Family Purchasing

Family effects purchasing decisions. Just ask my dad if you don't believe me, according to him his money isn't his, and he's right.



Definitions of Family

Nuclear Family - Traditional structure, married parents and children who live together.

Extended Family - The above plus other relatives e.g. a grandparent

Family of Orientation - The family your born into

Family of Procreation - The family you make for yourself

The Nuclear family still remains the most commen, however sole parent families now constitute 23% of families.

A families needs is effected by the number of children, the age of the children and how many of the family are employed.



I don't think Angelina would be toy shopping if she didn't have a kid do you? At least not this kind of toy shopping.....

Here is a diagram of different family life cycles:



Depending on the stage of the cycle, different purchasing patterns will develop.

What is purchased for a 19 year old



Is not the same as what is purchased for a 1 year old



Things that affect who makes purchasing decisions are:

Discernment - Technical knowledge (you don't want granny choosing the new computer)

Price - Who has the money to buy it

Satisfaction - Who is going to use it (why should dad choose when im the one who's going to drive it???)

In a traditional family, the man earns, the woman spends (yes, this is bullshit unfair on us men)

In contemporary culture it is a shared participation, influenced by the fact that many women have their own income streams nowadays.

For each purchase there is usually:

A Gatekeeper - The one with the cash

A User - The one who's actually going to use the product

An Influencer - People who influence the purchase outcome

A Buyer - The person who actually purchases the product

A Decider - The one who makes the final decision ("your mum says no and thats that").

Who Buys What

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 use the internet (Men 49%, Women 40%)
Men are more likely to play computer games (Men 27%, Women 12%)
Men are more likely to have shopped online (Men 58%, Women 48%)
Around twice the number of men had bought computer software and hardware and electronic equipment)
Women shopped on line for groceries (Women 24%, Men 17%)

Women tend to purchase hygiene and cleaning products as well as food.

This diagram shows that women tend to have authority on all the decisions regarding the family, a traditional view.



How can marketeers use this?

Marketeers can use this information to decide who they are going to target in their marketing campaign.

If the company is trying to sell a cheap little first car, then they need to take into account that although the car may be for a teenager, it is probably going to be daddy who is buying it, thus they need to appeal to the needs of both.



In this advert, it is clear that the marketeers are targeting the father in the family, as they are referencing Ryan Giggs, someone who will be popular amoungst most fathers.

As you can see in the division of tasks diagram, men have authority when it comes to purchasing cars, hence why the advert is targeted at men.



Here the advert is clearly targeted at mothers, as you can see by the use of Colleen Nolan, a woman mothers can associate with, as well as Jason Donavan, a heart throb for the generation.

It is targeted at mothers as they are the decision makers when it comes to purchasing meals (see division of tasks diagram).

Do you think the adverts would be succesful if Colleen was driving the car and Giggs was mincing around at a family get together?

No. Why? Because the advert needs to be linked to which member of the family is buying the product.