Social Factors:

The social factors in this context are forces which people exert on buying behaviour. Social factors include:-

• influence of roles and family
• reference groups
• social classes
• culture and sub-cultures

People occupy positions within groups, organisations and institutions. Each holder of a position has a role to play. A role is a set of actions and activities. A person in particular position plays a specified role. This is based on the expectations of the person and the surrounding people or group.

• Reference group: A group is referred to as a reference group if an individual joins it and identifies with it to the extent that he/she adopts its values, attitudes or behaviours of the group members.
• Opinion leaders: In most reference groups, one or more members emerge as opinion leaders.
• Social class: This is an open group of people who have similar rank.
• Cultural and sub-culture: Culture and sub-culture refer to the things in our surroundings. Such things are made by human beings. It is practical to divide a culture into sub-cultures based on geographical regions, human characteristics, etc.