impression Management Flashcards
Define Reference Groups
“An actual or imaginary individual/group conceived of having significant relevance upon an individuals evalutions, aspirations or behaviour” (Park and Lessig 1977)
Distinguish between absolute threshold and differential threshold?
Absolute Threshold: the minimum amount of stimulation that can be detected on a given sensory channel
Differential Threshold:The ability of a sensory system to detect changes or differences between two stimuli.
How do reference groups influence individuals? (three things)
- Informational; expertise
- Utilitarian: other peoples preference
- Value-expressive: enhances self image
What are the different types of reference groups? (4 main categories)
- Formality:
- formal groups (rigid structure)
- informal grops (common)
interest/geographical closeness - Priority:
- primary: size and closeness of relations
- secondary - Virtual communities
- Association
- aspirational
- associative
- dissociate
= last two are positive vs negative
What are negative/avoidance reference groups?
motivation to distance one self from other people o groups
in marketing: ads with undesirable people using competitors products
Why are reference groups influential? (7 powers)
- Social power; capacity to alter the action of others
- Referent power (lifestyle, behaviour)
- Information power(knowledge is power)
- legitimate power (authority)
- expert power (expertise)
- reward power (approval or acceptance)
- coercive power (fear appeals)
When are reference groups important?
- when it is about luxuries rather than necessities
- When socially conspicuous or visible to others
(draw diagram)
What about conformity and impression?
Most people tend to follow societies expectations regarding how to look/act
- change in societal norms actions/beliefs
- appropriate clothing and personal items
What are the factors which influence conformity and impression management? ( 5 factors)
- Cultural pressures
- Fear of deviance (sanctions against different behaviours)
- Commitment to group membership (dedication)
- Group unanimity, size, expertise
- Susceptibility to interpersonal influence
What are the marketing implications for regarding influentials? (4 things)
- many adds intended to reach influentials rather than average consumers
- Local opinion leaders are hard to find
- Try and find influentials in order to create WOM “ripple effect”
- Exploratory studies identify characteristic of opinion leaders for promotion strategies
What is opinion leadership?
- we don’t just ask anyone about advices about purchases
- we most likely seek advice from someone who knows a lot about a product
What are the characteristics of an opinion leader? (7 things)
- Same group membership as non leaders
- Share common values aspirations and characteristics
- Familiar with loyal to group norms and values
- Homophilous
- Greater exposure to mass media
- More outgoing
- More innovative
What are the reasons to seek advice from opinion leaders? (5 things)
- expertise
- unbiased knowledge power
- highly interconnected in communities
- referent power
- might have hands-on product experience
What is the difference between Market Maven and Surrogate consumer?
Market Mavens: opinion leaders across categories “consumer hobbyist”, into shopping and staying on top of whats happening in marketplace.
Surrogate consumer: market intermediary who is hired to provide input into purchase decisions (interior decorators, stockbrokers, personal shoppers)
What is social comparison?
- We look to others behaviour to inform us about reality
- occurs as ways to increase stability of ones self-evaluation
- tend to choose co-ordianted peers when we perform social comparison
