1. FAMILY DECISION MAKING AND LIFE CYCLE
-By
Veerabhadraiah B R
RVIM

2. FAMILY DECISION MAKING
Marketers recognize that families operate as units in terms of consumption
behaviour, Specifically marketers focus on husband wife decision making, the
relative influence each family member has regarding consumption, children’s role
in family decision making, and the multiple roles that family members may assume
regarding the purchase, use and maintenance of their homes, products and
services.

3. FAMILYDECISIONMAKING
Husband-wife decision
making
Children’s influence on
family decision making
Children are three
markets

4. HUSBAND-WIFE DECISION MAKING
Husband dominated decisions
Wife-dominated decisions
Joint decisions
Autonomic decisions

5. HUSBAND DOMINATED DECISIONS

6. WIFE-DOMINATED DECISIONS

7. JOINT DECISIONS

8. AUTONOMIC DECISIONS

9. CHILDREN’S INFLUENCE ON FAMILY
DECISION MAKING
• Pressure: the child demands, threatens
• Exchange: the child promises something in exchange
• Rational: the child uses logical arguments and factual evidences
• Consultation: the child seeks parents involvement in the decisions
• Integration: the child tries to get the parents in a good mood first and then make
the request

10. CHILDREN'S ARE THREE MARKETS
• Children's as influencer
Items for themselves (Toy, electronics, clothing)
Items for homes (food and beverage preferences)
Service for the entire family (vacations, restaurants)
• Children's as a primary market
Clothes, movie, video games, snacks, sweets
• Children as future consumers
Future consumers are full aware of brands and markets should focus on building
relationship with them

11. FAMILY MEMBERS ROLES
• Influencer: family members who provide information to the other family members about
the product
• Gatekeeper: family members who control the flow of information about products and
services in to the family
• Decider: family members with the power to decide which product to buy
• Buyers: family members who make the actual purchase of particular products and services
• Preparers: family members who transfer the product in to a form suitable for consumptions
by other family members
• Users: family members who use the service or consumer the product
• Maintenance: family members who service or repair the product so that it continuous to
functions well
• Disposers: family members who initiate or carry out the disposition of the product or the
discontinuous of the services

12. THE FAMILY LIFE CYCLE
The family life cycle represent the life changes of a typical family. It is a composite
variable that combines marital status, size of family, age of family members, and
employment status of the head of household.
The family life cycle remains a widely used form of segmentation and is also used to
analyse the consumption of households.

13. STAGES OF FAMILY LIFE CYCLE
• Bachelorhood
• Honeymooners
• Parenthood
• Post-parenthood
• Dissolution

14. BACHELORHOOD
• This stage refers to young single men and women, mostly college educated, who
have incomes that allow them to leave home and establish their own households,
increasingly though even employed college graduates continue to leave at home
and save towards setting up their homes.
• Single person spends considerable amounts towards clothing, entertainment, travel,
bike, beer, sports, mobile.
Financial situation
Product categories considered
Primary decision maker
Free time

15. HONEYMOONERS
• This stage refers to young and newly married couples, educated, engaged couples
have a combined discretionary income.
• Most of the couples overspend on their weddings
• Honeymooners have considerable start up expenses when establishing a new home,
they must find a place to live, buy furniture and decorate and setup their
households.
Financial situation
Product categories considered
Primary decision maker
Free time

17. PARENTHOOD
• The parenthood stage designates married couples with at least one child living at
home, this is the longest stage of the family life cycle.
• Its also known as the full nest stage usually extends over more than 20 year period
Financial situation
Product categories considered
Primary decision maker
Free time

18. Pre-school phase (Baby food, clothing, medical services, toys)
Elementary school phase (Insurance, school, stationery, larger size package of food)
High school phase (Bicycle, pc, video games)
College phase (Bike, mobile, clothes, laptop, higher education)

19. POST PARENTHOOD
• This stage refers to older married couples with no children's living at home. Its also
known as empty nest
• During this stage most married couples are financially secure and have lot of leisure
time, they travel more frequently, take extended vacations, and are likely to
purchase second home
• They have high disposal incomes because of savings and investments and they have
fewer expenses
Financial situation
Product categories considered
Primary decision maker
Free time

20. DISSOUTION
• This stage refers to the family with one surviving spouse.
• The surviving spouse often tend to follow a more economic lifestyle.
• Many surviving spouse seek each other out for companionship, others enter to
second marriages
• Health care, specialized food products.
Financial situation
Product categories considered
Primary decision maker
Free time

22. “Consumers don’t think how they feel, they
don’t say what they think and they don’t do
what they say”
THANK YOU