Groups...

Talking about group influence on our purchases is impossible without explanation of the term. According to Merriam-Webster online dictionary group is:

• two or more figures forming a complete unit in a composition
• number of individuals assembled together or having some unifying relationships, sharing

  

  a set of norms
• A number of individuals who join together to achieve a goal.

Everyone of us belongs to many groups for example I feel a part of a groups such as:

- family

- friends

- high school mates

- students

- teenagers(?)

- Polish nationality

- emigrants

- singles

- workers

- Chalfont Campus residents

- women

- chocolate lovers

- book maniacs

- rock and soul listeners

- Tesco buyers

etc…..

It is also obvious that there are many different types of groups. These called ascribed have an impact on our values, peer and acquired – on behaviour, and what is most important, groups called aspirational, associative and reference decide which brand and products we buy.

Second, very important type of group is called aspirational. It is a club where we really want to join. It is something desirable and unattainable. Marketing and advertising specialists want to make our dreams come true through ads like this:

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is unexpectedly strongly related to our buying decisions. American researcher worked out a theory of human’s needs. It is shown on a diagram done in order of importance. Third, most important is “need of belonging”.

Being a part of a groups help us to feel safe, because, as Maslow said “Man is a social animal”. Advertisers can use “belonging” as a main message in campaigns. They are aware that our buying decision might be affected by surroundings.

For example:

When we talk about groups, we should not forget about Social Comparison Theory (Festinger, 1954). It is the idea that there is a drive within individuals to look to outside images in order to evaluate their own opinions and abilities. As it is commonly known, people do not want to be different. We behave in the sameway as others. As it was said in Solomon’s book, when we are in a group, there are no bad or good answers for a question. Good answer is the most popular one. Even if somebody knows that whole group is wrong, he/she may not be enough confident to say about it.