Chapter 12

Group, Dyadic and Diffusion

Processes

Consumer Behavior: A
Framework
John C. Mowen
Michael S. Minor
Key Concepts
 Groups and types of  Child influence on
groups family decisions
 Role
 How business to
business and
 Social comparison consumer buying
processes differ
 Group polarization  Service encounters
 Trends in household as theater
demographics  Market mavens
 Diffusion
Group Processes

 A group is a set of individuals which

 interacts with one another over some period
of time, and
 shares some common need or goal.
 Groups Influence Buying
in Two Ways:

 They affect the

purchases made by
individual
consumers

 Group members
sometimes make
decisions as a group
Types of Groups
“Reference group” encompasses a
number of more specific types of
groups.
 Aspiration group
 Dissociative group
 Primary group
 Formal group
 Informal group
 How Do Groups Influence
Consumers?

 Group influence processes

 The creation of roles within the group
 The development of conformity
pressures
 The social-comparison process
 The development of group polarization
Group Influence Processes
 Groups influence people by
 providing norms
 providing information
 encouraging them to express certain types
of values.
 Group influence is greater for “public”
goods, not as great for “private” goods.
Normative, Informational,
and Value-Expressive
Influences
 Normative influence - occurs when group
norms act to influence individual behavior.
 Informational influence - operates when the
group provides highly credible information
that influences the consumer’s purchase
decision.
 Value-expressive influence - consumers
sense that a reference group has certain
values and attitudes pertaining to the
consumption process.
A Role . . .

. . . consists of the specific behaviors

expected of a person in a certain position

Role-related product cluster - a set of

products necessary for playing a particular
role.
Conformity is . . .
. . . a change in behavior or belief
toward a group as a result of real or
imagined group pressure.

There are two types of conformity:

 Compliance
 Private Acceptance
Factors Leading to
Conformity
 Group factors:
 Cohesiveness
 Expertise
 Size of group
 Individual Factors:
 Amount of information the individual possesses
 Attractiveness of group/Individual’s need to be
liked
 Type of Decision
 Social-Comparison
Processes
 The process by which people evaluate
the
 “correctness” of their opinions,

 extent of their abilities, and

 appropriateness of their possessions.

Group Polarization
 Groups tend to select more extreme
positions than that of the average group
member.
 Conservative as well as risky shifts are
possible.
Families and Households

Households are
composed of all those
people who occupy a
living unit
 The Nuclear Family
 The Extended Family
 The Detached Nuclear
Family
e The Demographics of
Households

Two general types of

households:

 Families (70.6%)

 Nonfamilies
(29.4%)
Family Households:

 Married couples
 Married with children at home
 Married with no children at home
 Single fathers
 Single mothers
 Other families
Nonfamily Households:

 Men Living
Alone

 Women
Living Alone

 Other
Nonfamilies
 Some Household Trends

 Childless couples 45-64 have the most buying

power.
 Single parents/childless singles over 45 have the least.
 Size has shrunk from 3.14 to 2.67 persons.
 Increase in divorce: children leave home prior to
marriage: older people maintain own homes.
 Later marriage.
 2-career families.
Family Decision Making
 As in organizational buying units, the
decision maker may not be the user
or maintainer of the product.

 Families come in many different

configurations so it is difficult to
identify average family decision
making.
Relative Influence
Of Decision Makers

 Wife-Dominated
Decisions
 Husband-Dominated
Decisions
 Autonomic Decisions
 Syncratic Decisions
 Family Influence - Children
 Children have more influence on:
 Food, vacations, eating out .
 Adept at forming alliances with 1
parent to constitute a majority.
 Child influence increases with age
and earnings.
Childhood Consumer
Socialization
. . . refers to the
processes by which
young people
acquire skills,
knowledge and
attitudes relevant
to their functioning
as consumers in the
marketplace.
Model of Consumer
Socialization
Background Socialization Learning Outcomes
Factors Agents Mechanisms

Modeling
SES Media
Reinforce- The
Sex Family
ment Socialized
Age Peers
Cognitive Customer
Class Teachers
develop-
Religion
ment
Organizational Buying
Behavior
An organizational
buying center is
made up of those
people in an
organization who
participate in the
buying decision and
who share the risks
and goals of the
decision.
 Building Relationships in
Organizational Buying

Relationship marketing refers to the overt

attempt of exchange partners to build a long-
term association characterized by purposeful
cooperation and mutual dependence and
development of social, as well as structural
bonds.
 Webster’s Marketing
Relationships Continuum
Pure Transaction
1. Transaction
2. Repeated Transactions
3. Long-Term Relationship
4. Buyer-Seller Relationship
5. Strategic Alliance
6. Network Organization
7. Vertical Integration
Source: Frederick E.Webster, “The Changing
Role of Marketing in the Corporation,” Full Integration
Journal of Marketing 56 (October 1992), pp. 1-17.
Dyadic Exchange . . .

. . . takes place
when two
individuals
transfer resources
between each
other
Word-of-Mouth
Communication

. . . refers to an
exchange of
comments,
thoughts, or ideas
between two or
more consumers,
none of whom is a
marketing source.
Word-of-Mouth
Communication
 May account for 3
times as many sales
as advertising.
 Is twice as effective
as radio ads, 4 times
as effective as
personal selling, 7
times as effective as
newspapers or
magazines.
Opinion Leaders...
 Lead in a specific product category and
situation.
 Are usually involved with the product
category.
 May have higher social status than
followers.
 May be more innovative in purchases than
followers.
 Are a bit similar to product innovators.
Types of Opinion Leaders
 Opinion Leader  Market Maven
 Always involved in  General market
product category. knowledge
 High status,
 Expertise not
socially active. product specific.
 Product Innovator
 Surrogate Consumer
 Often professional:
 Purchases tax consultant, wine
innovative steward, stock
products broker.
 Less integrated
into social groups.
Service Encounters . . .

. . a personal
interaction
between a
consumer and a
marketer.
Service Encounters as
Theater
Firm’s Backstage Management Functions, Rehearsal

Firm’s Front
Region Personal Front, etc.

Performance
Customer’s Front
Region Personal Front, etc.

Customer’s Backstage Management Functions, Rehearsal

 Symmetrical Customer/
Employee Service Themes

 Autonomy  Indifference
 Mutual  Cooperation
cooperation  Dominance
 Total dependence
Diffusion . . .
. . . refers to the idea . . . in the consumer
that substances and behavior setting, refers
ideas can gradually to the process by
spread through a which innovative
ideas, products, and
medium of some
services spread
type and reach a through the consumer
state of equilibrium. population.
Transmission Processes

 Trickle-Down
Theory

 Multi-Step Flow
Model
Multistep Flow Model...
Mass
Media
Gatekeeper F
O Follow-
Mass ers
Media G F

O
Mass F
Media
Opinion Leaders
Implications of Multistep
Model
 Mass communications can directly
reach nearly everyone.
 For some products, opinion
leader/follower roles are reversed.
 Gatekeepers can choose whether
opinion leaders/followers get
information.
 Communication flows back and forth
between all 3 groups.
The Diffusion of
Innovations
A product
innovation is a
product that has
been recently
introduced and is
perceived by
consumers to be
new in relation to
existing products
or services
Managerial Implications
 Positioning. New products should be positioned
to appeal to opinion leaders, then possibly
repositioned to appeal to followers.
 Environmental Scanning. Scanning can identify
what present customers are saying to other
customers or potential customers about the
company or its products.
 Market Research. Research can provide insight
into the shape of the diffusion curve for a new
product.
Implications continued...
 Marketing Mix. Promotions can be
positioned to appeal to children and
thus utilize their influence in family
decision makings.
 Segmentation. Naturally existing groups
of customers make outstanding target
markets.