Chapter 11

Group Influence and Opinion Leadership

Chapter 11

11-2

Group Influences

11-3

Reference Groups

• An actual or imaginary individual/group conceived of having significant relevance upon an individual’s evaluations, aspirations, or behavior– Reference groups influence consumers in

three ways:• Informational• Utilitarian• Value-expressive

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Reference Group Influences• Reference group effects are more robust for purchases

that are:– Luxuries rather than necessities– Socially conspicuous/visible to others

PRODUCT

Weak Reference Group Influence

Strong Reference Group Influence

BRAND

Strong Reference Group Influence

PUBLIC

NECESSITIES

PUBLIC

LUXURIES

Weak Reference Group Influence

PRIVATE

NECESSITIES

PRIVATE

LUXURIES

Figure 11.1

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When Reference Groups Are Important (Cont’d)

• Social power: capacity to alter the actions of others– Referent power– Information power– Legitimate power– Expert power– Reward power– Coercive power

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Types of Reference Groups• Any external influence that provides social clues

– Cultural figure– Parents– A large, formal organization

• Tend to be more product- or activity-specific: comparative influence

– Small and informal groups• Exert a more powerful influence on individual consumers• A part of our day-to-day lives: normative influence

– Normative influence– Comparative influence

11-7

Brand Communities and Tribes

• Brand Community– A group of consumers who share a

set of social relationships based upon usage or interest in a product

– Brandfests enhance brand loyalty

• Consumer tribe – share emotions, moral beliefs, styles

of life, and affiliated product– Tribal marketing: linking a product to

the needs of a group as a whole

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Types of Groups (cont.)

11-9

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

11-10

Changes in Reference Groups as the Situation Changes

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Types of Groups (cont.)

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

11-12

Membership vs. Aspirational Reference Groups

• People the consumer actually knows vs. people the consumer doesn’t know but admires– Admirational 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, and group cohesiveness

11-13

Positive vs. Negative Reference Groups

• Reference groups may exert either a positive or negative influence on consumption behaviors– Avoidance groups: motivation to distance

oneself from other people/groups– Marketing: ads with undesirable people using

competitor’s product– Discussion: Identify a set of avoidance groups

for your peers. Can you identify any consumption decisions that are made with these groups in mind?

11-14

Consumers Do It in Groups

• Deindividuation– Binge drinking at college parties

• Social loafing– We tend to tip less when eating in groups

• Risky shift– Diffusion of responsibility– Value hypothesis

• Decision polarization

11-15

Consumers Do It in Groups (Cont’d)

• Home shopping parties– Tupperware and Botox parties– Informational and normative social

influence– Deindividuation– Risky shift

• Discussion: Are home shopping parties that put pressure on friends and neighbors to buy merchandise ethical?

11-16

Conformity

• Most people tend to follow society’s expectations regarding how to look/act– Change in beliefs/actions toward societal

norms• Appropriate clothing/personal items, gift-giving,

sex roles, and personal hygiene

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Factors Influencing Conformity

• Cultural pressures

• Fear of deviance– Sanctions against “different” behavior

• Commitment to group membership– Principle of least interest

• Group unanimity, size, expertise

• Susceptibility to interpersonal influence– Role relaxed

11-18

The Nature of Reference -Group Influence

Conformity is not a uni-dimensional concept • 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

11-19

Consumption Situations and Reference-Group Influence

11-20

Consumption Situations and Reference-Group Influence (cont.)

11-21

Consumption Situations and Reference-Group Influence (cont.)

11-22

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• Individual’s confidence with purchase: low confidence,

then higher influence

11-23

Product Characteristics and Type of Reference-Group Influence

11-24

Influence of Two Consumption Situation Characteristics on Product/Brand Choices

11-25

Consumption-Situation Determinants of Reference-Group Influence

11-26

Social Comparison• “How’m I doing?”

– We look to others’ behavior to inform us about reality

– Occurs as way to increase stability of one’s self-evaluation (sans physical evidence)

• Tastes in music and art

– We tend to choose co-oriented peer when performing social comparison

11-27

Resisting Conformity

• Independence vs. anticonformity– “Marching to own drummer” vs. being aware

of what is expected (and not doing it)

• Reactance– Negative emotional state when we are

deprived of our freedom of choice– Censored books, TV shows, music lyrics

11-28

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)

11-29

Word-of-Mouth Communication• WOM: product information

transmitted by individuals to individuals– More reliable/trustworthy form of

marketing– Backed up by social pressure to

conform– Influences two-thirds of all sales

of goods– We rely upon WOM in later

stages of evaluation and adoption

– WOM is powerful when we are unfamiliar with product category

11-30

WOM Communication (Cont’d)

• Product-related conversation factors:– High involvement with product (pleasure)– Knowledgeable about product (impressing

others)– Genuine concern for others (avoid wasting

money)

11-31

Negative WOM and Power of Rumors

• We weigh negative WOM more heavily than we do positive comments!– Negative WOM is easy to spread, especially

online– Determined detractors

• Discussion: What is the best way for a company to deal with determined detractors?

– Information/rumor distortion• Assimilation, leveling, and sharpening

IHATESTARBUCKS.COM

11-32

Virtual Communities

• A collection of people who share their love of a product in online interactions– Multi-user dungeons (MUD)– Rooms (IRC), rings, and lists– Boards– Blogs/blogosphere

• Great potential for abuse via untrustworthy members– Amazon.com lawsuit (charging publishers to post

positive reviews of Web site)

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Types of Web Surfers

Figure 11.3

Discussion: Which type of Web surfer are you?

11-34

Guerrilla Marketing

• Promotional strategies that use unconventional locations and intensive WOM to push products– Recruiting legions of real consumers for street

theater• Hip-hop “mix tapes”/street teams• P&G’s Tremor• Kayem Foods’ Great Sausage Fanout

– Brand ambassadors

11-35

Viral Marketing

• Getting visitors to a Web site to forward information on the site to their friends (for product awareness)– Creating online content that is entertaining or

weird

11-36

Social Networking

• Web sites letting members post information about themselves and make contact with similar others– Share interests, opinions, business contacts

THEFACEBOOK.COM

MYSPACE

11-37

Opinion Leadership• We don’t usually ask just

anyone for advice about purchases!

• We most likely seek advice from someone who knows a lot about a product– Opinion leaders frequently

influence other’s attitudes/behaviors

• E-fluential advice

• Discussion: Identify fashion opinion leaders on your campus. Do they fit the profile discussed in this chapter?

11-38

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

11-39

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• Public individuation – attention seeking• High level of exposure to media• The market maven – expert on all products!

• Motivation of dissatisfied customers to tell others of their negative message

11-40

Likelihood of Seeking an Opinion Leader

11-41

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

11-42

Reasons to Seek Advice from Opinion Leaders

• Expertise

• Unbiased knowledge power

• Highly interconnected in communities (social standing)

• Referent power/homophily

• Hands-on product experience (absorb risk)CLICK ON LOGO TO SEE VIDEO CLIP ABOUT WILD PLANET’S EFFORTS TO

APPEAL TO “TREND SETTER” KIDS

11-43

Opinion Leadership (Cont’d)

• Generalize opinion leader vs. monomorphic/polymorphic experts

• Although opinion leaders exist for multiple product categories, expertise tends to overlap across similar categories– It is rare to find a generalized opinion leader

• Innovative communicators• Opinion seekers

– More likely to talk about products with others and solicit others’ opinions

– Casual interaction prompted by situation

11-44

The Market Maven• Actively involved in transmitting

marketplace information of all types– Just into shopping and staying on top of

what’s happening in the marketplace– Solid overall knowledge of how and where to

procure products• “I like introducing new brands/products to friends”• “People ask me for information about products,

places to shop, or sales”• “My friends think of me as a good source of

information when it comes to new products or sales”

11-45

The Surrogate Consumer

• A marketing intermediary who is hired to provide input into purchase decisions– Interior decorators, stockbrokers, professional

shoppers, college consultants– Consumer relinquishes control over decision-

making functions

• Marketers should not overlook influence of surrogates!

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Identifying Opinion Leaders• Many ads intend to reach

influentials rather than average consumer– Local opinion leaders are

harder to find– Companies try to identify

influentials in order to create WOM “ripple effect”

– Exploratory studies identify characteristics of opinion leaders for promotional strategies

11-47

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

11-48

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 behavior/network, tie strength– Bridging function, strength of weak ties