The Bookstore and coffee shop

Running head: MARKETING
Consumer Behavior
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

MARKETING1
Question 3: How can Dove promote their brand/products through the use of reference
groups?
Reference group represented people or groups mostly used by business as the yardstick
for self-assessment or as model of personal standard, taste, behavior and attitude (Hammerl et al.
2016). Put differently, reference group represent people or groups whose behavior, attitude,
opinions, beliefs, values and preferences are identified by individuals based on their judgment. It
is not important to become member of specific reference group to be positively or negatively
influenced by the characteristics.
Identification and usage of reference group in marketing helps in influencing the goals,
attitudes, opinions, aspirations and information required for determining the customer
expectations and standards with regard to the business and its products or services (Cătălin and
Andreea 2014). Understanding the reference group will enable a business in appropriately fine
tuning the marketing message and packaging them appropriately through the preferred platforms
of the customers.
In the year 2004, Dove launched a ‘Campaign for Real Beauty’ where it used women off
streets especially from the grocery store, bookstore and coffee shop instead of professional
models as it reference groups (Murray 2013). This group of women were beyond stereotypical
beauty norms. The selected group of women were mostly in the age group of 22 to 96 and were
in sizes ranging from 6 to 12. These advertisements were then placed on billboards and bus stops
and across major cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angles where viewers were asked to
cast a vote. The use of the reference group enabled Dove to: