Consumer Behavior Ch. 9
Consumption-Related Reference Groups: Friendship Groups
Friends fulfill a wide range of needs: they provide companionship, security, and opportunities to discuss problems that an individual may be reluctant to discuss with family members
Hedonistic product
Very expensive
Reference Group Influence: Reference groups serves as...
comparative and normative frames of reference for a person's values and behaviors
Early Majority
consist of consumers who buy innovations after the early adopter have done so
Reference Groups and Word-Of-Mouth: Word-Of-Mouth
consists of communications where satisfied customers tell other people how much they like a business, product, service, or event (could also be negative information). - the most credible forms of buying-related information - has a strong influence
Risk Aversion
defines as the reluctance to take risks and low tolerance of ambiguous situations
Sources of Credibility and Reference Groups: Credibility can come from...
Formal and Informal Sources
Reference Groups and Word-Of-Mouth: Social Class, Culture, Sub-Culture
Important reference groups
Marketers employ celebrities four ways...
1. celebrity testimonials 2. celebrity endorsement 3. celebrity actor 4. celebrity spokesperson
Blogs
A discussion or informal site published on the internet and consisting of discrete entries
Sources of Credibility and Reference Groups: Formal Source
A formal source is either a person or medium providing consumption related information and tired and paid by an organization
Types of Reference Groups: Membership Group
A group to which a person belongs to, or realistically can join, is called a membership group. A group of men with whom a young executive plays poker weekly would be considered his membership group.
Types of Reference Groups: Symbolic Group
A group to which an individual is unlikely to belong to but whose values and behaviors that person adopts. An amateur tennis player looking up to a professional athlete.
Brand Community
A specialized, non geographically bound community formed on the basis of attachment to a product or brand
Sources of Credibility and Reference Groups: Informal Source
An informal source is a person whom the message receiver knows personally, such as a parent or friend who gives product information or advice, or individual met and respected online.
Reference Groups and Word-Of-Mouth: Reference Groups
Are groups that serve as sources of comparison, influence, and norms for people's opinions, values, and behaviors.
Reference Group Influence: Comparative Influence
Arises when people compare themselves to others whom they respect and admire, and then adopt some of those people's values or imitate their behaviors. A boss exerts comparative influence on the lower-level employee
Opinion Leaders are...
Category specific (specialize in one category)
Measuring opinion Leadership
Consumer researchers can measure the degree of the opinion leadership and its impact on consumption behavior by using one of the following methods. 1. the self designating method 2. the sociometric method 3. the key informant method
Factors Affecting Reference Group Influence: Group's Power and Expertise
Different reference groups may influence the beliefs, attitudes, and behavior of individuals at different times under different circumstances. "Power Groups" may bring
Reference Groups and Word-Of-Mouth: Family
The most important reference group because it provides children consumer socialization.
Social Networks for utilitarian (everyday products)
very useful
Non Adopters: Prospective adopters
who could potentially become customers
Factors Affecting Reference Group Influence: Conformity
1. inform or make members aware that brand or product exists 2. provide the individual with the opportunity to compare his or her own thinking with the attitudes and behavior of the group 3. influence the individual to adopt attitudes and behavior that are consistent with the group's norms 4. legitimize the member's decision to use the same product as other members
Characteristics of Opinion Leaders
1. opinion leaders are highly knowledgable regarding a particular product category, follow new products that come into the markets, and are often consumer innovators in their area of expertise 2. opinion leaders are self-confident, outgoing, and sociable 3. opinion leaders read special interest publications and regularly visit websites devoted to the specific topic or product category in which they specialize 4. opinion leaders and receivers belong to the same socioeconomic and age groups
Endorsers and Spokespersons
1. the synergy between the endorser and the type of product or service advertised is very important. 2. Endorsers who's demographic characteristics are similar to those of the target audiences are viewed as more credible and persuasive than those whose characteristics are not. 3. Although consumers may line an ad featuring a famous endorser, they will buy the product advertised only if they trust the marketer as well 4. Marketers who use celebrities in testimonials or endorsements must ensure that the message contents are congruent with spokesperson's qualifications.
Diffusion of Innovations: Adopter Categories
Is a classification that depicts where consumers stand in relation to other consumers in terms of the first time they purchase an innovation
Credibility of Spokespersons, Endorsers, and other Formal Sources: Source Credibility
Is the believability of the endorser, spokesperson, or individual in an advertisement. Researchers have identifies the following dimensions in measuring the credibility of a person or organization: expertise, trustworthiness, and likability.
Consumption-Related Reference Groups: Virtual Communities
Many websites encourage consumers to repsond to them. The anonymity of the online environment allows people to express their views and benefit from others' views.
Factors Affecting Reference Group Influence: Power Groups
May bring about behaviors, but not changes in attitudes. Individuals may conform to the behavior of powerful persons or groups, but probably will neither change their attitudes not internalize their choices.
Effects of Time On Source Credibility: Sleeper Effect
One's disassociation of the message from its source over time, and remembering only the message content but not its source is called the sleeper effect
Consumption-Related Reference Groups: Shopping Groups
People may shop together just to enjoy shopping or to reduce their perceived risk; that is, they may bring someone along whose expertise regarding a particular product category will reduce their chances of making incorrect purchases. Membership rewards groups.
Slice-Of-Life Commercials
Promotional messages showing typical consumers in everyday situations. More effective than commercials featuring either a fantasy or emotional appeals.
Reference Groups and Word-Of-Mouth: Consumer Socialization
Providing the skills, knowledge, attitudes, and experiences necessary to function as consumers.
Sources of Credibility and Reference Groups: Source Credibility
Reference groups have a high degree of source credibility defined as a source's persuasive impact, stemming from its perceived expertise, trustworthiness, and believability.
Word of Moth Opinion Leadership: Opinion Leadership
Sociologists who studied the communications process among peers. One person- the opinion leader- informally influences others, who might be either opinion seekers or recipients.
Effects of Time On Source Credibility: Differential Decay
Suggests that the memory of a negative cue simply decays faster than the message itself, leaving behind the primary message content.
Consumption-Related Reference Groups:
The consumption related groups that influence consumers' attitudes and behavior include: friendship groups, shopping groups, virtual communities, and advocacy groups
Factors Affecting Reference Group Influence:
The degree of influence that a reference group exerts on an individual's behavior depends on the individual, product, and causal features. Conformity, the group's power and expertise, the individual's experience and personality, and the conspicuousness of the product
Factors Affecting Reference Group Influence: Product Conspicuousness
The degree of reference group influence on purchase decisions varies according to product conspicuousness. A conspicuous product is one that stands out and notices by others, such as an expensive watch or newly released digital camera. Products that are especially conspicuous and status revealing are most likely to purchase with an eye to the reaction of relevant others.
Strategic Implications of Word of Mouth: E-WOM
word of mouth taking place online is E-WOM and it occurs in social networks, brand communities, blogs, chat room, and tweets
Consumption-Related Reference Groups: Advocacy Groups
The objective of consumption-focused advocacy decisions and support consumers' rights - entities organized to correct a specific consumer abuse and then disband - groups whose purpose is to address broader, more pervasive problem ares and operate over an extended period of time.
Medium Credibility
The reputation of the medium that carried the advertisement also enhances the credibility of the message. Most consumers believe that a respectable medium would only advertise products that it "knows" to be of good quality.
Vendor Credibility
The reputation of the retailer who sells the product has a major influence on message credibility. The area of credibility generated by a reputable vendor reinforces the manufacturer's message as well. The key basis for message credibility is the ability of the product, service, or brand to deliver consistent quality, value, and satisfaction to consumers.
Social Networks: Tigh Strength
the degree of intimacy and frequency of contact between the information seeker and the source
Innovators
the earliest consumers to buy new products they are prepared to take the risk
Social Networks: similarity
among the group's members in terms of demographic and lifestyles
Reference Group Influence: Social Norm Messages
are more persuasive than "standard messages" because the are credible and believable
Late Majority
are risk averse and slow to adopt innovation. They wait until most other consumers have adopted the new product before buying it
celebrity testimonials
based on personal usage, the celebrity attests to the product's quality
celebrity endorsement
celebrities appear on behalf of products, with which they may or may not have direct experience of familiarity
Celebrities
celebrities, particularly movie stars, tv personalities, popular entertainers, and sports icons, are symbolic reference groups because they are liked, armored, and often have a high degree of perceived credibility.
Reference Group Influence: Normative Influence
consists of learning and adopting a group's norms, values, and behaviors. Comes from groups to which people naturally belong to, such as family, peers, and members of community
Early Adapters
consumers who buy new products within a relatively short period following introduction, but not as early as the innovators. Engage in word of mouth and likely to assist others who are considering adopting the new product
Microblogs
has less content than the traditional blog and allow users to exchange small elements of content, such as short sentences, individual images, and video links
Factors Affecting Reference Group Influence: Relevant Information and Expertise
individuals who have firsthand experience with a product or service or can easily obtain detailed information about it; are less likely ti be influences by the advice of others. In contrast, persons who have little or no experience with an item, and do not trust advertising messages, are more likely to seek out the advice of others
utilitarian product
inexpensive, everyday
is an online social networking service and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text based messages of up to 140 character known as tweets
Buzz Agents
many firms enlist typical consumers to serve as buzz agents - consumers who promote products clandestinely and generally receive free sample's but not monetary payments
Klout Scores
measure the people's degree of influence online based on their abilities to generate engagement and feedback to what they post
Social Networks for hedonic products (personal pleasure)
not helpful
Social Networks
online virtual communities where people share information about themselves with others, generally with similar interests, with whom they have established relationships that, for the most part, exist only in Cyber space.
Non Adopters: Persistant non-adopters
who are very unlikely to become customers
Salesperson Credibility
salespeople who engender confidence and integrity are most persuasive.
Weblogs
scores of websites enable anyone to post information on anything and everything quickly, for free, and from any location and at any time
celebrity actor
the celebrity plays a part in a commercial for the product
celebrity spokesperson
the celebrity represents the brand or company over an extended period.
Social Networks: Source Credibility
the information seeker's perceptions of the source's expertise
Laggards
the very last consumer to adopt innovations. ugh-risk perceivers and the last ones to recognize the value of innovative products
Viral Marketing
virtual advertising
