Family is the most influential group for the consumer. The family members can strongly influence buyer behavior. It can be distinguished between two families in the buyer's life. One is the buyer's parents who make up the family of orientation. From parents a person acquires an orientation toward religion, politics, and economics and a sense of personal ambition, self-worth, and love. The other is the family of procreation-the buyer's spouse and children-exert a more direct influence on everyday buying behavior. Marketers are interested in the roles and relative influence of the husband, wife, and children on the purchase of a large variety of products and services. The purpose of this report is to discuss the role of the family in consumer behavior.
There are three main elements directly effect the family consumption. They are family life cycle, the structure of the family and family decisions making process.
Family Life Cycles.
Families change over time, passing through a series of stages called the family life cycle (FLC) (Blackwell, Miniard & Engel, 2001). The diagram below shows the eleven primary stages in the traditional FLC.
.
In the stage of "Young Singles-, people have relatively low income. At this stage, people don't have many financial obligations, therefore, many of them spend most of their income on cars, furnishings, fashions, recreation, alcoholic beverages, and vacations. For the singles with young child, they may spend more on day care and baby product.
In "Newly Married Couples- stage, because they have two incomes source, therefore these families have the highest purchase rate on durable goods, such as furniture and appliances, and appear to be more susceptible to advertising.
"Full Nest I- is the stage which the families have their first child. At this stage, most families decide that one parent stay home to care for the child. This usually leads to a decline in disposable income, therefore, effect the consumption pattern.
