Positive vs. negative reference groups
Reference groups may exert either a positive or a negative influence on consumption
behaviours. In most cases, consumers model their behaviour to be consistent with what
they think the group expects of them. In some cases, though,consumers may try to distance themselves from other people or groups who function as avoidance groups.He
or she may carefully study the dress or mannerisms of a disliked group and scrupulously
avoid buying anything that might identify him or her with that group. Many consumers
find it difficult to express what they want whereas they can quite clearly express what
they do not want. In fact, some researchers suggest that the phenomenon of distaste is
much more decisive for our consumption choices but harder to study than tastes, since
our choices are quite obvious compared to all the non-selected alternatives.
13
For example, rebellious adolescents often resent parental influence and may deliberately do the
opposite of what their parents would like as a way of making a statement about their
independence. As Romeo and Juliet discovered, nothing makes a partner more attractive
than a little parental opposition.