Literature Review On Conformity

A customer’s buying behaviour is also influenced by social factors, such as the groups to which the customer belongs and social status.

Conformity and obedience are some of the factors that usually influence the various processes that determine the manner in which an individual behaves in a social set up. They also have an impact on how people follow and adhere to social norms (both written and unwritten) as well as fashions and their immoral actions (Milgram, 2010). Several aspects come to play when one is asked by another individual to do a particular thing. First, they will need to consider whether whatever they are being asked to do is morally right or wrong. Second, based on the circumstances, they can either obey or comply and better still, they can decline to do it. The term obedience refers to the act of an individual doing something that they have been asked to do. On the other hand, conformity regards to how others influence people. They do things that they were not requested to do. The influence is usually through the behaviors and thoughts of others. This paper will compare and contrast the factors involved in conformity and obedience.

2.Social Factors: A consumer's behaviour is influenced by such social factors as reference groups, family and social roles and statuses. A person's reference group consists of all the groups that have a direct or indirect influence on the person's attitudes or behaviour (Kotler, 2000, pp.163). Reference Groups create pressures for conformity that affect actual product and brand choices. The MiZone and Aqua Blue range of bottled water is aimed and is consumed by people who do considerable exercise and are concerned about their fitness and well being. Consumers in this group would notice that their peers consumed MiZone or Aqua Blue and would then purchase it themselves.

Group forces influence buying because there may be a complex set of smaller decisions made or influenced by several individuals. The degree of involvement of each member varies. Three questions are taken into consideration when a decision is being considered, which organizational members take part in the buying process, what is each member’s relative influence in the decision, and what criteria are important to each. All of the deciders from Gentech worked as a group on the purchasing decision each had an involvement and came to a decision as a group.

To start with it is important to determine what each of these social processes mean, in order to understand which psychological factors are involved. Conformity is a behavioural change in response to social pressure, either real or imagined. Compliance is a behaviour change in response to an explicit request to perform an action. Obedience is a behaviour change in response to a demand or order to carry out an action. Each of these processes are undertaken due to different psychological pressures being put on the individual, from believing that they have no choice but to carry out the action – obedience, to carrying out the action because they want to feel accepted.

It is possible to further classify reference groups into four types, depending on the function they perform and the kind of influence they exert reference groups operate by establishing certain norms, roles and status within the group for members to follow. As explained earlier, norms are unwritten codes or, standards of conduct that are assigned to individuals within the group. In addition, specific roles have been identified in group purchasing behavior in the attempt to select the best among alternative brands or makes of a product. These are described as those of the influencer, the gatekeeper (i.e. the individual who has the maximum control over the flow of information), the decision maker, the purchaser and, the final user. Status positions have also been designated within a group. High status of members within a group implies greater power and influence. Products are sometimes purchased to demonstrate status, for example an elegant dress or, an expensive car. The influence exerted by the group depends on the type of reference group it is. There are four general types of groups namely, normative, comparative, status and dissociative groups.

1: People tick and tock around me as I stand still 2:I am an individual in a world full of equals 3: Conformity moves around me in synchrony 4: I stand alone, faceless 5: They stop on the street they see me as different 6: I have stumbled in the rat race left for dead. 7: Self consciousness swarms the people 8: Different, wrong they mean the same 9: Different clothes wrong 10: Different body wrong 11: Different ethnicity wrong, 12: Self consciousness

Overall, one-third (32%) of the participants conformed to the majority in the twelve critical trials. Over the course of the twelve critical trials, 75% of the participants were shown to conform, while only 25% never conformed. The control group, on the other hand, less than 1% of its participants gave the wrong answer. All in all, a good majority of the real participants felt pressure by group and conformed with

In the selection “Groups and Conformity" by Michael R. Solomon, he talks about how people in groups are more influential than an individual person would be. When a person basically changes their attitude or behavior just to fit into a group is a reference group. There are three forms of reference group’s influence. The first one is informational influence. With this influence, people seek out information on different products before they buy the product. The second one is utilitarian influence. In this influence, before people make a decision on a product, they go to family or friends and see what they think of the product first. The third one is value-expressive influence. In this influence, people feel like they will be more successful when

Summary The video, “Social Norms and Conformity,” discusses the role of gender, conformity, and deviance in today’s society. It first outlines how gender and one’s definition of it is socially constructed from the moment we are born. At birth, we are automatically bestowed with the status of belonging to a group; we are welcomed as a member into society and we are consequentially influenced by the beliefs, ideals, and social norms that that particular society holds. As the video highlights, Western society holds very different expectations for what constitutes being “female” and “male.”

Conformity is the social process by which people in a group or in a social circle engage in behaviour which appears to be socially acceptable, that is they go along with the social expectations apparent at the time. One of the key factors in conformity, however, is yielding to group pressure, as defined by Mann (1969):

The consumers have allowed the international brands and corporations to influence the decisions of consumers. Through advertisements and promotion of trends. Consumers have more clothes than they need. These brands promote consumerism and fast fashion, maintaining high demand as consumers try to keep up with the trends. The consumers also promote these international brands by embracing cheap clothing.

In pyschology conformity can be descibed as an indiviual’s tendency to follow the unspoken rules or behaviours of the social group to which he/she belongs to or wants to be apart of. Many psychologists including , Jenness (1932), Sherif (1935) both experimented in psychology, investigating conformity and group pressure. However, perhaps the most famous conformity experiment was done by Solomon Asch (1951) and his line judgment experiment. (McLeod 2007)

There are also two types of social influences, normative and informative, that can affect a consumer’s purchase decision. A normative influence is the desire to conform to the expectations of another. An informative influence is to accept and trust information obtained as reality. (Bishop & Myers 1974). According to Lam & Meyers 1978, normative and informative influences are both relevant when purchasing a car as an individuals opinions can be influenced by group discussion. It is evident that normative social influences have a greater influence on groups as this is when an individual believes that conforming may have positive consequences and not conforming may have negative consequences. Whereas, informational social influences is often when we care about getting the right answer and trying to be rational. Both normative and informative influences affect the consumer purchase decision of purchasing a car.

Taking a closer look at our social class, we can see all of the social factors that are involved in the purchasing of consumer goods. Factors such as relationships, personal roles, and economic stability. Relational influences often tend to be one of the largest factors in looking at a product. Normally, a family member, friend, or coworker might convey their approval for a product, in