Chapter 11
Group Influence and Opinion Leadership
By Michael R. Solomon
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?
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
Relative Reference Groups’
[image:5.720.186.675.131.476.2]When Reference Groups
Are Important
•
Social Power:
– The capacity to alter the actions of others
•
Referent Power:
–
When consumers imitate qualities by copying behaviors ofa 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,Expert Power
•
A physician has expert
power, and a white
coat reinforces this
When Reference Groups
Are 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:
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
VIDEO: BMW Motorcycles
•
BMW Motorcycles
uses its web site to
promote
communication
among reference
groups who use the
site to discuss their
product experience.
• 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?
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
Products as a Way to be Popular
• Many products, especially those targeted to young
Membership vs. Aspirational
Reference 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)
Positive Versus Negative
Reference 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
Positive Reference Groups
•
This recruiting ad
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
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:
Home Shopping Parties
•
Women at a home
Group Influences
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
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
•
This ad for a video
game says,
“Conformity Bytes!”,
but then captions,
“Join the Revolution!”
Why?
•
Does this ad
encourage
independence
or
anticonformity
?
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
Word-of-Mouth
•
The U.S. Postal
Service hopes to
Rumors
•
Hoaxkill.com is a Web site dedicated to
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
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
Four Types of Virtual
Community 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:
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
Guerrilla Marketing Ads
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.
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
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
Perspectives on the
[image:40.720.76.643.115.470.2]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.
