Group Influence and Social Media Flashcards
(30 cards)
Reference group
Actual or imaginary individual/group conceived of having significant relevance upon an individual’s evaluations, aspirations, or behaviour
-Influences consumers in three ways:
Informational
Utilitarian
Value-expressive
Types of Reference Groups
Any external influence that provides social clues
Cultural figure
Parents
A large, formal organization
Small and informal groups
Types of Reference Group Influence
Normative influence-Helps to set and enforce fundamental standards of conduct
Comparative influence-Decisions about specific brands or activities are affected
Formal vs. Informal Reference Groups
Reference group can be large and formal with a standard, recognized structure.
Or
The reference group can be small and informal, just a group of friends
However
As a rule, small informal groups can exert powerful influence on individual consumers
Brand Communities
-A group of consumers who share a set of social relationships based upon usage or interest in a product.
-Brand communities share emotions, moral beliefs, styles of life, and affiliated product.
-Brand loyalty
-Brandfests enhance brand loyalty
-Brand missionaries
Membership Versus Aspirational Reference Groups
-Aspirational reference group-Comprise idealized figures, such as successful businesspeople, athletes, or performers.
Membership reference groups-involve other consumers who belong to the same groups as us.
-Aspirational strategies concentrate on highly visible, widely admired figures (athletes or performers)
-Membership strategies focus on “ordinary” people whose consumption provides informational social influence
propinquity
mere exposure
group cohesiveness
Positive Versus Negative Reference Groups
-Reference groups may exert either a positive or negative influence on consumption behaviours
-Dissociative reference groups = motivation to distance oneself from other people/groups
-Marketers show ads with undesirable people using competitor’s product
Antibrand Communities
-Antibrand communities: Coalesce around a celebrity, store, or brand—but in this case they’re united by their disdain for it
-Social Idealists who advocate non-materialistic lifestyles
-Many oppose Walmart, Starbucks, McDonald’s and Hummers
When Reference Groups are Important
Impact of reference groups vary based on whether the product is complex or, a product with little perceived risk (less susceptible)
Two dimensions of influence:
-Purchases to be consumed privately or publicly
-Whether a luxury or a necessity
Reference groups are most robust for purchases:
Luxuries
Socially conspicuous products
-Reference group influences stronger for purchases that are:
Luxuries rather than necessities
Socially conspicuous/visible to others
Power of Reference Groups
Social power-capacity to alter the actions of others.
types of social power:
-referent power
-legitimate power
-reward power
-information power
-expert power
-coercive power
Conformity
-Conformity refers to a change in beliefs or actions as a reaction to real or imagined group pressure.
-Factors influencing conformity:
Cultural pressures
Fear of deviance
Commitment to group
Group unanimity, size, expertise
Susceptibility to interpersonal influence
Environmental cues
Social Comparison
Social Comparison Theory-Consumers will often compare themselves to others in ways that increase the stability of one’s self-evaluation
-Occurs as a way to increase stability of one’s self-evaluation (without physical evidence)
Tastes in music and art
-We tend to choose co-oriented peer when performing social comparison
Group Effects on Individual Behaviour
With more people in a group, it becomes less likely that any one member will be singled out for attention.
People sometimes behave more wildly at costume parties or on Halloween night than they do normally:
-Informational and normative social influence
-Deindividuation
-Risky shift
*diffusion of responsibility
*value hypothesis
-Decision polarization
Group Decision Making
Different roles for different members:
*Initiator – identifies need
*Gatekeeper – searches and controls information
*Influencer – uses power to sway the decision
*Buyer – the purchaser (not necessarily the user)
*User – the consumer/user of the product
Opinion leaders
Influence others’ attitudes and behaviours
Hard to identify but are:
Technically competent
Possess knowledge power
Socially active, highly interconnected
Possess referent power
Are often the first to buy
*Hands-on experience
How influential is an Opinion Leader?
Generalize opinion leader -Somebody whose recommendations are sought for all types of purchases.
-Very few people are capable of being expert in a number of fields. Opinion leaders are either:
*Monomorphic
experts in a limited field
*Polymorphic experts
tend to concentrate on one broad domain
Influencer Marketing
-“microcelebrities”- short time fame, people value their expertise
-influencer marketing model basically replicates the “cool kid”
-phenomenon from high school
bloggers have become such important online opinion leaders
Types of Opinion Leaders
Opinion leaders absorb information from mass media and transmits data to opinion receivers
May or may not purchase the products they recommend
Innovative communicators
-Two-step flow of model of influence-Small group of influencers change opinions or many people
-Cascades-Which occurs when a piece of information triggers a sequence of interactions
The Market Maven
-Market Maven
Actively involved in transmitting marketplace information of all types.
*Just into shopping and aware what’s happening in the marketplace
*Overall knowledge of how and where to get products
-Surrogate consumers Hired to provide input into purchase decisions
Identifying Opinion Leaders
Many ads intend to reach influencers rather than average consumer
-Local opinion leaders are harder to find
-Companies try to identify influencers in order to create WOM “ripple effect”
-Exploratory studies identify characteristics of opinion leaders for promotional strategies
The Self Designating Method
-Most commonly used technique to identify opinion leaders…
*Simply ask individuals whether they consider themselves to be opinion leaders
*Method is easy to apply to large group of potential opinion leaders
*View with skepticism…inflation or unawareness of own importance/influence
-Alternative: key informants identify opinion leaders
Sociometric Methods
-Trace communication patterns among group members
-Systematic map of group interactions
-Most precise method of identifying product-information sources, but is very difficult/expensive to implement
-Network analysis
*Referral behaviour/network, tie strength
*Bridging function, strength of weak ties
Word-of-Mouth Communication
WOM
Product information transmitted by individuals to individuals
-Thought to be more reliable than traditional advertising
-Social pressure to conform
-Influences two-thirds of all sales
-We rely upon WOM in later stages of product adoption
*Powerful when we are unaware of product category
*Yelp reviews
Negative WOM
We weigh negative WOM more heavily than we do positive comments!
*Negative WOM is easy to spread, especially online
*Determined detractors
*Information/rumor distortion
