FAMILY DECISION MAKING AND LIFE CYCLE

FAMILY DECISION MAKING

Marketers recognize that families operate as units in terms of consumption
behaviour, Specifically marketers focus on husband wife decision making, the
relative influence each family member has regarding consumption, children’s role
in family decision making, and the multiple roles that family members may
assume regarding the purchase, use and maintenance of their homes, products
and
services.
FAMILY DECISION MAKING
Husband-wife decision
making

Children’s influence on
family decision
making

Children are three

markets
 HUSBAND-WIFE DECISION
MAKING
 Husband dominated decisions
 Wife-dominated decisions
 Joint decisions
 Autonomic decisions
HUSBAND DOMINATED DECISIONS
WIFE-DOMINATED DECISIONS
JOINT
DECISIONS
AUTONOMIC
DECISIONS
 CHILDREN’S INFLUENCE ON FAMILY
DECISION
• Pressure: the child demands, threatens MAKING
• Exchange: the child promises something in exchange
• Rational: the child uses logical arguments and factual evidences
• Consultation: the child seeks parents involvement in the decisions
• Integration: the child tries to get the parents in a good mood first and then
make the request
 CHILDREN'S ARE THREE
MARKETS
• Children's as influencer
 Items for themselves (Toy, electronics, clothing)
 Items for homes (food and beverage preferences)
 Service for the entire family (vacations, restaurants)
• Children's as a primary market
 Clothes, movie, video games, snacks, sweets
• Children as future consumers
 Future consumers are full aware of brands and markets should focus on building
relationship with them
FAMILY MEMBERS ROLES
• Preparers:family members who transfer the product in to a form suitable for
consumptions
by other family members
• Users: family members who use the service or consumer the product
• Maintenance: family members who service or repair the product so that it
continuous to
functions well
• Disposers: family members who initiate or carry out the disposition of the product
or the
discontinuous of the services
 THE FAMILY LIFE
CYCLE
The family life cycle represent the life changes of a typical family. It is a composite
variable that combines marital status, size of family, age of family members, and
employment status of the head of household.
The family life cycle remains a widely used form of segmentation and is also used
to
analyse the consumption of households.
 STAGES OF FAMILY LIFE CYCLE
• Bachelorhood
• Honeymooners
• Parenthood
• Post-parenthood
• Dissolution
 BACHELORHOO
D
• This stage refers to young single men and women, mostly college educated, who
have incomes that allow them to leave home and establish their own households,
increasingly though even employed college graduates continue to leave at
home and save towards setting up their homes.
• Single person spends considerable amounts towards clothing, entertainment, travel,
bike, beer, sports, mobile.
 Financial situation
 Product categories considered
 Primary decision maker
 Free time
 HONEYMOONER
S
• This stage refers to young and newly married couples, educated, engaged
have a combined discretionary income.
couples
• Most of the couples overspend on their
• weddings
Honeymooners have considerable start up expenses when establishing a new home,
they must find a place to live, buy furniture and decorate and setup their
households.
 Financial situation
 Product categories considered
 Primary decision maker
 Free time
 PARENTHOOD
• The parenthood stage designates married couples with at least one child living at
home, this is the longest stage of the family life cycle.
• Its also known as the full nest stage usually extends over more than 20 year
period
 Financial situation
 Product categories considered
 Primary decision maker
 Free time
 Pre-school phase (Baby food, clothing, medical services, toys)
 Elementary school phase (Insurance, school, stationery, larger size package of food)
 High school phase (Bicycle, pc, video games)
 College phase (Bike, mobile, clothes, laptop, higher education)
 POST
PARENTHOOD
• This stage refers to older married couples with no children's living at home. Its
also known as empty nest
• During this stage most married couples are financially secure and have lot of leisure
time, they travel more frequently, take extended vacations, and are likely to
purchase second home
• They have high disposal incomes because of savings and investments and they
fewer
have expenses
 Financial situation
 Product categories considered
 Primary decision maker
 Free time
 DISSOUTION
• This stage refers to the family with one surviving spouse.
• The surviving spouse often tend to follow a more economic lifestyle.
• Many surviving spouse seek each other out for companionship, others enter to
second marriages
• Health care, specialized food products.
 Financial situation
 Product categories considered
 Primary decision maker
 Free time
“Consumers don’t think how they feel,
don’t
they say what they think and they don’t do
what they say”