Hawkins/Mothersbaugh CB 10th Edition

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7
CHAPTER
GROUP INFLUENCES ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
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Consumer Behavior In The News

• Now thats fanatical!
• Goodyear is beginning to offer collegiate tires
  which have the college name in white letters on
  the tires sidewalls.
• Goodyear claims these tires are only for the
  ultimate fan.
• What would drive a fan to put his/her teams
  name on their tires?
• How big do you think this market is?

Source J. Halliday, Tire maker eyes college
sports fans, Advertising Age, November 8, 2004,
p. 8.
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Consumer Behavior In The News

• Now thats fanatical!
• What would drive a fan to put his/her teams
  name on their tires?
• Major feelings of loyalty and connection to their
  school and team.
• Desire to express loyalty openly on auto.
• How big do you think this market is?
• Goodyear sells some 50 million tires a quarter.
• Specialty tires are a niche market.

Source J. Halliday, Tire maker eyes college
sports fans, Advertising Age, November 8, 2004,
p. 8.
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Reference Group Influence
A group is defined as two or more individuals who
share a set of norms, values, or beliefs and have
certain implicitly or explicitly defined
relationships to one another such that their
behaviors are interdependent. A reference group
is a group whose presumed perspectives or values
are being used by an individual as the basis for
his/her current behavior.
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Reference Group Influence

• Four criteria that are particularly useful in
  classifying groups
• Membership
• Strength of Social Tie
• Type of Contact
• Attraction

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Types of Groups

• Consumption Subcultures
• Brand Communities
• Virtual Communities
• Leaders
• Participants
• Lurkers

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Types of Groups
Marketing and Brand Communities
Brand communities can add value to the ownership
of the product and build intense loyalty. When a
consumer becomes part of a brand community,
remaining generally requires continuing to own
and use the brand. This can create intense brand
loyalty!
Jeep has a longstanding loyal brand community
Click the online button to link to the Jeep
Jamboree Web site
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Types of Groups
Marketing and Virtual Communities
Marketing in virtual communities is both possible
and potentially beneficial. The approach taken
must be tailored to the type of virtual
community.
Many online groups are sensitive to commercial
interference and companies have to be careful not
to overstep.
Click the online button to link to an example of
Virtual Community
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Reference Group Influences on the Consumption
Process

• Types of Reference Group Influence
• Situational determinants of Reference Group
  Influence
• Brand vs. Product Class Influence
• Marketing Strategy and Reference Groups

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Reference Group Influences on the Consumption
Process
Types of Reference Group Influence

• Reference group influence can take three forms
• Informational Influence
• Normative Influence (a.k.a. utilitarian
  influence)
• Identification Influence (a.k.a. value
  expressive)

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Reference Group Influences on the Consumption
Process
Consumption Situation Determinants of Reference
Group Influence
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Reference Group Influences on the Consumption
Process
Differential Reference Group Influence on
Product Versus Brand Choice
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Communications within Groups and Opinion
Leadership

• WOM
• Opinion Leaders
• Market Mavens, Influentials, and e-fluentials
• Marketing and Online Strategies

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Communications within Groups and Opinion
Leadership
WOM Versus Advertising ( who put people vs.
advertising as best source)
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Communications within Groups and Opinion
Leadership
Opinion Leaders

• An opinion leader is the go to person for
  specific types of information. This person
  filters, interprets, and passes along
  information.
• Opinion leaders possess enduring involvement for
  specific product categories. This leads to
  greater knowledge and expertise.
• Opinion leadership is category specific an
  opinion leader in one product category is often
  an opinion seeker in others.

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Communications within Groups and Opinion
Leadership
Mass Communication Information Flows
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Communications within Groups and Opinion
Leadership
Situations in Which WOM and Opinion Leadership
Occur
The exchange of advice and information between
group members can occur directly via WOM in the
following situations
Likelihood of Seeking an Opinion Leader

1. Individual seeks information from another or
2. Individual volunteers information

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Communications within Groups and Opinion
Leadership
Mavens, Influentials, and e-fluentials

• A market maven is a generalized market influencer
  who provides significant amounts of information
  about various products, places to shop, and so
  on.
• Roper Starch identifies a group similar to market
  mavens called influentials. Influentials are 10
  of population but use broad social networks to
  influence the other 90!
• Roper Starch identifies a group similar to
  internet market mavens called e-fluentials. They
  wield significant online and offline influence.

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Communications within Groups and Opinion
Leadership
Marketing Strategy, WOM, and Opinion Leadership

• Marketers are increasingly relying on WOM and
  influential consumers as part of their marketing
  strategies. Strategies designed to generate WOM
  and encourage opinion leadership include
• Advertising
• Product Sampling
• Retailing/Personal Selling
• Creating Buzz

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Communications within Groups and Opinion
Leadership
Online Strategies to Leverage Buzz and WOM

• Viral marketing is an online pass-it-along
  strategy, utilizing electronic communication to
  trigger brand messages (often via email)
  throughout a widespread network of buyers.
• Online Guides are online opinion leaders, who are
  often highly knowledgeable and passionate
  experts, providing consumer information and
  advice.
• Blogs are personalized journals where people and
  organizations can keep a running dialogue.

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Diffusion of Innovations
An innovation is an idea, practice, or product
perceived to be new by the relevant individual or
group.
The manner by which a new product spreads through
a market is basically a group phenomenon. New
products can be placed on a continuum from no
change to radical change, depending on the
markets perception.
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Diffusion of Innovations

• Categories of Innovation
• Adoption Process
• Diffusion Rate
• Adopter Categories
• Marketing Strategies and the Diffusion Process

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Diffusion of Innovations
Categories of Innovations

• Continuous Innovation
• Adoption of this type of innovation requires
  relatively minor changes in behavior(s) that are
  unimportant to the consumer.
• Dynamically continuous Innovation
• Adoption of this type of innovation requires a
  moderate change in an important behavior or a
  major change in a behavior of low or moderate
  importance to the individual.
• Discontinuous Innovation
• Adoption of this type of innovation requires
  major changes in behavior of significant
  importance to the individual or group.

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Diffusion of Innovations
Adoption Process and Extended Decision Making
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Diffusion of Innovations
Diffusion Rates for Popular Consumer Electronics
(Cumulative)
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Diffusion of Innovations
Factors Affecting the Spread of Innovations
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Diffusion of Innovations
Adopter Categories

• Innovators
• Early Adopters
• Early Adopters
• Late Majority
• Laggards