Family Purchasing Behaviour...

So moving onto the final subject... Family Purchasing Behaviour.  We looked at marketing for children, marketing for social class, marketing to genders.  But now its time to finally look at how these all come together and affect family purchasing behaviour.  Family is a social aspect which affects buyer behaviour and in the UK there are many different types of family.  Different types of families are shown below:

1) Nuclear Family - This includes a father, mother and children who live together.
2) Extended family - This includes the usual nuclear family plus other relatives such as; grandparents, aunts etc.
3) Family of Orientation - This is the family which a person was born into.
4) Family of Procreation - This is the family which is founded through marriage.

However changes in family structure are occurring rapidly. In the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s 92% of families with dependant children had a married or cohabiting couple.  This proportion fell remarkably in 2008 when only 77% of dependant children had married or cohabiting parents.  Families with a lone mother also raised from 7% in 1971 to 22% in 1998 and has remained the same.  Also the dependant children with a lone father has slightly risen from 1970s but has since stayed around 2-3%  Therefore in 1971 the proportion of the population who had a lone parent was around 8% which has increased to 23% in 2008.

So moving on to Family as Consumers....
The needs of a family will change and will be affected by the number of children, their ages and it will also depend on the amount of adults which are employed outside the home.  The family life cycle will also affect the needs of a family, this is shown below:

During the Bachelor, Newly married, empty nest 1 and 2, Solitary Survivor 1 and 2. Couples will have no dependant children therefore they have a high disposable income and will spend more on luxury items.  However during the Full Nest 1,2,3 stages money will be spent more on the family, there possibly will be less disposable income and the buyer decision process will be different than previously.

During the full nest stages 1,2,3 the buyer decision making is different, and according to a marketing theory it suggests that there are five main roles in a family buying process: Initiator, this is the person who first suggests or thinks of the idea of buying a particular product or service.  Then there is the influencer which is the person whose view or advice influences the buyer decision.  Then its the decider who has the power and/or financial authority to make the ultimate choice regarding which product to buy.  Next it is the buyer who concludes the transaction and finally the user who actually used the product or services.  Marketers have discovered that the family unit is considered the most important buying organisation in society.  Marketers are continuously interested in the role and influence of the husband, wife and children on the purchases of a large variety of products and services.

According to tutor2u (2011) there is evidence now that the traditional husband-wife buying roles are changing.  Almost everywhere in the world, the wife is traditionally the main buyer for the family especially in things such as; food, household products and clothing.  However as there is an increasing number of women going into full time work, and increasing amounts of men becoming house-husbands the roles are reversing.  Therefore marketers need to understand how this family role reversal may affect the demand of a product or service and how they can now attract male buyers as well as females.  Marketers also need to discover the main decision maker in the household.  It has changed from the traditional family, where the man earns it and then the women spends it, in the more modern family there is a shared participation.  However advertisers also need to understand that its the cultural background which will impact the dominance of husband and wife.

Within the lecture we were given a "Family Purchasing Survey" which included a list of different things such as; car, computer equipment, wine etc.  We were asked to label who pays, who makes the decisions and who is consulted or involved in the process.  My results showed that mum and dad both paid together however mum made most the decisions and was involved more.  Whilst dad came second, and the children made less decisions and was less involved.  My results were supported by the information from Statistics.gov (2007) which showed different family buyer behaviour.  They were as followed:

• Women are more likely to shop - Women 75%, Men 53%
• Men are more likely to do DIY - Men 46%, Women 26%
• Men are more likely to play computer games - Men 27%, Women 12%
• Women shopped more online for groceries - Women 24%, Men 17%
• Men are more likely to use the Internet - Men 49%, Women 40%

This information can also be shown by Davis and Riguax (1974) which shows a diagram based around the husband-wife roles in family decisions by product category:

Marketers can use this when they advertise a product to a certain target audience.  If they know that the wife is more likely to buy kitchenware, then a kettle or toaster would be advertised in a way which appeals to them.  Whilst hardware decisions are usually made by the husband therefore adverts will appeal to men.  Whilst car fridge and holiday are not normally gender specific when selling to a family, due to the fact that the buyer decisions of these products are generally joint.  Here are some adverts targeting both the parents, the wife and then just the husband:

This is an advert aimed for both the joint parents, it shows them in a family situation even though the wife or mother figure is not there , the advertisers have still included the parent and child factor which shows that is aimed for families and most important the two decision makers of a car, the wife and husband.

This shows another advert aimed at just the wife this time.  This is shown in another family situation but just with the mother and child.  It appeals to women and they are more likely to want to make their home nice for their family and wants it to be fresh and vibrant.  Also marketers know that it is usually the wife which makes the buyer decision about cleaning products and similar things.

This shows an advert aimed for men.  Advertisers know that men are the decision makers of DIY things and also likes to get things done quick and fast so that they can relax.  Therefore in this advert a  man is painting his fence faster than his neighbour who is also a male (showing who it is targeted for) and the tag line also appeals to the husband as it says "The fastest and Easiest way to do you fence."  It also shows that it is aimed at a husband in the family rather than a single male, as within the garden there are children toys which straight away identifies it as being a family home and him being the father figure.



Cadillac Catera for Women

 However due to the changes in the family structure, stated by zainbooks.com (2008) marketers who used to just sell products to just men or women are now trying to advertise and appeal to the opposite sex.  Research shows that women now are making nearly half of all DIY and hardware purchases.  Therefore DIY shops are now making female and family friendly stores, to attract more women.  Also the fact that research also shows that women are now making up 34% of the luxury car market, Cadillac are paying more attention to this segment.  As previously discussed in my blog on Marketing to Children, they have a strong influence on family buying decision.  Marketers now provide adverts for children so that they ask or 'nag' their parents until the purchase has been made. (Look at my blog on Marketing to Children, to see how children relate to family purchasing behaviour).

I have also looked at a diagram which shows the different things that husbands do in Europe this is according to both the wives and the husbands.  Here it is shown below:

It shows the basic tasks of a family and how much wives think their husbands do compared to what their husbands believe.  It generally shows that women believe that husbands do less than what they do, whilst husbands believe they do more tasks.



Who is the Main Decision Maker in Your Family?