Friendship

We are all to a greater or lesser degree influenced by the opinions of others. Apart, possibly, from hermits and those psychologically inhibited from any social contact, we all seek to belong to a group or groups of significant others. By accepting advice or information from key influentials, we are more likely to receive approval. Conformity is rewarding: by conforming to the norms of the group or of significant others, we are more likely to be valued as a friend or colleague. Such conformity and its implied meaningful association with others make friendships particularly important for understanding consumer cultures. Friendships influence what and how people consume in terms of communicating and moderating acceptable forms of consumer behavior.

The classical studies that developed these ideas are Personal Influence by E. Katz and P. Lazarsfeld (1955) and Social Behaviour: Its Elementary Forms by G. C. Homans (1961). These books reviewed many primary small-group studies: the former emphasized the two-step flow of communication, whereby the impact of, say, TV advertising is mediated through opinion leaders who interpret the message for the individual consumer.

In contemporary marketing circles, the notion of “word of mouth” is central: people are strongly influenced by what they hear from those around them. However, it is not always recognized that while consumer behavior is, indeed, crucially influenced in this way, some people's suggestions are listened to more carefully than others. It is here that the importance of friendship becomes significant. Communication is more effective for an individual when it aids her in rising in the esteem of her friends. Individuals conform in their consumer behavior and thus gain acceptance and friendship in return.

This leads us to a further fundamental sociological fact, namely, friendship homophily. Consumers are more comfortable with “people like us,” and [Page 621]personal influence in consumer behavior rarely crosses from one social stratum to another.

The recognition of the significance of the two-step flow of communication, the unpacking of what constitutes rewarding behavior and the reality of friendship homophily, are all basic to an understanding of consumer behavior influenced by word of mouth. It also leads to the crucial importance of understanding the microsocial worlds in which all individuals are embedded. This clearly involves a range of people—family members, work mates, fellow members of clubs and associations, neighbors, and so on, as well as, crucially, the friends whose opinions and advice not only are attractive but also increase the esteem and acceptance of the individuals subscribing to them.

Recent research unpacking these microsocial worlds throws light on a complex issue: Liz Spencer and Ray Pahl construct the personal communities of their respondents in response to a question seeking to discover who were the most important people in their lives at the present time. While it was certainly the case that many recognized the importance of their family and partners, it did not always follow that all family members held privileged positions. Some siblings, for example, could also be recognized as “best friends,” whereas others were of minimal significance, often based on bad feelings that had developed over the years. People were quite ready to nominate friends as being the most important and significant people in their lives. Unlike parents or children, friends are consciously chosen, and this choice carries with it a concern to work on the friendship to make it mutually satisfying and sustaining. Friends are more likely to be of broadly the same age and social situation so that their opinions and attitudes are likely to weigh more than those of a different generation or those who have not shared the same degree of social mobility. Given this, the more we understand about the nature of contemporary friendship, the better we can understand the word-of-mouth impact on consumer behavior.

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