Family Life Cycle
Group Influences on Consumer Behaviour
UNIT 10 FAMILY BUYING INFLUENCES, FAMILY LIFE CYCLE AND BUYING ROLES
Objectives At the end of this unit you should be able to: • Explain the nature of the family influences that operate on the purchase behaviour • Describe how family decision-making is influenced by the role specialisations of the members involved in the purchase decisions • Evaluate the impact of the family life cycle stages on consumption behaviour • Explain the implications of family decision-making for marketing strategy. Structure 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 10.9 10.10 10.11 10.12 10.13 10.14 Introduction: The Family as a Consuming Unit Family Buying Influences: Nature and Types of Influences Consumer Socialisation Intergenerational Influences Family Decision-Making Family Role Structure and Buying Behaviour The Dynamics of Family Decision-Making: Purchase Influences and Role specialization The Influence of Children The Family Life Cycle Concept Implications of Family Decision-Making for Marketing Strategy Summary Key Words Self-assessment Test Further Readings
10.1 INTRODUCTION: THE FAMILY AS A CONSUMING UNIT
Consumer behaviour is influenced not only by consumer personalities and motivations, as you learnt in the previous unit, but also by the relationships within families. You will find this illustrated in Figure 1. The family is such a familiar social unit that, it is difficult to discuss it without appearing to discuss the obvious. Nevertheless, in this unit we will look at the interaction of the individual within the family and examine those features that are of importance to marketing. A knowledge of family structure and its consumption characteristics is, in fact, a necessary precondition for successful marketing. From the marketing point of view, the family differs from larger reference groups in that the members must satisfy their individual and shared needs by drawing on a common and shared, relatively fixed supply of
UNIT 10 FAMILY BUYING INFLUENCES, FAMILY LIFE CYCLE AND BUYING ROLES
Objectives At the end of this unit you should be able to: • Explain the nature of the family influences that operate on the purchase behaviour • Describe how family decision-making is influenced by the role specialisations of the members involved in the purchase decisions • Evaluate the impact of the family life cycle stages on consumption behaviour • Explain the implications of family decision-making for marketing strategy. Structure 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 10.9 10.10 10.11 10.12 10.13 10.14 Introduction: The Family as a Consuming Unit Family Buying Influences: Nature and Types of Influences Consumer Socialisation Intergenerational Influences Family Decision-Making Family Role Structure and Buying Behaviour The Dynamics of Family Decision-Making: Purchase Influences and Role specialization The Influence of Children The Family Life Cycle Concept Implications of Family Decision-Making for Marketing Strategy Summary Key Words Self-assessment Test Further Readings
10.1 INTRODUCTION: THE FAMILY AS A CONSUMING UNIT
Consumer behaviour is influenced not only by consumer personalities and motivations, as you learnt in the previous unit, but also by the relationships within families. You will find this illustrated in Figure 1. The family is such a familiar social unit that, it is difficult to discuss it without appearing to discuss the obvious. Nevertheless, in this unit we will look at the interaction of the individual within the family and examine those features that are of importance to marketing. A knowledge of family structure and its consumption characteristics is, in fact, a necessary precondition for successful marketing. From the marketing point of view, the family differs from larger reference groups in that the members must satisfy their individual and shared needs by drawing on a common and shared, relatively fixed supply of