Reference groupsA person or group that serves as a point of comparison (or reference) for an individualSocial power:capacity to alter the actions of othersLegitimateability to influence through formal position in a firmExpertability to control process and progressCoerciveability to punishMembership reference groups-People the consumer actually knows
-Advertisers use "ordinary people"Aspirational reference groups-People the consumer doesn't know but admire
-Advertisers use celebrity spokespeoplePropinquity- being close to someone or somethingGroup cohesiveness- bonds link members togetherAvoidance groups:motivation to distance oneself from other people/groupsAntibrand communities:merge around a celebrity, store, or brand—but in this case they're united by their disdain for itGatekeeper- controls info to and from decision makers and influencersAutonomic decisionone household member chooses a productSyncretic decision:choice involves multiple household membersConsensual Purchase Decision (ideal)Group agrees but differs on how it will be achievedAccommodative Purchase Decision (More likely)Process of bargaining to achieve an agreement among group membersOrganizational buyers:purchase goods and services on behalf of companies for use in the process of manufacturing, distribution, or resale.Enacted norms- recognized rules everyone knowsCrescive normslearned and practices by members but may not be recognized by nonmembers. (no way for one to know what the norms are unless you interact with people in that society. Not exclusively written down somewhere)
-Customers, mores, conventionsFunction of Norms: MetaphysicalMan vs. God(s)
Explains humans' relationship to the supernatural. How people relate to the unknown/spiritualityFunction of Norms: CosmologicalMan vs. Nature
Explains humans' relationship to the physical universe.Function of Norms: SociologicalMan vs. Man
Explains humans' relationships to each other. How to interact in groups and relationships***Function of Norms: Psychological***Man vs. Self
Explains how humans should relate to themselves. How we are supposed to grow/change as peopleRituals- multiple symbolic behaviors that occur in a fixed sequence and are repeatedGrooming ritualsused to transition from private to public self.
(can have ritual artifacts such as brushing your teeth with crest every morning)Gestationa giver is motivated by an event to procure a gift
-Structural event: prescribed by culture (e.g., Christmas)
-Emergent event: more personalPresentationthe process of gift exchange when the recipient responds to gift and donor evaluates the responseReformulationgiver and receiver adjust the bond between themRites of passagespecial times marked by a change in social status
-Puberty, death, divorce, dating, bar/bat mitzvahSeparationIndividual is detached from his original group ----Example: college freshman leaves homeLiminality:Person is literally between statuses
-Ex: New freshman tries to figure out status during orientation week***Aggregation:***Person re-enters society after rite of passage is complete
-Ex:Student returns home for winter break as college "veteran"***Sacred consumption:Involves objects and events that are set apart from normal activities that are treated with respect or awe***Profane consumption:Involves consumer objects and events that are ordinary and not specialSacralization:when ordinary objects, events and people take on sacred meaning***Desacralization:when a sacred item/symbol is removed from its special place or is duplicated in mass quantities (becomes profane)
-Ex. Souvenir reproductions (Statue of Liberty)Social Stratification:the phenomenon that refers to the creation of artificial divisions in a society/the grouping of members of society according to status
