JM602 Consumer Behaviour

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JM602Consumer Behaviour

• Lecture 14 Group influence and communication

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Material in these slides

• Primarily drawn from
• Neal, Quester and Hawkins (2005). Consumer
  behaviour Implications for marketing strategy
  (4th ed). McGraw-Hill Irwin Queensland

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Group Influence and Communication - overview

• How do groups function and how can they be
  classified?
• What is the impact of reference groups on
  consumption?
• What marketing strategies are based on group
  influence?

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Group Influence and Communication - overview

• What are the roles of group members and marketing
  strategies?
• How do groups communicate?
• How important are opinion leaders?
• What is the adoption process for innovations?
• What are adopter groups and their
  characteristics?

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Group Influences
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Groups and their Definitions

• Group
• Two or more individuals who share a set of
  norms, values, or beliefs, and have certain
  implicitly or explicitly defined relationships
  which make their behaviour interdependent
• Reference group
• A group whose presumed perspectives or values
  are being used by an individual as the basis for
  his or her current behaviour

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Changes in Reference Groups as the Situation
Changes
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Types of Groups

• Membership
• either yes or no
• Degree of contact
• larger groups generally have less contact
• primary groups generally have frequent
  interpersonal contact
• secondary groups generally have limited
  interpersonal contact
• Attraction
• desirability of being member
• either positive or negative

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Types of Groups (cont.)

• Aspirational reference groups
• non-membership groups
• positive attraction
• exert a strong influence on some products

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Types of Groups (cont.)
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Reference Group Influences on the Consumption
Process

• Conformity
• makes groups influential
• is the tendency to want to be like relevant and
  significant others
• generally makes life more pleasant

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Reference Group Influences on the Consumption
Process

• Norms
• are general expectations about behaviours that
  are deemed appropriate for all persons in a
  social context, regardless of the position they
  hold
• are often communicated non-verbally

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The Nature of Reference-Group Influence

• Information influence
• behaviours and opinions of reference groups are
  used as potentially useful pieces of information
• Normative influence (utilitarian influence)
• when an individual fulfils group expectations to
  gain a direct reward or avoid a punishment
• Identification influence (value-expressive
  influence)
• when an individual uses perceived-group norms and
  values as a guide for their own attitudes or
  values

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Consumption Situations and Reference-Group
Influence
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Consumption Situations and Reference-Group
Influence (cont.)
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Consumption Situations and Reference-Group
Influence (cont.)
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Product Characteristics and Type of
Reference-Group Influence
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Determinants of the Degree of Reference-Group
Influence

• R-Group influence is strongest when use of the
  product or brand is visible and relevant
• e.g. product category, product type and brand are
  all visible
• R-group influence increases as necessity of an
  item decreases
• The more commitment an individual feels to a
  group, the higher the level of conformity to
  group norms
• Individuals confidence with purchase low
  confidence, then higher influence

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Consumption-Situation Determinants of
Reference-Group Influence
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Marketing Strategies Based on Reference-Group
Influences

• Personal sales strategies
• Asch phenomenon
• Advertising strategies
• all three types of reference groups are used by
  advertisers
• informational (use of information)
• normative (to avoid/gain)
• identification (aspire to join)

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Roles

• A role is a prescribed pattern of behaviour
  expected of a person in a given situation by
  virtue of the persons position in that situation
• Role style individual variations in role
• Role parameter
• range of behaviour acceptable within a given role
• Role overload
• individual attempts to fill more roles than the
  available time, energy or money allows
• Role conflict
• incompatible role demands

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Role Set for a Student
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Applying Role Theory to Marketing Practice

• Role-related product cluster e.g. new mother
• Evolving roles e.g. career females
• Role conflict and role overload e.g. working
  mother, working student
• Role acquisition and transition e.g. student to
  employee

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Communication Within Groups

• The power of word-of-mouth communication
• People learn about new products from friends and
  reference groups by
• observing or participating with them as they use
  the product, or
• by seeking and receiving advice or information
  from them

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Marketing strategy using WOM advertising

• Non-traditional marketing
• Guerrilla Marketing
• Roach/buzz marketing
• Live commercials

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Opinion Leadership

• Opinion leaders filter, interpret or provide
  information for individuals within groups
• Situations in which opinion leadership occurs
• one individual exchanges information with another
• one individual volunteers information
• as a by-product of normal group interaction

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Likelihood of Seeking an Opinion Leader
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Characteristics of Opinion Leaders

• Opinion leaders have enduring involvement with
  product category
• Function primarily through interpersonal
  communications and observation
• Similar demographic characteristics to the group

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Characteristics of Opinion Leaders

• Public individuation attention seeking
• High level of exposure to media
• The market maven expert on all products! like
  introducing new products and services to their
  friends
• Motivation of dissatisfied customers to tell
  others of their negative message

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Marketing Strategy and Opinion Leadership

• Identifying opinion leaders
• Targeting for marketing research
• Product sampling
• Retailing/personal selling
• Advertising attempts to encourage and simulate
  opinion leadership

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Diffusion of Innovations

• Nature of the innovation
• new as perceived by individuals or group
• Categories of innovations
• continuous innovation small changes needed
• dynamically continuous innovation modest changes
• discontinuous innovation large changes

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Categories of Innovations
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The Adoption Process and Extended Decision Making
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Adoption of Innovation Curve
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Marketing Strategies and the Diffusion Process

• Market segmentation
• Diffusion-enhancement strategies

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Factors Affecting Innovation Uptake

• Type of group
• Type of decision
• Marketing effort
• Fulfillment of felt need
• Compatibility

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Factors Affecting Innovation Uptake

• Relative advantage
• Complexity
• Observability
• Trialability
• Perceived risk

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Next Lecture

• Social Class