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Chapter 11: Social Influences on Consumer Behavior
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CHAPTER 11
Social Influences on Consumer Behavior
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Reference groups are part of a general set of influence sources—those that are marketer
dominated and nonmarketer dominated and those that are delivered through the mass media
and personally. Nonmarketer-dominated sources are regarded as more credible than
marketer-dominated sources, and personally delivered information generally involves less
reach, but more capacity for two-way communication than mass-media sources.
Opinion leaders and market mavens represent special sources of influence. Opinion leaders
are experts in a product category; market mavens are individuals involved in the marketplace
in general. Given their potential to serve as brokers of information, marketers may target these
individuals explicitly or simulate opinion leaders in marketing communications.
Consumers are members of groups, and these groups can have tremendous influence on
consumer behaviors. Reference groups are sets of people with whom individuals compare
themselves to guide their attitudes, knowledge, and/or behaviors. We have aspirational,
associative, and dissociative reference groups, which can be described according to their
degree of contact, formality, homophily, density, degree of identification, and tie-strength.
Reference groups may play a powerful socializing role, influencing key actions, values, and
behaviors of consumers. Marketers can take advantage of reference-group types,
characteristics, and socializing influences by associating products with aspirational reference
groups, accurately representing associative reference groups, targeting formal reference
groups, targeting dense networks, and making use of weak ties to build customer networks.
Sources of influence can create normative and/or informational influence. Normative influence
may create effects like brand-choice congruence, conformity, compliance, and reactance.
Normative influence tends to be greater for products that are publicly consumed, considered
luxuries, or regarded as a significant aspect of group membership. Normative influence is also
strong for individuals who tend to pay attention to social information. Strong ties and the
extent to which consumers identify with the group also increase the likelihood that consumers
will succumb to normative influences. Finally, normative influence is greater when groups are
large and cohesive, when members are similar and/or experts, and when the group has the
power to deliver rewards and sanctions.
Informational influence operates when individuals affect others by providing information. Such
information, in turn, may greatly affect consumers’ search and decision-making. Consumers
are more likely to seek and follow informational influence when products are complex, when
product purchase or use is regarded as risky, and when brands are distinctive. The more the
influencer is regarded as an expert, the less the consumer’s knowledge and confidence, and
the more consumers are predisposed to listen to information from others, the greater the
informational influence. Informational influence is also greater when groups are cohesive.
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Chapter 11: Social Influences on Consumer Behavior
Social influence, whether normative or informational, varies in valence (whether information is
positive or negative) and modality (whether information is communicated verbally or non-
verbally). Negative information should be avoided as much as possible because it is
communicated to more people and given greater weight in decision making than positive
information. Marketers are particularly interested in word-of-mouth (WOM) information—both
positive and negative. Strategies may be designed to identify, target, and reward individuals
who serve as positive WOM referral sources. Sources of negative information, such as
rumors, might also be targeted.
CHAPTER LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of this chapter, students will be able to:
1. Explain how social influence can come from marketing or nonmarketing sources,
including opinion leaders, and can be delivered personally or by mass or social
media.
2. Highlight the types and characteristics of reference groups and show how each can
affect consumer behavior.
3. Discuss how marketers apply normative influence to affect consumer behavior.
4. Distinguish between informational and normative influence, and describe why and
how word of mouth can be both pervasive and persuasive.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. Sources of Influence
A. Marketing and Nonmarketing Sources
1. Marketing Sources Delivered via Mass Media
a) Include advertising, sales promotions, publicity, and special events
2. Marketing Sources Delivered Personally
a) Include salespeople, service representatives, and customer service
agents
3. Nonmarketing Sources Delivered via Social Media
a) facebook, twitter, YouTube, pintrest have a personal feel
4. Nonmarketing Sources Delivered via Mass Media
a) can also yield great influence, may have less bias, example- consumer blog
5. Nonmarketing Sources Delivered Personally
a) Word-of-mouth communications from friends, family, neighbors, casual
acquaintances, and even strangers
B. How Do These General Sources Differ?
1. Reach
Chapter 11: Social Influences on Consumer Behavior
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a) Number of consumers exposed to the message
2. Capacity for Two-Way Communication
a) Personally, delivered sources of influence provide a two-way flow of
information and are more vivid and thus persuasive.
3. Credibility
a) Information delivered through marketing sources tends to be perceived as
less credible, more biased, and manipulative.
b) Nonmarketing sources appear more credible because they are not
perceived as having a vested interest in our decisions to acquire, use, or
dispose of an offering.
4. Marketing Implications
a) To the extent possible, it is helpful to have nonmarketing sources promote
the marketer’s offering in order to enhance credibility.
b) Marketing efforts may be more effective when personal information
sources are used to enhance two-way communication.
c) A mix of complementary sources of influence can enhance impact.
C. Opinion Leaders
1. What Are the Characteristics of Opinion Leaders?
a) Tend to learn a lot about products
b) Heavy users of media like newspapers, TV, radio, and magazines
c) Tend to buy new product variants when they are first introduced to the
marketplace
d) Found to be self-confident, gregarious, and willing to share product-
relevant information.
e) Opinion leaders are part of the general category of gatekeepers, people
who have influence on what information is disseminated.
2. Why Do People Become Opinion Leaders?
a) They have an intrinsic interest in and enjoyment of products
b) May share information because it puts them in a position of power
c) May believe their actions will help people
3. Why Do Opinion Leaders Have Influence?
a) Generally have no vested interest in whether consumers actually heed
their opinions, therefore opinions regarded as unbiased and credible
b) Regarded as having knowledge relevant to consumers’ acquisition,
usage, and disposition options
D. Market Mavens
1. Individuals who have information about many products, places to shop, and
other facets of the marketplace, and initiate discussions with consumers and
respond to requests from consumers for market information
2. Tend to have general information about the marketplace, to be aware of new
products early on, and to be heavy users of a wide range of media.
E. Marketing Implications
1. Because of the impact opinion leaders have, one marketing implication is to
target them directly.
2. Opinion leaders may be used in marketing communications.
3. Marketers can target consumers and ask them to refer to a knowledgeable
opinion leader.
II. Reference Groups as Sources of Influence
A. Types of Reference Groups
1. Aspirational reference groups
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Chapter 11: Social Influences on Consumer Behavior
a) Groups that we admire and wish to be like but are not currently a member
of
2. Associative reference groups
a) Groups we do belong to
3. Dissociative reference groups
a) Groups whose attitudes, values, and behaviors we disapprove of and that
we do not wish to emulate; Jersey Shore example;)
4. Marketing Implications
a) If marketers know their target consumers’ aspirational reference groups,
they can associate their product with that group and/or use spokespeople
who represent it.
b) Marketers need to accurately represent associative reference groups in
their ads by reflecting the clothing, hairstyles, accessories, and general
demeanor of the groups.
c) Marketers can create a brand community which is a social group sharing
a specialized interest in the product.
d) Dissociative reference groups should be avoided in marketing
communications.
B. Characteristics of Reference Groups
1. Degree of Contact
a) Reference groups with whom we have a great deal of contact tend to
exert the greatest influence.
b) Primary reference groups are those groups with whom we have face-to-
face interaction.
c) Secondary reference groups are those with whom we do not have direct
contact but whose behavior may still influence us.
2. Formality
a) Formally, structured groups have rules outlining criteria for membership
and the expected behavior of members.
3. Homophily: The Similarity among Group Members
a) When reference groups are homophilous, reference-group influence
tends to be strong.
4. Group Attractiveness
a) The more attractive a group is to one, the stronger the intention to
conform
5. Density
a) The degree to which all members know each other
6. Degree of Identification
a) The degree to which an individual feels he or she belongs in a group
7. Tie-Strength
a) The strength of the relationship connecting members within a group
8. Marketing Implications
a) Marketers must understand how information is transmitted among and
between groups of consumers.
b) Formal reference groups provide marketers with clear targets for
marketing efforts.
c) Homophilous consumers are targeted with information about similar
products.
d) Sometimes it makes sense to target the network itself as opposed to
individual consumers.
Chapter 11: Social Influences on Consumer Behavior
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e) Weak ties can serve as “bridges” by transporting information between
groups.
f) An embedded market is a market in which the social relationships among
buyers and sellers change the way the market operates.
C. Reference Groups Affect Consumer Socialization
1. Consumer socialization refers to the process by which we learn to become
consumers.
2. People as Socializing Agents
a) The impact of reference groups as socializing agents can change over
time.
3. The Media and the Marketplace as Socializing Agents
a) Media communications and consumer goods can be seen as contributing
in positive or negative ways to consumer socialization.
III. Normative Influence
A. How Normative Influence Can Affect Consumer Behavior
1. Brand-Choice Congruence and Conformity
a) Brand-choice congruence is the likelihood that consumers will buy what
others in their group buy.
b) Conformity is the tendency for an individual to behave as the group
behaves.
2. Compliance versus Reactance
a) Compliance involves doing what someone asks us to do.
b) Reactance is doing the opposite of what the individual or group wants us
to do.
c) The boomerang effect occurs when we believe our freedom is being
threatened.
3. Social-Relational Theory
a) consumers conduct their social interactions according to (1) the rights
and responsibilities of their relationship with group members, (2) a balance
of reciprocal actions with group members, (3) their relative status and
authority, and (4) the value placed on different objects and activities.
B. Factors Affecting Normative Influence Strength
1. Product Characteristics
a) A reference group affects whether we buy a product and what brand we
buy.
b) Reference groups have little influence on whether we buy necessity
items, but may have an effect on whether we buy a luxury item.
c) Products consumed in public give others the opportunity to observe what
brand we have purchased.
d) Normative influence is affected by the significance of the product to the
group.
2. Consumer Characteristics
a) Some consumers have personalities that make them more susceptible to
the influence of others.
b) Attention to social comparison information is related to normative
influence.
c) Tie-strength affects the degree of normative influence.
d) Normative influence is also affected by a consumer’s identification with a
group.
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Chapter 11: Social Influences on Consumer Behavior
3. Group Characteristics
a) Coercive power is the degree to which a group has the capacity to deliver
rewards and sanctions.
b) Group cohesiveness and similarity also affect the degree of normative
influence by allowing for communication and interaction on a regular
basis.
c) Normative influence tends to be greater when groups are large and when
group members are experts.
C. Marketing Implications
1. It may be possible to create normative influence by using advertising to
demonstrate rewards or sanctions that can follow from product use or nonuse.
2. Marketing organizations may create groups whose norms guide consumers’
behaviors.
3. Marketers may attempt to create conformity pressures.
4. Marketers use compliance techniques.
a) The foot-in-the-door technique suggests that compliance is enhanced by
getting an individual to agree first to a small favor, then a larger one, then
an even larger one.
b) With the door-in-the-face technique, the consumer is first asked to comply
with a very large and possible outrageous request, followed by a smaller
and more reasonable request.
c) With the even-a-penny-will-help technique, individuals are asked to
provide a very small favor; because the people would look foolish denying
the request, they usually comply and give an amount appropriate for the
situation.
5. Asking consumers to predict their behavior increases the likelihood that they
will actually behave in the stated manner.
6. Marketers need to make sure consumers believe they have freedom of choice.
7. Use expert service providers who are similar to target consumers.
IV. Informational Influence
A. How Informational Influence Can Affect Consumer Behavior
1. Can affect how much time and effort consumers devote to information search
and decision-making
2. It is important for marketers to increase the likelihood that consumers engage
in information search, especially if the product is new and superior.
B. Factors Affecting Informational Influence Strength
1. Product Characteristics
a) Consumers tend to be susceptible to informational influence when the
product is complex.
b) Informational influence is likely to be high when product purchase and/or
usage are perceived to be risky.
c) Informational influence is also likely to be high when brands on the market
are very different from one another.
2. Consumer and Influencer Characteristics
a) Informational influence is greater when the source communicating the
information is regarded as an expert.
b) Personality traits, such as consumers’ susceptibility to reference-group
influence and attention to social comparison information, influence the
extent to which consumers look to others for cues on product
characteristics.
c) Informational influence is also affected by tie-strength and culture.
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Chapter 11: Social Influences on Consumer Behavior
(3). Something can be done discreetly.
(4). Another strategy is to do something big using all the media
resources at one’s disposal.
e) Tracking Word of Mouth
(1). Word of mouth can be tracked through network analysis.
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND DISCUSSION
Possible answers are as follows.
1. How do sources of influence differ in terms of marketer domination and delivery?
2. How are social media sites affecting social influence?
Social media create networks, with network implications of tie strength, and consumer
3. Why do companies sometimes target opinion leaders for marketing attention?
Opinion leaders have less bias than traditional advertising, because often they are a part
4. What are the three types of reference groups, and how can these groups be described?
5. How might consumers respond to normative influence?
6. What three techniques can marketers use to encourage consumer compliance?
To encourage compliance, marketers attempt to use techniques such as the foot-in-the-
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Chapter 11: Social Influences on Consumer Behavior
5. You have recently learned that a lot of positive and negative information is being
communicated about the new brand of diet hot chocolate. Should your strategy be to try
to bolster the positive information or to stop the negative information? Why?
Marketers should obviously be concerned about preventing negative word of mouth and
ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION QUESTIONS WITH SAMPLE ANSWERS
These discussion questions can be used as in-class activities or as thought questions that the
students consider while reading the chapter or to test their understanding of the material after
the reading and lecture are complete.
1. How is a group different from a reference group?
2. Define homophily and discuss its importance to understanding reference groups.
Homophily is the amount of similarity among groups. The more similar the group
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS
1. We have considered several different kinds of reference groups. Develop a marketing-
related example that illustrates the influence of dissociative, associated, and aspirational
reference groups.
2. As college students, you are all members of many different groups. Work together to
select two very different groups that a college student might belong to. Describe the
degree of contact, formality, homophily, density, and tie-strength that characterizes each
of these two groups.
3. Opinion leaders and market mavens are not the same thing. Discuss the differences
between these two types of consumers. Give an example of how a marketer can develop
efforts to target each type of person.
4. Discuss the differences between normative and informational influence. Create a matrix
in which you give marketing examples under conditions in which (1) normative influence
is high but informational influence is low, (2) normative influence is low but informational
influence is high, (3) both are high, and (4) both are low.
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Chapter 11: Social Influences on Consumer Behavior
would meet for 50 minutes and 2 hours every other Saturday to help relieve classroom
CLASSROOM GROUP ACTIVITY: MANAGING TARGETED, POSITIVE
WORD OF MOUTH: 10 MINUTES
I. Start up
A. Purpose of the activity
1. This activity will give students an opportunity to consider how to encourage the
use of targeted, positive word of mouth as a medium for promoting an offering.
B. What the instructor will do
1. Select products that the students will discuss in their small groups. Depending
on the instructor’s objectives, these can be either at the product category level
(e.g., meat, milk, eggs) or at the brand level (e.g., Marriott, Howard Johnson’s,
and Hilton). Each will generate different results. Giving some of each to groups
throughout a classroom will allow for a discussion of the differences between
product and brand-level marketing.
2. The instructor will divide people into small groups, assign them a product for
analysis, and be available to coach and help the groups as needed.
3. Optionally, groups may be provided with clear overhead acetates and markers
so they can summarize their discussions and make presentations after their
analysis and discussion.
C. What the participants will do
1. The participants will work in small groups to develop methods for encouraging
consumers to engage in positive WOM about their offering. After a period of
small-group discussion, they will make reports to the large group.
D. Rules for this experience
1. Groups are to work separately from each other. Individuals should rely on their
knowledge from the book and may refer to their notes and the book as
necessary.
II. Experience
A. Group up.
1. Have students form groups of no more than five. This exercise will work in
groups of any size; however, room restrictions that do not allow for moving
furniture may make group work more difficult.
B. Assign products.
1. Each group should be assigned a single product on which to focus.
C. Specific actions for groups
1. The groups are responsible for (1) analyzing the offerings they have been
assigned and (2) developing a list of possible ways to encourage positive
WOM among particular consumer target markets. Students should be guided
to state how each method they propose is designed to generate positive WOM
in a particular target market.
2. Optionally, groups can summarize their discussions on clear overhead
acetates to facilitate presentations after their analysis and discussion.
3. Questions to be answered by small groups
Chapter 11: Social Influences on Consumer Behavior
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a) Consider the product your group has been assigned. How might the
product be marketed so that different segments of the market are
encouraged to engage in positive WOM about the offering? State
specifically the target market being considered, the methods suggested,
and why these methods will influence positive WOM.
4. Large-group discussions
a) Have each group present its ideas to the class in a round-robin format.
III. Debrief and Unveil Concepts
A. Discuss the activity itself.
1. The purpose of this discussion is to allow students to express what they felt
about the experience itself.
2. Ask students to describe their experiences of doing the activity.
a) Likes and dislikes about what just happened
b) How they felt during the experience
c) What is realistic, unrealistic about the exercise?
d) What will be different when they do this for their own brand?
B. Discuss the content of the experience.
1. The purpose of this discussion is to ensure that students “take away” important
learning points.
2. Ask students to describe the important points the experience teaches.
a) The role of specific marketing techniques to encourage consumers to
engage in positive WOM
3. Use the chalkboard to record student responses.
a) Write down their ideas as they are presented.
b) Concentrate on the principles being discussed rather than the examples
being used.
c) Help them to see the interrelationships among their responses.
IV. Execute
A. Apply what has been learned.
1. Lead a discussion on how the concepts can be applied in organizations.
a) What barriers may be faced in applying the concepts from the exercise?
b) What can be done to help others understand the concepts when you use
them at work?
B. Transfer and use the knowledge.
1. Encourage students to make a record in their notes about how they will use the
ideas in the workplace.
2. Even if they do not have a specific job, how will they remember to use what
they have learned?
