Group Influence (CH10)

Question 1

Reference Groups

Answer 1

An individual or group with particular relevance for an individual’s evaluations, aspirations, or behaviour. (Sauder, BTS “Army”, Canucks)

Question 2

Brand communities

Answer 2

Set of consumers who share a set of social relationships based on usage of or interest in product or brand.

Question 3

Why are brand communities important?

Answer 3

Loyalty (ignore competitors better products)
Spread positive word of mouth
Makes brand extension strategies & brand ecosystems easier (Apple)

Question 4

Group cohesiveness

Answer 4

degree to which members of a group are attracted to each other and value their group membership.

Question 5

How to increase group cohesiveness?

Answer 5

Smaller group
Membership restriction/scarcity
Symbols
Defined limits between ingroup and outgroup

Question 6

Injunctive Norms

Answer 6

What people should do

Question 7

Descriptive Norms

Answer 7

What people actually do

Question 8

Why do people people conform with the group?

Answer 8

Informational conformity: the majority must be “right”
Normative conformity

Question 9

What drives normative conformity

Answer 9

The need to be liked
The willingness to avoid conflict
The fear of being rejected

Question 10

Anti-conformity

Answer 10

Defiance of the group. Need for uniqueness

Question 11

Reactance

Answer 11

Unpleasant feeling when something feels forced or imposed by an authority or by a social norm. Leads people to do exactly the opposite.

Question 12

What is the concept related to why restaurants include a fixed gratuity for large groups?

Answer 12

Social loafing: individuals do not devote as much effort to a task when their contribution is part of a larger group effort (e.g., restaurant patrons tip less in a group, people cheer and clap less at a concert when there are more people).
Diffusion of responsibility: Individuals feel less accountable for the outcome of a decision when many people are involved

Question 13

Bystander effect

Answer 13

Individuals won’t help a person in need when other people are present. It’s a form of diffusion of responsibility.

Question 14

What is the paradox of Mark Granovetter’s theory of strength of weak ties?

Answer 14

It is the people who we are least connected who offer us the most opportunities.

Question 15

what is buzz marketing?

Answer 15

activities undertaken by marketers to encourage consumers to spread WOM

Question 16

What are some tactics to create/sustain buzz?

Answer 16

1. Focus more on people and less on product: know your target psychographics. There is associated risk that people won’t know your product
2. Influencer Marketing: Identify aspirational groups risk: reporting bias
3. Scarcity principle (limited editions, flash sales)
4. Inform about the success of the campaign to establish normative influence (number of likes)

Question 17

What are the three ways reference groups influence consumers?

Answer 17

Informational, utilitarian, and value expressive

Question 18

Informational influence

Answer 18

This individual seeks information about various brands from a reliable source that they think is trustworthy (friends who use the product, experts, professionals who use product)

Question 19

Utilitarian influence

Answer 19

Individuals’ decision to purchase a particular brand is reliant on their surrounding environment. Influenced by her co-workers or any people she has social interaction with.

Question 20

Value-expressive influence

Answer 20

The individual feels that the purchase or use of a particular brand will enhance the image others have of him or her. Very much about controlling perception of individual through purchasing certain brands.

Question 21

formal groups

Answer 21

has a recognized structure, complete with a charter, regular meeting times, and officers. Marketers tend to be more successful at influencing formal than informal groups bc they are easier to identify and access.

Question 22

informal groups

Answer 22

Group of friends or students living in a student residence. Usually, informal groups exert a powerful influence on individual consumers. High in normative influence from the group being apart of individuals day to day life.

Question 23

Reference group effects are more robust for purchases that are…

Answer 23

1. Luxuries rather than necessities
2. items that are socially conspicuous or visible to others

Question 24

Social power

Answer 24

Capacity to alter the actions of others