International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research (IJMSSR) ISSN: 2319-4421 17

Volume 2, No. 7, July 2013

Family and Consumer Behaviour

Dr. K S. Chandrasekar, Professor and Chairman (PG) in Management School of Business Management and Legal
Studies, University of Kerala Kariyavattom,Thiruvananthapuram
Vinay Raj R, (Research Scholar). Asst. Prof., De Paul Institute of Science & Technology, Angamaly

ABSTRACT understand their consumers, buyer decisions are made that

appear to be irrational. But what looks like irrational
The study of consumers helps firms and organizations behaviour to a manager is completely rational to the
improve their marketing strategies by understanding consumer. Buying behaviour is never simple. It is affected
issues such as ,The psychology of how consumers think, by many different factors. Yet understanding it is the
feel, reason, and select between different alternatives essential task of marketing management. People coming
(e.g., brands, products);The psychology of how the from the same subculture, social class, and occupation
consumer is influenced by his or her environment (e.g., may have quite different lifestyles. A lifestyle is a
culture, family, signs, media);The behavior of consumers person’s pattern of living as expressed in his/her activities,
while shopping or making other marketing decisions; interests and opinions. Lifestyle portrays the “whole
Limitations in consumer knowledge or information person” interacting with his environment.
processing abilities influence decisions and marketing A person belongs to many groups: family, clubs, and
outcome; How consumer motivation and decision organizations. An individual’s position in each group can
strategies differ between products that differ in their level be defined in terms of role and status. A Role consists of
of importance or interest that they entail for the the activities that a person is expected to perform
consumer; and How marketers can adapt and improve according to the persons around him or her.
their marketing campaigns and marketing strategies to A person’s economic situation greatly affects product
more effectively reach the consumer. Family is the most choice and the decision to purchase a particular product.
influential group for the consumer. The family members Consumers cut back on restaurant meals, entertainment,
can strongly influence buyer behavior. It can be and vacations during recessions. They trade down in their
distinguished between two families in the buyer’s life. One choice of restaurants. Marketers need to watch trends in
is the buyer’s parents who make up the family of personal incomes, savings, and interest rates.
orientation. From parents a person acquires an Marketers must decide on the degree to which they will
orientation toward religion, politics, and economics and a adapt their products and marketing programs to meet the
sense of personal ambition, self-worth, and love. The unique needs of consumers in various markets. They want
other is the family of procreation-the buyer’s spouse and to standardize their offerings in order to simplify
children-exert a more direct influence on everyday buying operation and take advantage of cost economies. On the
behavior. Marketers are interested in the roles and other hand, adapting marketing efforts within each
relative influence of the husband, wife, and children on country results in products and programs that better satisfy
the purchase of a large variety of products and services. the needs of local consumers. The question of whether to
There are three main elements directly effect the family adapt or standardize the marketing mixes across
consumption. They are family life cycle, the structure of international markets has created a lively debate in recent
the family and family decisions making process. The years.
purpose of this report is to discuss the role of the family in
consumer behavior. Lifestyle classifications are by no means universal.
Advertising agency McCann-ERIKSON London, for
example, found the following British lifestyles: aunt
Keywords: Guardians, Pontificators (traditionalist), Chameleon
Family Life cycle (follow the crowds), and sleepwalkers (contented
underachievers).
THE IMPORTANCE OF FAMILIES AND
HOUSEHOLDS ON CONSUMER WHAT IS A FAMILY?
BEHAVIOUR
A family is a group of two or more persons related by
Marketers must exercise care in analyzing consumer blood marriage or adoption who reside together .The
behaviour. Consumers often turn down what appears to be nuclear family is the immediate group of father, mother,
a winning offer. As soon as managers believe that they and children living together. The extended family is the
nuclear family, plus other relatives, such as grand parents,

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International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research (IJMSSR) ISSN: 2319-4421 18
Volume 2, No. 7, July 2013

uncles and aunts, cousins, and parents-in law. The family known by asking for specific products or causing
into which one is born is called the family orientation, embarrassing situations if their demands are not met. The
whereas the one established by marriage is the family decision maker(s) have the power to determine issues such
procreation1.
 Whether to buy;
as:

 Which product to buy (pick-up or passenger car?);

 Which brand to buy;
STRUCTURAL VARIABLES AFFECTING
 Where to buy it; and
FAMILIES
 When to buy.
 he decision maker may specify what kind of
It includes the age of the head of the family, martial
status, presence of children, and employment status.

 The purchaser may have to make a substitution if

Children increases family demand for clothing, food, product to buy, but not which brand;
furniture, homes, medical care and education, while they

 The purchaser may disregard instructions (by error

decrease demand for many discretionary items, including the desired brand is not in stock;
travel, higher-priced restaurants, and adult clothing.
Marketers can understand family decisions better by or deliberately).
examining the sociological dimensions of how families
make consumer decisions. Three sociological variables It should be noted that family decisions are often subject
that help explain how families function are shown in fig 1. to a great deal of conflict. The reality is that few families
are wealthy enough to avoid a strong tension between
demands on the family’s resources. Conflicting pressures
are especially likely in families with children and/or when
only one spouse works outside the home. Note that many
decisions inherently come down to values, and that there
is frequently no "objective" way to arbitrate differences.
One spouse may believe that it is important to save for the
Fig 1 children’s future; the other may value spending now (on
private schools and computer equipment) to help prepare
Cohesion: Is the emotional bonding between family the children for the future. Who is right? There is no clear
members. It measures how close to each other family answer here. The situation becomes even more complex
members feel on an emotional level .Cohesion reflects a when more parties—such as children or other relatives—
sense of connectedness to or separateness from other are involved.
family.
THE NATURE OF FAMILY PURCHASE
Adaptability: Measures the ability of a family to change
its power structure, role relationships, and relationship
Initiators(s): The Family member who first recognises a
rules in response to situational and developmental stress.
need or starts the purchase process.
The degree of adaptability shows how well a family can
meet the challenges presented by changing situations.
Information gatherer(s): The individual who has
expertise and interest in a particular purchase. Different
Communication: Is a facility dimension, critical to
individuals seek information at different times or on
movement on the other two dimensions .Positive
different aspects of the purchase.
Communication skills (Such as empathy, reflective,
listening, support comments.) Changing needs as they
Influencer(s): The person who influences the alternatives
relate to cohesion and adaptability.
evaluated, the criteria considered, and the final choice.
FAMILY DECISION MAKING Decision maker(s): The individual who makes the final
decision .Of course, joint decisions also are likely to
Individual members of families often serve different roles occur.
in decisions that ultimately draw on shared family
resources. Some individuals are information Purchaser(s): The family member who actually
gatherers/holders, who seek out information about purchases the product. This is typically an adult or
products of relevance. These individuals often have a teenager.
great deal of power because they may selectively pass on
information that favors their chosen alternatives. User(s): The user of the product .For many products there
Influencers do not ultimately have the power decide are multiple users2.
between alternatives, but they may make their wishes

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International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research (IJMSSR) ISSN: 2319-4421 19
Volume 2, No. 7, July 2013

DYNAMICS OF HUSBAND -WIFE family are called the family life cycle. In each stage, you
DECISION MAKING face challenges in your family life that cause you to
develop or gain new skills. Developing these skills helps
To market important products to families successfully, you work through the changes that nearly every family
salespeople must understand how couples behave in goes through. Not everyone passes through these stages
concert to resolve conflict across major decisions. The smoothly. Situations such as severe illness, financial
authors develop a model of spousal fairness and test it problems, or the death of a loved one can have an effect
with a study of multi-period family purchase decision on how well you pass through the stages. Fortunately, if
making. The results show that a spousal sense of fairness you miss skills in one stage, you can learn them in later
serves as a mechanism for contemporary couples to stages. What kind of products are purchased and
harmonize conflict over time in family decisions. consumed by what types of families and households?
Specifically, spouses’ perceived fairness mediates the Several factors influence the ways in which they spend.
relationship between spousal prior influence and spousal Most important them are family lifecycle (or life cycle
decision behavior in subsequent decisions. Spouses also stage) 4.
consider their partner’s perceptions of fairness when
taking action to restore fairness. Moreover, the effects of TRADITIONAL FAMILY CYCLE
perceived fairness are moderated by spousal traits of
empathy, egalitarianism, and empowerment in a gendered The traditional family cycle is a progression of stages
pattern. Marketing researchers need to recognize and through which many families pass, starting with
investigate family decision making. Husband-wife bachelorhood, moving on to marriage, then to family
decision making has changed in recent years, due to growth, to family contraction, and ending with the
changing household roles. An analysis of husband-wife dissolution of the basic unit5.
decision making is conducted. The focus is the selection Traditional FLC: Bachelorhood, Honeymooners,
of the family physicians, dentists, eye-care specialists, parenthood, Post parenthood, Dissolution.
lawyers, insurance agents and pharmacists. Design of
marketing strategy for these professionals can benefit
from knowledge of decision influence. Husbands have CONCLUSION
more influence in the selection of insurance agents and
lawyers. Women select the pharmacists. There is little Mastering the skills and milestones of each stage allows
joint decision making in the selection of health care you to successfully move from one stage of development
professionals. Marketers are interested in the relative to the next. If you don't master the skills, you may still
amount of influence that a husband and a wife have when move on to the next phase of the cycle, but you are more
it comes to family consumption choices. Most Husband- likely to have difficulty with relationships and future
Wife influence studies classify family consumption transitions. Family life cycle theory suggests that
decisions as husband dominated, wife dominated, joint successful transitioning may also help to prevent disease
(either equal or syncratic) and autonomic (either solitary and emotional or stress-related disorders.Whether you are
or unilateral) 3. a parent or child, brother or sister, bonded by blood or
love, your experiences through the family life cycle will
affect who you are and who you become. The more you
understand about the challenges of each stage of the cycle,
the more likely you are to successfully move on. The
stress of daily living or coping with a chronic medical
condition or other crisis disrupts the normal family cycle.
A crisis or ongoing stress can delay the transition to the
next phase of life. Or you may move on without the
necessary skills to succeed. Be assured, you can learn
missed skills and improve your and your family's quality
of life at any stage. Self-examination, education, and
perhaps counseling are ways to improve yourself and your
family life. These are also actions that can help you
Fig 2 manage other issues, too, such as going through a divorce
or being a part of a nontraditional family structure.

FAMILY LIFE CYCLE

The emotional and intellectual stages you pass through
from childhood to your retirement years as a member of a

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International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research (IJMSSR) ISSN: 2319-4421 20
Volume 2, No. 7, July 2013

BIBLIOGRAPHY
[1] Roger D.Blackwell, Paul W.Minard, James
F.Engel, 2005, Consumer Behaviour, Eastern
Press, Bangalore.
[2] Del I Hawkins , Roger J Best , Kenneth A Coney
, Amit Mookerjee ,2007 Consumer Behaviour ,
Building Marketing Strategy , Tata McGraw-Hill
Publishing , New Delhi.
[3] Leon G.Schiffman, Leslie Lazar Kanuak, 2005,
Consumer Behaviour, Prentice Hall P.Ltd, New
Delhi.
[4] Jay D.Lindquist, M. Joswph Sirgy, 2004,
Shopper, Buyer and Consumer Behaviour,
Theory and Marketing Applications, Biztantra
publications, New Delhi.
[5] Leon G.Schiffman , Leslie Lazar Kanuk ,2004 ,
Pearson Publishers , Delhi

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