Amity Business School

Consumer Behavior
Mamta Mohan

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Opinion Leadership
The process by which one
person (the opinion
leader) informally
influences the
consumption actions or
attitudes of others who
may be opinion seekers or
opinion recipients.
Strong /weak tie source

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What is Opinion
Leadership?
Opinion
Leader

Opinion
Receiver

Opinion
Seeker

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The Needs of Opinion

Leaders

Self involvement
Social involvement
Product involvement
Message involvement

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Opinion leaders are four times more

likely to be asked about political
issues, three times more likely to be
asked about computers or
investments, and twice as likely to be
asked about restaurants
Information seekers seek a strongtie source when they know little
about a topic, and weak-tie sources
when they have some knowledge

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Reasons for the Effectiveness

of Opinion Leadership
Credibility
Positive and Negative
Product Information
Information and Advice
Opinion Leadership Is
Category-Specific
Opinion Leadership Is a
Two-way Street

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Viral Marketing
The marriage of email and word-ofmouth
communication

Buzz Marketing/Wildfire
/Avalanche Marketing

These terms describe any strategy that

encourages individuals to pass on a
marketing message to others;
e.g. get yr free private e-mail
Models hanging out side night clubs.
P& G kiosks

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Word-of-Mouth in Action

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The Needs of Opinion

Receivers

New-product or new usage

information
Reduction of perceived risk
Reduction of search time
Receiving the approval of the
opinion leader

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Measuring Opinion Leadership

OPINION LEADERSHIP
MEASUREMENT
METHOD

DESCRIPTION OF METHOD

SAMPLE QUESTIONS
ASKED

SELF-DESIGNATING
METHOD

Each respondent is asked a

series of questions to
determine the degree to
which he or she perceives
himself or herself to be an
opinion leader.

Do you
influence other
people in their
selection of
products?

SOCIOMETRIC
METHOD

Members of a social system

are asked to identify to whom
they give advice and to whom
they go for advice.

Whom do you
ask?Who asks
you for info about
that product
category?

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continued
OPINION LEADERSHIP
MEASUREMENT
METHOD

DESCRIPTION OF METHOD

SAMPLE QUESTIONS
ASKED

KEY INFORMANT
METHOD

Carefully selected key informants

in a social system are asked to
designate opinion leaders.

Who are the most

influential people in
the group?

OBJECTIVE
METHOD

Artificially places individuals in a

position to act as opinion leaders
and measures results of their
efforts.

Have you tried the

product?

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Issues In Opinion Leadership

and Marketing Strategy
Programs Designed to Stimulate
Opinion Leadership
Advertisements Stimulating Opinion
Leadership
Market Maven
Individuals whose influence stems from
a general knowledge or market expertise
that leads to an early awareness of new
products and services.

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Diffusion of innovations
Diffusion process- macro process spread
of a new pdt to consuming public
Adoption process-stages thro which the
consumer passes while making the
purchase decision.
Consumer innovator categories.
E.g. Gillette 40 % of the sales must come
fm new pdts introduced in last 5 yrs.
HP revenues are derived fm the pdts
introduced in last 24 mths.
When is pdt considered new?

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Diffusion Process
The process by which the acceptance of
an innovation is spread by
communication to members of social
system over a period of time.
Marketer generated infon sources.
Websites , chat room
e.g i-pod

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Adoption Process
The stages through which an individual
consumer passes in arriving at a decision
to try (or not to try), to continue using (or
discontinue using) a new product.

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Elements of the Diffusion

Process
The Innovation
The Channels of
Communication
The Social System
Time

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Defining Innovations

Firm-oriented definitions
Product-oriented definitions
Market-oriented definitions
Consumer-oriented definitions

Purchase innovativeness ( time of

adoption)
Use innovativeness

Telephone Innovations
Discontinuous
Innovations

Telephone

Cell Phone

Fax
Machine

Dynamically Continuous
Innovations

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Continuous
Innovations

Telephone answering
machines
Call forwarding
Call waiting
Caller ID
Banking by telephone
Call-prompting systems

Hold button
Line-in-use indicator
Redial button
Auto dialing feature
Touch-tone service
800 Numbers
900 Numbers

Ability to send/receive email

Incorporate PDA functions
Calendar/Phonebook
Voice-activated dialing

Switch from analog to

digital
Include camera
Ringer styles
Play games

Fax modem
Mobile fax machines
Home office systems
(combined fax, copier,
computer printer)

Plain paper fax

Speed dial buttons
Delayed send
Copy function
Paper cutter

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Product Characteristics That

Influence Diffusion

Relative Advantage- over the existing pdt.

Compatibility- with the existing needs, values
attitudes and practices. (3m scotch pop up
tapes, MACH 3 razors ,shaving creams)
Complexity- degree of difficulty to use or
understand.fear of tech complexity,
obsolescence,social rejection, physical harm.
Trialability- tried on a limited basis
Observability- degree to be tried on a limited
basis.- pdt can be described , communicated.
Pdts may diffuse differently in diff cultures.

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Table 15.7 Characteristics That

Influence Diffusion
CHARACTERISTICS

Relative
Advantage

Compatibility

Complexity

EXAMPLES

Air travel over train travel, cordless

phones over corded telephones
Gillette MACH3 over disposable
razors, digital telephone answering
machines over machines using tape
Electric shavers, instant puddings

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continued
CHARACTERISTICS

EXAMPLES

Trialability

Trial size jars and bottles of new

products, free trials of software,
free samples, cents-off coupons

Observability

Clothing, such as a new Tommy

Hilfiger jacket, a car, wristwatches,
eyeglasses

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Time and Diffusion

Purchase Time
Adopter Categories
Rate of Adoption
Time Line for Selecting
a New
Automobile

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Adopter Categories
A sequence of categories that describes
how early (or late) a consumer adopts a
new product in relation to other
adopters.

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Innovators: Description
2.5% of population
Venturesome
Very eager to try new ideas
Acceptable if risk is daring
More cosmopolite social relationships
Communicates with other innovators

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Early Adopters: Description

13.5% of population
Respected
More integrated into the local social system
The persons to check with before adopting a
new idea
Category contains greatest number of
opinion leaders
Are role models

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Adopter Categories

Early
Adopters
13.5%
Innovators
2.5%

Laggards
Early
Majority
34%

Late
Majority
34%

Percentage of Adopters by Category Sequence

16%

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Late Majority: Description

34% of population
Skeptical
Adopt new ideas just after the average
time
Adopting may be both an economic
necessity and a reaction to peer pressures
Innovations approached cautiously

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Laggards: Description
16% of population
Traditional
The last people to adopt an innovation
Most localite in outlook
Oriented to the past
Suspicious of the new

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Stages in Adoption Process

WHAT HAPPENS
NAME OF
DURING THIS STAGE
STAGE

EXAMPLE

Awareness

Consumer is first
exposed to the product
innovation.

Janet sees an ad for a new MP3 player in

the magazine she is reading.

Interest

Consumer is interested in
the product and searches
for additional
information.

Janet reads about the MP3 player on the

manufacturers Web site and then goes to
an electronics store near her apartment and
has a salesperson show her a unit.

Evaluation

Consumer decides
whether or not to believe
that this product or
service will satisfy the
need--a kind of mental
trial.

After talking to a knowledgeable friend,

Janet decides that this MP3 player will
allow her to easily download the MP3 files
that she has on her computer. She also
feels that the units size is small enough to
easily fit into her beltpack.

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Table 15.11 Stages in Adoption Process

WHAT HAPPENS
NAME OF DURING THIS STAGE
STAGE

Trial

Adoption
(Rejection)

EXAMPLE

Consumer uses the

product on a limited
basis

Since an MP3 player cannot be tried like

a small tube of toothpaste, Janet buys the
MP3 player online from Amazon.com,
which offers a 30-day full refund policy.

If trial is favorable,
consumer decides to use
the product on a full,
rather than a limited
basis--if unfavorable, the
consumer decides to
reject it.

Janet finds that the MP3 player is easy to

use and that the sound quality is excellent.
She keeps the MP3 player.

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Issues in Profiling Consumer

Innovators

Defining the Consumer Innovator

Interest in the Product Category
The Innovator Is an Opinion Leader
Personality Traits
Media Habits
Social Characteristics
Demographic Characteristics
Are There Generalized Consumer
Innovators?

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Early Majority: Description

34% of population
Deliberate
Adopt new ideas just prior to the average
time
Seldom hold leadership positions
Deliberate for some time before adopting