Consumer Behaviour

Module 4C
Role of Family in Consumer
Behaviour

No two individuals have same buying

preferences. The buying tendencies
of individuals vary as per their age,
need, income, lifestyle, geographical
location, willingness to spend, family
status and so on. An individual’s
immediate family members play
an essential role in influencing
his/her buying behaviour.
Role of Family in Consumer Behaviour

An individual tends to discuss with his immediate

family members before purchasing a particular
product or service. Family members might
support an individual’s decision to buy a
particular product, stop him for purchasing it or
suggest few other options.
Family comprises of:
Parents
Siblings
Spouse
Grandparents
Relatives (Cousins/Aunts, Uncles etc)
Role of Family in Consumer Behaviour

What an individual imbibes from his parents becomes

his/her culture. In countries like India, where children
are supposed to stay with their parents till the time
they get married, the influence of parents on an
individual’s buying decisions can not be ignored. What
he sees from his childhood becomes his habit or in
other words lifestyle. A female from an orthodox
background would prefer salwar suits, saris instead of
westerns or short outfits. In India, parents expect their
children to dress up in nice, colourful outfits during
marriages, festivals or other auspicious occasions.
Even if children want to buy something else, their
parents would always prompt them to buy traditional
attire, thus influencing their buying decision.
Role of Family in Consumer Behaviour

The moment an individual enters into wedlock,

his/her partner influences his buying decisions
to a great extent. In most families, wife
accompanies her husband for shopping be it
grocery, home appliances, furnishings, car
etc.An individual would always discuss with
his/her partner before any major purchase. After
marriage, individuals generally do not like
spending on himself/herself; rather they do it for
their partner or family.
Role of Family in Consumer Behaviour

A young bachelor would not mind spending on

alcohol, attending night parties, casinos but the
moment he has a wife at home, he would instead
spend on household and necessary items. No
bachelor likes to invest money on mutual funds,
insurance policies, mediclaims etc but for someone
who is married buying an investment plan becomes
his first priority. Women generally are inclined
towards buying toiletries, perfumes, dresses,
household items, furnishings, food products while
men would rather love to spend on gadgets, cars,
bikes, alcohol etc.Both have different tastes but
when they come together, they mutually decide on
what to buy and what not to buy.
Role of Family in Consumer Behaviour

A Bachelor would never purchase Women’s Horlicks

or Kellogg’s K special or a female perfume but when
he has a wife at home; he would love to purchase
them for his wife. A young girl who has never
purchased shaving creams or men’s perfume all
through her life for herself would not mind
purchasing for her husband, father or father in law. A
working woman would have different needs as
compared to a housewife. A woman who goes to
office would prompt her husband to buy formal
trouser and shirt, office bag, make up products etc
for her while a house wife would not like spending on
all these as she does not require an office bag and so
on.
Role of Family in Consumer Behaviour

Children also influence the buying decisions of

individuals. An individual spends happily on
toys, candies, ice creams, chocolates. sweets
when he has children at home. Children in the
family prompt their parents to subscribe to
Disney Channel, Cartoon network and so on.
Individuals do not mind spending on medicines,
health supplements, vitamin tablets, protein
drinks if they have ailing parents at home.
The Family life cycle stage

The bachelor stage—young and single. The

newly married couples—young, no children. Full
nest 1—young, married, with child. Full nest 2—
older, married, with children. Full nest 3–older,
married, with dependent children. Empty nest—
older, married, with no children living with
them. Solitary survivor—older, single, retired
people.
The Family life cycle stage
1.Young Singles Young singles may live alone, with
their nuclear families, or with friends, or they may
co-habitate with partners-translating into a wide
range of how much disposable income is spent on
furniture, rent, food, and other living expenses 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 and services
involved in the dating game. Some of these singles
may have young children, forcing them to give up.
The Family life cycle stage

2. 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 tent to spend a substantial amount of
their income on son’s 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.
The Family life cycle stage

3. Full Nest I: With the arrival of the first child, parents

being 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 .Either route usually
leads to a decline in family disposable income and a
change in how the family spends its income. In this stage,
families are likely to move into their first home;purchases
furniture and furnishings for the child; buy a washer and
dryer and home maintenance items; and purchase new
items such as baby food, cough medicine, vitamins, toys,
sleds,and skates. These requirements reduce families’
ability to save,and the husband and wife are often
dissatisfied with their financial position.
The Family life cycle stage

5. 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 spending on
education money from occasional and part-time
employment. The family typically replaces some worn
pieces of furniture, purchases another automobiles, buys
some luxury appliances, and spends money on dental
services (braces) and 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.
The Family life cycle stage

6. Empty nest Older married with no children

living with them. Financial position stabilizes
and there is no expense on children. The couple
is free to enjoy their own pursuits and spend on
luxury or self-improvement items and medical
care.
7. Solitary survivor Older single retired
people. Retired people living alone after the
death of a partner. Life becomes lonely and
income may reduce due to retirement. This
again changes the consumption pattern and
living style of old people.
The Family life cycle stage

Another point to note, is that the family life

cycle concept segments the families on the
basis of demographic variables, and ignores the
psychographics variables (families interest and
opinions) of family members. Family life cycle is
also related to the spare time and the available
income, education, etc. A marketer has to take
these elements into consideration.
The Family life cycle stage

The stages at which families find themselves, affect

the nature of the goods and services required, their
wants and consumption patterns, as well as the
volume of consumption on specific products. The
traditional view of the family life cycle has been
criticized for failing to recognize that a single family
unit may not exist throughout the life of an
individual. Families may be created by second
marriages, and these may involve children from prior
marriages. The traditional model also ignores the
existence of single parent households. The modern
family lifecycle which takes into account the
existence of working women, is a more complex and
more useful model than the traditional model.
Marketing strategy for family
decision-making 
It is realized that various purchasing tasks are
performed by various members of the family. The
products are bought for joint use of the family.
Refrigerator, TV, sofa set, car, etc. The product is to
be purchased by family funds where more than one
person may be contributing to the fund. Sometimes
the funds are not enough and other products may
have to be sacrificed town an expensive product.
Some family members may not be agreeable to the
choice made for the product, and may consider it as
a profligate expenditure. These are the main
influences in the family decision making, which are
the outlets preferred by the family members for the
purchase of the product.
What is Opinion Leadership?

Opinion Leadership is the process by which the

opinion leader informally influences the actions
or attitudes of others, who may be opinion
seekers or merely opinion recipients. Opinion
receivers perceive the opinion leader as a
highly credible, objective source of
product information who can help reduce
their search and analysis time and
percieved risk.
What is Opinion Leadership?

Opinion leaders are motivated to give information or

advice to others, in part doing so enhances their
own status and self image and because such advice
tends to reduce any post purchase dissonance that they
may have. Other motives include product involvement,
message involvement or any other involvement.

Market researchers identify opinion leaders by such

methods as self designation, key informants.
Studies of opinion leadership indicate that this
phenomenon tends to be product category specific,
generally one of their interest. An opinion leader of one
product range can be an opinion receiver for another
product category.
What is Opinion Leadership?

Generally, opinion leaders are gregarious, self

confident, innovative people who like to talk.
Additionally, they may feel differentiated from
others and choose to act differently (or public
individuation).
They acquire information about their areas of
interest through readership of special interest
magazines and e-zines and by means of new
product trials.
Their interests may often overlap into adjacent
areas and thus their opinion leadership may
also extend into those areas.
Who is a market maven ?

The market maven is an intense case of a opinion

leader kind of person. These consumers possess a
wide range of information about many different types
of products, retail outlets, and other dimensions of
markets.

They both initiative discussions with other consumers

and respond to requests for market information over a
wide range of products and services. 

Market mavens are also distinguished from other

opinion leaders because their influence stems not so
much from product experience but from a more
general knowledge or market expertise that leads
them to an early awareness of a wide array of new
products and services.
Who is a market maven ?

The opinion leadership process usually take place

among friends, neighbours and work associates who
have frequent physical proximity and thus have ample
opportunity to hold informal product related
conversations. These conversations usually occur
naturally in the context of the product-category
usage.
It is important for the marketers to segment their
audiences into opinion leaders and opinion receivers
for their respective product categories. When
marketers can direct their promotional efforts to the
more influential segments of these markets, these
opinion leaders will transmit the information to those
who seek product advice.
Diffusion Process

Marketers try to simulate and stimulate opinion

leadership. They have also found that they can
create opinion leaders for their products by
taking socially involved or influential people and
deliberately increasing their enthusiasm for a
product category.
The diffusion process and the adoption process
are 2 closely related concepts concerned with
the acceptance of new products by customers.
The diffusion process is a macro process that
focuses on the spread of an innovation from its
source to the consuming public.
The adaptation Process

The adoption process is a micro process that

examines the stages through which an individual
consumer passes when making a decision to
accept or reject a new product.
The definition of the term innovation can be
1. Firm oriented(new to the firm),
2.Product oriented(a continuous innovation, a
dynamically continuous innovation, or  A
discontinuous innovation),
3. Market oriented(how long the product has been
on the market or an arbitrary percentage of the
potential target market that has purchased it), or
4. Consumer oriented (new to the customer).
Consumer Acceptance

Market-oriented definitions of innovation are

most useful to consumer researchers in the study
of the diffusion and adoption of new products.
Five Product Characteristics influence the
consumers acceptance of a new product:
 
Relative Advantage
Compatibility
Complexity
Trialability
Observability
Adoption or rejection of new products or services

Diffusion researchers are concerned with 2 aspects of

communication – the channels through which word about a new
product or service is spread to the public and the types of
messages that influence the adoption or rejection of new
products or services.
Diffusion is always examined in the context of a specific social
system, such as a target market, a community, a region or
even a nation.

Time is an integral consideration in the diffusion process.

Researchers are concerned with the amount of purchase time
required for an individual customer to adopt or reject a new
product/service, with the rate of adoptions and with the
identification of sequential adopters.
The 5 adopter categories are innovators, early adopters, early
majority, late majority and laggards.
Marketing Strategies

Marketing Strategists try to control the rate of

adoption through their new product pricing
policies. Companies who wish to penetrate the
market to achieve market leaderships try to
acquire wide adoption as quickly as possible by
using low prices. Those who wish to recoup their
developmental costs quickly use a skimming
pricing policy but lengthen the adoption
process.
Adoption Process Model

The traditional adoption process model

describes 5 stages through which an individual
consumer passes to arrive at the decision to
adopt or reject a new product:
Awareness, 
Interest,
Evaluation
Trial
Adoption
Adoption Process Model

To make it more realistic, an enhanced model is

recommended as one that considers the
possibility of a pre existing need or problem, the
likelihood that some form of evaluation might
occur through the entire process, and that even
after adoption there will be post adoption or
purchase evaluation that might either
strengthen the commitment or alternatively
lead to discontinuation of the product/service.
Adoption Process Model

Companies marketing new products are vitally

concerned with identifying the consumer innovator so
that they may direct their promotional campaigns to
the people who are most like to try new products,
adopts them and influences others.
Consumer Research has identified a number of
consumer related characteristics, including product
interest, opinion leadership, personality factors,
purchase and consumption traits, media habits, social
characteristics, and demographic variables that
distinguish consumer innovators from later adopters.
These serve as useful variables in the segmentation
of markets for new product introductions.