consumer behavior ch 11

social identity theory

argues that each of us has several “selves” that relate to groups

* we favor others whom we feel share the same identity—even if that identity is superficial and virtually meaningless

minimal group paradigm

researchers show that even when they arbitrarily assign subjects to one group or another, people favor those who wind up in the same group

social power

describes “the capacity to alter the actions of others.

* the degree to which you are able to make someone else do something, regardless of whether that person does it willingly, gives you power over that person

referent power

If a person admires the qualities of a person or a group, he tries to copy the referent’s behaviors (e.g., choice of clothing, cars, leisure activities)

* important to many marketing strategies because consumers voluntarily modify what they do and buy to identify with a referent

information power

A person possesses information power simply because he or she knows something others would like to know

* are able to influence consumer opinion by virtue of their access to the knowledge that provides some kind of competitive advantage

legitimate power

we grant power by virtue of social agreements, such as the authority we give to police officers, soldiers, and yes, even professors

expert power

is the ability an employee has, regardless of seniority, to show expertise in a subject or situation

* derived from the knowledge he possessed about the content area

reward power

A person or group with the means to provide positive reinforcement

coercive power

We exert coercive power when we influence someone because of social or physical intimidation

* threat is often effective in the short term

reference group

is an actual or imaginary individual or group that significantly influences an individual’s evaluations, aspirations, or behavior.

membership reference group

are groups that we not only belong to but are also in agreement with in regards to attitudes, norms, and behaviors

* people the consumer actually knows

aspirational reference group

are those who people would like to be like, such as models, actors, singers, etc

* people the consumer doesn’t know but admire

avoidance group

is a negative reference group with him we neither have face to face contact nor do we endorse their ideology

conformity

s a change in beliefs or actions as a reaction to real or imagined group pressure.

red sneakers effect

to describe a brave person who sports a pair of red kicks in a professional setting

cultural pressures

Different cultures encourage conformity to a greater or lesser degree.

fear of deviance

The individual may have reason to believe that the group will apply sanctions to punish nonconforming behaviors

commitment

The more people are dedicated to a group and value their membership in it, the greater their motivation to conform to the group’s wishes

principle of least interest

the person who is least committed to staying in a relationship has the most power because that party doesn’t care as much if the other person rejects him.

group unanimity, size, and expertise

As groups gain in power, compliance increases, harder to resist the demands of a larger number of people

susceptibility cues

This trait refers to an individual’s need to have others think highly of him or her

environmental cues

are cues around a person that inform them what is happening and how to respond

brand community

is a group of consumers—like those zealous Halo players—who share a set of social relationships based on usage of or interest in a product

collective decision-making

collective decision-making ­ process often includes two or more people who may not have the same level of investment in the outcome, the same tastes and preferences, or the same consumption priorities

Collective decision making roles: Initiator

The person who brings up the idea or identifies a need.

Collective decision making roles: Gatekeeper

The person who conducts the information search and controls the flow of information available to the group. In organizational contexts, the gatekeeper identifies possible vendors and products for the rest of the group to consider

Collective decision making roles: Influencer

The person who tries to sway the outcome of the decision. Some people may be more motivated than others to get involved, and participants also possess different amounts of power to get their point across.

Collective decision making roles: Buyer

The person who actually makes the purchase. The buyer may or may not actually use the product.

Collective decision making roles: User

The person who actually consumes the product or service.

organizational buyers

are people who purchase goods and services on behalf of companies for the companies’ use in manufacturing, distribution, or resale.

business to business (B2B) marketers

buy from B2B that must satisfy the needs of organizations such as corporations, government agencies, hospitals, and retailers.

buyer center

plays different roles in more complex organizational decisions

buyclass theory of purchasing

divides organizational buying decisions into three types that range from the least to the most complex

* straight rebuy
* modified rebuy
* new task

Three decision- making dimensions describe the purchasing strategies of an organizational buyer:

1 The level of information he or she must gather prior to the decision.

2 The seriousness with which he or she must consider all possible alternatives.

3 The degree to which he or she is familiar with the purchase

straight rebuy

is a habitual decision

* automatic choice, when an inventory level reaches a preestablished reorder point

modified rebuy

situation involves limited decision making

* It occurs when an organization wants to repurchase a product or service but also wants to make some minor modifications.

Straight rebuy

Extend of effort: habitual decision- making

Risk: low

Buyer’s involvement: automatic reorder

modified rebuy

Extend of effort: limited problem solving

Risk: low to moderate

Buyer’s involvement: one or a few

new task

Extend of effort: extensive problem solving

Risk: high

Buyer’s involvement: many

business to business (B2B) e-commerce

refers to internet interactions between two or more businesses or organizations

* includes exchanges of information, products, services, or payments

prediction market

is one of the hottest trends in organizational decision-making techniques.

* approach asserts that groups of people with knowledge about an industry are, collectively, better predictors of the future than are any of them as individuals

crowdsourcing

which describes the growing practice of soliciting ideas for new products and even advertising campaigns from a user community.

wisdom of crowds

perspective (from a book by that name) argues that, under the right circumstances, groups are smarter than the smartest people in them.

agile marketing

It refers to using data and analytics to continuously source promising opportunities or solutions to problems in real time, deploying tests quickly, evaluating the results, and rapidly iterating (doing it over and over)

scrum

It involves the use of small teams that run quick “sprints” and frequently change up their approach based upon rapid and honest feedback.

interpersonal need

(a person’s level of investment in the group)

product involvement and utility

(the degree to which a person will use the product to satisfy a need

responsibility

People are more likely to have disagreements about a decision if it entails long-term consequences and commitments.

power

(or the degree to which one family member exerts influence over the others

oppositional brand choice

in a relationship, they deliberately choose brands they know their partner doesn’t like

family financial officer (FFO)

the individual who keeps track of the family’s bills and decides how to spend any surplus funds

synoptic ideals

calls for the husband and wife to act as joint decision makers

juggling lifestyle

a frenzied, guilt-ridden compromise between conflicting cultural ideals of motherhood and professionalism

dadvertising

Advertisements directed toward dads now portray fathers as actively involved in parenting

word of mouth (WOM)

is product information that individuals transmit to other ­individuals.

* WOM tends to be more ­reliable and trustworthy than messages from more formal marketing channels.
* WOM to build buzz around a product or service, then sit back and let your customers do the heavy lifting

negative word of mouth

* more heavily than they do to positive comments
* when we consider a new product or service, we’re likely to pay more attention to negative information than to positive information and to tell others about our nasty experience
* WOM reduces the credibility of a firm’s advertising and influences consumers’ attitudes toward a product as well as their intention to buy it

serial reproduction

* to examine how content mutates
* he asked a subject to reproduce a stimulus, such as a drawing or a story
* He then gave another subject this reproduction and asked him to copy it, and repeated this process several times

opinion leaders

are ­frequently able to influence others’ attitudes or behaviors

* two step flow model of influence: influence network and information cascades

opinion leaders possess social power such as:

• They are technically competent, so they possess expert power.

• They prescreen, evaluate, and synthesize product information in an unbiased way, so they possess knowledge power.

• They are socially active and highly interconnected in their communities.

• They are likely to hold offices in community groups and clubs and to be active outside of the home. As a result, opinion leaders often wield legitimate power by virtue of their social standing.

homophily

refers to the degree to which a pair of individuals is similar in terms of education, social status, and beliefs.

two step flow model of influence

It proposes that a small group of influencers disseminates information because they can modify the opinions of a large number of other people.

influence network

they communicate the information vigorously to one another and they also participate in a two-way dialogue with the opinion leader

information cascades

that occur when a piece of information triggers a sequence of interactions (much like an avalanche

types of opinion leaders

• They were socially active.

• They were appearance conscious and narcissistic (i.e., they were quite fond of themselves and self-centered).

• They were involved in rock culture.

• They were heavy readers of magazines like Playboy and Sports Illustrated.

• They were likely to own more clothing, and a broader range of styles, than other students.

market maven

she is a person who likes to transmit marketplace information of all types

surrogate consumer

This term refers to a third party we retain to provide input into our purchase decisions

six degrees of kevin bacon

challenges players to link the actor Kevin Bacon with other actors in much the same way

sociometric methods

trace communication patterns among members of a group

* These techniques allow researchers to systematically map out the interactions among group members

tie strength

refers to the nature of the bond between people.

* range from strong primary to weak secondary

strength of weak ties

theory maintains that infrequent, arms-length relationships – known as weak ties – are more beneficial for employment opportunities, promotions, and wages than strong ties.

horizontal revolution

It’s horizontal because communications no longer just flow top-down from companies and established media.

synchronous communications

(those that occur in real time, as when you text back and forth with a friend) and others such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn

asynchronous communications

(those that don’t require all participants to respond immediately, as when you text a friend and get an answer the next day)

online community

The collective participation of members who together build and maintain a site

fear of missing out (FOMO)

it may exist as an episodic feeling that occurs in mid-conversation, as a long-term disposition, or a state of mind that leads the individual to feel a deeper sense of social inferiority, loneliness, or intense rage

* miss out on conversations

nodes

are members of the network (e.g., the more than one billion Facebook users) who are connected to one another

social graphs

though this term may also refer to a diagram of the interconnections of units in a network.

flows

* occur between nodes
* are exchanges of resources, information, or influence among members of the network.

media multiplexity

As you share content, you create flows from among those in your network. In social media, these flows of communication go in many directions at any point in time and often on multiple platforms—a condition

standards of behavior

Rules that specify what members can and can’t do on the site

Successful online communities possess several important characteristics:

* Standards of behaviors
* flaming
* member contributions
* lukers
* degree of connectedness
* network effects

social game

is a multiplayer, competitive, goal-oriented activity with defined rules of engagement and online connectivity among a community of players

leaderboards

s ­ that indicate how each player is doing relative to others in the game and %%badges%% that show the community the challenges the player has mastered so far

game platform

refers to the hardware systems on which the game is played

mode

refers to the way players experience the game world

millieu

describes the visual nature of the game, such as science fiction, fantasy, horror, and retro.

genre

a game refers to the method of play

viral marketing

occurs when an organization motivates visitors to forward online content to their friends; the message quickly spreads much like a cold virus moves among residents of a dorm.

content marketing

This term refers to “ . . . a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience—and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.

megaphone effect

The megaphone effect has a chance to occur when a customer is sharing a product or a blog about a product through different social media platforms, and the post going viral

Dispreferred Marker Effect

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focused in particular on one type of conversational technique: dispreferred markers.

* phrases warn or acknowledge negative information that could threaten the face of the.

influencer marketing

is a form of marketing that enables businesses to collaborate with individuals who have a following for increased brand exposure

power users

have a strong communications network that gives them the ability to affect purchase decisions for a number of other consumers, directly and indirectly

influence impressions

an impression refers to a view or an exposure to an advertising message.

informational influence

occurs when an individual uses the values, norms, and behaviors of others as credible and needed evidence about reality

* motivation to comply: reduce anxiety and perceived risk in utilitarian decisions

utilitarian influence

an individual fulfills others’ expectations to gain a direct reward or to avoid a sanction

* reward conformity to norms
* punish non-conformity
* Motivation to comply: to be accepted by key “reference groups” and social superiors

value-expressive influence

individuals use others’ norms, values, and behaviors as a guide for their own attitudes, values, and behaviors

* motivation to comply: to feel similar to admired others, affiliation

strength of reference group influence

* product characteristics
* group characteristics
* consumer characteristics

socialization

permits an individual to know what behavior is likely to result in stability both for the individual and for the group

self-concept

people protect and modify their self-concept in their interactions with group members