1. Group and Personal Influence
Consumer Behavior #6A
Group and Personal Influence

2. Group and Personal Influences on Individuals
Reference group: any person or group of people who significantly influences an individual’s behavior
May be individuals (celebrities, athletes, or political leaders) or groups of individuals with similarities (musical groups or sports teams)

3. High Degree of Influence
Personal and Group Influence on Individuals
High Degree of Influence
Types of
Influence
Normative
Value Expressive
Informational
Transmission
Personal Influences: •Groups •Individuals
Lifestyles Behaviors Purchases Consumption
Low Degree of Influence

4. Types of Reference Groups
Primary Groups: a social aggregation that is sufficiently intimate to permit and facilitate unrestricted direct interaction (e.g., family)
Secondary Groups: also have direct interaction, but it is more sporadic, less comprehensive, and less influential in shaping thought and behavior (e.g., professional associations or community organizations).

5. Types of Reference Groups
Formal Groups: characterized by a defined structure (often written) and a known list of members and requirements for membership
Informal Groups: have less structure than formal groups and are likely to be based on friendship or interests
Membership: when individuals are recognized as members of a group, they have achieved formal acceptance status in the group

6. Types of Reference Groups
Aspirational Groups: exhibit a desire to adopt the norms, values, and behaviors of others with whom the individuals aspire to associate. E.g.,?
Dissociative Groups: groups from which an individual tries to avoid association
Virtual Groups: groups that are based on virtual communities rather than geographic ones.

7. Personal Influences: •Groups •Individuals
Personal and Group Influence on Individuals
Types of
Influence
Normative
Value Expressive
Informational
Personal Influences: •Groups •Individuals

8. Types of Group Influence
Normative: when individuals alter their behaviors or beliefs to meet the expectations of a particular group. E.g., ???
Value-expressive: when a need for psychological association with a group causes acceptance of its norms, values, attitudes, or behaviors. E.g.,???
Informational: when people have difficulty assessing product or brand characteristics by their own observations or contact. E.g.,???

9. Personal and Group Influence on Individuals
High Degree of Influence
Types of
Influence
Normative
Value Expressive
Informational
Transmission
Lifestyles Behaviors Purchases Consumption
Personal Influences: •Groups •Individuals
Low Degree of Influence

10. How Reference Groups Influence Individuals
Socialization: permits an individual to know what behavior is likely to result in stability both for the individual and the group.
E.g.,
Company manual may explain the dress code in the workplace
Informal groups may tell them what styles are most comfortable and easiest to maintain

11. How Reference Groups Influence Individuals
Self-concept: people protect and modify their self-concept by their interactions with group members.
People can maintain self-concept by conforming to learned roles.
Testimonial advertising is effective when the self projected in the ad is consistent with the idealized self of the target consumer.
e.g.,

12. How Reference Groups Influence Individuals
Social comparison: individuals often evaluate themselves by comparing themselves to others
Consumers often use reference groups as benchmarks to measure their own behaviors, opinions, abilities, and possessions
Advertising or television can be sources of social comparison .

13. How Reference Groups Influence Individuals
Conformity: a change in beliefs or actions based on real or perceived group pressures
Compliance: when an individual conforms to the wishes of the group without accepting all its beliefs or behaviors
Acceptance: when an individual actually changes his or her beliefs and values to those of the group

14. How Reference Groups Influence Individuals
When are people more likely to conform to norms?
Desire for social acceptance
Degree of experience in situation or with decision
Conspicuousness
Complex product or luxury item

15. Reference Group Influence on Product and Brand Purchase Decisions
Weak Reference Group Influence
Strong Reference Group Influence
PUBLIC NECESSITIES
Influence: Weak product & strong brand
(watch, autos, suits)
PUBLIC LUXURIES
Influence: Strong product & strong brand
(golf clubs, skis, boat)
Strong Group Influences (+)
BRAND
PRIVATE NECESSITIES
Influence: Weak product & weak brand
(mattress, refrigerator)
PRIVATE LUXURIES
Influence: Strong product & weak brand
(TV, icemaker)
Weak Group Influences (-)

16. How Reference Groups Influence Individuals
Profits of conformity
More likely to occur when the rewards of compliance exceeds its costs
The degree of influence on final outcome is determined by an individual’s perception of the “profit” inherent in the transaction

17. How Reference Groups Influence Individuals
Conspicuousness
Conformity pressures are not sufficient to induce behavior unless the product or service is publicly conspicuous in its purchase and use
Because other will see the product, many consumers will conform rather than risk embarrassment or ridicule
Peers send clear signals about product alternatives

18. Appealing to Normative Influence in Marketing Strategy
Normative compliance may be less important in industrialized nations as many consumers are putting personal needs ahead of group loyalty
Extended families have less face-to-face contact and people are more socially isolated than in the past
A weakened respect for social norms (anomie) leads some consumers to desire expression of individuality more than group affiliation

19. Self-Expression Outside of Social Norms
High Product Visibility Raises Reference Group Influence

20. Celebrity and Other Reference Group Appeals in Advertising
Testimonials: celebrities tout products based on personal usage
Endorsements: celebrities lend their name or likeness to a product without necessarily being an expert in the area
Actor or Spokesperson: someone who represents a brand or company for an extended time period

21. Celebrity and Other Reference Group Appeals in Advertising
Expert appeal: appeal from a person possessing unique information or skills that can help consumers make better purchase decisions than other types of spokespersons.
Common-man appeal: testimonials from “regular” consumers with whom most consumers can relate

22. Transmission of Influence Through Dyadic Exchanges
Dyadic exchange requires the exchange of resources (opinions and comments)
Three types of exchange:
Word-of-mouth Communication
Service Encounters
Opinion Leadership

23. Word-of-Mouth Communication
Word-of-mouth communication: informal transmission of ideas, comments, opinions, and information between two people, neither one of which is a marketer.
The receiver gains information about behaviors and choices, which is valuable to the receiver in the decision process.
The sender increases their confidence in the personal product or behavior choice by persuading others to do the same

24. Benefits of Word-of-Mouth

25. Opinion Leadership
Opinion leadership: the sender of information is often considered an opinion leader—a person who influences the decisions of others.
Opinion leaders might be experts in one area but not in others.
The greater the perceived knowledge of a category, the more likely that person’s opinions are to influence others’ decisions

26. Opinion Leadership Opinion leadership is likely to occur when:
An individual has limited knowledge of a product or brand
The person lacks the ability to evaluate the product or service
The consumer does not trust advertising and other sources of information
Other information sources have low credibility with the consumer

27. Opinion Leadership Opinion leadership is likely to occur when:
The individual has a high need for social approval
Strong social ties exist between sender and receiver
The product is complex
The product is difficult to test against objective criterion
The product is highly visible to others

28. Characteristics of Opinion Leaders
Opinion leaders and receivers often share similar demographic characteristics and lifestyles, yet they may have greater social status within the same group as followers
The most common characteristic is that opinion leaders are involved with a particular product category

29. Opinion Leadership
Product innovators: similar to opinion leaders, these individuals are the first to try new products.
Market mavens: gather much of their information from shopping experiences, openness to information and general market awareness, making them more aware of new products than other people
Surrogate consumers (shoppers): an individual who acts as an agent to guide, direct, and conduct activities in the marketplace.

30. Service Encounters
Service encounters: occurs when there is personal communication between a consumer and a marketer
May be a consumption experience within a store—the various trans-actions and services that occur during a retail purchase
May be an experience consuming the specific service a consumer purchases

31. How Personal Influences Are Transmitted
Trickle-down: alleges that lower classes often emulate the behavior of their higher-class counterparts. Influence is transmitted vertically through social classes, when higher classes express wealth through conspicuous consumption, and lower classes copy their behavior.
Two-step Flow: Opinion leaders are the direct receivers of information from advertisements and they interpret and transmit the information to others through word-of-mouth

32. Information and Influence
How Personal Influences Are Transmitted
Two-step Flow
Information and Influence
Information
Mass Media
Opinion Leader
Opinion Seekers

33. How Personal Influences Are Transmitted
Multistep Flow
Information can flow directly to different types of consumers, including opinion leaders, gatekeepers, and opinion seekers and receivers

34. How Personal Influences Are Transmitted
Multistep Flow: Information can flow directly to different types of consumers, including opinion leaders, gatekeepers, and opinion seekers and receivers
Opinion Leader
Opinion Seekers
Mass Media
Gatekeepers

35. WOM and Opinion Leaders in Advertising and Marketing Strategy
WOM and personal communication can have a more decisive role in influencing behavior than advertising and other marketer-dominated sources.
WOM is Viewed as a more trustworthy and credible source of information than salespeople or paid advertising.
Advertising can provide information to consumers about products they might seek from other sources and which may be discussed in WOM

36. Primary Reliance on Word-Of-Mouth
Advertising can create WOM among consumers and peer groups
For some occasions, companies rely on WOM as a substitute for advertising
Retailers such as Wal*Mart and Victoria’s Secret have demonstrated that advertising can be sharply reduced when word-of-mouth is strong

37. Stimulating Word-Of-Mouth—How to do it?
Firms may stimulate WOM by giving away or loaning products to opinion leaders to display and use
Firms can market to opinion leaders as a distinct segment (once they can be identified)
Firms can create opinion leaders by providing incentives for new customers
Organizations may induce opinion leaders to influence consumers

38. Creating Opinion Leaders
Companies can activate
search through advertising
that encourages consumers
to “ask a person who owns
one” or “share the experience
with a friend”

39. Managing Negative WOM
Negative WOM is usually given high priority and weighs heavily in decision making
The dissatisfied buyer is more motivated to share information. Firms can monitor the presence and impact of WOM—what dissatisfied consumers are saying about the product or company
Monitoring rumors which do not always appear in customer complaint reports
Creating a strategy to respond to rumors and negative WOM. What strategy may be used?

40. Curbing Negative WOM
When something goes terribly wrong, denying the problem is not the answer
The best strategy is immediate acknowledgement by a credible company spokesperson as negative WOM rarely goes away by itself
Make sure you have all your facts straight and tell the truth