11 - 1

Chapter 11Group Influence and Opinion Leadership

By Michael R. Solomon

Consumer BehaviorBuying, Having, and Being

Sixth Edition

11 - 2

Opening Vignette: Zachary

• Does Zachary meet your mental stereotype for a Harley Davidson owner?

• Why does Zachary desire to have more Harley “stuff”?

• How do Zach’s fellow RUBs influence his purchases?

• What benefits does Zach enjoy from his association with other Harley owners?

11 - 3

Harley Owners Group

11 - 4

Reference Groups

• Reference Group– An actual or imaginary individual or group

conceived of having significant relevance upon an individual’s evaluations, aspirations, or behavior

– Three ways reference groups influence consumers• Informational

• Utilitarian

• Value-Expressive

– Some people are more influential than others in affecting consumers’ product preferences.

11 - 5

Relative Reference Groups’Influence on Purchase Intention

Figure 11.1

11 - 6

When Reference GroupsAre Important

• Social Power:– The capacity to alter the actions of others

• Referent Power:– When consumers imitate qualities by copying behaviors of

a prominent person they admire.

• Information Power:– Able to influence consumer opinion by virtue of their

(assumed) access to the “truth”

• Legitimate Power:– Granted to people by virtue of social agreements,

sometimes conferred by a uniform

11 - 7

Expert Power

• A physician has expert power, and a white coat reinforces this expertise by conferring legitimate power.

11 - 8

When Reference GroupsAre Important (cont.)

• Expert Power:– Derived from possessing specific knowledge about a

content area

• Reward Power:– When a person or group has the means to provide

positive reinforcement

• Coercive Power:– Influencing a person by social or physical intimidation

11 - 9

Types of Reference Groups

• Reference Group:– Any external influence that provides social cues

• Normative Influence:– The reference group helps to set and enforce

fundamental standards of conduct.

• Comparative Influence:– When decisions about specific brands or activities

are affected.

11 - 10

• Marketers often portray products being used in groups that represent favorable reference groups to the target market.

• What type of message does this ad convey? What type of influence is this ad designed to exert on its target audience?

Discussion Question

11 - 11

Brand Communities and Tribes• Brand Community:

– A set of consumers who share a set of social relationships based upon usage or interest in a product.

• Brandfests

• Consumer Tribe: – A group of people who share a lifestyle and who

can identify with each other because of a shared allegiance to an activity or product.

• Tribal Marketing:– To link one’s product to the needs of a group as a

whole.

11 - 12

Products as a Way to be Popular

• Many products, especially those targeted to young people, are often touted as a way to take the inside track to popularity. This Brazilian ad lets us know about people who don’t like a certain shoe.

11 - 13

Membership vs. AspirationalReference Groups

• Aspirational Reference Groups– Comprise idealized figures such as successful business

people, athletes, or performers.

• Membership Reference Group– Ordinary people whose consumption activities provide

informational social influence.• Propinquity: Physical nearness.

• Mere Exposure: Liking persons or things simply as a result of seeing them more often (mere exposure phenomenon)

• Group Cohesiveness: The degree to which members of a group are attracted to each other and value their group membership.

11 - 14

Match.com

11 - 15

Positive Versus NegativeReference Groups

• Avoidance Groups– Groups that consumers purposely try to distance

themselves from• Nerds

• Druggies

• Preppies

– 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

11 - 16

Positive Reference Groups

• This recruiting ad presents a compelling role model for young women contemplating a career in the armed forces.

11 - 17

Consumers Do it in Groups

• Deindividuation:– A process in which individual identities become

submerged within a group.• Social Loafing:

– People do not devote as much to a task when their contribution is part of a larger group effort

• Risky Shift:– Group members are willing to consider riskier alternatives

subsequent to group discussion• Diffusion of Responsibility:

– As more people are involved in a decision, each individual is less accountable for the outcome

11 - 18

Deindividuation

• Costumes hide our true identities and encourage deindividuation.

11 - 19

Consumers Do it in Groups (cont.)

• Value Hypothesis:– Riskiness is a culturally valued characteristic to

which individuals feel pressure to conform

• Decision Polarization:– Whichever direction the group members were

leaning toward before discussion becomes more extreme subsequent to discussion

• Home Shopping Parties:– Capitalize on group pressures to increase sales

11 - 20

Home Shopping Parties

• Women at a home Tupperware party.

11 - 21

Group Influences

• Group pressure often influences our clothing choices.

11 - 22

Conformity

• Conformity– A change in beliefs or actions as a reaction to real or

imagined group pressure.• Norms

– Informal rules that govern behavior.• Factors Influencing the Likelihood of Conformity

– Cultural Pressures– Fear of Deviance– Commitment

• Principle of Least Interest– Group Unanimity, Size, and Expertise– Susceptibility to Interpersonal Influence

• Role-relaxed consumers

11 - 23

Social Comparison• Social Comparison Theory:

– Asserts that people look to the behavior of others to increase the stability of their self-evaluation

– Co-oriented peer: A person of equivalent standing

• Resisting Conformity:– Independence: Being oblivious or indifferent to the

expectations of others

– Anticonformity: Defiance of the group is the actual behavior

– Reactance: The negative emotional state that results when we are deprived of our freedom to choose

11 - 24

Word of mouth

11 - 25

Word-of-Mouth Communication

• Word-of-Mouth (WOM):– Product information transmitted by individuals to

individuals.

• Negative WOM and the Power of Rumors:– Negative WOM: Consumers weigh negative info

from other consumers more heavily than they do positive comments

11 - 26

• This ad for a video game says, “Conformity Bytes!”, but then captions, “Join the Revolution!” Why?

• Does this ad encourage independence or anticonformity?

Discussion Question

11 - 27

Word-of-Mouth

• The U.S. Postal Service hopes to create a buzz via word of mouth.

11 - 28

Rumors

• Hoaxkill.com is a Web site dedicated to tracking hoaxes and debunking product rumors.

11 - 29

The Transmission of Misinformation

Figure 11.2

11 - 30

Changing Information

• Serial Reproduction:– Technique to examine the phenomenon that

information changes as it is transmitted among consumers

• Assimilation: Distortions tend to follow a pattern from ambiguous to conventional to fit with existing schemas

• Leveling: Details are omitted to simplify structure

• Sharpening: Prominent details are accentuated

11 - 31

Cutting-Edge WOM Strategies

• Virtual Communities– Virtual Community of Consumption: A

collection of people whose online interactions are based upon shared enthusiasm for and knowledge of a specific consumption activity.

• Multi-user Dungeons (MUD)

• Rooms, rings and lists (e.g. chat rooms)

• Boards

• Blogs (weblog)

11 - 32

Multi-User Dungeons

11 - 33

Four Types of VirtualCommunity Members

• Tourists:– Lack strong social ties to the group

• Minglers:– Maintain strong social ties, but are not interested in the

central consumption activity• Devotees:

– Express strong interest in the activity, but have few social attachments to the group

• Insiders:– Exhibit both strong social ties and strong interest in the

activity

11 - 34

Virtual Communities

Figure 11.3

11 - 35

Guerrilla Marketing

• Guerrilla Marketing– Promotional strategies that use unconventional

locations and intensive word-of-mouth campaigns to push products.

• Brand Ambassadors

• Viral Marketing– Refers to the strategy of getting customers to sell a

product on behalf of the company that creates it.

11 - 36

Guerrilla Marketing Ads

• Ads painted on sidewalks are one form of guerrilla marketing.

11 - 37

Opinion Leadership

• The Nature of Opinion Leadership– Opinion Leaders: People who are knowledgeable about

products and whose advice is taken seriously by others.

– Homophily: The degree to which a pair of individuals is similar in terms of education, social status, and beliefs.

• How Influential Is an Opinion Leader?– Generalized Opinion Leader: Somebody whose

recommendations are sought for all types of purchases.

– Monomorphic: An expert in a limited field.

– Polymorphic: An expert in many fields.

11 - 38

Opinion Leaders Market Shoes

• Opinion leadership is a big factor in the marketing of athletic shoes. Many styles first become popular in the inner city and then spread by word-of-mouth.

11 - 39

Types of Opinion Leaders

• Innovators– Early purchasers

• Innovative Communicators– 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.

11 - 40

Cool hunters and mavens

• Maven - unpaid enthusiasts who initiate discussions with consumers and respond to requests for information

– neighbourhoods mavens– professional mavens (critics,

reviewers, correspondents)– celebrity mavens (Beckham)

• modern consumers need maverns to

– seek relevant information– provide a ‘trustworthy’

recommendation– decide which is best

• examples– Blair Witch Project– Harry Potter

Lewis and Bridger 2000

http

://w

ww

.sha

rper

imag

e.co

m

http://www.NewConsumer.co.uk/

11 - 41

Perspectives on theCommunications Process

Figure 11.4

11 - 42

Fashion Opinion Leaders

• Fashion opinion leaders tend to be knowledgeable about clothing and highly motivated to stay on top of fashion trends.

11 - 43

Identifying Opinion Leaders

• Self-designated Opinion Leaders• Sociometric Methods

– Trace Communication patterns among members of a group.

– Referral Behavior

– Network Analysis: Focuses on communication in social systems

– Referral Network

– Tie Strength: The nature of the bond between people.

– Bridging Function: Allows a consumer access between subgroups.

– Cliques: Subgroups

11 - 44

Revised Opinion Leadership Scale

Figure 11.5