1. Marketing 334 Consumer Behavior
Chapter 7
Group Influences
Based on Consumer Behavior, 10th edition by Hawkins, Mothersbaugh and Best

2. Consumer Behavior In The News…
Goodyear is beginning to offer “collegiate tires” which have the college name in white letters on the tire’s sidewalls.
Goodyear claims these tires are only for “the ultimate fan.”
7-2
Source: J. Halliday, “Tire maker eyes college sports fans,” Advertising Age, November 8, 2004, p. 8.

3. Consumer Behavior In The News…
What would “drive” a fan to put his/her team’s name on their tires?
How big do you think this market is?
Source: J. Halliday, “Tire maker eyes college sports fans,” Advertising Age, November 8, 2004, p. 8.

4. Reference Group Influence
A group is defined as two or more individuals who share a set of norms, values, or beliefs and have certain implicitly or explicitly defined relationships to one another such that their behaviors are interdependent.
A reference group is a group whose presumed perspectives or values are being used by an individual as the basis for his/her current behavior.

5. Reference Group Influence
Four criteria that are particularly useful in classifying groups:
Membership
Strength of Social Tie
Type of Contact
Attraction

6. Types of Groups Consumption Subcultures Brand Communities
Virtual Communities
Leaders
Participants
Lurkers

7. Types of Groups
Marketing and Brand Communities
Brand communities can add value to the ownership of the product and build intense loyalty.
Jeep has a longstanding loyal brand community

8. Types of Groups Virtual Communities
Marketing in virtual communities is both possible and potentially beneficial.
The approach taken must be tailored to the type of virtual community.
Many online groups are sensitive to “commercial” interference and companies have to be careful not to overstep.

9. Reference Group Influences on the Consumption Process
Types of Reference Group Influence
Situational determinants of Reference Group Influence
Brand vs. Product Class Influence
Marketing Strategy and Reference Groups

10. Reference Group Influences on the Consumption Process
Types of Reference Group Influence
Reference group influence can take three forms:
Informational Influence
Normative Influence (a.k.a. utilitarian influence)
Identification Influence (a.k.a. value expressive)

11. Communications within Groups and Opinion Leadership
WOM
Opinion Leaders
Market Mavens, Influentials, and e-fluentials
Marketing and Online Strategies

12. Communications within Groups and Opinion Leadership
Mass Communication Information Flows

13. Communications within Groups and Opinion Leadership
Situations in Which WOM and Opinion Leadership Occur
Individual seeks information from another or
Individual volunteers information
Likelihood of Seeking an Opinion Leader

14. Communications within Groups and Opinion Leadership
Marketing Strategy, WOM, and Opinion Leadership
Strategies designed to generate WOM and encourage opinion leadership include:
Advertising
Product Sampling
Retailing/Personal Selling
Creating Buzz

15. Communications within Groups and Opinion Leadership
Online Strategies to Leverage Buzz and WOM
Viral marketing
Online Guides
Blogs

16. Applications in Consumer Behavior
Example of Online Viral Marketing Campaign
Courtesy of Hershey Corporation.

17. Diffusion of Innovations
Categories of Innovation
Adoption Process
Diffusion Rate
Adopter Categories
Marketing Strategies and the Diffusion Process

18. Diffusion of Innovations
Categories of Innovations
Continuous Innovation
Dynamically continuous Innovation
Discontinuous Innovation

19. Diffusion of Innovations
Diffusion Rates for Popular Consumer Electronics (Cumulative)
7-19

20. Diffusion of Innovations
Factors Affecting the Spread of Innovations
7-20

22. Diffusion of Innovations
Adopter Categories
Innovators
Early Adopters
Early Majority
Late Majority
Laggards