It's the Final

After reflecting on the past semester and what I had learned in Consumer Behavior particular, I came to realize that I look at advertising and commercials completely differently now. Before I would see a commercial and be your typical consumer who would just blankly stare at the screen and later purchase that product without realize what the company is actually selling. For example, learning about the four models of consumer learning made me start understanding advertising and how a consumer learns through different models. Also, surveying and using the information to form a targeting strategy allowed me to understand more about making commercials and why companies use certain information and exclude others. Consumer Behavior class showed how advertising is not only based on the consumer needs but there is a lot more that companies have to take into consideration.

Peace, Love, Consumer Behavior!

Reference Groups

JCPenney is a well-know department store that is highly trusted in the fashion industry. Using reference groups is part of JCPenney's marketing strategy. Reference groups are persons, groups, and institutions one uses as points of reference. There are three forms of reference group influence and JCPenney's Back to School commercial uses the normative influence which occurs when a consumer's decision or action is based on his or her desire to conform  to the expectations of someone else. In the ad for JCPenney, the expectation is to have fun and be dressed to impress on the first day of school . The ad shows teenagers having fun and dancing around with their friends, dressed in stylish new clothing. An important aspect of a teenagers' life is fitting in and looking cool around your friends. The targeted audience for this ad and the reference group influence used all makes sense by showing the clothing and the teenagers having fun with friends and fitting in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V-0pW-tZX8