Chapter 9: Group Influence And Opinion Leadership

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reference group

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an actual or imaginary individual or group conceived of having significant relevance upon an individual's evaluations, aspirations, or behavior. Influence consumers in three ways: informational, utilitarian, and value expressive

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social power

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the capacity to alter the actions of others. To the degree which you are able to make someone else do something, whether they do it willingly or not, you have power over that person.

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Referent power

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if a person admires the qualities of a person or a group, he or she will try to imitate those qualities by copying the referent's behaviors as a guide to forming consumption preferences.

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Information power

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a person can have power simply because he or she knows something others would like to know. People with information power are able to influence consumer opinion by virtue of their assumed access to the truth.

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Legitimate power

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power by virtue of social agreements. The legitimate power conferred by a uniform is recognized in many consumer contexts.

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Expert power

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derived from possessing specific knowledge about a content area, by critics who specialize in evaluating products on our behalf.

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Reward power

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when a person or group has the means to provie positive reinforcement, that entity will have reward power over a consumer to the extent that he or she values this reinforcement. May be tangible or intangible. Social spproval or acceptance is often what is exchanged in return for molding one's behavior to a group or buying the products expected of group members.

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Coercive power

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influencing a person by social or physical intimidation.

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normative influence

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the process in which a reference group helps to set and enforce fundamental standards of conduct

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Comparative influence

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the process whereby a reference group influences decisions about specific brands or activities

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brand community

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a group of consumers who share a set of social relationships based upon usage or interest in a product. Members typically don't live near each other.

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Consumer tribe

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a group of people who share a lifestyle and who can identify with each other because of a shared allegiance to an activity or a product. Members identify with others through shared emotions, moral beliefs, styles of life, and the products they jointly consumer as part of their tribal affiliation.

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Membership Reference group

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reference groups that consist of people the consumer actually knows

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Aspirational reference group

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composed of people the consumer doesn't know, but admires. Idealized figures such as successful business people, athletes, or performers.

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Mere exposure phenomenon

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we come to like persons or things simply as a result of seeing them more often, which is known as the mere exposure phenomenon.

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Group cohesiveness

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the degree to which members of a group are attracted to each other and value their group membership. As the value of the group to the individual increases, so too does the likelihood that the group will guide consumption decisions. Groups often try to restrict membership to a select few, which increases the value of membership to those who are admitted.

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Avoidance groups

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groups that consumers may try to distance themselves from.

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Deindividuation

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a process in which individual identities become submerged within a group.

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Social loafing

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the tendency for people to to devote as much to a task when their contribution is part of a larger group effort

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Risky Shift

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the observation that in many cases, group members show a greater willingness to consider riskier alternatives following group discussion than they would if members made their own decisions with no discussion.

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Diffusion of Responsibility

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

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Value hypothesis

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riskiness is a culturally valued characteristic, and social pressures operate on individuals to conform to attributes valued by society

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Decision polarization

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whichever direction the group members were leaning toward before discussion began (whether a risky choice or a conservative choice) becomes even more extreme in that direction after discussion.

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Home shopping parties

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capitalize on group pressures to boost sales. A company representative makes a sales presentation to a group of people who have fathered in the home of a friend or acquaintance. Effective because of information and social influence: participants model the behavior of others who can provide them with information about how to use certain products, especially because the home party is likely to be attended by a relatively homogeneous group.

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Bandwagon Effect

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pressures to conform may be particularly intense and may escalate as more and more group members begin to cave in.

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Conformity

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

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Norms

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informal rules that govern behavior

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Cultural pressures

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different cultures encourage conformity to a greater or lesser degree

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Fear of deviance

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the individual may have reason to believe that the group will apply sanctions to punish behavior that differs from the groups

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Commitment

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the more people are dedicated to a group and value their membership in it, the more motivated they will be to follow the dictates of the group.

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Principle of least interest

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the person or group that is least committed to staying in a relationship has the most power, because that party won't be as affected by rejection from the other person.

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Group unanimity, size, and expertise:

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As groups gain in power, compliance increases. Harder to resist the demands of a large number of people than just a few.

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Susceptibility to interpersonal influence.

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An individuals need to identify or enhance his or her image in the opinion of significant others. Accompanied by the acquisition of products the person believes will impress his or her audience and by the tendency to learn about products by observing how others use them.

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social comparison theory

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We look to the behavior of others to provide a yardstick about reality. This process occurs as a way to increase the stability of one's self evaluation, especially when physical evidence is unavailable.

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Reactance

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the negative emotional state that results when we are deprived of our freedom to choose. This feeling can drive us to value forbidden things even if they wouldn't be that interesting to us otherwise.

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Word of Mouth (WOM)

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product information transmitted by individuals to individuals. Tends to be more reliable and trustworthy than recommendations we get through more formal marketing channel. Often is backed up by social pressure to conform to these recommendations.Influences two thirds of all consumer goods sales. Especially powerful when the consumer is relatively unfamiliar with the product category.

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Negative word of mouth

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Weighted more heavily by consumers especially when they are considering a new product or service.

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Determined detractors

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persistent critics of a company or product that mount their own public relations offensive.

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Virtual community of consumption

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a collection of people whose online interactions are based upon shared enthusiasm for and knowledge of a specific consumption activity. Groups form around a shared love for a product.

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Multi-User Dungeons (MUD)

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Originally they were environments in which players of fantasy games met. Now they are any computer generated environment in which people socially interact through the structured format of role and game playing.

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Rooms, Rings and lists

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Internet relay chat (IRC), otherwise known as chatroom. Rings are organizations of related home pages and lists are groups of people on a single mailing list who share information.

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Boards

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Online communities organized around interest specific electronic bulletin boards.

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Blogs

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(weblog) online personal journals that employ a different technology that lets people upload a few sentences without going through the process of updating a web site built with conventional homepage software.

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Blogosphere

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the name given to the universe of active weblogs. Blog readership is increasing dramatically.

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Guerilla Marketing

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promotional strategies that use unconventional locations and intensive word of mouth campaigns to push products.

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Viral Marketing

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the strategy of getting visitors to a Web site to forward information on the site to their friends in order to make still more consumers aware of the product--usually by creating online content that is entertaining or just plain weird.

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Social networking

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Websits that let members post information about themselves and make contact with others who share similar interests and opinions or who want to make business contacts. Users set up a home page with photos, a profile, and links to others in their social networks.

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Opinion leaders

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a person who is frequently able to influence others attitudes or behaviors.

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Homophily

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the degree to which a pair of individuals is similar in terms of education, social status, and beliefs.

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Market maven

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people who are actively involved in transmitting marketplace information of all types. Not necessarily interested in certain products and may not necessarily be early purchasers of products.

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Surrogate consumer

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a person who is hired to provide input into purchase decisions. Unlike the opinion leader or market maven, the surrogate is usually compensated for his or her advice.

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Sociometric methods

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trace communication patterns among members of a group. These techniques allow researchers to systematically map out the interactions that take place among group members. By interviewing participants and asking them to whom they go for product information, researchers can identify those who tend to be sources of product related information.