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Unit 9: Reference Group Influences

On the supply side, marketers also tend to put their best foot forward during the festival Notes
season, launching their latest products as well as spending more on advertising and
promotions. Therefore the season marks a happy coming together of supply push and
demand pull, leading to a spike in the sale of durable products.
One trend that is felt by several durables marketers over the years is the lower importance
of the festival season among urban Indian consumers, for whom affordability is not an
issue, and best-offers are available round-the-year. These buyers don't wait for festivals to
buy a gadget they need.

Another trend over the years is the shrinking timeframes for festival buying. Nowadays
the entire impact of festival buying just gets over in a couple of weekends. This shrinking
of buying window puts a lot of logistic pressures on the supply chains of retailers as well
as manufacturers. Those who are 'quick' to respond to demand get the results and their
brands do not suffer.
This season is widely expected to be a good one for consumer durable brands, as the
monsoon has been good (critical for rural demand), and economic growth and market
liquidity have also been very good.

Question
Can the current growth in sale of consumer durables be attributed to the aspirations of
lower middle income group individuals to move into upper middle income category?
Substantiate
Source: http://www.afternoondc.in/business-investment/buyer-aspirations-drive-consumer-durables-sales/article_11434

9.3 Celebrity and Reference Group Appeals

Research indicates that groups exert informational influence, comparative influence and
normative influence, as shown in Table 9.1.
Table 9.1: Types of Reference Group Influences
Nature of Objectives Perceived source Type of Behaviour
influence Characteristics power
Informational Knowledge Credibility Expert Acceptance
Comparative Self- Similarity Referent Identification
maintenance
and enrichment
Normative Reward Power Reward or Conformity
coercion

9.3.1 Informational Influence

Reference groups and other influence sources can exert informational influence by offering
information to help make decisions.

Example: Chat-groups on the Internet often provide information on subjects such as
Internet travel sites.
Informational influence is important because it can affect how much time and effort consumers
devote to information search and decision-making. Consumers who can get reliable information
from others may easily be reluctant to engage in time intensive information search when
making purchase decisions.

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