The Asch Phenomenon and Consumer Behavior (Bridget Walczak)

Imagine yourself sitting in a room with seven of your peers. You are asked a question and given a choice of three different answers: A, B, or C. You know the answer is C, yet every single person efore you confidently states that the answer is B. !o you stick with your answer, or eliminate the fear of eing wrong and em arrassed in front of your peers and go along with the group" #his is the e$act dilemma faced y su %ects in the famous Asch e$periment. #he Asch phenomenon can e defined as the effect of a reference group on individual decision making that occurs ecause of a perceived pressure to conform to the stated opinions of the group mem ers. As consumers, we should recogni&e the great impact this phenomenon can have on our uying ehaviors. 'hile interacting in a group setting, we may make choices that are different from what we would do when alone. (arketers and salespeople may use this idea to their advantage when presenting a product to potential customers. If they can get a few people to voice a positive opinion toward their products, it is likely that others will follow. As consumers, we should e aware of when this idea may e used unethically in order to protect our individual interests. )or e$ample, a salesperson may try to sell a product to an audience of potential consumers. *owever, some people working for the salesperson may e planted in the audience posing as na+ve consumers in order to influence the purchase ehaviors of the other mem ers of the audience. Also, marketers may use individuals, insecurities to pressure them to go along with the group, even when it is not in a person,s est interest. An ad showing a man eing ridiculed for uying a less e$pensive television set may unethically lead a consumer to think he needs to uy something unafforda le to fit in with his friends.

Explanation of the Topic

#he Asch phenomenon is a concept derived from the findings of a study conducted in -./-. 0olomon Asch 1-.23 -..45 originally conducted this e$periment to e$plain conformity to ma%ority6esta lished norms 1(oghaddam, -..75. #he su %ects involved in the study were rought into a room with seven other students 1who were all working for Asch and were instructed on what to do5 and seated second6 to6last around a ta le. #he su %ects were told that the e$periment was concerned with accuracy and visual perception, and that their task was to choose which of the three ars on the right matched the length of the ar on the left and to give their answers aloud. #he confederates in the study were instructed to give incorrect answers -8 out of -7 times in order to see whether or not the su %ect would go along with the crowd after hearing their incorrect responses 19Conformity :$periments Asch: 0ocial ;ressure<5.

A #est of ;erception

Which line in Exhibit 2 is the same length as the line in Exhibit 1?

A series of e$periments y 0olomon Asch, testing the effects of social pressure on individual perceptions, showed that some people in some situations will go against the evidence of their own senses if the people around them seem to perceive something different. #hirty6seven of the fifty su %ects conformed to the ma%ority at least once, and fourteen of them conformed on more than half of the significant trials 19Conformity<5. =verall, >/ percent of the su %ects, responses conformed to the group,s incorrect %udgments. #his is surprising ecause the control group achieved near perfect accuracy, showing that the task was not inherently difficult. In addition, when the e$periment was duplicated allowing the su %ects to write down their own %udgments privately after hearing the incorrect responses of the group, conformity was drastically reduced 1Ba$ter5. #he reasons why su %ects gave in to group influence hold important ideas for salespeople and marketers. ;eople conform for two main reasons: ecause they want to e liked y the group and ecause they elieve the group is etter informed than they are 19Conformity<5. In this study, Asch reported that most of the participants yielded to group pressure ecause they assumed the ma%ority was right and they were wrong, rather than ecause they wanted to e accepted y the ma%ority 1?evine, -...5. #his difference is what separates the Asch phenomenon from the concept of peer pressure. ;eer pressure tends to operate more in primary groups in which normative and identification group influences are at work, rather than informational group influences. A rief e$ample may e$plain the differences etween these three types of influences. Informational influence is at work when a person thinks, 9I should uy that rand of cereal ecause my health6conscious friends recommend it as part of a nutritious diet.< @ormative influence is at work when a person thinks, 9I should uy that rand of cereal so that my friends think that I am also health6conscious, or so they won,t make fun of me for eating adly.< )inally, a person reacting to identification influence would think, 9I should uy that rand of cereal ecause I am a mem er of 'eight 'atchers, and all of us value that rand.< Asch,s findings support more of an informational influence, particularly ecause the conforming su %ects did not even know the other mem ers of the group. #hey %ust assumed that the group must know something that they did not know, or decided it was easier and safer to go along with the group. #he Asch phenomenon occurs even when there is only a perceived pressure to conform. #hat is, if mem ers go against the group they will not e$perience any negative consequences. *owever, when dealing with peer pressure, often individuals who do not conform are ridiculed, humiliated, or e$cluded y hisAher peers. ?ooking at the Asch study, you can see that while a significant proportion of people conformed, the ma%ority did not. #his suggests that some people may e more suscepti le to the phenomenon than others, and that certain situations may create this pressure to conform more than others. #here are five determinants of reference group influence. If there is visi le usage, high relevance of a product to the group, low individual purchase confidence, strong individual commitment to the group, and it is a non6 necessary item, people are much more likely to e influenced y the opinions of the group mem ers 1*awkins, 822B5. Imagine shopping y yourself as opposed to shopping with a group of your fashion6 conscious friends. You notice a red shirt on the rack, ut don,t really care for it. =ne of your friends later picks up the shirt and says, 9#his shirt is a solutely fa ulous.< #he other mem ers of the group agree, and soon you find yourself agreeing that you also love the shirt. You do this not only ecause you want to e accepted y the group, ut ecause you assume the others know more a out fashion than you do. In addition, if the shirt is a reasona le price and you are looking for something to wear to a party where everyone will e dressed fashiona ly, the opinions of the group mem ers will affect your purchase decision even more.

#he Asch phenomenon has een demonstrated in a variety of settings. In one study, /7 percent of college students were persuaded to agree to the statement that 9the right of freedom of speech should e suspended when the Covernment feels threatened,< even though not one of these su %ects held this view privately 1Ba$ter5. In another study, students, perceptions of the nutritional value of a new diet food were influenced y the opinions of other mem ers of a group. 'hen the other students of the group were seen as 9e$perts,< meaning they claimed to e ma%oring in and had work e$perience with nutrition, mem ers changed their initial responses to conform to the group even more 1?ascu, -../5. Clearly, this phenomenon should not e ignored when advertising a new product or designing a sales campaign, when potential consumers, opinions are more likely to e swayed. #he technique would e useful when potential consumers see others as having greater e$pertise a out the product than they do. *owever, a great deal of risk in purchasing may cause a consumer to seek out information himself rather than go off of what others say. #herefore, the Asch phenomenon may work ideally in low6e$pertise and low6 involvement situations.

:$amples
:$amples of the Asch phenomenon can e found throughout the media. 'hen mem ers of a group voice their positive opinions a out a product, people are more willing to go along with this stated opinion. )or e$ample, )ord (otor Company uses the Asch phenomenon to uild greater rand loyalty y providing a section on their we site dedicated to personal stories with )ord vehicles. By reading all of the positive stories a out )ord cars and trucks, consumers may also feel pressure to think the same way a out )ords. Another e$ample of the influence group mem ers may have on individual purchasing decisions comes from the use of infomercials in which a product is displayed to a group of potential customers. At first, the consumers are skeptical that a product could e so easy to use, so convenient, or so ine$pensive. *owever, a consumer is instructed to use a product, is impressed y the product, and says, 9'ow, I really can feel my legs and a s getting stronger< or 9'ow, this vegeta le chopper really does make it easy.< 0oon after, other mem ers of the group are going along with the stated opinions of the original users, and people at home egin to agree with the group too, possi ly to the point of purchasing the product. 0pecific companies using this technique include Donco, Body y Eake, and #ae6 o. ;ampered Chef kitchen shows work in a similar way, and depend on stated opinions of kitchen e$perts and groups of friends. As the host displays and uses a variety of kitchen products, showing how helpful, easy, and fun to use they are, other mem ers of the group may try them out and voice similar opinions. A person who may not have otherwise een e$cited y a cooking stone or apple corerApeelerAslicer soon finds these products as ama&ing as the other mem ers of the group, and has ordered them without giving a second thought as to when she will actually use them. ;eople often find it very difficult to go against the positive opinions of movie critics and reviewers. 'hen showing commercials for films, the previews include such statements as 9#he funniest movie of the year,< 9A solutely phenomenal< or 9#he est drama since 1fill in the lank5.< Claims such as these, especially from credi le critics and pu lications, are difficult to disagree with and tend to sway people to go see the movie. )or e$ample, a person sees a movie on opening day efore it is heavily advertised. #his person thinks the movie is ok, ut does not recommend it to any friends or family to see. *owever, after watching several ads on television in which positive claims are made a out the movie, the person may change hisAher opinion to go along with these claims. 0uddenly, the movie seems etter, and the individual finds himAherself agreeing with the critics and recommending the movie to others. #his may e ecause heAshe does not want to e the only one who thinks differently, or ecause the critics have greater e$pertise on movies.