CHAPTER SEVEN

Group Influences on Consumer Behavior

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 2
Types of Groups

Uncategorized Membership Attraction Contact

Frequent
Positive (primary associative)
(associative) Limited
(secondary associative)
Yes
(membership)
Frequent
Negative (primary dissociative)
(dissociative) Limited
Purchasers
(parents) (secondary dissociative)

Positive Desired
(aspiration) (aspiration)
No
(nonmembership) Avoided
Negative
(dissociative) (dissociative)

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 3 ‘Consumption’ Subcultures
• They are a distinctive subgroup of
society that self-selects on the basis of a
shared commitment to a particular
product class, brand, or consumption
activity.
• Consumption Subculture Characteristics:
• Identifiable, hierarchical social structure
• Set of shared beliefs or values
• Unique jargon, rituals, and modes of
symbolic expression
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 4 Brand Communities
• A nongeographically bound community,
based on a structured set of social
relationships among owners of a brand
and the psychological relationship they
have with the brand itself, the product
use, and the firm.
• Nature of Brand Communities:
• Consciousness of Kind
• Rituals and Traditions
• Moral Responsibility
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 5 The Nature of Reference Group Influence
• Informational: when an individual uses
behavior and opinions of reference
group members as potentially useful bits
of information
• Normative: when an individual fulfills
group expectations to gain a direct
reward or to avoid a sanction
• Identification: when individuals have
internalized the group’s values and
norms
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 6 Situations and Influence

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 7 Degree of Reference Group Influence in
different Consumption Situations

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 8 Determinants of Reference Group Influence

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 9 Group Communication
• Communication Determinants in a Reference Group:-
• Word of Mouth
• Free
• Experience Based
• Varies by Product Category
• Can be used in Guerrilla/Viral Marketing
• Negativity Bias
• Opinion Leadership
• Filter of Information
• Has Enduring Product Knowledge
• More Innovative
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 10 Mass Communication Information Flows

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 11 Likelihood of Seeking an Opinion Leader

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 12 Opinion Leadership and Opinion Seeking Scales

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 13
SOLOMON: SCALE TO IDENTIFY OPINION LEADERS
-THE SELF_DESIGNATING METHOD

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 14 Opinion Leadership
• How Influential Is an Opinion Leader
• Generalized Opinion Leader
• Monomorphic
• Polymorphic
• Opinion Leaders Versus Other Consumer
Types
• Innovators
• Innovative Communicators
• Market Maven
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 15
Group Phenomenon: Adoptions of an
Innovation over Time

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 16
Categories of Innovations

Degree of innovation Examples

Norplant contraceptive
Discontinuous Becoming Vegetarian
Segway Human Transport

Dynamically
Digital camera
continuous Personal navigator
Internet shopping

Continuous DVD Players

Light snacks
Microbrew beer

Small Modest Large

Behavioral change required

CHAPTER 7 © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1998

 17 Adoption Process & Extended Decision Making

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 18 Diffusion Rate of an Innovation over Time

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 19 Recent Diffusion Curves

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 20 Factors Affecting the Spread of Innovations

Low
Easy trial
risk

Change-
High
prone target
observability
market

Individual
Low Rapid
adoption
complexity diffusion decision

Large Extensive
relative marketing
advantage effort

High Strong felt

compatibility need

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 21 Early Purchasers of Computers and VCRs

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 22 Enhancing Marketing Strategy

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 23
SOLOMON: GROUP DYNAMICS
• Group Effects on Individual Behavior
• Deindividuation (Lose identity into the group’s as
well as normal social/self restraints)
• Social Loafing
• Risky Shift due to:
• Diffusion of Responsibility Occurs
• Value Hypothesis
• Decision Polarization (AFTER discussion)
• Resistance to Influence
• Anti-Conformity Versus Independence
• Reactance
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