Family and Consumer Behavior - Literature review Example

? FAMILY AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOR goes here] [Your goes here] [Due the paper] Family and Consumer Behavior IntroductionConsumer behavior has a direct impact on the success of any marketing campaign. It refers to the stages that a customer usually goes through while making a final decision regarding purchase of any particular product or service. “Consumer behavior refers to the selection, purchase and consumption of goods and services for the satisfaction of their wants” (Shah 2010). A number of factors can affect consumer behavior. Some of those factors include occupation, age, gender, cultural factors, social factors, lifestyle, and beliefs and attitudes. All of these factors contribute significantly in the decision-making process of a person. In this paper, we will discuss the impact of family on overall consumer behavior. “An individual’s immediate family members play an essential role in influencing his/her buying behaviour” (Management Study Guide n.d.). Family is the most important factor that affects consumer decisions (Yuvarani 2009). We will discuss different factors concerning family that may influence a person’s decision regarding purchase of a produce or a service. Different members of a family play a significant role in the purchase decision of a person. Therefore, we will discuss the role of each family representative in detail to know how he/she can make a person purchase or leave a product. The structure of the report will be such that we will start from the head of a family and will move downwards to the youngest member of the family to know the influence that each of they may have on the buying decision of a person. 2. Roles To Be Discussed There is rarely any individual who does not discuss anything with any of his/her family members before purchasing something new. “The family is the most important consumer buying organization in society, and family members constitute the most influential primary reference group” (CiteMAN 2006). Family members sometimes support the decision to buy a particular product, sometimes stop him/her due to different reasons, and sometimes suggest better alternatives (Management Study Guide n.d.). The roles that will be discussed in this paper include parents, siblings, spouse, and grandparents. 2.1 Influence of Grandparents The influence of grandparents varies on an individual’s buying decision from product to product and age to age. In today’s world, people are getting more and more self-dependent and they hardly consult their grandparents when they have to buy some new product of any kind. The role of grandparents in buying decisions has been minimized to a large extent. For example, if someone has to buy a new cell phone, he/she may hardly consult his/her grandparents. Similarly, if someone has to buy a new t-shirt or a pair of shoes, there is hardly any evidence that one would consult it with grandparents because these are personal decisions which have nothing top do with the advice of grandparents. On the other hand, when a person makes some big decisions, such as, buying a property or selling a property owned by the grandparents, he/she has to consult it with the grandparents because big decisions always need consultation with experienced family members. In western part of the world, the role of grandparents is very little in the buying decision of a person. On the other hand, in eastern countries, their role is comparatively more influential. When a person is young and does not have any source of income, he/she has to rely on parents and grandparents to buy any desired product. For example, in third-world countries, parents usually make their children live with grandparents when they have to go out for work. In such cases, an emotional attachment between children and grandparents develops and children do everything with the approval of their grandparents. For example, if they have to buy a new pair of shoes, they may request their grandparents to make parents agree on this because they know that their grandparents love them and that will talk to parents on their behalf. The point here is that there is a chain of connections which influence the buying decision of a person. In the childhood, the role of grandparents is somewhat influential, however, when a person becomes financially stable and starts earning, this role becomes very minor and in majority of the cases, it fades away. Let us analyze another example which demonstrates the influence of grandparents on the buying decision of a person. In third-world countries, such as, India and Pakistan, girls cannot wear skirts and short blouses in front of their grandparents. They cannot even wear jeans pants because the culture of these countries is very different and grandparents have a major influence on the clothing and styles. A young girl thinks many times before buying a skirt or jeans because she has in her mind that her grandparents will definitely oppose this. Therefore, they put their desires on one side and discard their decision to buy such clothes. This example shows that grandparents do have some influence on the buying decision of a person. 2.2 Influence of Parents “From parents a person acquires an orientation toward religion, politics, and economies, and a sense of personal ambition, self-worth, and love” (CiteMAN 2006). Parents also play a significant role in the buying decision of a person. The reason is that parents have direct contact with their children and they are the ones who financially support them, look after them, and fulfill all of their desires when they are young. Such parents, who do not neglect their children in their childhood due to their busy routines, have strong influence on their children’s consumer decisions (Sexton n.d.). The role of parents on the buying decision of a person gets weak with the passage of time. When a person is young and is unable to buy anything from market, he/she has to rely on parents because they are the ones who can make their wishes come true. For example, when a child has to buy some clothes of any brand, he/she will request his/her parents to provide him/her with his/her desired clothes. Then parents decide whether to buy those clothes for the child or not. If they find the clothes suitable for their children, they buy them. Otherwise, they do not do so. Similarly, if a child makes a decision to buy some toy or play-station by looking them in some television ad, he/she has to request his/her parents to buy those products. Once they convey their request, parents decide on behalf of the child to buy or leave the product. From these examples, it is clear that in the childhood, the buying decision of children is heavily influenced by the decision of parents. However, when a person grows up, the role of parents in buying decision becomes weak. When a becomes financially able to buy a new product on his/her own, he/she just consults it with parents instead of requesting them to buy that product. The nature of parental influence changes from request to consultation. For example, if a person wants to buy a new car, he/she may consult it with his/her father to get some better idea or suggestion. Based on the suggestion, that person may stick on the same decision or may change it in accordance with the suggestion. In third-world countries, there is still a strong emotional attachment between parents and children. Children reject their decision to buy some new facility product if their parents do not have such product because of their financial condition. For example, children usually live with their parents in the same houses in which they grow up even after marriages. When they start their married life, they have new desires as like any other couple from the western countries. if in case the financial condition of parents is not such that they can afford to buy a good car, their married children will also not buy a car for their own use even if their financial condition allows them to do so. The reason is that they have a strong emotional attachment with their parents and they do not even think of buying a car which their parents cannot buy. Looking at this example, we can say that parents do have strong influence on the buying decision of a person although it gets weak with the passage of time. 2.3 Influence of Siblings Siblings also play a significant role in the purchasing decision of a person. The role of siblings does not get weak as the roles of grandparents and parents get with the passage of time. “Siblings can be important role models for each other and in many cases could act as a relevant peer group for comparison and modeling” (Cotte & Wood 2004, p. 79). An individual learns a lot from his/her siblings and that learning plays a vital role in determining buying behaviors of that individual. The inspiration that a person gets from his/her siblings is considered the best motivating force that makes a person adopt different behaviors. The reason is that siblings are usually the closest friends of any individual with whom he/she grows up and learns different concepts of life. Young children want to do everything that they see their elder siblings doing (Marketing Teacher n.d.). Therefore, their opinion and advice matter a lot for any individual. For example, if a person has to buy a t-shirt of some particular brand, he/she may change his/her decision regarding the purchase of that brand if one of the siblings advise him/her to go for some other brand because of more reliability and improved quality. Similarly, if a person is having difficulty in deciding which cell phone he/she should buy, he/she will consult the matter with siblings to get a better idea or suggestion. Based on the suggestion, that person will choose a cell phone out of many other cell phones from different countries. In such cases, one company wins a customer, whereas others lose. Moreover, bad experiences of siblings regarding the use of any particular product also influence the buying decision of a person. for example, if a person decides to buy a laptop of some particular brand, he/she will talk to his/her siblings about the decision. Now, if any of the siblings of that person has already used the laptop of that brand and is not satisfied with the product, he/she will advise that person to go for some other brand. Based on the suggestion, that person will definitely change his/her decision and will go to try some brand. From these examples, it is clear that siblings do play a significant role in the purchase decision of a person. Moreover, a person may decide to buy a product by getting inspired from his/her brother or sister who may be using that product already. For example, some people buy the car of the same company of which his/her siblings are using. On the other hand, some people prefer to buy more beautiful car of a more expensive company to show his/her financial condition to siblings. In such cases, the desire to show financial edge over siblings molds the buying decision of a person. This example shows that siblings affect the buying behavior of a person either because of inspiration or because of competition. 2.4 Influence of Children Both parents and children influence each other’s consumer decisions in one way or other (Loudon & Bitta 2002, p. 231). However, unlike the influence of parents on the buying behaviors of children that gets weak with the passage of time, the influence of children on the buying behaviors of parents gets stronger when children grow up. When children are young, parents do not give that much importance to their advice or suggestions that they give when they grow up. The reason is that in childhood, children do not have a high level of awareness regarding things based on which they are unable to give fact-based and logical suggestions to their parents. Therefore, parents usually do not listen to the advice and desires of children when they have to take some big decision. For example, if parents want to buy a new car and their children are young, they will not listen to their advice because they know that children do not have any awareness of the efficiency level, fuel capacity, engine, or any other specifications of the car that they want to buy. Therefore, they buy the car that they want. However, sometimes they do choose the color based on the wish of their children. As Mann (2006) states, “the child influences the decision making process related to whole family like color of family car etc”. On the other hand, when children grow up and start going to colleges and universities, their influence on the buying decisions of parents gets strong. The reason is that at this stage of life, they become able to give such suggestions to their parents that are sometimes more correct and logical than their parents’ decisions. Therefore, parents usually consult their children because they know that children of this age have much more awareness of technological products. Looking at this example, we can say that the children usually have a strong influence on buying decisions of parents. The factor of love and emotional attachment with children also matters a lot in the buying behaviors of parents. Parents usually do what their children like because they want to see their children happy and satisfied. Therefore, they take care of the desires of their children when deciding on something. However, the level of influence of children on parents’ buying behaviors changes from time to time. 2.5 Influence of Wife on Husband The influence of wives on the buying behaviors of husbands is strong but not enough to match the influence that husbands usually have on the buying behaviors their wives. This influence also differs in different parts of the world. In third-world countries, husbands usually buy such things which their wives like. For example, husbands usually take their wives with them when they have to buy clothes. They select clothes based on the choice of their wives. Similarly, men usually take their wives them when they have to buy some house. In such cases, choice of wives matters more as compared to the choice of husbands. In such societies, husbands cannot even buy a perfume of their own choice. On the other hand, in western societies, wives allow their husbands to buy whatever they like. They know that men and women are two separate entities and both have different sets of choices. Therefore, they do not put much pressure on their husbands when they want to buy something they like. 2.6 Influence of Husband on Wife The influence of husbands on the buying behaviors of wives also differs from society to society. In third-world countries, husbands usually have more influence on wives as compared to the influence that husbands of western societies have on their wives. The reason is that in such countries, women do not earn as much as men. Therefore, their husbands have much more influence on their buying decisions. They have to use the money which their husbands give to them to run homes. They have to consult with their husbands whenever they want to buy something because they are financially dependent on their husbands. We can take example of a wife who wants to buy a new dress on some occasion. In this case, she has to ask her husband for money who may not give the required amount of money to her because of which she may have to change her buying decision from an expensive dress to a somewhat low-priced one. Similarly, if a wife wants to buy a cell phone for personal use, she will have to request her husband to give her required amount of money. However, he may refuse to give her the required amount of money because she may shift her choice to a low-priced cell phone. From these examples, it becomes clear that men of third-world countries have a strong influence on the buying decisions of their wives. On the other hand, in western societies, both men and women earn because of which the influence of husbands on the buying behaviors of women becomes less and women feel free to buy whatever they want. “Women’s consumer behaviour is influenced to a greater degree by reference groups than that of men” (Eszter 2008, p. 7). 3. Conclusion Consumer behavior refers to the stages that a customer usually goes through while making a final decision regarding purchase of any particular product or service. Along with many other factors, family is also a primary factor that influences a person’s decision to buy or leave a product or a service. The research showed that the influence of grandparents varies on an individual’s buying decision from product to product and age to age. The influence is more in the earliest stages of life and nearly ends when a child grows up. Parents also play a considerable role in the buying decision of a person. The reason is that they are the ones who financially support children in their childhood, look after them, and fulfill all of their needs when they are young and unable to do anything n their own. However, the role of parents on the buying decision of a person also gets weak with the passage of time. When children are young, parents do not give that much significance to their advice or suggestions that they give when they grow up and develop sense of everything. The role of siblings in consumer behavior cannot be denied too. The role of siblings does not get weak as the roles of parents and grandparents. It remains same throughout the life of a person. However, the role of children on the buying decisions of parents gets strong with the passage of time. The researched also compared the influencing power of husbands and wives and showed that the influence of wives on the buying behaviors of husbands is strong but not enough to match the influence that husbands usually have on the buying behaviors their wives. References CiteMAN 2006, Family Influence in Consumer Behavior, viewed 20 November 2012, http://www.citeman.com/683-family-influence-in-consumer-behavior.html Cotte, J & Wood, S 2004, ‘Families and Innovative Consumer Behavior: A Triadic Analysis of Sibling and Parental Influence’, Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 44, pp. 78-86. Eszter, T 2008, The Role of Reference Group Influence in Consumer Behaviour, viewed 20 November 2012, http://rgdi.sze.hu/files/Ertekezesek,%20tezisek/Tezisfuzet_Angol.pdf Loudon, D & Bitta, A 2002, Consumer Behavior, 4th edn, Tata MaGraw-Hill, New york. Management Study Guide n.d., Role of Family in Consumer Behaviour, viewed 20 November 2012, http://www.managementstudyguide.com/role-of-family-in-consumer-behaviour.htm Mann, A 2006, Consumer Behavior - Family Purchasing Decisions Making Process, viewed 20 November 2012, http://ezinearticles.com/?Consumer-Behavior---Family-Purchasing-Decisions-Making-Process&id=307532 Marketing Teacher n.d., Consumer Behavior, viewed 20 November 2012, http://www.marketingteacher.com/lesson-store/lesson-external-family-influences.html# Sexton, T n.d., Consumer Behavior Topics, viewed 20 November 2012, http://www.ehow.com/info_8148842_consumer-behavior-topics.html Shah, A 2010, Factors Affecting Consumer Behavior, viewed 20 November 2012, http://ezinearticles.com/?Factors-Affecting-Consumer-Behavior&id=4602848 Yuvarani, R 2009, Family Influences & Decision-Making, viewed 20 November 2012, http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-articles/family-influences-decision-making-family-decisionmaking-1014177.html Read More