Is ‘an actual or imaginaryindividual or group conceived of having significant relevance upon an individual’s evaluations, aspirations, or behavior.’

What are the 2

Types of Reference Groups’ Influence?

Normative Influence

Comparative Influence

Primary Group & Secondary Group

Formal Group & Informal Group

•

Membership & Aspirational Reference Group

•

Positive & Negative Reference Group

A change in beliefs or actions as a reaction to real or imagined group pressure

Cultural pressure

commitment

Fear of Deviance

Group unanimity, size and expertise

People who are knowledgeable about products and whose advice is taken seriously by others

1) Referent Power

2) Information Power

3) Legitimate Power

4) Expert Power

5) Reward Power

6) Coercive Power

        The reference group helps to set and enforce fundamental standards of conduct.

                  e.g. our parents’ role in forming our values

        When decisions about specific brands or activities are affected.

                  e.g. movie/basketball stars, politician, classmates

·           Primary Group:

        Is normally the immediate group to which one belongs, e.g. family, friends

·           Secondary Group:

        Is made up of more than one primary group, e.g. a student’s union

        It takes the form of a large, formal organization that has a recognized structure, regular meeting times and officers.

        Groups tend to be more product or activity-specific and thus are high in comparative influence.

        It can be small and informal, such as a group of friends or students living in a university residence.

        Groups tend to be more involved in day-to-day lives and more important, because they are high in normative influence.

  Ordinary people whose consumption activities provide informational social influence.

High-profile athletes and celebrities used in marketing efforts to promote a product.

◦      We model our behavior to be consistent with what we think the group expects us to do.

◦      Functions as avoidance or dissociative groups

◦      Groups that consumers purposely try to distance themselves from

•         The motivation to distance oneself from a negative reference group can be as powerful or more powerful than the desire to please a positive group

•         Innovators, Innovative Communicators and Opinion Seekers

◦      Early purchasers

◦      Opinion leaders who also are early purchasers

◦      Opinion leaders also are likely to be opinion seekers

•         The Market Maven

◦      Describes people who are actively involved in transmitting marketplace information of all types.

•         The Surrogate Consumer

◦      A person who is hired to provide input in purchase decisions.

1) Referent Power (When consumers imitate qualities by copying behaviors of a prominent person they admire)

2) Information Power (Able to influence consumer opinion by virtue of their (assumed) access to the “truth”)

3) Legitimate Power (Granted to people by virtue of social agreements, sometimes conferred by a uniform)

4) Expert Power (Derived from possessing specific knowledge about a content area)

5) Reward Power (When a person or group has the means to provide positive reinforcement)

6) Coercive Power (Influencing a person by social or physical intimidation)

◦      Extended Family: Consists of three generations living together and often includes grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins

◦      Nuclear Family: A mother and a father and one or more children

◦      Contains at least two people who are related by blood or marriage

◦      The initiator (the person from whom the idea of buying a certain product first comes)

◦      The influencer (who consciously or unconsciously affects the purchase in some way)

◦      The decider (who makes any of the decisions or sub-decisions that determine the precise nature of the purchase)

◦      The purchasers (who actually carries out the final purchase)

The user (who makes practical use of the item bought

Primary market - spend their own allowance for purchase

Influence market - influence parents decisions to purchase

Future market - growing up and making decisions for themselves