2015), focused information available on search engines and other customers' reviews that are on retailers' sites or third-party forums not controlled by the seller (Court et al, 2009).…”

Understanding sustainable consumption experiences among the new middle class in an emerging market: A social cognitive approach

“…Furthermore, the increased consumer incomes and improved job opportunities available following market liberalisation in the emerging markets have contributed to the creation of a group of young, urban consumers often called the "new middle class" (NMC) (Cavusgil et al, 2018;Lange & Meier, 2009;Kravets & Sandikci, 2014). These consumers are known to be pursuing more material consumption and increasingly consumerist lifestyles (Brosius, 2010;Chandrasekara, Wijetunga, & Jayakody, 2023;Chikweche, Lappeman, & Egan, 2021, 2022Lange & Meier, 2009;Pinches, 1999). Consumers are buying more cars, home appliances, improving climate control in their homes through air-conditioning, and have a growing interest in overseas sightseeing (de Koning et al, 2015;de Koning, Ta, Crul, Wever, & Brezet, 2016;Hansen, 2017aHansen, , 2017bLange & Meier, 2009;Never & Albert, 2021;Suyanto, Sugihartati, Hidayat, & Subiakto, 2019).…”

“…Currently, most studies on middle class consumers in emerging markets across business disciplines seek to identify and define middle class membership and measure middle class consumption (e.g., Belbağ, Üner, Cavusgil, & Cavusgil, 2019;Cavusgil et al, 2018;Chikweche & Fletcher, 2014;Chikweche et al, 2021Chikweche et al, , 2022Lappeman du Plessis, Ho, Louw, & Egan, 2021;Song, Cavusgil, Li, & Luo, 2016). Additionally, existing research acknowledges the significant value that NMC consumers place on material consumption as a tool for achieving social distinction (Brosius, 2010;Javalgi & Grossman, 2016;Mathur, 2010;Suyanto et al, 2019;Uner & Gungordu, 2016;Ustuner & Holt, 2010).…”

“…Although studies examining the middle class experience in EMs often call this group of consumers "the new middle class", the group is also described using several other similar terms (e.g., "the middle class in emerging markets" (Cavusgil et al, 2018), "middle of the pyramid consumers" (Chikweche et al, 2021(Chikweche et al, , 2022, "Asian new middle class" (Embong, 2002(Embong, , 2017, "global middle class" (Kharas, 2017;Kharas & Hamel, 2018), etc.). No one term is agreed upon in the literature and several different terms, each with their own slight variation, are used in existing literature.…”