Environmental Influences
Types of influences
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Cultural
Social
Personal
Family
Situational
Values
Values are shared beliefs or group
norms internalised by individuals
Norms
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
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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
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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
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Gatekeeper
Initiator
Influencer
Decider
Buyer
User
Spousal Buying roles
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Autonomic
Husband dominant
Wife dominant
Syncratic (joint)
Behaviour changes related to Family
Life cycle (FLC)
• Single-Newly Married – Full Nest I – Full
Nest II – Empty Nest I – Empty Nest II –
Solitary Survivor – Retired Solitary
Survivor
• Nature of products
• Priorities accorded to expenditure
• Habits and preferences
Parenting styles
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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
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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