Families and family desicions making

1. Consumer behavior involves the psychological processes that consumers go through in recognizing needs, finding ways to solve these needs, making purchase decisions

2. Various manipulative strategies may also be used. One is impression management, where one tries to make one’s side look good (e.g., argue that a new TV will help the children see educational TV when it is really mostly wanted to see sports programming, or argue that all "decent families make a contribution to the church"). Authority involves asserting one’s "right" to make a decision (as the "man of the house," the mother of the children, or the one who makes the most money). Emotion involves making an emotional display to get one’s way (e.g., a man cries if his wife will not let him buy a new rap album).

3. It should be noted that family decisions are often subject to a great deal of conflict. The reality is that few families are wealthy enough to avoid a strong tension between demands on the family’s resources. Conflicting pressures are especially likely in families with children and/or when only one spouse works outside the home. Note that many decisions inherently come down to values, and that there is frequently no "objective" way to arbitrate differences

4. Some family members may resort to various strategies to get their way. One is bargaining—one member will give up something in return for someone else. For example, the wife says that her husband can take an expensive course in gourmet cooking if she can buy a new pickup truck. Alternatively, a child may promise to walk it every day if he or she can have a hippopotamus. Another strategy is reasoning—trying to get the other person(s) to accept one’s view through logical argumentation. Note that even when this is done with a sincere intent, its potential is limited by legitimate differences in values illustrated above. Also note that individuals may simply try to "wear down" the other party by endless talking in the guise of reasoning (this is a case of negative reinforcement as we will see subsequently)

5. The Family Life Cycle

5.1. Individuals and families tend to go through a "life cycle:" The simple life cycle goes from. Generally, there are two main themes in the Family Life Cycle, subject to significant exceptions: As a person gets older, he or she tends to advance in his or her career and tends to get greater income (exceptions: maternity leave, divorce, retirement). Unfortunately, obligations also tend to increase with time (at least until one’s mortgage has been paid off). Children and paying for one’s house are two of the greatest expenses. Note that although a single person may have a lower income than a married couple, the single may be able to buy more discretionary items.

6. Family Decision Making

6.1. Individual members of families often serve different roles in decisions that ultimately draw on shared family resources

6.1.1. The decision maker(s) have the power to determine issues such as: Whether to buy; Which product to buy (pick-up or passenger car?); Which brand to buy; Where to buy it; and When to buy.

6.1.2. The decision maker may specify what kind of product to buy, but not which brand;

6.1.3. The purchaser may have to make a substitution if the desired brand is not in stock;

6.1.4. The purchaser may disregard instructions (by error or deliberately).