Core Concepts of Marketing

86 CHAPTER 4 UNDERSTANDINGBUYERBEHAVIOR

Theseare officeworkers, teachers,small businesspeopleand thelikewhotypicallyhold

strongAmericanvalues.They arefamily-oriented, hard-workingindividuals. Theuppe;-

lower class is madeupof blue-collarworkerssu chas production lineworkers andservic~

people.Manyhaveincomes thatexceed thoseof thelower-middleclass,buttheirvalue~

areoften verydifferent.Theytendto adoptashort-run,live-for-the-presentphilosophy. They

areless fut ure-oriented thanthemiddle classes. Thelower-lower classconsistsof unskilled

workerswithlowincomes.They aremoreconcerned with necessitiesthanwith statusor

fulfillment.

Peopleinthesamesocialclasstendto havesimilarattitudes,livein similarneigh-

borhoods,dressalike, andshopatthesametype stores.Ifa marketerwishestotarget efforts

towardtheupperclasses,then themarket offeringmustbedesignedtomeet their expec-

tationsintermsofquality, service,andatmosphere.Forexample, differences inleisure-

concerts arefavoredbymembersof t hemiddleandupperclasses,while fishing,bowling,

pool,anddrive-inmovies aremore likely toinvolvemembersofthelowersocialclasses.

ReferenceGroups Doyou everwonderwhyPepsi used ShaquilleO'Nealintheir

advertisements?Theteenmarketco nsu mesa cons iderable amount of softdrinks. Pepsi has

madea strongefforttocapturea larger shareof th is market,and feltth atShaquillerepre-

sentedthesp iritoftoday's teens.Pepsiispromotedas"thechoiceofa newgeneration"

andShaquilleisviewedas a rolemodelby muchofthatgeneration.Pepsihasthus employed

theconceptofreferencegroups.

Areferencegrouphelpsshapea person' s attitu desand behaviors.Suc h groupscan

beeitherformalor informal.Churches,clubs,sch ools,notableindividuals,andfri endscan

allbereferencegroupsfora particular consu mer.Referencegroupsarecharacterized as

havingindividuals who areopinionleaders forthegroup.Opinion leadersarepeoplewho

influenceothers.Theyarenotnecessarilyhigher-incomeor bettereducated, butperhaps

areseenashavinggreater expertiseorknowledgerelatedtosomespecifictopic. Forexam-

ple, a localhighschoolteachermay beanopinion leaderforparents inselectin g college:;

fortheirchildren.Thesepeopleset thetrendandothersconformtotheexpressedbehav-

ior.Ifa marketer canidentifytheopinionleaders f ora groupin the targetmarket, th eneffor:

canbedirectedtowardattractingtheseindividuals. Forexample,ifanice creamparloris

attemptingtoattractthe localhighschool trade,opinionleadersat theschool may bevery

importantto:t<;success.

The referencegroupcaninfluenceanindividualin severalways:6

1. Roleexpectations:The roleassumed by a personisnothingmorethana prescribed
   wayofbehavingbased on thesituationandthe person's posi tioninthesituation.
   Yourreferencegroupdetermines much abouthowthisroleistobeperformed.
   Asa student, youare expected to behavein a certainbasicway undercertaincon-
   ditions.


2. Conformity: Conformity is related to ourrolesinthatwemodifyourbehaviorin
   orderto coincidewithgroupnorms.Normsarebeh avioralexpectations that are
   consideredappropriateregardlessofthepositi onwehold.


3. Groupcommunications th roughopinionleaders:We, asconsumers, areconstantly
   seekingout theadviceofknowledgeablefriendsoracquaintances whocanpro-
   vide information,giveadvice, or actuallymake thedecision.Forsomeproduct

categories, there areprofessionalopinionleaderswhoarequite easytoidentify-

e.g.,auto mechanics, beauticians, stockbrokers, andphysicians.