Groups and the power of influence...

There are many types of groups or catgories that people can be put into, and different groups will have influences on different people and in different ways.

The main different types of groups have been categorised in the following way:

Ascribed - being born into the group; thiis may be the group that you form your values from. e.g. if you are born into a religous family, your values will reflect the beliefs of that religion. Applying this to myself, I was born into a family where it is seen to be illegal if you dont douse your pudding with litres of double cream, therefore I do exactly the same!

Reference - looked to for reference; this is applicable to products.

Acquired - a group that you will have moved into or joined; behaviours are acquired, this group may be most influential whilst in education, a time where behaviour is easily influenced, especially by peers.

Peers - people of equal standing to yourself.

Aspirational - wanting to belong; this may be achieved through the posession of brands.

Disassociation - hating to belong; trying to do all that you can to stand out from the "norms".

Contrived - formed for a specific reason; classes and social groups etc.

Associative - realistically belonging.

The importance of group influence varies across products and brands, but it tends to be for conspicuous purchases. A product or a brand can be conspicuous in two ways; firstly, it may be noticeable because they buyer is one of the few people who own it (luxurious, vintage products, cars and watches etc). Luxuries are more conspicuous than necessities because less people own the luxuries. Secondly, a product can be conspicuous because the buyer consumes it in public where others can see it (Red Bull etc... Laura!) -Kotler.

Some brands carry stigma's, and this alone may deter consumers from different groups from purchasing that brand. Burberry for example may carry the image of "Chav", therefore deterring other consumers from buying it, even if it is the real thing. This is all because of not wanting the assocation with something negative, in this case image.

Marketers tend to target their consumers in accordance to the groups in which they are likey to belong. Maslow's Heirachy of Needs is often used as a model for advertisers to work from. One characteristic that all humans have is the need to belong. Marketers an use this to their advantage by advertising their product in a way that makes the consumer think they 'need' the product in order to belong to whichever group the product may make them fit into. Carling use the concept of belonging as their catchphrase for all of their adverts.

The Social Comparison Theory is another way by which consumers base their purchase decisions on. Before a consumer makes their purchase for a particular product, it is very common for them to look at the behaviours of those around them to provide a guide as to how they should act and appear as well as to get re-assurance about self evaluation. Different groups of consumers will compare themselves to a certain type of person that they can relate to when making their decision. Normally, a person will choose co-orientated peers to benchmark themselves against or someone of equal standing; someone that they can relate themselves to.

One of the main influences affecting groups is accepting certain expectations that people have about certain behaviours, such as norms and rules that are seen to be the 'normal' and acceptable way of acting. There are a number of ways in which people can react to these socially acceptable pressures, these are; compliance, internalisation and identification or counter conformity. Whether individuals will conform to these pressures depends on a few factors that are personal to each person. If the importance of belonging in the certain group is extremely high then the individual is more likely to conform.