Environmental Influences Types of influences Cultural Social Personal

Environmental Influences

Types of influences • • • Cultural Social Personal Family Situational

Values are shared beliefs or group norms internalised by individuals

Norms are beliefs held by consensus of a group concerning the behaviour rules for individual members

Socialisation The process by which people develop their values, motivation and habitual activity. Consumer socialisation is the acquisition of consumption related cognitions, attitude and behaviour

What is culture? • A set of values , ideas and other meaningful symbols that help individuals communicate, interpret and evaluate as members of society • Provides people with a sense of identity and an understanding of acceptable behaviour within society.

Cultural Influence • • Relationships Values and norms Beliefs and attitudes Mental processes and learning • Work habits and practices • Sense of self and space • Communication and language • Dress and appearance • Food and feeding habits • Time and time consciousness

How is culture propagated? • Culture is learned – through imitation or by observing the process of reward and punishment in a society of members who adhere to or deviate from group norms. • Culture is inculcated through family, religion and schools • Culture rewards socially gratifying responses. When norms no longer provide gratification in a society, the norms are extinguished • Culture is adaptive

Culture affects consumer behaviour • Function • Form • Meaning

Impact of culture on consumption A nation’s culture determines what suppliers can offer, the way products can be marketed and the degree to which consumers are allowed to act on their preferences

How core values affect Marketing? • Defines how products are used in society • Provide +ve or –ve valences for brands and communication programmes • Define acceptable market relationships • Define ethical behaviour

Changing Institutions • Declining family influence • Changing religious influence • Changing education institutions

Intergenerational Motivating factors Consumers are products of their environment. People strive as adults to achieve what they believe they were deprived of in early stages of life. Cohort analysis helps us to understand the differences between different groups and their motivations

Social Influence Behaviour can also be influenced depending on social class

What is social class? It is defined as relatively permanent and homogeneous divisions in a society into which individuals or families sharing similar values, lifestyles, interests and behaviour can be categorised

Social stratification • When a large group of families are approximately equal in rank to each other and clearly differentiated from other families, they form a social class • ‘pecking order’ • Determined by class, status and caste

Social classes are stratified according to their relations in the production and acquisition of goods Social status groups are stratified according to the principles of their consumption of goods as represented by their ‘style of life’

What determines social class? • Economic – occupation, income, wealth • Interaction – personal prestige, association, socialisation • Political – power, class consciousness, mobility

How to measure social class? • Objective • Subjective • Interpretive

Pretenders to a social class are much more than people that fall in it. Therefore product usage does not necessarily mean that people fall in that class

Do social classes change? • Men inherit the class of their father. • Women can change class with marriage. Similarly women can lose status after divorce

Personal Influence Personal influence, direct or indirect is one of the very best forms of persuasion. This is because the input from people with whom we can identify and relate can attain remarkable credibility.

Types of personal influence • Reference group – Normative, Comparative • WOM

Models of Personal Influence • Trickle down theory • Two step flow • Multi-stage interaction

Types of reference groups • Primary vs secondary • Aspirational vs dissociative • Formal vs informal

Forms of reference group influence • Normative influence – when people conform and comply through pressure from reference group behaviour • Value expressive influence – identification or enhanced image in the eyes of others • Informational Influence – When assessment of products or services are difficult, people turn to others who have had or claim satisfaction with this product –’Principle of social proof’.

Word of Mouth • For WOM to spread it requires an opinion leader • There has to be some motivations for spreading WOM

When will WOM be useful? • Consumer lacks sufficient information to make an informed choice • Product is complex and difficult to evaluate using objective criteria • Consumer lacks the ability to evaluate the product or service • Other sources are perceived to be less credible • An influential person is more accessible and can be consulted saving time and effort • Strong social ties are present between transmittee and receiver • High need for social approval

Identifying ‘influentials’ • Sociometric • Key informant • Self-designation

Motivations for WOM • • • Involvement Self enhancement Concern for others Message intrigue Dissonance reduction

Impact of WOM communication • Source vs seeker initiated conversation • -ve vs +ve information • Verbal vs visual information

Marketing implications • Creating influentials • Targeting influentials • Stimulating +ve WOM

Family Influence Buying decisions of individuals may be heavily influenced by other members of the family or household

Household All persons related or otherwise occupying the same dwelling unit. Non-family units would come under this category eg, singles, elderly people, POSSLQ, divorcees

Families can comprise of • Nuclear • Extended

How do families function? • Cohesion • Adaptability • Communication

Individual role in a buying centre • • • Gatekeeper Initiator Influencer Decider Buyer User

Spousal Buying roles • • Autonomic Husband dominant Wife dominant Syncratic (joint)

Behaviour changes related to Family Life cycle (FLC) • Single-Newly Married – Full Nest II – Empty Nest II – Solitary Survivor – Retired Solitary Survivor • Nature of products • Priorities accorded to expenditure • Habits and preferences

Parenting styles • • Authoritarian Negligent Democratic Permissive

Situation Influences Arising from factors that are particular to a specific time and place that are independent of consumer and object characteristics

Types of consumer situations • Communication situations • Purchase situations • Usage situations

Communication Situations Those settings where the consumer is exposed to either personal or nonpersonal communications.

Purchase Situations Those settings in which consumers acquire products and services • Information environment – availability, load, format, form • Retail environment –atmospherics, music, layout, colours, POPs, salespeople, crowding • Time

Usage Situations Those settings in which consumption occurs • Location is same • Location is different • Used differently • Different social situations • Time of the day

Person-Situation Interaction Behaviour can also change depending on the type of consumers for the same situation

Unexpected Situational Influence • • Product out of stock Guests dropping in for dinner Sudden leave being sanctioned Falling ill For marketers, it is assumed that the no. of customers lost due to unexpected situational influences is offset by the number of customers gained by unexpected situational influences. While this may be true at an overall level, losses and gains could happen at a company/industry level