ABSTRACT
The effect of reference group influence on purchase and consumption decisions, and buying patterns have been a popular study in adults among researchers, thus little contribution has been made to the topical issue regarding children, especially in developing markets. The work of Sarathy shows that the roles of opinion leadership cannot be mingled with non-leader professionals in that the roles of opinion leadership strategically involve media exposure, social involvement, product knowledge, innovativeness and IT-compliant usage in the real estate industry/markets. The roles of opinion leaders are strategic in businesses especially in developing promotional policies that rely on word of mouth, celebrity endorsement and social network campaigns. The study of Reza and Valeecha shows that there are other salient factors that determine influence of reference groups on purchase decisions, roles of formal and informal reference groups in purchase decisions. Other areas of relevance and application for reference group strategy are found in medical/health issues, educational placement/pursuit, social behaviour and smoking campaigns.
