reference group
(noun)
A reference group refers to a group to which an individual or another group is compared.
Examples of reference group in the following topics:
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Reference Groups
- Reference groups are groups that consumers will look to for help in making purchasing decisions.
- Reference groups are groups that consumers compare themselves to or associate with.
- Reference groups are considered a social influence in consumer purchasing.
- Reference groups can be either formal or informal.
- Additionally, celebrities can be used as a reference group.
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Opinion Leaders
- Our purchase decisions are influenced by any number of people or groups.
- Sometimes, these opinion leaders can actually be groups, known as reference groups.
- If a marketer can identify key opinion leaders for a certain group, she can then direct her efforts towards attracting these individuals.
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Decision-Making Units
- The group of individuals responsible for making a buying decision in a B2B context are labelled the decision making unit (DMU).
- In the business-to-business (B2B) context (as opposed to B2C), buying decisions are made in groups.
- The group responsible for making the buying decision in companies is referred to as the decision making unit (DMU).
- In some cases, the buying center acts as an informal ad hoc group.
- In other cases, the buying center is a formally sanctioned group with specific mandates, criteria, and procedures.
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Customer Feedback
- Customer feedback can be collected via direct conversations with consumers, telephone or focus group interviews, surveys, and online communities.
- Service quality generally refers to a customer's comparison of service expectations as it relates to a company's performance.
- Focus groups: This involves gathering a number of customers, sitting them down, and discussing a range of issues relevant to a company's business.
- In-person focus groups and one-on-one interviews are helpful tools that provide explanation of product or consumer-related issues because you are going to the main source directly .
- Customer feedback can be gathered via focus group discussions that elicit their opinions and inquire about their experiences.
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Researching Using Digital Media
- Thus, the practice is also referred to as Internet research, Internet science, or iScience.
- These private communities can engage customer groups or target consumers who might be difficult to reach using traditional offline tactics.
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Estimating the Addressable Market
- Total addressable market (TAM) is a term that is typically used to reference the revenue opportunity available for a product or service.
- Total addressable market (TAM), also called total available market, is a term that is typically used to reference the revenue opportunity available for a product or service.
- The market can be categorized into separate groups called segments.
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The Dynamic Environment
- The company aspect of micro-environment refers to the internal environment of the company.
- Marketing intermediaries refer to the people that help the company promote, sell, and distribute its products to final buyers.
- Demography refers to studying human populations in terms of size, density, location, age, gender, race, and occupation.
- The political environment includes all the laws, government agencies, and groups that influence or limit organizations and individuals within a society.
- The cultural environment consists of institutions and the basic values and beliefs of a group of people.
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Advertising
- These methods are collectively referred to as Marketing Communications (MarCom) Matrix, and include direct marketing, public relations/publicity, new media, and advertising.
- Through advertising, a marketer hopes to communicate a message to a targeted consumer group via means including print, electronic (radio and television), the Internet and mobile phones.
- Developing a brand character statement sets the tone of the campaign and defines what the targeted consumer group should do or feel when they are exposed to it.
- A target group or audience is defined through information gathered from focus groups, demographics and by psycho-graphics, i.e. statistics illustrating how a certain group thinks and ultimately buys.
- The placement of advertisements along with their size and positioning are based upon data associated with the targeted consumer group.
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Defining Product
- In general, a product is defined as a "thing produced by labor or effort" or the "result of an act or a process. " The word "product" stems from the verb "produce", from the Latin prōdūce(re) "(to) lead or bring forth. " Since 1575, the word "product" has referred to anything produced.
- Commodities are usually raw materials such as metals and agricultural products, but the term can also refer to anything widely available in the open market.
- Sears uses the departments and product groupings with the intention of helping customers browse products by function or brand within a traditional department-store structure.
- A product line is "a group of products that are closely related, either because they function in a similar manner, are sold to the same customer groups, are marketed through the same types of outlets, or fall within given price ranges. " Many businesses offer a range of product lines which may be unique to a single organization or may be common across the company's industry.
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Product Line Breadth
- You may also hear the product line breadth referred to as the product width, product assortment width, and merchandize breadth.
- A product line is a group of products within the product mix that are closely related, either because they function in a similar manner, are sold to the same customer groups, are marketed through the same types of outlets or fall within given price ranges.