Definition of Family Influences and Decision Making

Introduction

The family is a major influence on the consumer behavior of its members. There are many examples of how the family influences the consumption behavior of its members. A child learns how to enjoy candy by observing an older brother or sister; learns the use and value of money by listening to and watching his or her parents. Decisions about a new car, a vacation trip, or whether to go to a local or an out-of-town college are consumption decisions usually made within the context of a family setting. As a major consumption unit, the family is also a prime target for the marketing of many products and services.

The Family

The importance of the family or household unit in consumer behavior arises for two reasons:

Many products are purchased by a family unit.

Individuals’ buying decisions may be heavily influenced by other family members.

How families or households make purchase decisions depends on the roles of the various family members in the purchase, consumption, and influence of products. Household products like food and soaps may be purchased by a person but consumed by many, whereas personal care items, such as cosmetics or shaving cream, might be purchased by an individual family member for his or her own consumption. Homes and cars, on the other hand, are often purchased by both spouses, perhaps with involvement from children or other member of the extended family.

Visits to shopping malls often involve multiple family members buying clothing and accessories, something with a heavy dose of influence by family members-children may buy clothing paid for and approved of by parents, whereas teenagers may influence the clothing purchase of a parent.

Regardless of how many family members are present when items are being purchased, the other family members play an important role in the purchase. Just because of being mother for two young children, it is her responsibility for buying food for the family and act as an individual in the market. It does not mean that her decisions are not influenced by the preferences and power of other family members. Although marketing communications are usually directed to individuals, marketers should consider the consumption circumstances and the family structure before deciding on specific communication or advertising methods to attract their segment.

What is a Family?

A family is a group of two or more persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption who reside together. The nuclear family is the immediate group of father, mother, and child(ren) living together. The extended family is the nuclear family, plus other relatives, such as grandparents, uncles and aunts, cousins, and parents-in-law. The family into which one is born is called the family of orientation,­ whereas the one established by marriage is the family of procreation. In a more dynamic sense, the individuals who constitute a family might be described as members of the most basic social group who live together and interact to satisfy their personal and mutual needs.

What is a Household?

The term household is used to describe all person, both related and unrelated, who occupy a housing unit. There are significant differences between the terms household and family even though they are sometimes used interchangeably. It is important­ to distinguish between these terms when examining data.

The term household is becoming a more important unit of analysis for marketers because of the rapid growth in nontraditional­ families and non-family households. Among non-family households, the great majority consist of people living alone. The remaining non-family households include those consisting of elderly people living with non-family members. For example, persons of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters, friends living together, and same sex couples.

Structural Variables Affecting Families and Households

Structural variables include the age of the head of household or family, marital status, presence of children, and employment status. For example, consumer analysts have enormous interest in whether families have children and how many they have. Children increase family demand for clothing, food, furniture, homes, medical care, and education, while they decrease demand for many discretionary items, including travel, higher-riced restaurants, and adult clothing.

Other structural changes affect the types of products that are manufactured. For example, in Japan, high-tech companies have formed a consortium to standardize technology that has been developed to monitor and manage households.

Sociological Variables Affecting Families and Households

Marketers can understand family and household decisions better by examining the sociological dimensions of how families make consumer decisions. Three sociological variables that help explain how family’s function includes cohesion, adaptability, and communication.

Cohesion is the emotional bonding between family members. It measures how close to each other family members feel on an emotional level. Cohesion reflects a sense of connectedness to or separateness from other family members.

Adaptability measures the ability of a family to change its power structure, role relationships, and relationship rules in response to situational and developmental stress. The degree of adaptability shows how well a family can meet the challenges presented by changing situations.

Communication is a facilitating dimension, critical to movement on the other two dimensions. Positive communication skills (such as empathy, reflective listening, and supportive comments) enable family members to share their changing needs as they relate to cohesion and adaptability. Negative communication skills (such as double messages, double binds, criticism) minimize the ability to share feelings, thereby restricting movement in the dimensions of cohesion and adaptability. Understanding whether family members are satisfied with family purchase requires communication within the family.

To determine how the family makes its purchase decisions and how the family affects the future purchase behavior of its members, it is useful to understand the functions provided and the roles played by family members to fulfill their consumption needs.

Functions of The Family

Four basic functions provided by the family are particularly relevant to a discussion of consumer behavior. These include (1) Economic well-being, (2) Emotional support, (3) Suitable family lifestyles, and (4) Family-member socialization.

Economic Well-Being

Providing financial means to its dependents is unquestionably a basic family function. How the family divides its responsibilities for providing economic well-being has changed considerably. The traditional roles of husband as economic provider and wife as homemaker and child rearer are still valid. The economic role of children has changed. Today, even if some teenage children work, they rarely assist the family financially. Their parents are still expected to provide for their needs. But some of them get enough pocket-money to decide their consumption of discretionary items.

Emotional Support

The provision of emotional nourishment (including love, affection, and intimacy) to its members is an important basic function of the contemporary family. In fulfilling this function, the family provides support and encouragement and assists its members in coping with personal or social problems. To make it easier for working parents to show their love affection and support for their children, greeting-card companies have been marketing cards especially for parent to give to their children. For instance, in most communities, many educational and psychological centers are available that are designed to assist parents who want to help their children improve their learning and communication skills, or generally, better adjust to their environments.

Suitable Family Lifestyles

Another important family function in terms of consumer behavior is the establishment of a suitable lifestyle for the family. Family lifestyle commitments, including the allocation of time, greatly influence consumption patterns. For example, the increase in the number of married women working outside the home has reduced the time they have available for household chores, and has created a market for convenience products and fast-food restaurants. Also, with both parents working, an increased emphasis is placed on the notion of “quality time”, rather than the “quan­ tity of time” spent with children and other family members. Realizing the scarcity of quality family time, Hotels feature a variety of weekend packages targeted to couples and their children.

Socialization of Children and Other Family Members

The socialization of family members, especially young children, is a central family function. In large part, this process consists of imparting to children the basic value and modes of behavior consistent with the culture. These generally include moral and religious principles, interpersonal skills, dress and grooming standard, appropriate manners and speech, and the selection of suitable educational and occupational or career goals. Socialization skills (manners, goals, values, and other qualities) are imparted to a child directly through instruction and indirectly through observation of the behavior of parents and older siblings. Marketers often target parents looking for assistance in the task of socializing preadolescent children.

Family Life Cycles

Families pass through a series of stages that change them over time. This process historically has been called the family life cycle (FLC). The concept may need to be changed to household­ life cycle (HLC) or consumer life cycle (CLC) in the future to reflect changes in society. However, we will use the term FLC to show how the life cycle affects consumer behavior.

Family Life Cycle Characteristics

The traditional FLC describes family patterns as consumers marry, have children, leave home, lose a spouse, and retire. These stages are described in Table along with consumer behaviors associated with each stage. But consumers don’t necessarily have to pass through all these stages-thy can skip multiple stages

                                                                                                          Consumer Activities Occurring in Various Life Cycles

Young Singles

Young singles may live alone, with their nuclear families, or with friends, or they may co-habitate with partners in this stage. Although earnings tend to be relatively low, these consumers usually don’t have many financial obligations and don’t feel the need to save for their futures or retirement. Many of them find themselves spending as much as they make on cars, furnishings for first residences away from home, fashions, recreation, alcoholic beverages, food away from home, vacations, and other products.

Newly Married Couples

Newly married couples without children are usually better off financially than they were when they were single, since they often have two incomes available to spend on one household. These families tend to spend a substantial amount of their incomes on cars, clothing, vacations, and other leisure activities. They also have the highest purchase rate and highest average purchases of durable good (particularly furniture and appliances) and appear to be more susceptible to advertising.

Full Nest I

With the arrival of the first child, parents begin to change their roles in the family, and decide if one parent will stay to care for the child or if they will both work and buy daycare services. In this stage, families are likely to move into their first home; purchases furniture and furnishings for the child; and purchase new items such as baby food, toys, sleds, and skates. These requirements reduce families’ ability to save, and the husband and wife are often dissatisfied with their financial position.

Full Nest II

In this stage, the youngest child has reached school age, the employed spouse’s income has improved. Consequently, the family’s financial position usually improves, but the family finds itself consuming more and in larger quantities. Consumption patterns continue to be heavily influenced by the children, since the family tends to buy large-sized packages of food and cleaning suppliers, bicycles, music lessons, clothing, sports equipment, and a computer.

Full Nest III

As the family grows older and parents enter their min-40s, their financial position usually continues to improve because the primary wage earner’s income rises, the second wage earner is receiving a higher salary, and the children earn from occasional and part-time employment. The family typically replaces some worn pieces of furniture, buys some luxury appliances, and spends money on education. Families also spend more on computers in this stage, buying additional PCs for their older children. Depending on where children go to college and how many are seeking higher education, the financial position of the family may be tighter than other instances.

Married, No Kids

Couples who marry and do not have children are likely to have more disposable income to spend on charities, travel, and entertainment than others in their age range. Not only do they have fewer expenses, these couples are more likely to be dual-wage earners, making it easier for them to retire earlier if they save appropriately.

Older Singles

Single, age 40 or older, may be single again (ending married status because of divorce or death of a spouse), or never married (because they prefer to live independently or because they co-habitate with partners), either group of which may or may not have children living in the household. This group now has more available income to spend on travel and leisure but feels the pressure to save for the future, since there is no second income on which to rely as they get older.

Empty Nest I

At this stage, the family is most satisfied with its financial position. The children have left home and are financially independent allowing the family to save more. In this stage discretionary income is spent on what the couple wants rather than on what the children need. Therefore, they spend on home improvements, luxury items, vacations, sports utility vehicles, food away from home, travel, and product for their grand children.

Empty Nest II

But this time, the income earners have retired, usually resulting in a reduction in income and disposable income. Expenditures become health oriented, centering on such items as medical appliances and health, and medicines. But many of these families continue to be active and in good health, allowing them to spend time traveling, exercising, and volunteering. Many continue working part time to supplement­ their retirement and keep them socially involved.

Solitary Survivor

Solitary survivors be either employed or not employed. If the surviving spouse has worked outside the home in the past, he or she usually continues employment or goes back to work to live on earned income (rather than saving) and remain socially active. Expenditures for clothing and food usually decline in this stage, with income spent on health care, sickness care, travel entertainment, and services.. Those who are not employed are often on fixed incomes and may move in with friends to share housing expenses and companionship, and some may choose to remarry­.

Retired Solitary Survivor

Retired solitary survivors follow the same general consumption patterns as solitary survivors; however, their income may not be as high. Depending on how much they have been able to save throughout their lifetimes, they can afford to buy a wide range of products. These individuals have special needs for attention, affection, and security based on their lifestyle choices.

Marketers use the descriptions of these FLC stages when analyzing marketing and communication strategies for products and services, but they often add additional information about consumer markets to analyze their needs, identify niches, and develop consumer-specific marketing strategies.

Family Decision-Making

Families use products even though individuals usually buy them. Determining what products should be bought, which retail outlet to use, how and when products are used, and who should buy them is a complicated process involving a variety or roles and actors.

Role Behavior

Families and other groups exhibit what sociologist Talcott Parsons called instrumental and expressive role behaviors.

Instrumental roles, also known as functional or economic roles, involve financial, performance, and other functions performed by group members.

Expressive roles involve supporting other family members in the decision-making process and expressing the family’s aesthetic or emotional needs, including upholding family norms.

Individual Roles in Family Purchases

Family consumption decisions involve at least five definable roles, which may be assumed by spouses, children, or other members of a household­. Both multiple roles and multiple actors are normal. Marketers need to communicate with consumers assuming each of these roles, remembering that different family members will assume different roles depending on the situation and product. Children, for example, are users of cereals, toys, clothing, and many other products but may not be the buyers. One or both of the parents may be the decider and the buyer, although the children may be important as influencers and users.

Family Roles

For a family to function as a cohesive unit, roles or tasks-such as doing the laundry, preparing meals, setting the dinner table, taking out the garbage, walking the dog must be carried out by one or more family members. In our dynamic society, etc. family-related roles are constantly changing.

Key Family Consumption Roles

The roles played by the different family members will vary from product to product. While shopping in the market, a housewife comes across a new variety of juice that she buys for the family. Her decision to purchase does not directly involve the influence of other family members. She is the decider, buyer; but she may or may not be the preparer and is not the only user. In case of products such as television, car, music systems, furniture or any other product which is likely to be used by some or all the family members, the purchase decision is likely to be joint or group decision.

There are eight distinct roles in the family decision-making process. A look at these roles provides further insight into how family members act in their various consumption-related roles:

Influencers: Those family members who provide information and advice and thus influence the purchase. The housewife tells her family about the new eatery that has opened in the neighborhood and her favorable description about it influences her husband and teenaged children.

Gatekeepers: Those family members who control the flow of information about a product/service thus influencing the decisions of other family members. The teenage son, who wants a racing bicycle, may withhold from his father much of the relevant information on all brands except the one that he fancies, thereby influencing his father’s decision in favour of his preferred brand.

Deciders: Family members who have the power to unilaterally or jointly decide whether or not to buy a product or service. The husband and wife may jointly decide about the purchase of a new refrigerator.

Buyers: Those family members who actually buy a particular product or service. A housewife may be the person who actually buys all the foodstuffs, rations and toiletries, which are consumed by all the family members.

Preparers: Those family members who transform or prepare the product into the form in which it is actually consumed. The housewife may prepare the family meal using raw vegetables, lentils, spices, oil and other ingredients.

Users: Those family members who use or consume a particular product or service. All family members may use the car, watch the television, and listen to the stereo music system

Maintainers: Family member(s) who service or repair the product so that it will provide continued satisfaction.

Disposers: Family member(s) who initiate or carry out the disposal or discontinuation of a particular product or service.

Influencing Spouses and Resolving Consumer Conflicts

When making consumer decisions, husbands and wives commonly attempt to influence each other to arrive at what they feel to be the best outcome. Six influence strategies for resolving husband/wife consumption-related conflicts have been identified:

Expert: At attempt by a spouse to use his or her superior information about decision alternatives to influence the other spouse. (Cooking Oil)

Legitimacy: An attempt by a spouse to influence the other spouse on the basis of position in the household.(Buying a house)

Bargaining: An attempt by a spouse to secure influence now that will be exchanged with the other spouse at some future date. (Jewelry)

Reward: An attempt by a spouse to influence the behavior of the other spouse by offering a reward.(FMCG)

Emotional: An attempt by spouse to use an emotion-laden reaction to influence the other spouse’s behavior.(Birth control measures)

Impression: Any persuasive attempts by one spouse to influence the behavior of the other.(Fixated buyer behavior)

These influence strategies tend to be used by either husbands or wives when they find themselves in disagreement or in conflict with the other spouse regarding specific consumer decision. For instance, we all have experienced occasions on which different restaurants to visit, see different movies, or go on a different type of family vacation. These are only a few examples of the almost endless possibilities of potential family consumption conflicts that might need to be resolved.

Children

As any parent knows, young children attempt to influence family decisions as soon as they possess the basic communication­ skills needed to interact with other family members (“Buy me a cookie”, “I want a Barbie doll”, “Let’s eat at McDonald’s”.). Older children are likely to participate more directly in family consumption activities. In a study of children aged 6 to 14, more than half indicated that they influenced family purchase decisions, such as choice of vacations, stereo equipment, and home computers. Other research indicates that children play relatively important roles when it comes to initiating interest in a new computer and in the actual purchase decision.

The parent-child relationship, as it relates to consumer behavior, can be viewed as an influence versus yield situation. Specifically, children attempt to influence their parents to make a purchase (to yield). In observing shoppers in a supermarket, it is quite evident that children attempt to influence their parents to make purchases of special interest (e.g., laundry detergents) for which they see ads on TV.

Teenagers and Post teens

A significant number of teenagers have discretionary spending in terms of spending patterns. High school students (those in grades 7 through 12) are most interested in sports and fitness. Boys between the ages of 16 and 19 spend most of their money on movies, dating, entertainment, vehicle expenses, and clothing, while girls of that age spend most of their money on clothing, cosmetics, and fragrances.

The teen market can be segmented in terms of lifestyle groups. Figure below presents a four-category segmentation schema of the teenage market. Such segmentation framework has value for marketers who wish to focus their marketing efforts on a particular subgroup of teens.

                                                                                                                                Lifestyle segmentation of the teen market

Family marketing

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. Family marketing identifies scenarios where some purchase might have more than one decision maker, whereas some have more than one consumer. The family marketing model, as see in Figure, represents nine cells describing various purchaser-consumer relationships. Depending­ on where in the matrix various products fall, marketers can advertise and position products differently according to their purchaser-consumer relationships.

The family purchase decision-making process can be complex, but answering the following questions helps identify different purchaser-consumer relationships.

Who’s buying for whom?

Who are the principal characters?

Who wants what and when?

What can we assume?

The Family Marketing Model

Although these answers may not identify all essential relation­ ships marketers should consider, they do identify a family marketing plan, which creates a relationship between individuals and products based on the role each individual has in the influence or purchase of products. In the restaurant industry, the trend has been to focus on marketing to the family as a single unit. Admittedly, the appeal to families arose from the restaurant industry’s desire to grow sales and profits.

Influences on the Decision Process

How do husbands and wives perceive their relative influence on decision making across the decision stages? And what does this mean for marketers? Joint decisions tend to be made about vacations, televisions, refrigerators, and living room furniture. Autonomic decision-making tends to be present in decisions about categories that include women’s jewelry, men’s leisure clothing, indoor paint and wallpaper, and luggage. By understanding where on this “map” the decisions to buy particular products fall, marketers can try to determine which aspects of specific product to advertise to different household members and which media will reach the influential family member.

Influence by Decision Stage

Spouses exert different degrees if influence when passing through the different stages of the decision-making process. This movement from information­ search to final decision may be minimal in the case of many low-involvement goods but more pronounced­ for goods that are risky or have high involvement for the family. Movement is most pronounced for refrigerators, family autos, upholstered living room furniture, and carpets or rugs. Vacations are perhaps the most democratic of a family’s purchase decisions. Separate campaigns may be timed to coincide with specialized interests, especially for products with a long planning cycle.

Influence of Employment

In the past, marketers were able to refer to the traditional role structure categories to determine which family member was most likely to purchase a specific product. Although traditional buying roles still apply, husbands in dual-income marriages may be willing to stop at the grocery store to pick up a few items, and working wives may drop the family car at the service station for an oil change. However, contemporary couples are not inclined to shift traditional joint buying responsibilities to only one spouse, but they are willing to shop jointly for major items.

Influence of Gender

As the gender gap narrows, husband and wife decisions are increasingly made jointly. Qualls studied family decisions concerning vacations, automobiles,­ children’s education, housing, insurance, and savings. Prior studies showed that decisions regarding these products were usually reported as wife or husband dominant. Qualls found overwhelmingly that joint decisions are now the norm for these products, with 80 percent of children’s education and housing decisions made jointly. Increasing resources of women and shift toward egalitarianism are producing more joint decision-making in product and service categories of perceived high risk.