Marketing_Management_14th_Edition-min

154 PART 3 CONNECTING WITH CUSTOMERS
than a shop—loud music plays and dark walls have bulletin boards
displaying concert flyers and staff music picks. Hot Topic also hosts free
acoustic shows, called Local Static, showcasing local bands and has
created a music-related social network site, ShockHound.com. Hot Topic
can catch trends and launch new hip clothing and hard-to-find pop culture
merchandise in six to eight weeks, literally months before traditional
competitors using off-shore suppliers. 6
Hot Topic works hard to stay on
top of what’s new and what
matters with its core youth
audience—especially in music.
FAMILY The family is the most important consumer buying
organization in society, and family members constitute the most
influential primary reference group. 7 There are two families in the
buyer’s life. The family of orientation consists of parents and
siblings. From parents a person acquires an orientation toward
religion, politics, and economics and a sense of personal ambition,
self-worth, and love. 8 Even if the buyer no longer interacts very
much with his or her parents, parental influence on behavior can be
significant. Almost 40 percent of families have auto insurance with the same company as the
husband’s parents.
A more direct influence on everyday buying behavior is the family of procreation—namely, the
person’s spouse and children. In the United States, husband–wife engagement in purchases has
traditionally varied widely by product category. The wife has usually acted as the family’s main purchasing
agent, especially for food, sundries, and staple clothing items. Now traditional purchasing
roles are changing, and marketers would be wise to see both men and women as possible targets.
For expensive products and services such as cars, vacations, or housing, the vast majority of husbands
and wives engage in joint decision making. 9 Men and women may respond differently to
marketing messages, however. 10 Research has shown that women value connections and relationships
with family and friends and place a higher priority on people than on companies. Men, on the
other hand, relate more to competition and place a high priority on action. 11
Marketers are taking more direct aim at women with new products such as Quaker’s Nutrition
for Women cereals and Crest Rejuvenating Effects toothpaste. In 2003, Sherwin-Williams launched
a Dutch Boy easy-to-use “Twist and Pour” paint can targeted specifically at women. Priced $2
higher than the same paint in traditional metal containers, the new product helped the company
triple its revenue. 12
Another shift in buying patterns is an increase in the amount of dollars spent and the direct and
indirect influence wielded by children and teens. Direct influence describes children’s hints,
requests, and demands—“I want to go to McDonald’s.” Indirect influence means that parents know
the brands, product choices, and preferences of their children without hints or outright requests
(“I think Jake and Emma would want to go to McDonald’s”).
Research has shown that more than two-thirds of 13- to 21-year-olds make or influence family
purchase decisions on audio/video equipment, software, and vacation destinations. 13 In total, these
teens and young adults spend over $120 billion a year. They report that to make sure they buy the
right products, they watch what their friends say and do as much as what they see or hear in an ad
or are told by a salesperson in a store. 14
Television can be especially powerful in reaching children, and marketers are using it to target
them at younger ages than ever before with product tie-ins for just about everything—Disney character
pajamas, retro G.I. Joe toys and action figures, Harry Potter backpacks, and High School
Musical playsets.
By the time children are around 2 years old, they can often recognize characters, logos, and
specific brands. They can distinguish between advertising and programming by about ages 6 or 7.
A year or so later, they can understand the concept of persuasive intent on the part of advertisers.
By 9 or 10, they can perceive the discrepancies between message and product. 15
ROLES AND STATUS We each participate in many groups—family, clubs, organizations.
Groups often are an important source of information and help to define norms for behavior.
We can define a person’s position in each group in terms of role and status. A role consists of the
activities a person is expected to perform. Each role in turn connotes a status. A senior vice