Consumer Behaviour

Session 14
14/08/08
 Family
Relevance to CB
Exerts predominant influence on consumer’s behaviour
Both a primary and reference group
Family operates as an economic unit both earning and spending
money
Family functions directly in the role of ultimate consumption

Families and households

Household includes the related family members and all the unrelated
persons who occupy a housing unit
Two types of households families and non-families
Both form the basis for consumer decision making and purchase
behaviour
Family Life cycle concept
This concept is useful for segmentation purposes.
Traditional family life-cycle stages
The Bachelor Stage:- young single people
Newly Married Couples:- Young no children
Full Nest 1: Young married couples with children under 6
Full Nest 2: Young married couples with youngest child 6 or over
Full Nest 3: Older married couples with dependent children
Empty Nest 1: older married couples with no children living with
them and household head working
Empty Nest 2: Older married couple with no children living with
them and household head retired
Solitary survivor 1: Older single person working
Solitary survivor 2: Older retired single person
With family life cycle concept marketers are able to better understand
how family’s needs, outlooks, product purchases and financial
resources vary over time.
Modernised Family Life Cycle
This concept has been formulated to accommodate the changes
taking place in family in the recent times because of:-
Postponement of marriage
Smaller family size
Rising divorce rates
Categories such as
Single Parent 1, 2 & 3
Bachelor 2 & 3
Childless couple
Delayed full nest etc are added to reflect the contemporary
changes in the composition of families.
Mordernised family life cycle is based on age – young, middle
aged and elderly
The various stages are affected by the two critical factors:-
1) Marriages and separation
2) arrival of the first child and the departure of the last child

F L C concept useful for forecasting consumer demend and targeting

market segments

Family Purchase decisions

From the perspectives of 1) role structure 2) Power structure
3) Stage in decision making process 4) family specific aspects
Various roles played by the members
Traditional families the husband- task oriented role thereby- functional
attributes and in closing the sale
Wife- social emotional role- more concerned with the emotional aspects like
aesthetic product attributes and purchase suggestions.
Purchase process roles
Who plays what roles like – initiator, influencer, information gatherer
Decision maker, purchaser, user etc.

Power structure
Whether family is- patriarchal, matriarchal or equalitarian.
Child centred family- in which children have a strong influence

Purchase influence patterns:- wife dominant, husband dominant, joint,

autonomic
Joint decisions are more likely to occur economic outlay is more;
Routine expenditures will be delegated to one of the spouses
Conflict in Family purchase decisions
Regarding who should make the purchase decision
How the decision should be made
Who should implement the decision etc.

Resolving conflicts
Expert- using superior info
Legitimate- using household position
Bargaining- Giving up for a future favour
Reward/ Referent- offering reward
Emotional- emotional reaction
Impression mangement/ manipulation- by using persuasion
Changing Roles and Family Purchase Decision
Earlier Husband concentrated on occupational efforts and
wife on domestic activities.
Sex role patterns shifting towards more egalitarianism
Lot of decisions have now become negotiable whether
negotiations are done on the basis of collective interest or
individualistic interests.

Family Specific characteristics

The nature of purchase decisions made is also influenced by
aspects like
Culture & Subculture
Social Class & reference groups
Stage in life cycle
Mobility & Geographical locations
Marketing implications
Marketing message to be developed depending on
family roles and decision making patterns- husband
dominated/ wife dominated/ joint etc
Reaching purchaser may require may require one
communication medium while reaching user may
require another.
In case of some types of products children are
significantly involved in the purchase decision- for
such child centered products appeal to children.
Changing Female Roles
Women in terms of traditional/ feminist orientations
Needs of the working women
Even traditional women are changing
Working women who thinks her job as her career and the ones
who think it’s just a job.
Overemphasizing on working women might put off the other
homemaker females.

Changing Roles of Males