Diffusion of Innovation

Still today we have discussed on some Social factors like reference group, family, roles, status, group norms, etc……In our last post we have discussed on Opinion leaders as a part of reference group. Today we are going to discuss on Diffusion of Innovation which is another factor of the reference group.

Diffusion of Innovation
Opinion leaders are usually innovators. They are always trying out new products and brands, and recommending them to the opinion receivers. The acceptance of new products, brands, and ideas is known as the diffusion of innovation. In a narrow sense, innovation is defined as something new or modified which has a relative advantage over the existing products, brands, and ideas is known as the diffusion of innovation. In a narrow sense, innovation is defined as something new or modified which has a relative advantage over the exiting products. Marketers are concerned with the pread or diffusion of this innovation which is a two-step process. The first step is the spread of awareness of an innovation from its sources to the consumers. The second step is the individual consumer decision-making process which leads up to the acceptance or rejection of the innovation. We will discuss on cultural and sub culture factors in our next post.

Opinion Leader-2

Both opinion leaders and followers receive information on all kinds of products and services from the mass media. But the opinion receivers are more influenced by the opinion leaders rather than the media. In the eyes of the opinion receiver, the opinion leader has more credibility than the mass media. The opinion leaders become a sort of ‘middleman’ receiving information from mass media and passing it on to opinion receivers.

Advertisers and marketers are concerned with reaching the opinion leaders and ensuring that they receive the intended information which they can, in turn, pass on to opinion receivers. Thus the first task of the marketer is to identify the opinion leaders. In a particular society, persons who are members or participants in a number of social organisations and have a high social activity participation are likely candidates for opinion leaders. Having identified the opinion leaders, the next task is to reach them through the media which they patronise. Direct mail pieces, magazines and journals of clubs and social organisations and special interest magazines (for speciality products) are some of the appropriate channels for this purpose.

blinds, roller shades, woven wood shades

Opinion Leaders-1

Apart form the family, a consumer is influenced by the advice he receives from his friends, neighbours, relatives and colleagues about what products and services he should buy. This process of influencing is known as the opinion leadership process and is described as the process by which one person (the opinion leader) informally influences the actions or attitudes of others (opinion receivers).

The influence is informal and the setting in which the influencing process takes place has nothing to do with the actual buying or selling of the product in question. For instance, during lunch hour you casually ask your colleague to recommend a good scooter mechanic. Or you discuss with your relatives and neighbours what brand of TV they possess and try to ascertain which is the brand recommended by most, before purchasing a TV for your own home. Further, the process often occurs between two persons rather than in a large group setting. Thus, the opinion leadership process can also be thought of as the ‘word-of-mouth’ communication.

The advice of opinion leaders is sought in case of specific products. People who have acquired considerable knowledge and experience in a particular field are thought of as opinion leaders in that area.

Other Social Factors-1

As out talk on Social factors we have discussed on some social factors like Family, Status, Roles and today we are going to discuss on Group norms and Conformity.
Group norms
The norms of a group are the implicit rules of conduct and behavior that are expected of its member. For instance, in certain multi-national companies in India, the norm for office wear includes a full-sleeved shirt and tie, notwithstanding the terrible heat conditions. If marketers can identify the various groups to which potential consumers belong, they can successfully market those products and services whose consumption is dictated by the group norms.

Conformity
Conformity implies that members of a group have adopted attitudes and behavior patterns that are consistent with the group’s norms. In the context of consumer behavior it refers to the percentage of members who knowingly use the same brand or product. Example group a working for project a have same work environment and identical dress code. Their office window has same vertical window blinds and other group has different colors vertical window blinds. These ways they are trying to show conformity towards their group within the company.
We will discuss on Opinion Leaders in our next post.

vertical blinds, window blinds

Other Social Factors

Today we continue our talk on Social Factors like Roles and Status.
Roles
An individual may participate in many groups. His position within each group can be defined in terms of the activities he is expected to perform. You are probably a manager, and when in your work situation you play that role. However, at home you play the role of spouse and parent. Thus in different social positions you play different roles. Each of these roles influences your purchase decisions.

As a manager, you would like to buy clothes which reflect your status within the organization, such as safari suit, three-piece suit, tie, leather shoes etc. But at home where you are in a relaxed and informal situation you may wear shirts or any comfort dress.

Status
Each role that a person plays has status, which is the relative prestige accorded by society. Status is often measured by the degree of influence an individual exerts on the behavior and attitude of others. People buy and use products which reflect their status. The managing director of a company may drive a Mercedes to communicate his status in society. He may go to Europe or U.S.A. for a holiday, rather than going to Mussoorie or Ooty.

Social Factors - Family-1

Today we continue our discussion on one important social factor and which is a family. Traditionally, it has been the wife’s role to purchase food, clothing and other household sundries, while the husband played a dominant role in the purchase of automobiles and life insurance. But with the emergence of the working woman, these lines of traditional role demarcation have been getting increasingly blurred. Husbands now have to shoulder a greater part of the household duties while women are asserting themselves in areas so far treated as the husband’s domain. Thus, the same decision, in different families may be made either by the husband or wife, or both may have an equal voice. Children are also beginning to exert their influence on the family’s purchase decision. This is especially true in case of products such as television, stereo music systems, records, personal computers, etc. where the children are likely to have more updated information about various brands and product attributes.

Commenting on the consumer behavior trends in the hi-fi stereo music today, Vice-president of Peico Electronic (Consumer electronics division) said, “It is teenagers who select sets, and their papers just buy them” (as reported in ‘India Today’ July 31, 1987).

In our next post we will discuss on other social factors like Roles, Status, Group norms etc.

mini blinds, discount motel, term life insurance

Social Factors - Family

As our talk on social factors we continue our discussion on one important factor and that is Family. The family is the most important of all these groups and we shall discuss it in detail. The family, as a unit, is an important consumer for many products which are purchased for consumption by all members. It is a source of major influence on the individual members’ buying behavior. We can identify two families which shape an individual’s consumption behavior. One is the family of orientation that is the family in which you are born and consists of your parents, brothers and sisters. It is from parents that we imbibe most of our values, attitudes, beliefs and purchase behavior patterns. Long after an individual has ceased to live with his parents, their influence on the sub-conscious mind still continues to be great. In India, where children continue to live with their parents even after attaining adulthood, the latter’s influence is extremely important.

The second type of family is the family of procreation consisting of the consumer’s spouse and children. Within the family, different members play different roles. Marketers are interested in finding out exactly the role played by individual members so that they can appropriately design their promotion strategy to suit these differing roles.

Reference Groups

We are talking consumer behavior and factors affecting it. We talked personal factors like learning, beliefs and attitudes, family life cycle, education and occupation, income and personality in our previous post. We talked social factor Lift Style and today we are going to talk about reference groups.

Reference Groups
As a consumer, your decision to purchase and use certain products and services, is influenced not only by psychological factors, your personality and life-style, but also by the people around you with whom you interact and the various social groups to which you belong. The groups with whom you interact directly or indirectly influence your purchase decision and thus their study is of great importance to marketers. If your friend is going to buy a cheap life insurance policies from agent a, then we are going to buy from same agent.

A group is defined as two or more people who interact to achieve individual or common goals. The three categories of groups which are important for the marketer to understand are:

• Primary and secondary groups
  
• Formal and informal groups
  
• Membership and symbolic groups

Let’s talk on each group in details.
1) Primary and secondary groups:
A primary group is one with which an individual interacts on a regular basis and whose opinion is of importance to him. Family, neighbors, close friends, colleagues and co-workers are example of primary groups. Secondary groups are those with which an individual interacts only occasionally and does not consider their opinion very important.

2) Formal and informal groups:
Rotaty, Lions, Jaycees are some of the well-known social groups in our society. Labor unions, social clubs and societies are other types of formal groups to which individuals may belong. A formal group has a highly defined structure, specific roles and authority positions and specific goals.

Social Factors - Consumer Behavior

We are talking consumer behavior in our blog. In our previous talk we talked different factor effecting consumer behavior. We talked Personality, income, Education and occupation, family life cycle as factor having effect on consumer behavior. Today we are going to talk about Social factors.

Social factors also have effect on consumer behavior. Social factors include Life-Style, Reference Groups, Family, Roles, Status, Group norms, Conformity etc. Today we talk on Life Style as social factor effecting consumer behavior.


Life-Style
Life-styles are defined as patterns in which people live, as expressed by manner in which they spend money and time on various activities and interests. Life-style is a function of our motivations, learning, attitudes, beliefs and opinion, social class, demographic factors, personality etc. While reading this unit, you are playing role of a student. But at the same time you also have your career, family and social roles to play. The manner in which you blend these different roles reflects your life-style.

Life-style is measured by a technique known as psychographics. It involves measuring consumers’ responses to Activities, Interests and Opinions (AIO), along with collecting information on demographic factors. Different individual’s responses are collected and analyzed to find distinctive life-style groups. Based on the AIO technique, different life-styles have been identified and described. The different life-styles are then used for market segmentation, product positioning and for developing promotion campaigns, including new products.