Groups!

Marketers use groups of different types of people to target for particular products. By belonging to different groups consumers can be persuaded to either dress a certain way, buy a particular product or listen to a genre of music. These groups can stem from values you have or the places and people you may mix with.
With the use of Kotler et al and theory we move on to the social and cultural aspect of buyer behaviour which includes social class, culture and reference groups.

Groups
A group is two or more individuals who
–share a set of norms,
–have role relationships,
–and experience interdependent behaviours.
Groups of people can influence the way we learn and how we behave.

There are many different groups types these can include:
1. Ascribed-Born into
2. Peer-People of equal standing
3.Associative-Realistically belong
4.Contrived-Formed for a specific purpose
5.Reference-Looked to for lifestyle
6.Acquired-Moved into
7. Aspirational-Like to belong
8.Disassociation-Hate to belong
Some of these different groups can have a different effect when it comes to influencing decisions about products or brands. For example peer or associative groups are those in which you belong to with people of similar values, therefore it may have a greater influence than others.

There can be negative representations of different brands because of the groups that the product is associated with and many companies try to move away from those stereotypes and re-invent the brand. One of the biggest examples of this within Britain is that of Burberry and the infamous chav stereotype.

Burberry started as one of the most up market designer in the UK with a large flagship store in Knightsbridge, London and the likes of Kate Moss being the face of the brand. However the famous check mark of the Burberry brand was mass produced on a large scale for the group of 'chavs' lowering the brand image and decreasing the sales. One of the most famous pictures is of Eastenders star Daniella Westbrook dressed head to toe in the check including her little girl.

Social Comparison Theory (Festinger, 1954)
This theory explains how individuals evaluate their own opinions and desires by comparing themselves to others. is the idea that there is a drive within individuals to look to outside images in order to evaluate their own opinions and abilities. These images may be a reference to physical reality or in comparison to other people. People look to the images portrayed by others to be obtainable and realistic, and subsequently, make comparisons among themselves, others and the idealized images
•we look to the behaviour of others to provide a guide and to reassure our self-evaluation.
•Consumers are selective about whom they use for benchmarks.
There have being many theorists who have looked into the idea that people can change and act in a certain way due to their surroundings and the situation they have been put in. For example lack of structure and discipline.

http://www.prisonexp.org/
Dr Zimbardo took upon an experiment in 1971 in which twenty-four undergraduates were selected out of 70 to play the roles of both guards and prisoners and live in a mock prison in the basement of the Stanford psychology building. Those selected were chosen for their lack of psychological issues, crime history, and medical disabilities, in order to obtain a representative sample. Roles were assigned based on a coin toss.

Prisoners and guards rapidly adapted to their roles, stepping beyond the boundaries of what had been predicted and leading to dangerous and psychologically damaging situations. One-third of the guards were judged to have exhibited "genuine" sadistic tendencies, while many prisoners were emotionally traumatized and two had to be removed from the experiment early

Another example of this is within the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding 1954. In which boys from public school are left deserted on an island and take matters into their own hands with dictatorship and disastrous effects with tribes attacking others and a high level of bullying.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=AhIyCCm426c