1 CONSUMER BEHAVIOR, 9e Michael R. Solomon
Chapter 10 Groups CONSUMER BEHAVIOR, 9e Michael R. Solomon 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
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. 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
3 Chapter Objectives (continued)
Certain people are particularly likely to influence others’ product choices. The things that other consumers tell us about products (good and bad) are often more influential than the advertising we see. Online technologies are accelerating the impact of word-of-mouth communication. Social networking is changing the way companies and consumers interact. 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
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 Humans are social beings as such we belong to groups, try to please others, and look to others’ behavior for clues about what we should do in public settings. The groups we look to for guidance – our reference groups – may be actual or imaginary. They influence us in three ways. Table 10.1 describes these influences. The information influence means that others provide information on consumer choices. The utilitarian influence means that our choices are influenced by important others. The value-expressive influence means that the individual uses the consumer choice to express values consistent (or not) with the group. 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
5 When Reference Groups Are Important
Social power: capacity to alter the actions of others Referent power Information power Legitimate power Expert power Reference power exists when the one person admires the qualities of another and tries to copy the referent’s behavior. It’s important to marketers because consumers voluntarily modify what they do and buy to identify with the referent. Information power exists when someone knows something others would like to know. Legitimate power is granted through true authority in a situation. For instance, police officers have legitimate power. Expert power accrues to a person who is an expert in a particular field. Due to their expertise, others will be influenced by them. Reward power refers to the influence held by a person who has the ability to offer a reward. Coercive power is the opposite of reward power. It is held by someone who has the ability to punish. Reward power Coercive power 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
6 Discussion 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 the following types of power. Referent power Information power Legitimate power Expert power Reward power Coercive power 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
7 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 Some groups are more powerful than others and affect more of our consumption decisions. Normative influence occurs when the reference group helps to set and enforce fundamental standards of conduct. Comparative influence affects decisions about specific types of purchases. For instance, our parents might exert normative influence on a wide range of choices while a book club exerts influence on the choice of books we buy and read. 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
8 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 Brandfests are held by many companies like Mini and Harley-Davidson. The festivals enable consumers to interact with others who share a similar brand passion. 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
9 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 Membership reference groups are people we know like our families, friendship groups, and colleagues. Because we tend to compare ourselves with similar others, many promotional strategies include ordinary people. Seeing the consumption activities of others acts as a form of social influence. Aspirational reference groups are people we admire. They may be successful businesspeople, athletes, or performers. 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
10 Factors Predicting Reference Group Membership
Propinquity Mere exposure Several factors make it more likely that we will be a member of a reference group. First as physical distance between people decreases and opportunities for interaction increase, they are more likely to form relationships. This physical nearness is called propinquity. We come to like persons or things if we see them more often. This is known as mere exposure phenomenon. Cohesiveness refers to the degree to which members of a group are attracted to each other and how much each values their membership in the group. Group cohesiveness 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
11 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 Reference groups can affect our decisions both positively and negatively. Sometimes we deliberately do the opposite if we want to distance ourselves from avoidance groups. Antibrand communities are those that coalesce around a brand but they are united by a disdain for the brand. Many brands have been targeted by antibrand communities including Dunkin’ Donuts, Rachael Ray, and Starbucks. 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
12 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 People in larger groups have fewer constraints on behavior. Deindividuation occurs when our individual identities are submerged in the group. In other words, we don’t stay out alone so we may behave differently. At a costume party, we may act wilder than we would in our everyday lives. Social loafing is a similar effect. It happens when we don’t devote as much to a task because our contribution is part of a large group effort. For instance, people tend to tip less when going in together to cover a restaurant bill. The risky shift effect explains why decisions we make as part of a group tend to differ from those each of us would choose on our own. Why would the risky shift effect occur? Psychologists say it could be a diffusion of responsibility. Individuals are less accountable for the outcomes when more people are involved in a decision. The value hypothesis is another possible explanation. It states that our culture values risky behavior so when people make group decisions they conform to this expectation. The group could also increase decision polarization, meaning whichever way the group was leaning at the start of the discussion, the group becomes more extreme in that direction. The change in our shopping behavior in groups is the reason some brands use home shopping parties. 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
13 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? 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
14 Factors Influencing Conformity
Cultural pressures Fear of deviance Commitment Group characteristics unanimity size expertise Susceptibility to interpersonal influence We don’t mimic others’ behaviors all the time, so why are we more likely to conform sometimes? This slide lists the common culprits. Culture pressure refers to how different cultures encourage conformity to a greater or lesser extent. For instance, the Japanese society emphasizes collective well-being and group loyalty over individuals’ needs. Individuals may believe that the group will apply sanctions to punish nonconforming behaviors. This is the fear captured in the factor, fear of defiance. According to the principle of least interest, the person who is least committed to staying in a relationship has the most power because that party doesn’t care as much if the other person rejects him. As groups gain in power, compliance increases. The trait, susceptibility to interpersonal influence, refers to an individual’s need to have others think highly of him or her. 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
15 Opinion Leadership Opinion leaders influence others’ attitudes and behaviors Experts Unbiased evaluation Socially active Similar to the consumer Among the first to buy Everyone knows people who are knowledgeable about products and whose advice others take seriously. Opinion leaders are valuable sources of information because they possess social power. They may have expertise but one source of influence is their similarity to the person being influenced. Homophily refers to the degree to which a pair of individuals is similar in terms of education, social status, and beliefs. 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
16 Opinion Leaders Is there a generalized opinion leader whose recommendations we seek for all types of purchases? Experts may be monomorphic or polymorphic Very few people are capable of being experts in every subject so it is unlikely that generalized opinion leaders exist. Monomorphic experts are those whose expertise applies to a limited field. Polymorphic experts are experts in several fields. However, estimates suggest that even polymorphic experts focus their expertise in a specific category. 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
17 Figure 10.1 Old and New Social Networks
The two-step flow model of influence proposes that a small group of influencers disseminate information since they can modify the opinions of a large number of other people. Research shows that influence is driven less by influentials and more by the interaction among those who are easily influenced. This is because those people communicate the information with one another and also participate in dialogue with opinion leaders as part of an influence network. This figure contrasts the old and new perspectives on networks. 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
18 The Market Maven Market maven: actively involved in transmitting marketplace information of all types Just into shopping and aware of what’s happening in the marketplace Overall knowledge of how and where to get products Researchers use a scale to identify market mavens. The scale includes items like “I like introducing new brands and products to my friends.” 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
19 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! Unlike opinion leaders or market mavens, we usually pay surrogates for advice. Their recommendations are very influential! 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
20 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 Companies want to use opinion leaders to spread word-of-mouth communication about their brands, but how do they find the opinion leaders? The most common technique is simply to ask individual consumers whether they consider themselves to be opinion leaders. The problem is that just because we transmit advice about products does not mean that other people take the advice. For someone to be a true opinion leader, others must follow the advice given. Figure 10.2 provides a scale used to identify opinion leaders. 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
21 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 The play Six Degrees of Separation is based on the premise that everyone is connected to everyone else, at least indirectly. Sociometric methods trace communication patterns among members of a group. We can use this method to better understand referral behavior and to locate strengths and weaknesses in terms of how one’s reputation flows through a community. Network analysis focuses on communication in social systems, considers the relationships among people in a referral network, and measures the tie strength among them. Tie strength refers to the nature of the bond between people. It can range from strong primary to weak secondary. Even weak ties can be influential. 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
22 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 Because we tend to believe people when they give us product information, WOM communication is considered reliable and credible. 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
23 BzzAgent BzzAgent recruits people to try products and talk about them with their friends and people they meet. It is an example of how marketers are trying to harness the power of word-of-mouth communication. 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
24 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 There are 3 themes to complaint Web sites Injustice Identity Agency 90% of unhappy customers will not do business with a company again. Each of these people is likely to share his grievance with at least nine other people. A study of 40 complaint Web sites such as walmartsucks.com found three basic themes reflected in the sites. These are injustice, identity, and agency. Consumer protestors frequently talked about their fruitless attempts to contact the company. Posters characterized the violator as evil rather than as incompetent. Individual Web site creators try to create a collective identity for those who share their anger with a company. 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
25 Figure 10.3 The Transmission of Misinformation
This figure illustrates how information changes as it is transmitted. The farther from the original source, the more difference exists in the information transmitted. 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
26 Cutting-Edge WOM Influences
Social Networking Crowd Power Guerilla Marketing Social networking is a powerful way to reach consumers using their own influential network. Skittles did just that when it developed its Web site as a social media hub. Such strategies are made possible by Web 2.0, which refers to the enhanced interactivity available online. Crowd power is like a marketing strategy by committee. The wisdom of crowds says that groups are smarter than the smartest individuals and so groups should have influence. This is the principle behind wikis. Shopmobs are a type of crowd power. Consumers decide to meet together to shop. It’s like a flashmob but for shopping! Guerilla marketing is a type of grassroots effort, which uses unconventional means and venues to push products. The marketer ambushes the unsuspecting recipient. Aqua Teen Hunger Force’s promotion is an example. Turner Broadcasting planted flashing light boards in public areas. Observers, though, thought they were terrorist bombs instead of promotional pieces! Viral marketing refers to the strategy of getting visitors to a Web site to forward information on the site to their friends to make more people aware. Viral Marketing 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
27 Virtual Worlds: The Next Digital Frontier
A metaverse is a virtual world where everyday people take on identities in a 3-D immersive digital environment. Second Life is the largest and most well-known virtual world. Social networks like Facebook may migrate to a 3-D format someday. 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
28 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. 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. We’ve covered several key concepts in this chapter. You should now understand that self-concept strongly influences our behavior as consumers and that products can play a pivotal role in defining our self-concept. Society’s expectations of masculinity and femininity help to determine the products we buy in that we seek to be consistent with expectations. The way we think about our bodies is a key component of our self-esteem. Every culture has norms for beauty which will influence how we view our bodies and decorate ourselves. 4/7/2017 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall