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United customer groups influence individual's purchasing decisions

We are a tribal species. In primitive times our hunter-gatherer ancestors needed each other to survive. Today, swaddled in modern comfort we may find ourselves more isolated, less communal, but that tribal instinct still exists. It鈥檚 just been revamped. Brands are the new tribes, managers and marketers the tribal leaders and savvy marketers can harness that primitive tribal impulse to create a bond between a company and its customers.

Not only does a tribe provide a sense of social safety, it confers status and identity on its members. Translating tribal speak into business speak, 91看片 Professor Jeremy Wolter found that it鈥檚 worthwhile to organize customer groups around communal experiences. By uniting customers, whether in-person or online, around a specially curated event, the collective identity of the 鈥渢ribe鈥� can be leveraged to influence purchasing behaviors.

鈥淪ocial encounters can give us a social high,鈥� said Wolter, the Privett Endowed Professor in the Department of Marketing. 鈥淲hen businesses create a group for people, the group can become a collective personality. That strengthens the customer relationship.鈥� Wolter cautions it can weaken that relationship if dynamics go in the wrong direction.

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Wolter鈥檚 insights come from research he conducted with Auburn colleague Pei Xu and fellow researchers (St. Louis University), (Colorado State University), (University of Virginia). earlier this year.