Understanding Social Influences on Consumer Behavior: Marketing and Non-Marketing Sources

1. Chapter 11 Social Influences on Consumer Behavior

2. Learning Objectives~ Ch. 11 • Explain how social influence can come from marketing or nonmarketing sources and can be mass media or personally delivered. • Discuss why marketers must pay particular attention to the influence of opinion leaders, both online and offline, and to the effects of social media. • Highlight the types and characteristics of reference groups and show how each can affect consumer behavior. • Distinguish between normative and informational influence, and explain how marketers can use their knowledge of these types of influence for more effective marketing.

3. General Sources of Influence • Marketer-dominated • Non-marketer-dominated • Delivered • Via mass media • Personally • Sources differ? • Reach • Capacity for two-way communication • Credibility

4. Opinion Leaders • Gatekeepers • Knowledgeable about products • Heavy users of mass media • Buy new products when introduced • Perceived as credible • Market maven • Marketing implications • Target • Use in marketing communications • Refer consumers

5. Types of Reference Groups • Aspirational • Associate products with • Associative • Accurately represent • Brand communities • Dissociative • Avoid using

6. Reference Groups Characteristics • Degree of group contact • Primary • Secondary • Formality • Homophily: Similarity among members • Group attractiveness • Density • Degree of identity • Tie strength • Many facebook friends, LinkedIn contacts & twitter followers – a large social & or professional network

7. Reference Groups as Socializing Agents • People • Media & marketplace • Celebrity • Sorority/Fraternity • Campus organizations • Sport

8. Normative Influence & CB • Brand-choice congruence & conformity • Compliance versus reactance • Characteristics affecting strength • Product • Consumer • Group-coercive power • May be more visible in this era of social media & events

9. Informational Influence Strength Is impacted by: • Product characteristics • Consumer & influencer characteristics • Group characteristics

10. Descriptive Dimensions of Information • Valence: Information positive or negative? • Negative more likely to be communicated • People pay more attention to & give weight to negative • Modality: Verbal or nonverbal? • Pervasive/Persuasive: Word-of-mouth, viral marketing

11. Negative WOM/eWOM • Pervasive & persuasive • Viral marketing • What to do • Prevent & respond to negative word of mouth • Engineer favorable word of mouth • Handle rumors • Track word of mouth

12. Handling Rumors & Scandals • Do nothing • Do something locally • Do something discreetly • Do something big • Take responsibility for what is right