The Chang family is an Asian-American family who lives in a small U.S. city. The
ID: 2701293 • Letter: T
Question
The Chang family is an Asian-American family who lives in a small U.S. city. The family consists of Mrs. Chang, Mr. Chang, and two children%u2014a boy and a girl%u2014both who are in high school and both plan to attend college. Mrs. Chang is a marketing manager at the local savings bank. Her parents live in a retirement community 1,500 miles away, and she has no other relatives. Her husband has only one family member%u2014his father%u2014who is in a nursing home a few blocks away and is in the final stages of Alzheimer's disease. Mr. Chang is an MBA and certified CPA who works as an independent accountant from his home office. The family is moderately wealthy and has few financial worries. Mrs. Chang reads fictional mysteries in her spare time and enjoys Hollywood gossip. Mr. Chang reads industry-related journals. Both children play sports, love television%u2014especially MTV%u2014like music, and are just beginning to date. Discuss the various reference groups impacting this family.
Your report should be 4 to 5 pages in length, include at least three references, and be in correct APA format.
Submit your assignment to the M4: Assignment 2 Dropbox by Wednesday, July 17, 2013.
Assignment 2 Grading Criteria Maximum Points List and describe at least five different reference groups and their influence on consumer purchasing behavior. 20 Explain how marketers market to consumers with different needs, motivations, and reference groups. 35 Explain which reference group is most important to this family and how a firm could market its product or services to the family. 35 Justified ideas and responses by using appropriate examples and references from texts, Web sites, and other references using the APA format. 10 Total: 100Explanation / Answer
Group Influences
Humans are inherently social animals, and individuals greatly influence each other.
A useful framework of analysis of group influence on the individual is the so called reference group%u2014the term comes about because an individual uses a relevant group as a standard of reference against which oneself is compared. Reference groups come in several different forms.
The aspirational reference group refers to those others against whom one would like to compare oneself. For example, many firms use athletes as spokespeople, and these represent what many people would ideally like to be.
Associative reference groups include people who more realistically represent the individuals%u2019 current equals or near-equals%u2014e.g., coworkers, neighbors, or members of churches, clubs, and organizations. Paco Underhill, a former anthropologist turned retail consultant and author of the book Why We Buy has performed research suggesting that among many teenagers, the process of clothes buying is a two stage process. In the first stage, the teenagers go on a "reconnaissance" mission with their friends to find out what is available and what is "cool." This is often a lengthy process. In the later phase, parents%u2014who will need to pay for the purchases%u2014are brought. This stage is typically much briefer.
Finally, the dissociative reference group includes people that the individual would not like to be like. For example, the store literally named The Gap came about because many younger people wanted to actively dissociate from parents and other older and "uncool" people. The Quality Paperback Book Club specifically suggests in its advertising that its members are "a breed apart" from conventional readers of popular books.
Reference groups come with various degrees of influence. Primary reference groups come with a great deal of influence%u2014e.g., members of a fraternity/sorority. Secondary reference groups tend to have somewhat less influence%u2014e.g., members of a boating club that one encounters only during week-ends are likely to have their influence limited to consumption during that time period.
Another typology divides reference groups into the informational kind (influence is based almost entirely on members%u2019 knowledge), normative (members influence what is perceived to be "right," "proper," "responsible," or "cool"), or identification. The difference between the latter two categories involves the individual%u2019s motivation for compliance. In case of the normative reference group, the individual tends to comply largely for utilitarian reasons%u2014dressing according to company standards is likely to help your career, but there is no real motivation to dress that way outside the job. In contrast, people comply with identification groups%u2019 standards for the sake of belonging%u2014for example, a member of a religious group may wear a symbol even outside the house of worship because the religion is a part of the person%u2019s identity.
1. Identify the company's Mission
2. Identify SBUs (customer focused)
3. Allocate Resources across SBUs (BCG Model; GE Model; Product Life Cycle; systems)
4. Growth Strategies for SBUs (intensive; integrative; diversification)
Mission Statement: Purpose; Business; Values Reason to be? Invisible hand etc.
Product Terms...outdated
Technology Terms...outdated
Market Terms...keep in touch with consumer's needs
From five years ago, and still relevant:
%u2022 AT&T is in the communications business not the telephone business.
%u2022 Visa...allows customers to exchange values...not credit cards
%u2022 3M solves problems by putting innovation to work.