Reference Groups and Family Learning Objectives Learning ...

7/8/2010
Chapter 14
Reference Groups and
Family
Chuck E. Cheese
Learning Objectives
• Describe two aspects of the micro social
environment
• Discuss three types of reference group influence
• Describe how reference groups could influence
choice decisions about products and brands, and
offered ideas for using reference groups in
marketing strategies
14-2
Learning Objectives (cont.)
• Distinguish between families and households
• Discuss decision making by families
• Look at conflict in family choices and describe
several ways family members might try to
resolve the decision conflict and influence each
other
14-3
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Learning Objectives (cont.)
• Explore consumer socialization
• Describe several demographic trends that have
changed family households
• Discuss a model of the family life cycle and
showed how marketers could use it to analyze
markets and develop marketing strategies
14-4
Reference Groups
• A group consists of two or more people who
interact with each other to accomplish some goal
• A reference group involves one or more people
used as a basis for comparison or point of
reference in forming affective and cognitive
responses and performing behaviors
14-5
Types of Reference Groups
Ex. 14.1, p. 339
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Analyzing Reference Groups
• Reference groups are cultural groups in
that members share certain common
cultural meanings
– Marketers try to determine the content of the
shared meanings of various reference groups
– Reference groups can have both positive and
negative effects on consumers
• Associative reference groups
• Dissociative reference groups 14-7
Types of Reference Group Influence
• Most people are members of several
primary informal groups and a few formal,
membership groups
– People identify and affiliate with particular
reference groups for three reasons
• To gain useful knowledge
• To obtain rewards or avoid punishments
• To acquire meanings for constructing, modifying,
or maintaining their self-concepts
14-8
Types of Reference Groups (cont.)
–Three types of reference group influence
• Informational
• Utilitarian
• Value-expressive
–All three types of reference group
influence can be accomplished by a
single reference group.
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Reference Group Influence on Products and
Brands
• Reference groups do not influence all product and
brand purchases to the same degree [Ex. 14.2, p. 343]
– Influences vary on at least two dimensions
• Degree to which the product or brand is
– A necessity
– A luxury
• Degree to which the object in question is
conspicuous or know by other people
– Public good
– Private good 14-10
Reference Group Influence on Products and
Brands (cont.) Ex. 14.2, p. 343
14-11
Reference Group Influence on Products
and Brands (cont.)
–Reference group influence will vary
depending on whether the products and
brands are
• Public necessities
• Private necessities
• Public luxuries
• Private luxuries
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Reference Groups and Marketing
Strategy
• Developing marketing strategies through an analysis
of primary informal group influences
• Peer group influence as a major asset of firms that
sell in-home to groups
• Describing similarities between previous consumers
and potential consumers
• Using salespersons as reference groups
• Soliciting experts to aid in the direct sale of products
• Example of Pharmaceutical ads [Highlight 14.1, p. 345]
14-13
Family
• Marketers are interested in both families and
households
– Household is the housing unit having people
living in it
– Nonfamily households include unrelated people
living together
– A family has at least two people, the householder
and someone who is related to the householder by
blood, marriage, or adoption
• Nuclear family
• Extended family
14-14
Family Decision Making
• How family members interact and
influence one another when making
purchase choices for the household
– Identification of roles of family members in
family decision making is important
14-15
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Family Decision Making (cont.)
–Types of family decision-making roles
include:
• Influencers
• Gatekeepers
• Users
• Deciders
• Buyers
• Disposers
14-16
Influences on Family Decision Making
• Areas explored in research on family
decision making are
– Differences in product class and their
relationship to family decision making
– The structure of husband/wife roles
– The determinants of joint decision making
• Children and family decision making
14-17
Conflict in Family Decision Making
• Decision conflict arises when family
members disagree about some aspect of the
purchase decision
– Means-end chain model is a useful framework
for analyzing decision conflict
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Six Common Types of Family Influence
Strategies Ex. 14.3, p. 348
Patterns or Styles of Influence Behaviors
Ex. 14.4, p. 349
Consumer Socialization
• Refers to how children acquire knowledge about
products and services and various consumptionrelated
skills
– Can occur directly through intentional instruction or
indirectly through observation and modeling
– The consumer knowledge formed in childhood can
influence people in later years
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Consumer Socialization (cont.)
– Developing early brand awareness and loyalty
is an important marketing strategy for many
companies
– The flow of socialization is not restricted to
parents influencing their young children
14-22
Factors Influencing American Families
• Three important changes:
– Changes in female employment
[ Avon - Highlight 14.2, p. 351]
– Changes in marriage and divorce
• Age at first marriage [1890-2009, 1940-2009, 2000-2009]
– Changes in childbirth and child rearing practices
14-23
29
Age of First Marriage 1890 - 2009
28
27
26
25
24
Men
Women
23
22
21
20
19
1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020
Source: U.S. Census 2010
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29
Age of First Marriage 1940- 2009
28
28.1
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
20
24.3
21.5
27.5 27.5
27.6
27.4
27.1 27.1 27.1
26.9
26.8
26.9
26.8
26.9 26.9
26.7 26.7
26.5 26.5
26.3
26.2
26.1
25.9
25.9 25.9
25.8
25.7
25.6
25.5
25.5
25.4 25.4
25.3 25.3 25.3 25.3
25.2
25.1 25.1 25.1
25 25
24.8
24.8
24.7
24.4
24.4
24.5 24.5 24.5
24.2
24.1
24
23.9
23.8
23.8
23.7
23.6 23.6
23.5
23.3
23.3
23.3
23.2 23.2 23.2
23.1 23.1 23.1 23.1 23.1
23.1
23 23
23
22.9
22.7
22.8 22.8 22.8 22.8
22.7
22.8 22.8 22.8
22.8
22.6
22.5
22.6 22.6
22.5
22.5
22.3
22.1
22
21.8
21.6
21.3
21.1 21.1
21
20.9 20.9
20.8 20.8 20.8
20.6 20.6
20.5
20.4 20.4
20.5 20.5 20.5
20.3 20.3 20.3 20.3 20.3 20.3 20.3
20.2 20.2 20.2
20.1
20.2 20.2
1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
Men
Women
28.5
Age of First Marriage 2000-2009
28
27.5
27
26.5
Men
Women
26
25.5
25
24.5
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Demographic Changes in Household
Composition
• American families are highly diverse
–Various types of families constitute
distinctive markets for many products
• Married-couple family
• Traditional family
• Nontraditional family
• Nonfamily households family
– Cohabiting couples
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Family Life Cycle
Ex. 14.5, p. 355
• The modern family life cycle captures most
types of families in American society,
including:
– Single parents
– Young singles
– Older singles
– Married couples with children
14-28
A Modern Family Life Cycle
Ex. 14.5, p. 355
14-29
Family- Marketing Analysis
• Considerations for using the family life
cycle for marketing analysis
– Modern family life cycle does not include
nonfamily households
– Modern family life cycle does not capture
every possible change in family status that can
occur
• Does not include the boomerang age
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Family- Marketing Analysis (cont.)
– Marketers use the family life cycle to:
• Segment the market
• Analyze market potential
• Identify target markets
• Develop more effective marketing strategies
– Developing marketing strategies for the bachelor
segment is a challenge
– Some stages in the family life cycle are more
important markets than others
– Stages of the family life cycle that contain
14-31
children are quite important to many marketers
Family- Marketing Implications
• Ethical Considerations [Highlight 14.3, p. 358]
• Ideas for marketing strategies to help
reduce shopping time and stress
– Provide information
– Assist in planning
– Develop out-of-store selling
– Automate processes
– Improve delivery
14-32
Summary
• Described two aspects of the micro social
environment
• Discussed three types of reference group
influence
• Described how reference groups could influence
choice decisions about products and brands, and
offered ideas for using reference groups in
marketing strategies
14-33
11

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Summary (cont.)
• Distinguished between families and households
• Discussed decision making by families
• Looked at conflict in family choices and
described several ways family members might
try to resolve the decision conflict and influence
each other
14-34
Summary (cont.)
• Explored consumer socialization
• Described several demographic trends that have
changed family households
• Discussed a model of the family life cycle and
showed how marketers could use it to analyze
markets and develop marketing strategies
14-35
12