Question: Here are two projects to give you experience in analyzing reference group influence and family decision making concepts.
Reference Group Influences
This project will give you experience in thinking about and analyzing reference group influences.
- Find an example of a marketing strategy that uses a reference group appeal.
- Next, identify the target consumer.
- Then, identify the type of reference group influence that is involved--informational, utilitarian, or value-expressive--and describe that influence in detail.
- Then, critique and evaluate the strategy on its likely effectiveness.
- Write up your analysis in a page or two.
Family Decision Making: This project is intended to give you experience in thinking about some of the issues concerned with family decision making.
- First, select a recent decision in which several of your family members were involved.
- Then, describe the family decision making process you observed and/or participated in. How did the members of your family interact during this decision process? What types of roles did each member take? What types of conflict occurred? How were these resolved?
- (As an alternative) Describe how your current household (perhaps a group of friends living together) made a recent "family" decision.
- Write a description and speculate about some of the causal factors that were involved (environmental factors, influence strategies, marketing strategies). For instance, stage in the family life cycle might be an influencing factor. Write up your analysis in a page or two.