1. Chapter 11 Group Influence and Opinion Leadership
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR, 8e Michael Solomon

2. Chapter Objectives
When you finish this chapter you should understand why:
Others, especially those who possess some kind of social power, often influence us.
We seek out others who share our interests in products or services.
We are motivated to buy or use products in order to be consistent with what other people do.
The things that other consumers tell us about products (good and bad) are often more influential than the advertising we see.
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

3. Chapter Objectives (cont.)
Online technologies are accelerating the impact of word-of-mouth communication.
Social networking is changing the way companies and consumers interact.
Certain people are particularly likely to influence others’ product choices.
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

4. Reference Groups
Reference group: an actual or imaginary individual/group conceived of having significant relevance upon an individual’s evaluations, aspirations, or behavior
Influences consumers in three ways:
Informational
Utilitarian
Value-expressive
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

5. Reference Group Influences
Reference group influences stronger for purchases that are:
Luxuries rather than necessities
Socially conspicuous/visible to others
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009
Figure 11.1

6. When Reference Groups Are Important
Social power: capacity to alter the actions of others
Types of social power:
Referent power
Information power
Legitimate power
Expert power
Reward power
Coercive power
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

7. Discussion
High schools have all types of reference groups, with members representing all types of social power. Think back to high school and try to identify people who had the following types of power (consider not only peers but also teachers and administrators).
Referent power
Information power
Legitimate power
Expert power
Reward power
Coercive power
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

8. Types of Reference Groups
Any external influence that provides social clues can be a reference group
Cultural figure
Parents
Large, formal organization
Small and informal groups
Exert a more powerful influence on individual consumers
A part of our day-to-day lives: normative influence
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

9. Brand Communities and Consumer Tribes
A group of consumers who share a set of social relationships based upon usage or interest in a product
Brandfests enhance brand loyalty
Consumer tribe share emotions, moral beliefs, styles of life, and affiliated product
Tribal marketing: linking a product to the needs of a group as a whole
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

10. 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 admires
Advertisers use celebrity spokespeople
Click to view
Quicktime video on
use of celebrity
athletes in advertising
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

11. Positive versus Negative Reference Groups
Reference groups may exert either a positive or negative influence on consumption behaviors
Avoidance groups: motivation to distance oneself from other people/groups
Marketers show ads with undesirable people using competitor’s product
Antibrand communities: coalesce around a celebrity, store, or brand—but in this case they’re united by their disdain for it
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

12. Consumers Do It in Groups
Deindividuation: individual identities become submerged within a group
Example: binge drinking at college parties
Social loafing: people don’t devote as much to a task when their contribution is part of a larger group
Example: we tend to tip less when eating in groups
Risky shift: group members show a greater willingness to consider riskier alternatives following group discussion than if members mad their own decisions
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

13. Discussion
Do you agree that deindividuation encourages binge drinking on campus?
What can or should a college do to discourage this behavior?
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

14. Consumers Do It in Groups (cont.)
Decision polarization: after group discussion of an issue, opinions become more extreme
Home shopping parties capitalize on group pressure to boost sales
Informational and normative social influence
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

15. Discussion
Home shopping parties—such as Tupperware, Avon, Pampered Chef, Amway, or Botox—are designed to put pressure on friends and neighbors to buy merchandise.
Have you attended these parties? Why or why not?
Do you believe putting social pressure is ethical? Why or why not?
Why are these parties more common among women?
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

16. Conformity
Most people tend to follow society’s expectations regarding how to look/act
Factors influencing conformity:
Cultural pressures
Fear of deviance
Commitment to group membership
Group unanimity, size, expertise
Susceptibility to interpersonal influence
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

17. Word-of-Mouth Communication
WOM: 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
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

18. Negative WOM and Power of Rumors
We weigh negative WOM more heavily than we do positive comments!
Negative WOM is easy to spread, especially online
Determined detractors
Information/rumor distortion
Click photo for
Ihatestarbucks.com
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

19. The Transmission of Misinformation
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009
Figure 11.2

20. Negative WOM and Power of Rumors (cont.)
Three basic themes found in Web-based “protest” communities:
Injustice: consumers talk about their repeated attempts to contact the company only to be ignored.
Identity: posters characterize the violator as evil, rather than simply wrong.
Agency: individual Web site creators try to create a collective identity for those who share their anger with a company.
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

21. Virtual Communities
A collection of people who share their love of a product in online interactions
Multi-user dungeons (MUD)
Rooms (IRC), rings, and lists
Boards
Blogs/blogosphere
Great potential for abuse via untrustworthy members
Amazon.com lawsuit (charging publishers to post positive reviews of Web site)
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

22. Virtual Communities Which type of Web surfer are you? Figure 11.3
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009
Figure 11.3

23. Guerrilla Marketing
Guerilla marketing: promotional strategies that use unconventional locations and intensive WOM to push products
Recruits legions of real consumers for street theater
Hip-hop “mix tapes”/street teams
Brand ambassadors
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

24. Viral Marketing
Viral marketing: getting visitors to a Web site to forward information on the site to their friends (for product awareness)
Creating online content that is entertaining or weird
Example: buzz campaign for Mini Cooper car
Click photo for
Miniusa.com 
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

25. Social Networking and Crowd Power
Web sites letting members post information about themselves and make contact with similar others
Share interests, opinions, business contacts
 Click photo for Myspace.com
Click photo for
Facebook.com
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

26. Social Networking and Crowd Power (cont.)
Wisdom of crowds perspective: under the right circumstances, groups are smarter than the smartest people in them
Some crowd-based Web sites:
CrowdSpirit.com: participants submit ideas for consumer electronics products and the community votes for the best ones
Sermo.com: social network for physicians
Eventful.com: fans can demand events and performances in their town and spread the word to make them happen
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

27. Opinion Leadership
Opinion leaders: influence others’ attitudes and behaviors
They are good information sources because they:
May be experts
Provide unbiased evaluation
Are socially active
Are similar to the consumer
Are among the first to buy
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

28. Reasons to Seek Advice from Opinion Leaders
Expertise
Unbiased knowledge power
Highly interconnected in communities (social standing)
Referent power/homophily
Hands-on product experience (absorb risk)
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

29. Opinion Leadership (cont.)
Generalize opinion leader versus monomorphic/polymorphic experts
Although opinion leaders exist for multiple product categories, expertise tends to overlap across similar categories
It is rare to find a generalized opinion leader
Innovative communicators
Opinion seekers
More likely to talk about products with others and solicit others’ opinions
Casual interaction prompted by situation
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

30. Perspectives on the Communications Process
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009
Figure 11.4

31. The Market Maven
Market maven: actively involved in transmitting marketplace information of all types
Just into shopping and aware what’s happening in the marketplace
Overall knowledge of how and where to get products
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

32. 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!
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

33. Finding Opinion Leaders
Many ads intend to reach influentials rather than average consumer
Local opinion leaders are harder to find
Companies try to identify influentials in order to create WOM “ripple effect”
Exploratory studies identify characteristics of opinion leaders for promotional strategies
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

34. The Self-Designating Method
Most commonly used technique to identify opinion leaders…
Simply ask individuals whether they consider themselves to be opinion leaders
Method is easy to apply to large group of potential opinion leaders
View with skepticism—inflation or unawareness of own importance/influence
Alternative: key informants identify opinion leaders
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009

35. 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/expensive to implement
Network analysis
Referral behavior/network, tie strength
Bridging function, strength of weak ties
Prentice-Hall, cr 2009