Ch. 11 Target and Social influences on Consumer Behavior

Target focuses on Associative Reference Groups to influence consumers, such as family, friends and school groups, in their marketing efforts. This is demonstrated in many of their ads, two of which are pictured below.

By showing consumers their associative reference groups in their ads, Target hopes to influence consumers decisions to shop at their store, because even consumers who identify as individualistic react positively to products connected with their reference group. 

Additionally, Target also uses moms as opinion leaders to influence online word of mouth, which positively effects consumer behavior. 

As demonstrated above, moms all around the world tweet, write blogs, and have Instagram and Facebook posts dedicated to their love of Target. This is a marketer's dream, as word of mouth such as this serves in several ways to influence consumer behavior. Firstly, moms are typically the gatekeepers and opinion leaders of the household, so they are already influential figures in consumer behavior. Secondly, moms are very vocal on social media about their devotion to Target, which serves as positive word of mouth as well as influential non-marketing sources to give credibility and positive influence towards the retail giant. Moms and Target are a match made in consumer behavior heaven.