Family:

Family: its
its significance
significance in
in
Consumer
Consumer Behaviour
Behaviour
Based on the text by
Prof.Loudon and Prof.Della Bitta
Lecture by
S.Victor Anandkumar
University of Mauritius
 Home work questions
(Reference Groups)
 Diet Hot Chocolate
 Q1
 Target segment – young adults and middle-aged – definitely not kids
 Who says an Olympic gymnast shouldn’t drink hot chocolate?’
(Celebrity endorsement featuring a woman gymnast)
 ‘He always loved Chocolates, but diabetes changed all that. But now I
changed it. I give him XXXX diet hot chocolate’
 ‘You always wanted a chocolate drink, but were afraid of those
calories. Here’s XXXX to fulfill your desire and nullify your fear’ (say,
as a print ad in a magazine who readership profile matches your
target)
 ‘Before the screen and Behind the screen’ – slim girls and trim guys –
after a fashion show
 Q2
 Identify other ‘likeable’ product categories (say, chocolates or colas)
that also have this ingredient – and ask, ‘Well, do you still believe?’.
Another headline, ‘Do people ever gift cancer to their children?’ (based
on Hallmark’s line – ‘if you care to send the best’)
 Get a third-party evaluation done and present the results (provided, it’s
in your favour)
 Stimulate trials (samplers or as an offer)
 Who says so? Who doesn’t say so? You decide.
Clarifications

 Pervasive influence of WoM

 Extending
 Through face-to-face and vivid interactions
 Persuasive influence of WoM
 Convincing (more than written info)
 Through 2-way communication which gives
scope for clarifying things and leaves little to
assumptions
 Assignment guidelines
• www.marketingpsychology.com/analyzea
dprobpge.htm
– with some good questions for analysis
• www.govst.edu/users/ghrank/Advertisi
ng/Pitch/how_to_analyze_ads.htm
– Tips to recognize the underlying structure of
ads
– Advice about the purpose of analysis
– Advice about the process of analysis
 Differences between
families and other groups
• Family
– Formation by marriage or birth
– More permanent relationship
– More interpersonal relations-oriented
– More intrinsic value seeking
– Group-oriented (co-operative)
• Other groups
– Formation by job or task
– More contractual relationship
– More goal-oriented
– More rational-oriented ties
– Self-oriented (competitive)
 Family functions
• Socialization (imparting to children the basic values
and modes of behaviour consistent with the culture)
• Consumer socialization (the process by which children
acquire the skills, knowledge and attitudes necessary
to function as consumers)
– Intergenerational brand transfer – specific brand
preferences for products like peanut butter,
coffee and ketchup are frequently “passed on”
from one generation to another
• Economic well-being (e.g. life insurance)
• Emotional support (e.g. Mother’s day cards)
• Suitable family lifestyles (e.g. the allocation of time)
Traditional Family Life Cycle

• Stage I: Bachelorhood – Young single adult living

apart from parents
• Stage II: Honeymooners – Young married couple
• Stage III: Parenthood – Married couple with at
least one child living at home
• Stage IV: Postparenthood – An older married
couple with no children living at home
• Stage V: Dissolution – One surviving spouse
Non-traditional Family
Life Cycle
• Family households
– Childless couples
– Couples who marry later in life
– Single parents
– Extended family
• Non-family households
– Unmarried couples
– Divorced persons
– Single persons
– Widowed persons
 Roles in the family
decision-making process
(Instrumental, expressive and decision roles)

• Influencers
• Gatekeepers
• Deciders
• Buyers
• Preparers
• Users
• Maintainers
• Disposers
Roles That Household
Members Play

• The Roles of Spouses

– Husband-Dominant Decision
– Wife-Dominant Decision
– Autonomic Decision
– Syncratic Decision
 Examining family
purchasing decisions
• Four perspectives
– Role structure
• Instrumental and expressive roles
– Power structure
• Patriarchal, matriarchal and equalitarian family
• Child-centered family
– Stage in the decision-making process
• In some purchases, the wives are involved more in the
initiation, information-seeking and purchasing stages
– Family-specific characteristics
• Culture
• Social class
• Stage in life cycle
 Marketing Implications
• Development of ads and personal selling messages
– Wives are often the purchasers of their husband’s clothing
– Ads for products in which are children are significantly involved in the purchase
decision
– Depending on the target market, portraying women as decorative or equal
partner or “successful and dominant” is appropriate
• Development of products
– Working women place a premium on youthful appearance and on the “maintenance
of self”
– Distinction between men’s and women’s work in the home has blurred, forcing
many appliances to take on a unisex image
– Smaller cars are the big sellers, with emphasis on styling and hedonic options
(Porsche estimated that in a recent year, 50% of their cars were bought by
singles)
• Pricing implications
– Price for some products may become less important than convenience,
availability, service and time savings
• Channel implications
– Longer store hours and weekend shopping
– Establish and promote children’s sections ( as well as supervised play areas)
• Dual roles, role-switching (cross-sex marketing) and role-blending
 More examples
• Age-friendly shopping environment with easier-to-read labels,
well-lighted parking lots, comfortable seating throughout the
store, …
• 41% of the primary decision makers for interior design are women.
Glidden introduced Dulux paints with more colourful and stylish
packaging to attract this market
• BMW directly targeted professional women by running ads in
Martha Stewart’s Living, along with a mail-in card for a test drive
and free video
• Cause marketing, which focuses on critical women’s issues (such as
breast cancer and AIDS) is a particularly effective way to reach
women
• Hallmark has developed greeting cards that deal with a variety of
step-relationships (e.g. “Happy birthday step-father”
• In England, Shell Oil sponsored women’s workshops to teach women
how to perform routine maintenance on their cars
• Because of dual-career families, the need for child care services
has been rapidly on the increase