The Importance of Families and

Households on Consumer
Behavior

The Importance of Families and

Households on Consumer
Behavior
Many products are purchased
by a family unit
Individuals buying decisions
may be heavily influenced by
other family members

The Importance of Families and

Households on Consumer
Behavior
How families make purchase
decisions depends on the roles
of the various members in the
purchase, consumption, and
influence of products

Families and Households

Family: a group of two or more
persons related by blood,
marriage, or adoption who reside
together
Nuclear family: immediate group
of father, mother, and child(ren)
living together

Families and Households

Extended family: nuclear family,
plus other relatives such as
grandparents, uncles and aunts,
cousins, and parents-in-law
Family of orientation: family into
which one is born
Family of procreation: family
established by marriage

Some families are extending these

definitions to include pets

Pets Are Family Members Too

Families and Households

Household: all persons, both
related and unrelated, who occupy
a housing unit

Families and Households

Nonfamily households include:
Elderly persons living with
nonfamily members
Persons of the opposite sex
sharing living quarters
Friends living together
Same-sex couples

Families and Households

Families are the largest single
category of households

Rapid rise in the number of

nontraditional families and nonfamily households
Any of these types of households
may or may not include children
Buying behavior is best described
by the term consumer unit (CU) or
minimal household unit (MHU)

Families and Households

Structural variables affecting
families and households:

Families and Households

Structural variables affecting
families and households:
Age of head of household or family
Marital status
Presence of children
Employment status

Families and Households

Structural variables affecting
families and households:
Age of head of household
Marital status
Presence of children
Employment status

Marketers monitor these variables

to predict changes in demand for
specific products and categories

Families and Households

Sociological variables affecting
families and households:

Families and Households

Sociological variables affecting
families and households:
Cohesion: emotional bonding between
family members
Adaptability: ability of a family to change
its power structure, role relationships,
and relationship rules in response to
situational and developmental stress

Communication: facilitating dimension,

critical to movement on the other two
dimensions

Families Celebrations and

Gift Giving
Marketers frequently refer to
resilient families who emphasize
time spent together through family
traditions, rituals, and celebrations

Families Celebrations and

Gift Giving
Gift giving and family holidays are
increasing in importance
Traditional holiday spending and
promotions have shifted to other holidays
throughout the year
Physical movement of large gifts have
become difficult leading to increase sales
of gift certificates, gift cards, and Internet
gift purchases

Appeal to Different Ways Market

Segments Celebrate Holidays

Appeal to Different Ways Market

Segments Celebrate Holidays

Who Determines What the

Family Buys?

Who Determines What the

Family Buys?
Instrumental roles: financial,
performance, and other functions
performed by group members
(also known as functional or
economic roles)

Who Determines What the

Family Buys?
Expressive roles: involve
supporting other family members
in the decision-making process
and expressing the familys
aesthetic or emotional needs
including upholding family norms

Role Behavior
Individual roles in family purchases

Role Behavior
Individual roles in family purchases
Initiator/gatekeeper: initiator of family
thinking about buying products and
gathering information to aid decisions
Influencer: individual whose opinions
are sought concerning criteria and
which products or brands most likely to
fit those criteria
Decider: person with the financial
authority or power to choose how the
familys money will be spent on which
products and brands

Role Behavior
Individual roles in family purchases
Buyer: person who acts as the
purchasing agent by visiting the store,
calling suppliers, writing checks,
bringing products into the home and so
on
User: person or persons who use the
product

Role Behavior
Different family members will
assume different roles depending
on the situation and product
Children may be influencers and
users for items (such as cereals
and toys) while parents may be the
decider and the buyer

Role Behavior
Family marketing focuses on the
relationships between family
members based on the roles they
assume, including the relationship
between purchaser and family
consumer and between purchaser
and purchase decision maker

Role Behavior
Family marketing differentiates
scenarios in which some
purchases may have more than
one decision maker from those
that have more than one consumer

Role Behavior
Identifying different purchaserconsumer relationships:

Role Behavior
Identifying different purchaserconsumer relationships:
Whos buying for whom?
Who are the principal characters?
Whats the plot for the purchase?

Who wants what when?

What can we assume?

Role Behavior
Spousal roles in buying decisions

Role Behavior
Spousal roles in buying decisions
Autonomic: an equal number of
decisions is made by each spouse, but
each decision is individually made by
one spouse or the other
Husband dominant: the husband or
male head-of-household makes a
majority of the decisions

Role Behavior
Spousal roles in buying decisions
Wife dominant: the wife or female headof-household makes a majority of the
decisions
Joint: most decisions made with equal
involvement by both spouses

Influences on the Decision Process

Influences on the Decision Process

Marketers evaluate which types of
products are typically purchased by
wives, husbands, or jointly
Marketers can determine which
attributes of specific products to
advertise to different household
members
Which media will best reach the
most influential family member?
Which ad appeals are most effective?

Influences on the Decision Process

Influence of Decision Stage
Spouses exert different degrees of
influence when passing through the
different stages of the decision process
Movement from information search to
final decision may be minimal for many
low-involvement goods and more
pronounced for goods that are risky or
have high involvement for the family

Influences on the Decision Process

Influence of Decision Stage
The decision process tends to more
toward joint participation and away
from autonomic behavior as a final
decision nears

Influences on the Decision Process

Influence of Employment
More women working outside the home
Changing spousal roles has affected
how couples divide their buying
responsibilities

Influences on the Decision Process

Influence of Gender
As the gender gap narrows, decisions
are increasingly made jointly
Due to waning gender identification of
products, marketers are transitioning
gender-dependent products to a dualgender positioning

Family Life Cycles

Family Life Cycles

Family life cycle (FLC) : the
process of families passing
through a series of stages that
change them over time
The concept may need to be
changed to household life cycle or
consumer life cycle to reflect
changes in society

Family Life Cycles

Eleven primary stages have been
identified, but households do not
necessarily go through all stages
Which stages families go through
is based in part on their lifestyle
choices

Life Stage
Young Singles
Newly Married Couples
Full Nest I, II, III
Married, No Kids

Older Singles
Empty Nest I, II
Solitary Survivor
Retired Solitary Survivor

Activities and
Behaviors

Family Life Cycles

FLC affects demand for many products

Family Life Cycles

FLC affects demand for many products
Descriptions of life stages can be
combined with additional information
about consumer markets to analyze
consumer's needs, identify niches, and
develop consumer-specific marketing
plans

Family Life Cycles

Individuals may repeat family stages if
their family situations change or they
may be in stages different from most
people their age

Family Life Cycles

Individuals may repeat family stages if
their family situations change or they
may be in stages different from most
people their age
FLC helps explain how families change
over time and can identify core target
markets when modified with market data

Family Life Cycles

Family and household spending
The FLC is an important predictor
of family or household spending
In the last decade, consumers
have changed their household
spending from things to
services

Changing Family and

Household Structure

Changing Family and

Household Structure
Marketers must evaluate how
changes in family and household
structures affect marketing
strategy

Changing Family and

Household Structure
What is the structure of
contemporary families?
How is that structure changing?
How does structure affect the
various stages of the consumer
decision process?
Are the changing realities of
family structure a problem or an
opportunity for growth?

Changing Family and

Household Structure
Marriage Trends
Delaying age of marriage
Increased incidence of cohabitation
before marriage

Over half of marriages end in divorce

As a result, individuals shift between
married and single status

Changing Family and

Household Structure
Marriage Trends
What are the affects on markets for
household products, homes,
counseling, travel, etc.?

Changing Family and

Household Structure
The Singles Boom
Rise in number of single households in
developed nations
Co-habitating singles are the fastest
growing segment of singles market

Changing Family and

Household Structure
The Singles Boom: Mature Singles
In the U.S., 61 percent of the singles
market is made up of women, with a
median age of 66 years
Older women living single are often
widows; older men living single are
usually divorced or were never married
Marketers have targeted the mature
singles market with travel, financial
services, entertainment, social activities

Changing Family and

Household Structure
Gay and Lesbian Markets
This market is gaining attention
because of its recent growth (often
because people are now classifying
themselves as gay when they may not
have in the past)
This market tends to be urban, has
above average income, travels more
than average consumers, and express
more interest in the arts

Changing Family and

Household Structure
Gay and Lesbian Markets
Marketers are having more success
reaching this market with relationship
building marketing activities
Sponsoring gay-oriented events
Advertising in gay-oriented media

Changing Family and

Household Structure
Household Characteristics

The average household size has

fallen in most industrialized
countries
Nonfamily households are projected
to grow more rapidly than families
over the next few decades, but the
highest incomes are found among
family households

Changing Roles of Women

Changing Roles of Women

Female consumers now
outnumber male consumers as
women tend to liver longer than
men do
Women represent a greater
proportion in the population,
improved purchasing ability, and
assume greater importance in the
workplace

Changing Roles of Women

Female employment
Female employment is increasing
around the world
Employment outside the home
increases income and family buying
power, but it may also increase
expenditures for specific items such
as child care, clothing, food away
from home, and gasoline

Working Families Want Fashion

Changing Roles of Women

Career Orientation
Career or just-a-job orientation

Reach segments in different media

Changing Roles of Women

Women and Time
As roles outside the home increase,
women have less leisure time

Marketers have developed timesaving products to appeal to women,

including convenience foods
Marketers have also developed
products to help women enjoy the
leisure time they do have

Changing Roles of Women

Role Overload
Exists when the total demands on
time and energy associated with
prescribed activities of multiple roles
are too great to perform roles
adequately or comfortably

As women contribute more to the

family income, they expect in return
a more equal division of the
household responsibilities

Relaxation or Self-Indulgence

Changing Roles of Women

Marketing to Women

Changing Roles of Women

Marketing to Women
Appealing to the mother category

Different segments exist and they look

at advertising, the Internet, products,
time, and brands differently
Depending on career orientation,
responsibilities in and out of the
home, time pressures, messages, and
ads need to be adapted
Retailers can appeal to women with
special services or extended hours

Changing Masculine Roles

Changing Masculine Roles

Roles of men in families are
changing substantially as well

Men are more involved in family

functions and household activities
Men may buy items traditionally
purchased by women (groceries)
Many men are achieving gender
role transcendence and use
products previously seen as
feminine

Personal Care Products for Men

Children and Household

Consumer Behavior

Children and Household

Consumer Behavior
Children change dramatically how
the family functions, in terms of
relationships, employment, and
purchases

Children reduce parents

participation in the labor force,
change how families spend their
money and reduce the amount of
time and money available for leisure

Children and Household

Consumer Behavior
Children exert direct influence
over parental spending when they
request specific products and
brands

They exert indirect influence when

parents buy products and brands
that they know children prefer
without being asked or told to
make a specific purchase

Children and Household

Consumer Behavior
Children also make their own
purchases with family money or
with their own
Children like to shop for candy,
toys, clothing, school supplies,
and other personal use items
Retailers study ways to adapt
specific departments to these
young, but significant, consumers

Children and Household

Consumer Behavior
Childhood Socialization

Children learn their consumer

behaviors through socialization
Children learn shopping behaviors
from shopping with parents

Children and Household

Consumer Behavior
Childhood Socialization

Co-shoppers explain to their

children why they buy certain
products over others, thereby,
teaching their children how to
shop

Research Methodology for

Family Decision Studies

Research Methodology for

Family Decision Studies
Measuring Influences

Research Methodology for

Family Decision Studies
Measuring Influences
Who was responsible for initial need
recognition?
Who was responsible for acquiring
information about the purchase
alternatives?
Who made the final decision on which
alternative should be purchased?
Who made the actual purchase of the
product?

Debate
Describe Peruvian Families
Talk about the roles of family members
Trends in peruvian families
Compare to western families