Chapter 11 Groups and Social Media 11-1 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall CONSUMER BEHAVIOR, 11e Michael R. Solomon

11-2 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Objectives When you finish this chapter, you should understand why: 1. Others, especially those who possess some kind of social power, often influence us. 2. We seek out others who share our interests in products or services. 3. We are motivated to buy or use products in order to be consistent with what other people do.

11-3 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Objectives (continued) 4. Certain people are especially likely to influence others’ product choices. 5. The things that other consumers tell us about products (good and bad) are often more influential than the advertising we see. 6. Online technologies are accelerating the impact of word-of-mouth communication. 7. Social media are changing the way companies and consumers interact.

Learning Objective 1 Other people and groups, especially those who possess some kind of social power, often influence our decisions about what to buy Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

11-5 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Table 11.1: Influences of Reference Groups Informational Utilitarian Value-expressive

For Reflection For each type of reference group influence, share an example of a time you experienced that form of influence Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Learning Objective 2 We seek out others who share our interests in products or services Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

11-8 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall When Reference Groups Are Important Social power: capacity to alter the actions of others Referent powerInformation power Legitimate powerExpert power Reward powerCoercive power

11-9 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Brand Communities and Consumer Tribes A group of consumers who share a set of social relationships based upon usage or interest in a product Consumer tribes share emotions, moral beliefs, styles of life, and affiliated product Brandfests celebrated by community

11-10 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Membership versus Aspirational Reference Groups Membership reference groups People the consumer actually knows Advertisers use “ordinary people” Aspirational reference groups People the consumer doesn’t know but admire Advertisers use celebrity spokespeople

11-11 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Factors Predicting Reference Group Membership Propinquity Mere exposure Group cohesiveness

11-12 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Positive versus Negative Reference Groups Avoidance groups: motivation to distance oneself from other people/groups Antibrand communities: coalesce around a celebrity, store, or brand—but in this case they’re united by their disdain for it

11-13 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Consumers Do It in Groups Deindividuation: individual identities become submerged within a group Social loafing: people don’t devote as much to a task when their contribution is part of a larger group Risky shift: group members show a greater willingness to consider riskier alternatives following group discussion than if members made their own decisions

For Reflection High schools have all types of reference groups, with members representing all types of social power. Think back and try to identify people who had each type of social power Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Learning Objective 3 We are motivated to buy or use products in order to be consistent with what other people do Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

11-16 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Factors Influencing Conformity Cultural pressures Fear of deviance Commitment Group characteristics unanimity size expertise Susceptibility to interpersonal influence

For Reflection How can marketers use the characteristics that explain conformity to persuade individuals to follow consumer trends? Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Learning Objective 4 Certain people are especially likely to influence others’ product choices Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Characteristics of Opinion Leaders Experts Unbiased evaluation Socially active Similar to the consumer Among the first to buy Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

11-20 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall The Market Maven Market maven: actively involved in transmitting marketplace information of all types Into shopping and aware of what’s happening in the marketplace Overall knowledge of how and where to get products

11-21 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall The Surrogate Consumer Surrogate consumer: a marketing intermediary hired to provide input into purchase decisions. Interior decorators, stockbrokers, professional shoppers, college consultants Consumer relinquishes control over decision- making functions Marketers should not overlook influence of surrogates!

11-22 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall How Do We Find Opinion Leaders? The self-designating method Simply ask individuals whether they consider themselves to be opinion leaders Easy to apply to large group of potential opinion leaders Inflation or unawareness of own importance/influence Key informant method Key informants identify opinion leaders

11-23 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Sociometric Methods Sociometric methods: trace communication patterns among group members Systematic map of group interactions Most precise method of identifying product- information sources, but is very difficult and expensive to implement Network analysis Referral behavior/network, tie strength Bridging function, strength of weak ties

For Reflection Do you think the characteristics of online opinion leaders differ from those who serve in the role offline? Explain Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Learning Objective 5 The things other consumers tell us about products (good and bad) often are more influential than the advertising we see Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

11-26 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Word-of-Mouth Communication WOM is product information transmitted by individuals to individuals More reliable form of marketing Social pressure to conform Influences two-thirds of all sales We rely upon WOM in later stages of product adoption Powerful when we are unfamiliar with product category

11-27 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall BzzAgent

For Reflection How effective do you think the work of a Bzz Agent would be in influencing your product decisions and opinions? Explain Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Learning Objective 6 Online technologies accelerate the impact of word-of-mouth communication Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

11-30 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Negative WOM and Power of Rumors Injustice Identity Agency

11-31 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Figure 11.3 The Transmission of Misinformation

For Reflection Which do you think is more powerful – negative or positive WOM? Why? Does your answer change if you consider only online WOM? Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Learning Objective 7 Social media are changing the way companies and consumers interact Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Characteristics of Online Communities Conversation Presence Collective interest Democracy Behavioral standards Participation Crowd power Network effect Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

For Reflection How can marketers use the power of online communities to positively influence consumer behavior? Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

11-36 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Summary People with social power influence our behavior as consumers. We are motivated to buy things that are consistent with those in our reference groups.

11-37 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Summary WOM communication about products, especially from opinion leaders, may be more influential than information from marketers. Web 2.0 accelerates the speed of delivery and the power of WOM communication.