3.5. Reference groups
Consumer behavior is often influenced by others when it comes to making decisions about the types of products or services purchased. Understand these reference group function will help marketers gain better understanding of consumer behaviors. Because other consumers tell us about the product will have a stronger impact than the advertising we expose to.
The table below summaries important findings from the interview which describes the association between T’s decision making process and reference group’s influence.
Description of Reference Group Sales people- those people whom T sought advices in shoes function area. Her friends – those T sought advices for her product choice. Commercial advertisements – model on the
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Therefore, part of T’s purchase decision was influenced by salesperson.
(Informational influences) As mentioned above, T sought for a need of recognition and belongingness. Consequently, her purchase decision was driven by her friends’ influences (utilitarian influence) By exposing to extensive marketing advertising, T was affected by model in the advertising, She hoped she could portray some characteristics such as energetic, a sense of success which the model has (value-expressive influence)
What they influence The salesperson gave T several useful information about specific brand and products which affected her decision. Therefore, a comparative influence is created. The approval of T’s friends generated normative influence since it didn’t indicate any specific brand. Different ads create different feeling to T. thus, a comparative influence is created in order to form T attitude towards brands.
Power
These salespeople provided information and expert power over T’s decision The acceptance from T’s friends provided reward power to T. Since T wanted to be like the model, she experienced referent
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• Training salespeople to gain in-depth understanding about the product S4U and know the interaction styles which is the ability to be adaptable to different kinds of consumers.
3.6. Subculture – Age
Marketers often target products and services to a specific age cohort since consumers’ age significantly influence consumer’s identity. As we grow older, our need, preferences, attitudes and even lifestyles change, often in concert with others who are close to our own age (Solomon et al, 2013, p. 422). Thus, marketers need to investigate and communicate with members of an age group in their own language and style.
It is obvious that in age generation, T belongs to Gen Y which consist of people born during the period of 1986-2002 (Solomon et al, 2013, p.428). The Gen Y is defined by some following distinctive characteristics. Certainly, it is clearly that T possesses many of those characteristics since she is a member of Gen Y.
• Connexity: Gen Y highly value being both footloose and social connection. Therefore, when T made her decision, she took into account of her peers’ preference and a need of social
Today I will be writing on Fiske's five unifying themes in social psychology. Fiske argues that there are core social motives that impact human interaction. I will include a brief overview of the definition of the core social motive approach. Second I will include A brief discussion of each of the five core with a brief definition and an example for each. Lastly I will include a more in depth discussion of only one of the social needs and I will include a summary of at least two research articles that investigates this motive.
Hiller, S. M., & Barrow, G. M. (2011). Aging, the individual, and society. (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
One of the examples that Michael Solomon (author) gives us is that when we go to buy different produts others might not influence us, but on the other hand knowing what produts other people like might just influence us to a great deal. There is also three types of reference groups. They are; the Name-Letter Effect, the Normative Influence, and the Comparative Influence. The Name-Letter Effrct is when we bond faster with people who share our names or something as smiple as our initials then we do with others who don 't. One of the examples that the author uses is that people whose surname is Lane tend to have addresses that include the word Lane, not street. The second one is Normative Influence: this groug has standards of conduct that they set and enforce. Acorrding to the author our parents may play a important part in this group. Two of the important issues are attiudes on marriage or where to go to college. The third one is Comparative Influence: because it affects members ' decisions about specific motorcycle purchases. Acorrding to the author , Zachary talks about how he has already spent thousands off dollars on parts and accessories sine he has been in his
One of the examples that Michael Solomon (author) gives us is that when we go to buy different products others might not influence us, but on the other hand knowing what products other people like might just influence us to a great deal. There is also three types of reference groups. They are; the Name-Letter Effect, the Normative Influence, and the Comparative Influence. The Name-Letter Effect is when we bond faster with people who share our names or something as simple as our initials then we do with others who don 't. One of the examples that the author uses is that people whose surname is Lane tend to have addresses that include the word Lane, not street. The second one is Normative Influence: this group has standards of conduct that they set and enforce. According to the author our parents may play an important part in this group. Two of the important issues are attitudes on marriage or where to go to college. The third one is Comparative Influence: because it affects members ' decisions about specific motorcycle purchases. According to the author, Zachary talks about how he has already spent thousands of dollars on parts and accessories sine he has been in his
Solomon et al. (2014, p300) state that the identification can be shaped as long as customers have their own points of view when they are purchasing. Furthermore, Mooij (2005) mentions that identity is “the idea one has about oneself, one’s characteristic properties, one’s own body, and the value one considers to be important”(p110). In other words, the one who is distinct what he or she thinks of self through purchasing goods. While the advertising indicates the social effects when the customer choose the products, which is impacted on the imitation model that the overview and behaviour of group depict choices than other products social consequences (Solomon et al., 2014, p300) is to rely on the influence of behaviour consumer
... of consumer behaviour, lays emphasis on the objectivity of science and the consumer as a reasonable and sensible decision maker. While, the interpretive point of view is in contrast to that of the positivist, in that it emphasises on the importance of the subjective meaning of the consumers individual experience, hence, it suggest that whichever behaviour a consumer performs is subject to diverse interpretations to a certain extent than just a single explanation to it.
... such as furniture and clothes. Therefore there is no longer any individuality in the choices, behaviour and morals a person has due to the major influences. Peer pressure, negative and positive influences from other people that the individual knows is different to what they would choose to do also means that the habitus is no longer a useful or reliable indicator of the self. Thus, no longer a strong indicator of the social class a person is from. Therefore it is to be concluded that the concept of habitus does still play an important role in understanding the relationship between social classes and the self but as technology and society progresses the choices we make, which is down to habitus, are not necessarily due to the social class that an individual is in. We are all becoming more and more similar as the years progress and individualism is becoming clouded.
Conclusion Companies are better able to market their products to consumers if they have a good Understanding of the consumers and the basic purchase decision process. By understanding the consumer and the type of purchasing behavior associated with different products, marketers are more likely to create a marketing campaign that positively impacts the consumer’s purchasing decision.
4. Research shows that consumer behavior is clearly influenced by self-concept, the way a person feels and thinks about himself or herself.
Every company wants to understand why people decide to buy its products or others. Firstly, we have to understand why people buy certain kind of product. People buy products because they need them. A need is activated and felt when there is a sufficient discrepancy between a desired or preferred state of being and the actual state. (Engle£¬Blackwell and Miniard. 1995. p407 ) For example, when you feel hungry, what you needs is some food. It is very important for marketer to understand the needs of consumers. All the consumers may have the same needs, but the ways which they satisfy what they need are different. Here is a example, Chinese people would choose rice when they feel hungry, whilst British people may choose bread to satisfy their needs.
The source of the brand features is in a connection between customers and companies that sell services or products. Consumers who choose a specific company fundamentally acknowledge to prefer that brand more than other brands rooted from the recognition of the brand’s worth.
Advertising generally tries to sell the things that consumers want even if they should not wish for them. Adverting things that consumers do not yearn for is not effective use of the advertiser’s money. A majority of what advertisers sell consists of customer items like food, clothing, cars and services-- things that people desire to have. On the other hand it is believed by some advertising experts that the greatest influence in advertising happens in choosing a brand at the point of sale.
To date, little research has studied how different levels of social influence differentially impact individual’s purchase decisions (for exceptions, see Argo, Dahl, & Manchanda (2005); Childers & Rao (1992)). In other words, how much an individual is influenced by social others may depend on his relationship to those social others. In this study, we posit that two different dimensions of social influence: social source strength (importance) and size differentially impact purchase decisions of individuals.
Advertising is an information source to inform people about the products and new prices of the company which can help them to make informed choices. More recently, huge amount of money has been spent on advertising throughout the world. Different types of advertisement such as television, radio, magazine, newspaper, the internet, billboards and posters can influence consumer’s behavior positively or negatively as there are different arguments and opinions. This essay will focus on the purpose of the advertisement for the company, the positive effects and negative effects of advertisement on consumer behavior.
Advertisements can be many types and each of them carries different impacts on different target. The latest study through a survey conducted in 2009 on the consumer behavior to different types of advertisements for products including Television, Online and Magazines, revealed that advertisements have modified the consumer behavior in such a ways that they only go for brand favorability despite of ad awareness in every type of media. Surveys show that magazine advertisements provide great impact on purchasing behavior of consumers. Mostly people go for purchasing according to the product value shown in advertisements despite of cost of the product as they spend a lot more than the actual value only due to the influence of advertisements (Rai,