Chapter 14

Reference Groups and Family

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Copyright 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Reference Groups
Reference group: the group of people used as a basis for comparison for affective and cognitive responses and for behaviors

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Reference Groups cont.

Types of reference groups Formal Membership Informal Primary Secondary Aspirational Dissociative

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Reference Groups cont.

Types of reference group influence Informational Utilitarian Value-expressive

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Reference Groups cont.

Necessity Public necessities Public Product: Weak Brand: Strong Luxury Public luxuries Product: Strong Brand: Strong

Reference group influence: Reference group influence:

Private necessities
Private Product: Weak Brand: Weak
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Private luxuries
Product: Strong Brand: Weak

Reference group influence: Reference group influence:

Reference Groups cont.

Reference groups and marketing strategy Imbedded markets Referrals Similar customers Experts Advertising

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Family
Households Nonfamily households Families Nuclear family Extended family

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Family cont.
Family decision making Roles in family decision making Influencers Gatekeepers Users Deciders Buyers Disposers

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Family cont.
Conflict in family decision making Means-end chain model

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Family cont.
Six common types of family influence strategies Expert Legitimate Bargaining Reward/referent Emotional Impression management

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Family cont.
Consumer socialization How children learn to be effective consumers Enculturation Directly or indirectly Early brand awareness and loyalty Life-long process

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Family cont.
Factors influencing American families, changes in: Female employment Marriage and divorce Childbirth and rearing practices

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Family cont.
Family life cycle
Young divorced w/out children Middle-aged divorced w/out children Middle-aged married w/out children

Young single*

Young married w/o children*

Young married with children*

Young divorced with children

Middle-aged married with children*

Middle-aged divorced with children
Recycled flow
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Middle-aged married w/out dep. children*

Middle-aged divorced w/out dep. children

Older married*

Older unmarried*

Usual flow

*Traditional family flow

Summary
Two aspects of the micro social environment Three types of reference group influence Reference groups influences Families vs. households Decision making by families Conflict in family choices and resolution Consumer socialization Family life cycle

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