Chapter 5 Group Influence and Opinion Leadership

Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being
Twelfth Edition
Chapter 5
•Group Influence and
Opinion Leadership
Copyright © 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights

Reserved.
Learning Objectives
1) Other people and groups, especially those that possess
social power can influence our decisions.
2) Word-of-mouth communication is the most important
driver of product choice.
3) Opinion leaders’ recommendations are more influential
than others when we decide what to buy.
4) Social media changes the way we learn about and select
products.
Copyright © 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Reference Group
• Reference group – an actual or imaginary
individual/group that influences an individual’s
evaluations, aspirations, or behavior.
Social Power
Social power – capacity to alter the actions of others. It’s important to
marketers because consumers voluntarily modify what they do and buy to
identify with the referent.
Referent power Information power
Legitimate power Expert power
Reward power Coercive power
Types of Social Power
• Referent power – when a person admires a person or group and

tries to imitate them. Example, prominent people such as celebrities
and athletes affect our consumptions through product endorsement
or fashion statement.
• Information power – power from merely possessing valuable

information that others do not have access to. Example, writers or
editors of publications possess power to compile and disseminate
information and influence consumer.
• Legitimate power – power that is granted by social agreement.

Example, ads that feature doctors add an aura of legitimacy to the
product.
11-5
Types of Social Power
• Expert power – power based on possessing specific knowledge
about a content area. Example a professional who possess
knowledge in specific areas act as an endorser for a particular
product.
• Reward power – when a person or group has the means to

provide positive reinforcement. For example, a consumer gains
social recognition for using the same product as consumed by
others.
• Coercive power – the power to influence a person by social or

physical intimidation. It is held by someone who has the ability to
punish. For example, intimidating salespeople who try to force
customers into buying a product.
For Reflection
• For each type of social power source of influence, share an

example of a time you experienced that form of influence.
Membership Versus Aspirational Reference
Groups
Membership reference groups
• People the consumer actually knows
• Exp: families, friendship groups, and colleagues
• Advertisers use “ordinary people”
Aspirational reference groups

• People the consumer doesn’t know personally but admire
• Advertisers use celebrity spokespeople
• Exp: successful business people, athletes, or performers.
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.
Spread negative WOM through social media.
Consumers Do It in Groups
Why do we conform?
• Cultural pressure - 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.
• Fear of deviance
• Commitment
• Group unanimity
• Interpersonal influence
• Environmental cues
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.
• Tribal marketing: linking a product
to the needs of a group as a whole.
11-11
Virtual Communities
• A collection of people who share their love or hatred
of a product in online interactions
• Social networks
• Forums
• Blogs
11-12
Word-of-Mouth Communication
Word of mouth (WOM): information transmitted by individuals
directly to individuals.
• Most reliable / efficacious form of marketing
• Cheapest form of marketing
• Uses social pressure to conform
• Influences two-thirds of all sales
• We rely upon WOM more in later stages of product adoption /
mature products
• Especially powerful when we are unfamiliar with product
category
Negative WOM and Power of Rumors
• We weigh negative WOM more heavily than positive WOM.
• Negative WOM is easy to spread, especially online.
• Any one can start a negative WOM thread.
• Information/rumor distortion.
• Larger companies can sustain bigger damages, but can cope
better than smaller companies.
11-14
Viral Marketing
• Viral marketing – WOM that spreads electronically

(like a virus).
• Consumers knowingly or unknowingly forward
information to others typically via e-mail.
• Typically drive recipients to web site and encourage
them to recruit others, reinforcing the viral cycle.
11-15
Social Networking and Crowd Power
Web sites where members post information about themselves
and make contact with similar others
• Share interests, opinions, business contacts, etc.
11-16
For Reflection
• What organizations or products have you posted negative

word-of-mouth about?
Opinion Leaders
Opinion leaders - influence others’ attitudes and behaviors

• They are good information sources because they:
• May be experts
• Provide unbiased evaluation
• Are socially active and popular
• Are similar to the consumer
• Are usually among the first to buy (i.e. “adopters” or
“innovators”)
• Hands-on product experience (absorb risk).
• Companies spend
Monomorphic vs. Polymorphic Opinion
Leaders
• Monomorphic opinion leaders has the information concerning
one particular, highly specialized topic, while polymorphic
opinion leaders has a broadly-based set of information and
knowledge.
• Expertise tends to overlap across similar categories (i.e.
cosmetics and fashion or appliances and computers)
• It is rare to find a “polymorphic” opinion leader, but they do
exist.
11-19
Characteristics of Opinion Leaders
• Experts
• Unbiased evaluation
• Socially active
• Similar to the consumer
• Among the first to buy
For Reflection
• What opinion leaders have influenced your purchase

behavior?
Market Maven
Market mavens: are actively involved in transmitting

marketplace information of all types.
• Into shopping and aware of what’s happening in the
marketplace.
• Overall knowledge of how and where to get products.
• May not actually buy products.
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!

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Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being

Copyright © 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights

Referent power Information power

Legitimate power Expert power

Reward power Coercive power

• Referent power – when a person admires a person or group and

• Information power – power from merely possessing valuable

• Legitimate power – power that is granted by social agreement.

• Reward power – when a person or group has the means to

• Coercive power – the power to influence a person by social or

• For each type of social power source of influence, share an

Aspirational reference groups

• Viral marketing – WOM that spreads electronically

• What organizations or products have you posted negative

Opinion leaders - influence others’ attitudes and behaviors

• What opinion leaders have influenced your purchase

Market mavens: are actively involved in transmitting

Surrogate consumer: a marketing intermediary hired to

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