Social Aspects of Consumption

Because understanding consumer behaviour  will be effective and  efficient
marketing strategies for all companies in every sector all over the world.

Social factors such as social class, reference groups, family and social roles are effective and have been studied. In addition to these, there are other factors such as virtual groups have been added in the digital age.

Consumer behaviours, in other words, consumption patterns, are highly affected  by consumer’s social class because consumption is not
only an act of buying goods and services; they are
symbols of people’s socioeconomic status.

Social class consists of a group of individuals who occupy a similar position in the economic system of production and it is defined as a position that an individual occupies in a society. 

An individual's position or ranking is determined with an individual’s income, education, and possessions. In other words, social class is defined as a ranking system in a society into a hierarchy of distinct status groups such as upper, middle, and lower.

Conspicuous consumption refers to people’s desire to show visible evidence of their ability to afford luxury goods. It covers socioeconomic behaviours of high-income people who spend their money on luxury goods and services to display their social power and prestige.
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Social class is continuous (dynamic) rather than concrete (static), with individuals able to move into a higher social class or drop into a lower class. People can move to an upper class by a higher-level of education or move to a lower social class as result of a job loss.

Two or more people who regularly interact and share a sense of
unity and common identity can be considered as a social group. 

 Common motives are an accepted division
of labour, established status, roles and relationships, accepted norms and values, and accepted sanctions.

Social identity is a part of the individual’s self-concept which derives from
their knowledge of their membership of a social group or groups together with the value and emotional significance of that membership

 Groups use consumption to signal to others that they somehow belong together  by using brands, products and services which are common to a certain social group.

The consumption tools available for the formation or maintenance
of a group’s social identity are presented through different marketing practices. These tools categorize and objectify groups
to provide clear links to specific groups and
sub-groups 

Relationship, group unity and solidarity, we-feeling, common interest, similar behaviours, group norms.

Social power is the potential to change the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours of others in groups. Besides the social power of group members, the social group also has collective power.

There are 5 types of social power. They are reward power, coercive power, referent power, legitimate power, expert power.

Referent power is especially important for marketing because consumers associate themselves with certain groups and tend to copy their consumption behaviours.

Legitimate Power is based on the recognition and acceptance of another person’s authority. Authority is often identified with uniform wearers, soldiers, police officers, doctors. 

Beauty bloggers have Expert Powers. They influence consumers to buy or not to buy a certain product by sharing their experiences with a certain product through a social platform. 

Coercive power is based on fear because it is defined as the ability to threaten or punish undesirable behaviour. In general, salespeople use this
power as a face-to-face persuasion method.

Informational Power is derived from someone’s ability to disseminate or control the information flow. 

Chat groups (Internet), friends and media.

Chat groups on Internet travel sites exert informational influence by providing travel tips to prospective travellers.

Friends exert informational power by telling you which movie is playing at the local theatre.

The media exert informational influence by reporting that certain
foods may be health hazards.

There are several reasons.

1. Reference groups are salient and relevent in consumer's social environment.

2. they are the most mentioned groups in marketing literature.

3. Reference groups serve as sources of comparison and influence for people’s opinions and behaviour.

4. A reference group  significantly influences an individual’s evaluations, cognitions, affective responses, aspirations, and behaviour

Because it has important advantages. 
1. Cost effectiveness: While costs for traditional marketing campaigns
may run-up to thousands or millions, word of
mouth marketing is a comparatively inexpensive
strategy.

2.  word of mouth marketing
creates trust. Since companies and commercial
messages are found less reliable by consumers every
other day, facilitating word-of-mouth marketing
can help them break down trust barriers by