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Social Influences on the Consumer Decision Process
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Concept Version 5
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Roles

Consumers have different roles in purchasing products and services, and these roles can influence their buying behavior.

Learning Objective

  • Describe the different types of consumer roles


Key Points

    • Influencers are people who have a relatively large audience in which to tout their beliefs. In the consumer world, influencers can impact the success or failure of a product by using it or shunning it.
    • A prosumer is usually a serious hobbyist, with similar interests and skills of professionals. The prosumer generally uses professional (or nearly professional) equipment and has a relatively high disposable income.
    • Marketers often create a "persona" for their products and services in order to represent the different user types in a target market.

Terms

  • persona

    A social role.

  • prosumer

    A serious, enthusiastic consumer: not professional (earning money), but of similar interest and skills to a (generally lower level) professional, or aspiring to such. The target market of prosumer equipment.

  • influencer

    A person who or a thing which influences.


Full Text

The Influence of Roles on Consumer Purchasing

Consumers have different roles in purchasing products and services. Here, a role is defined as the expected behavior of an individual in a society.These roles can be as part of the consumer's family, employment, or social status, among other things. For example, the role of father can be different than the role of mother in purchasing consumer goods. Although there are many different roles that can influence how a consumer behaves, three in particular are presented here: influencers, prosumers, and personas.

Influencers

Influencers are people who have a relatively large audience in which to tout their beliefs. In the consumer world, influencers can impact the success or failure of a product by using it or shunning it . A marketer often targets influencers rather than the entire target market, because these influencers can alter the behavior of other people. Influencers can be influential buyers, retailers, or people, such as journalists or industry professionals (among others). Influencers are sometimes ranked according to six criteria: market reach (how many people the influencer will connect with), independence (no vested interest in product), frequency of impact, expertise, persuasiveness, and thoroughness (the extent to which influence is exerted across the decision lifecycle).

J.J. Abrams, "Apple Fanatic"

Someone like TV series creator J.J. Abrams can influence other people to buy certain products by saying how much they like the product.

Prosumers

In it's most common usage, a prosumer is usually a serious hobbyist, with similar interests and skills of professionals. For example, the availability and relatively low cost of photography equipment have given rise to many people who are serious about photography but are not usually paid for their work. This is an important role for marketers to consider, as the prosumer generally uses professional (or nearly professional) equipment and has relatively high disposable income. Other examples of prosumers are found in home improvement and cooking segments.

Personas

A persona is a social role. Marketers often create a "persona" for their products and services in order to represent the different user types in a target market. A marketer may decide his product is best suited for a specific demographic and will define that demographic as clearly as possible. For example, "soccer mom" might be the target market for minivans. A persona may be created to capture the "soccer mom," perhaps by giving her a name or other defining characteristics. A persona simply helps a marketer get a clearer picture of who will be buying his product.

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