Consumer Psychology

As stated in "You May Ask Yourself" by Dalton Conley a reference group is defined as "a group that helps us understand or make sense of our position in society relative to other groups"(Conley 161). There are many reference groups that we all encounter and compare ourselves to everyday without even noticing that we are doing so. This groups can include classmates, clubs, teammates(if you play or played a sport), and many other groups that we could encounter on a daily basis. I found that I would often use the goalies on the opposing teams as a reference group to judge my performance as a lacrosse goalie. In doing this I either left a game feeling great, or

The ability of family members to engage in clear and direct communication when conveying messages.

groups to reach the goal of putting together a teaching assignment. I was assigned to this group

Groups and Conformity tell us about the different kinds of reference groups. Reference groups consist of membership, aspiration, positive, negative, and conformity. Reference groups have an influence on people’s lives like smokers, people with the same names, and other common characteristics. A membership reference group consists of a community like there buddy or someone willing to hang out with and these people will support the group. Like the membership reference group these aspiration reference group the only difference is that you don't know the people in the group. These people are most likely to be successful business people,else. Positive and negative can impact on you decision you make either buying cloths or behaving.and in these

Robert Caivana SOC100 9/18/17 Discussion #4 Have you ever sat down and thought about what makes use who we are? There are so many factors that played into the development of who we are. Certain people that we idolize impact our development as well, whether that’s a parent, family member, celebrity, or professional athlete. Reference groups also affect how one feels about themselves. According to Dalton Conley in “You May Ask Yourself,” reference groups are “a group that helps us understand or make sense of our position in society relative to other groups.”

The concept of a reference group is one of the fundamentals of sociology. One example of how reference groups have affected me is what clothing I buy and wear. For example, I typically refer to those around us, like close friends, people who are around my age, and colleagues. We even refer to stylistic reference groups such as looking preppy, hipster, or ratchet. I would say this reference group has both a positive impact and negative impact on me as a person. I say this because I am usually dressed nice and wear name brand clothing because I personally chose to. It does have negative effects on how people perceive me. For example, walking into a college class the first day of the semester others perceive me as a snobby and that I am spoiled

into another. Reference groups are formed by people's positions in society. This can have both positive and negative effects on a person.

According the information presented there are five basic groups identified in the text. Jocelyn found interacting and nominal groups most interesting as it pertains to types of groups utilized in an organization. Based on the information presented the interacting group members are actively engaged with one another focusing on a particular set of goals and or objectives while the nominal groups meet indirectly through the use of third parties (Bowditch, Buono, & Stewart, 2008). According to Bowditch (2007) “there are two variations of the non-interacting groups to include nominal group technique (NGT) and the Delphi technique” (p. 151). Jesse explained that many times those who are part of nominal groups may never develop a social bond among the members. He explained how due to a bond not existing some members may be offended or judgmental as it pertains to the ideas submitted, which could lead to animosity among some members. Jocelyn shared that individuals part of a nominal group will have a designated leader, or trained facilitator who will present the issue or problem and to all the members. The members will make either written or via technology. After the solutions are presented the leader will rank those solutions presented, without criticism and make a decision. We both agreed that this method of grouping and decision making could be quick simply because the solutions are

According to Walsh (2013) communication it the “practice of conveying messages”, which can be verbal (tone of voice) or non-verbal (facial expressions and hand movement) that assist with establishing roles of other family members and rules that are expected to be followed within the family. While reviewing the Clark’s family case study it is clear that they have some communication issues between spouses and their children. When it comes to communication there are a few concepts that also falls under communicate that are used to better understand how individuals and families communicate, such as assertively, aggressively, and argumentatively (Martin &Anderson, 1997). Studies have shown that these are the commonly used communication traits that are used between young adults and their parents, which is the case for the Clark family (Martin &Anderson, 1997). Communication is also a concept that is discussed in the social cognitive theory by Bandura during 1977, which indicates that individuals learn behaviors and communication from others close to their environment that is achieved by observation (Martin &Anderson, 1997). According to Martin and Anderson (1997) there are a number of studies that are focused on the communication styles of parents that are past down to their children.

Reference groups sometimes have the same meaning as in-groups. This is mostly when the reference group accepts the individual. An example of this is when a black wants to be part of the white majority, and isnt able to because of his color and affiliation with the black in-group. This is brought on by the demand for people color to adapt to white culture. In doing so, people of color are forced to rid themselves of taking pride in their ethnicity and culture. By doing this, a person of color may develop self-hate for themselves as individual or for their group. The minority group member is forced to make the dominant majority his reference group in respect to language, manners, morals, and law. He may be entirely loyal to his minority in-group, but he is at the same time always under the necessity of relating himself to the standards and expectations of the majority (Allport 95). The dominant majority is for him a reference group. It exerts a strong pull upon him, forcing attitudinal conformity. Thus, both in-groups and reference groups are important in the formation of attitudes (Allport 97).

Consumers should know their consuming behaviour before purchasing a product. The purpose of this portfolio is to review and evaluate my own consuming behaviour distributed over three categories. Firstly, I will review on my philosophical assumptions and to discuss about my beliefs on the importance of advertising and marketing. Secondly, I will identify a consumer behaviour that I have done recently and to analysis what type of decision maker I am. Finally, I will examine how do I express my complaints to the organisation and my dissatisfaction. These three categories are formed by different worksheets. This portfolio is designed to help and understand how to take advantages from my consumer behaviour when purchasing

In sociology there is great emphasis placed on the role of membership groups. By grouping similar features, membership groups help identify social patterns associated with certain characteristics. Membership groups are classified into two types: primary and secondary groups. Primary groups are characterized by intimate and long lasting relationships. Contrarily, secondary groups are normally larger, relatively short lived, and not as intimate as primary groups (pg 127-129). However, sociology also places great importance on the influence of reference groups. Reference groups are used as a standard for evaluating values, attitudes, and behaviors (pg129). Unlike membership groups, reference groups define the social patterns of specific groups.

Reference groups refer to people consumer associate with on a daily basis for example family because how children were brought up can determine how and where they spend their money or reference group can also refer to people they look up to and aspire to belong to a particular group are known as aspirational group for example the popular crowd

According to Balswick and Balswick (2014), communication is the heart of family life. Communication within the family can come under two headings, instrumental and affective. Instrumental communication is when family exchange factual information. Affective communication is when they share their emotions and ideas (Peterson, 2009). Peterson (2009) also notes, that although some families function very well using instrumental communication alone, healthy families communicate using both styles. It is through this affective communication that family relationships can grow and deepen (Balswick & Balswick, 2014).

In order to find a definition that is able to capture what a reference group is in a comprehensive sentence, has been difficult and thus the following terms are the most relevant. The term reference group is defined as ‘A group of people that influences the decisions and opinions of a person or group’ (Cambridge, 2016). This term however, is very simplistic and more detail is required to fully understand what reference groups are. Hyman (1942) originally characterised the term in a social status study and this characterisation has been developed and refined numerous amounts of times since, (comb, 1943, Campbell, et al, 1960 and Shibutani, 1955). Park & Lessig (1977) provided their version