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Whether you’re a college student, high school student, or an employee, I’m pretty sure that at some point a group discussion occurred which spiked your interest, and presumably influenced you. Group influence plays a major role in assisting companies, with generating sales, and greatly influences consumer behavior. People who are apart of groups share similar ideas, interests, and goals. Group members promote products, services and advertisements by word-of-mouth to members of the group that may not have had knowledge of the product, which may influence other members of that group to purchase the product, or service. One of the ways group influence aids in generating sales might be a “popular group” at a High School who sets trends, this activity may cause other students to join in, and purchase certain clothing. Another example of group influence may be members of a workout program who claim to have achieved great results, and encourage others to take part in the program if they are looking to get in shape. Group influence can be used over the internet, for example forums where people discuss certain topics, and share information that may be of interest to other members of the forum. In some cases people tend to conform, especially if a vast majority of people are in agreement with each other, this can also lead into peer pressure.
Here are examples of Group Influence and Conformity:
Generation Microculture
Nov. 16th, 2012 11:51 amHave you ever thought about how companies manage to sell certain products, items, or services that are currently popular, to past generations? One of the ways companies succeed in doing so is by examining the generation microculture. Each generation microculture consists of a group of people that grew up during the same time period and often have similar preferences, which causes their buying decisions to vary. The “Greatest Generation” represents people who were born before 1946, “Baby Boomers” were born between 1946 and 1965, “Generation X” were born between 1966 and 1980, and The “MIllennials” were born between 1981 and 1995. Taking these micro generations into consideration, companies try to personalize advertisements to each cohort in order to appeal to consumers. For example if a company were trying to grasp the attention of an older generation, and were selling electronics, they might use music, clothing or anything that can cause the consumer to reminisce, but still focus on the product or item that is being advertised. Knowing what attracts people of different generations is another fantastic tactic that companies use in order to sell, increase versatility, and maintain popularity. Some commercials that use this strategy to appeal to consumers are Jackson Hewitt, and Dell.
Here are some examples:Jackson Hewitt used a 90s hit
Dell
Companies are interested in all aspects of what drives consumers to buy their product. When deciding on the product, questions that may arise are what does the consumer want from the product or service? And will it meet their needs? The place that they are going to make the product available is also important, which then leads into the price which determines the value of the product or service. Another factor is promotion which involves persuasion; these are all known as the marketing mix, which coincides with advertising. Although the marketing mix is a strategy used to appeal to consumers, another way a company might choose to make them more appealing to their market is using source attractiveness. Source attractiveness is an effective way for companies to enhance the product that they are promoting. People usually tend to zone into a commercial when they see an attractive spokesperson, or someone who will convince them that the product actually works. However it also depends on what the company wants to sell, for example if a company wants to sale sportswear, their goal would be to find a model with an athletic build or maybe a sports athlete. If the company is selling electronics the physical appearance wouldn’t be a major concern. Source likeability can definitely heighten the appeal of the product especially if a celebrity is promoting it. The advantages of this strategy influences consumer purchases, builds awareness, positions the brand, attracts new users as well as give a falling brand a chance to redeem itself. There are numerous companies that use source likeability, for example Halle Berry for Revlon, Shaquille O’neal for Buick Lacrosse, and Gwen Stafani for L’oreal Paris.
Shaquille O'neal Buick Lacrosse
www.youtube.com/watch
Subliminal Advertising
Nov. 6th, 2012 10:34 pmSubliminal advertisements contain messages that consumers are unaware of. Messages that are flashed across a television or movie screen for 1/2000 second are deemed as subliminal messaging, as well as hidden images in Ads. Since the messages are not immediately perceived by the individual, research psychologist, have discovered that subliminal messages does not positively or negatively influence consumer behavior. During the 1950s subliminal messages were displayed in advertisements as a way to “persuade” consumers, however in 1974 the U.S Federal Communication Commission banned subliminal messaging.
Is Advertising Ethical?
Oct. 29th, 2012 06:56 pm
In response to my past blog on advertising, in one of the comments someone raised an interesting question stating “Is it ethical to try to control people's behavior through advertising?" The key word is "try", in order for companies to promote their product they must make consumers aware that the product exists. The goal of the company is to introduce the item through advertising, and in turn generate sales; this is a common business tactic, especially when the Ad is geared to specific markets. Advertising allows consumers to have an actual visual of the product, and therefore encourages the consumer to purchase it. Each consumer has full control of their buying habits, if they like what they see and feel as though it has a hedonic value, or a utilitarian value then the consumer may be inclined to purchase the item. I am sure that we have seen commercials, billboards, etc. that are convincing and we like the concept of the product, however we choose not to purchase it. Everyone responds differently to advertisements, and in my opinion the company can only persuade which isn’t necessarily controlling a person’s behavior.
Advertising
Oct. 19th, 2012 08:04 pm
Many companies strive to attract consumers by advertising, which involves persuading an audience or a target market by communicating through Billboards, Magazines, Newspapers, and text messages etc. The goal of the company is to motivate consumer behavior, and subsequently sell their product. A vast majority of companies choose to use the technique of branding, one example of branding is a green reptile with an Australian accent, the first thing that should come to mind is Geico car insurance, or when we hear the name Allstate we can associate that with car insurance as well. Companies may also try to increase sales by offering a reward in return for example “buy-one-get-one-free" or a “ points system card” that allows the customer to receive a reward towards their next purchase, these are prime examples of Discriminative Stimuli. While many companies strive to promote their products through advertising, there are some companies that strive to shape attitudes and behaviors through Fear Appeals, for example public service announcements for cigarettes.
Here are some advertisements that focus on Branding and Fear Appeals:
Branding:
www.youtube.com/watch
Fear Appeal:
www.youtube.com/watch
