2.3 Effect Of Reference Groups On Consumer Decision Making

Friendship is an important asset in the world we live in, the young needs friendship to retain them from error, older people need it to care for them and those in their prime time need it, to do fine actions. No one would choose to live without friends because friendship is very important and it holds cities together.

The use of social media marketing has become a standard way in which organizations advertise their products or services. Social media marketing allows consumers to have immediate access to other consumers reviews or to post a review about a product or service. There is engagement between the company and the consumer (Evans, Dave 2010). Social Media emerged in the late 1980’s when websites such as Prodigy, Compuserve and America Online. Prodigy was first of it’s kind and was known as a ”consumer online service”. Half of the page is devoted to advertising. Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Hi5, Bebo and Orkut are all social media platforms that are utilized as platforms today.

There are over six billion people on Earth today. Each of those people has countless relationships, which extend further into an immense network of relations among thousands of individuals. These relations can be romantic, professional, unconditional, mutual, or the strongest of all, friendship. Friendship is a term used to denote co-operative and supportive behavior between two or more beings. In this sense, the term connotes a relationship which involves mutual knowledge, esteem, and affection and respect along with a degree of rendering service to friends in times of need or crisis. Friends will welcome each other's company and exhibit loyalty towards each other, often to the point of altruism.

In the modern age friendship comes in many different shapes and sizes. There's the good and there's the bad. You might even find some types of friendships surprising, for example an "entrepreneurial relationship". In the book "Of Mice and Men" Lennie and George are friends, but not very good friends. George is unfortunately friends with Lennie for the wrong reasons.

Friendship is one of the most valuable components in life. Friendship has the ability to change lives in a positive way. Friendship changes people’s views on life to a more positive outlook. “True friendship is when someone knows you better than yourself and takes a position in your best interests in a crisis. Friendship goes beyond sharing time together, and it is long lasting.” (Friends.com). As we spend a lot of time with our friends, friendship opens our minds to different ways of viewing the world. Unfortunately, sometimes strong barriers may be placed by those who see two people’s friendship as a threat; since people are influenced by their friends, friendship could make people question what

Strength involves group cohesion and unanimity, immediacy relates to physical distance, and numbers relate to group size (Myers, 2010, p. 211-213). The possibility that a person will react to social influence from a group will increase when considering strength, immediacy, and numbers. When these numbers increase tremendously, it has a decreasing effect which is slow but steady. In other words, beyond five members in a group, the incremental effect reduces gradually. Status is also a potential factor in predicting conformity. Higher-status individuals tend to have more influence or effect (Myers, 2010, p.

According to an article published in The New York Times entitled “Friendship in the Age of Economics,” there are three distinct forms of friendship, and all types of friendship leave each friend vulnerable. Moreover, all types of friendship leave some sort of significant impact on each friend’s life. “They [friendships] render us vulnerable, and in

It is possible to further classify reference groups into four types, depending on the function they perform and the kind of influence they exert reference groups operate by establishing certain norms, roles and status within the group for members to follow. As explained earlier, norms are unwritten codes or, standards of conduct that are assigned to individuals within the group. In addition, specific roles have been identified in group purchasing behavior in the attempt to select the best among alternative brands or makes of a product. These are described as those of the influencer, the gatekeeper (i.e. the individual who has the maximum control over the flow of information), the decision maker, the purchaser and, the final user. Status positions have also been designated within a group. High status of members within a group implies greater power and influence. Products are sometimes purchased to demonstrate status, for example an elegant dress or, an expensive car. The influence exerted by the group depends on the type of reference group it is. There are four general types of groups namely, normative, comparative, status and dissociative groups.

Social media has become an essential channel for corporations to build a two-way relationship with their customers. However, having a social media account cannot solve everything. To make the best use of social media in keeping a positive relationship with their customers, corporations ought to seek and maintain influence among their followers in social media, and participate in communications with them.

Social media is not new. Facebook has been around since 2004, YouTube since 2005, and Twitter in 2006. What is new is how social media sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are affecting the way businesses market their products and services. Never before in our history have consumers been able to communicate so effortlessly with each other and with the businesses they frequent. Never before have businesses been able to interact and react to customer feedback so quickly and efficiently. However, just because businesses have the ability to use social media for their marketing and advertising efforts, does not necessarily mean they should. This paper intends to

So the social structures, divisions and agencies which underpin society influence friendships. Analysis has identified many different types and formations of friendship of varying degrees of intimacy. Perhaps the key to understanding friendship is to understand that different friendships thrive in accordance with the different needs of each person, and that finding a person who or a friendship which meets personal expectations is where the relevance lies. A ‘symbolic interactionist’ sociological approach to future research would ascertain how that understanding between two people is reached. So, friendship exists within the social and economic context in which it was formed, and if this context alters, so does the nature of the friendship. The way in which humans manage and create friendships reacts to changes and evolves in order to sustain itself as part of the human condition. This is evidence of the value and necessity of human connection, be it friends or family, to the life experience. Studying friendship provides knowledge of social developments and changes. This is valuable in understanding human interaction and future policy within health and

To maintain consumer satisfaction businesses have begun to implement blogs. Effective companies rely on the critical feedback from consumers via social media.

In today’s business world, social media is being discussed on a daily basis. This phenomenon has taken over the marketing and advertising industries and has changed the way they handle their efforts to attract customers. There is a big misunderstanding that social media are only popular networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, but as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, social media are “forms of electronic communication (as Web sites for social networking and micro blogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (as videos).” The rise of these online communities has given companies an opportunity to engage in conversations with their customers. This in

In order to understand what reference group influences are, it is necessary to firstly understand what a reference group is. The depth of information surrounding reference groups and the influences they poses on individuals, particularly on consumer purchasing behaviour is vast and one could get lost in the mist of it all. Therefore, it is vital to ensure that only research relevant to this study is included in this section, thus an overview of what a reference group is will be provided, then the different types of reference groups will be explored based on previous research, then the data will start to look at the influences reference groups have on individuals, and their purchasing behaviour, in order to fully understand the power that reference groups have.

The purpose of this report is to use a variety of research techniques aimed at understanding the role that knowledge and group influences have on a consumer’s decision-making process. Additionally, the report will advise a range of recommendations that an inert brand can adopt to guarantee its inclusion in the consumer’s consideration set of brands.