Chapter 11 Flashcards
Reference Group
Actual or imaginary individual/group conceived of having significant relevance upon an individual’s evaluations, aspirations, or behaviour.
Reference groups influence consumer’s in three ways
Forms of Reference Group Influence
Reference groups influence consumer’s in three ways
- Informational Influence (seek information about various brands from an association of professionals or independent group of experts)
- Utilitarian Influence (influenced by preferences of fellow work associates)
- Value-expressive Influence (feel that using the brand will enhance image that others see of him/her)
Type of Reference Groups
- Normative (reference group that helps to set and enforce fundamental standards of conduct)
- Comparative (Decisions about specific brands or activities are affected)
Formal Vs. Informal
Formal (reference groups can be large and formal with a standard, or recognized structure)
Informal (reference groups can be small and informal, just a group of friends. Can exert powerful influence)
Brand Communities
A group of consumers who share a set of social relationships based upon usage or interest in a product.
Brand communities share emotions, moral beliefs, styles of life, and affiliated product.
Ex. Harley-Davidson Motorcycle
Aspirational Reference Groups
Concentrate on highly visible, widely admired figures (athletes, successful business people, performers, etc.)
Membership
Focuses on “ordinary” people whose consumption provides informational social influence.
Factors that influence identified reference group
- Propinquity (Physical distance between people decreases and opportunities for interaction increases, relationships more likely to form)
- Mere Exposure (We come to like people of things simply as a result of seeing them more often)
- Group Cohesiveness (The degree to which members of a group are attracted to each other and value their group membership)
Dissociative reference groups
Motivation to distance oneself from other people/groups.
Antibrand Communities
Groups of consumers who share a common distain for a celebrity, store, or brand.
Example: I hate McDonalds community.
Dimensions of Influence for Reference Groups
Two dimensions that influence the degree to which reference groups are important are whether the purchase is consumed:
- Privately or publicly
- Luxury or Necessity
Social Power
Capacity to alter the actions of others.
Referent Power
Based on admiration of an individual or group where patterns of consumption are then copied
Ex. Choice of clothing, Car, Celebrities
Legitimate Power
Granted by virtue of social agreements
Ex. Police Officers and Politicians
Reward Power
When a person or group has the means to provide positive reinforcement.
Ex. Professors, Parents, Coach
Information Power
Based on access to information that others seek.
Ex. Tech Support, Government, Tax Professionals
Expert Power
Individual possesses a special skill or knowledge.
Ex. Professor, Doctor, Manager
Coercive Power
Based on fear or negative consequences.
Ex. Police Officer, Law enforcers
Conformity
Refers to a change in beliefs or actions as a reaction to real or imagined group pressure.
Norms
The informal rules that governs what is right and wrong.
Factors Influencing Conformity
- Cultural pressures
- Fear of deviance
- Commitment to group
- Group unanimity, size, expertise
- Susceptibility to interpersonal influence
Social Comparison Theory
Consumers will often compare themselves to other in ways that increase the stability of ones self evaluation.
Foot in the door technique
Consumers are first asked a small request and then is hit up with something bigger.
Door in the face technique
A person is first asked to do something extreme and when they refuse the person will then ask for a smaller request.
Low ball technique
A person is asked or small favour and is informed, after agreeing to it, becomes more costly then first anticipated.
Deindividuation
Individuals identities get submerged within a group.
Ex. People behave more widely at costume parties or on halloween night then they normally would
Risky Shift
Members show greater willingness to consider risker alternatives following group discussion then they would making the decision on their own.
Social Loafing
People don’t devote as much as to a task when their contribution is part of a larger group.
Ex. we tend to tip less when eating in groups.
Different Roles for group members
- Initiator (person who brings up idea)
- Gatekeeper (person who conducts info search)
- Influencer (person who tries to sway outcome of decisions)
- Buyer (person who actually makes the purchase)
- User ( person who actually consumes the purchase)
Anti-conformity
Defiance or the group is the actual object of behaviour
Independence
Pride in unique style
Reactance
Threats of censoring books, television or rock music that people find objectionable actually results in an increase desire for these items.
Ex. Rap music, or censored TV shows
Opinion Leaders
Influence others attitudes and behaviours.
Valuable information sources for the following reasons:
- Technically competent
- Knowledge Power
- Socially active
- Similar to consumer
- Often first to buy
- Hands on experience
Market Maven
Actively involved in transmitting marketplace information of all types
Surrogate consumers
Hired to provide input into purchase decisions
Self Designating Method
Commonly used technique to identify opinion leaders:
- Simply asking individuals whether they are opinion leaders
- Skepticism is that they may not be aware of own importance/influence
Sociometric Method
Trace communication patterns among group, allow researchers to systematically map out interactions that take place among group members.
Guerilla Marketing
Promotional strategies that use unconventional locations and intensive WOM to push products.
Ex. UNICEF places many vending machines around the world offering a wide range of options of “Dirty water” flavours.
Viral Marketing
Getting visitors to a website to forward information on the site to their friends.
Social Networks
A set of socially relevant nodes connected by one or more relations.
Nodes
Members in a network
Ties
Relationships among nodes
Virtual Communities
A collection of people who interact online to share their enthusiasm for and knowledge about a specific consumption activity.
Ex. Dove’s community for women
List the six types of social power and give an example of each.
- Coercive power (Police officer)
- Information power (Tech support)
- Expert power (Doctor)
- Referent power (Celebrity)
- Reward power (Professors)
- Legitimate power (Politicians)
Explain the difference between membership and aspirational reference group
People the consumer actually knows vs. people they don’t know but admire.
Membership - know
Aspirational reference group - don’t know, admire
What is the difference between formal and informal reference groups?
Formal - Structured, and large
Informal - Small, just a group of friends
What is an opinion leader? Give three reasons why opinion leaders are powerful influences.
Opinion leaders influence others attitudes and behaviours.
Any 3/6 reasons:
- Technically competent
- Knowledge power
- Socially active
- Similar to consumers
- Often first to buy
- Hands on experience
Difference between opinion leader and opinion seeker
opinion leader - influence others’ attitudes and behaviours
opinion seeker- talk about products with others, casual interaction.
