Chapter 10 - Family

Introduction: Family and its social class standing affect on consumer behavior. But sometimes many business depends on family and its social class standing. Because the consumers are influenced by their family and social class standing.

Family life cycle Concept that attempts to describe the effect of time on a family through the phases of marriage (and divorce) and births and deaths reflected in the family's income and consumption.

The stages of family life

Stage 1: Childless couple stage

During this phase the main tasks are:

Developing a way to liv together both practically and emotionally.

Adjusting relationships with families of origin and peers to include partner.

Stage 2: Family with young children

During this phase the main tasks are:

Realigning family system to make space for children.

Adopting and developing parenting roles.

Realigning relationships with families of origin to include parenting and grand parenting roles.

Facilitating children to develop peer relationships.

Stage 3 Family with adolescents

During this phase the main tasks are:

Adjusting parent-child relationships to allow adolescents more autonomy.

Adjusting family relationships to focus on midlife relationship and career issues.

Taking on responsibility of caring for families of origin.

Stage 4: Launching children During this phase the main tasks are:

Resolving midlife issues Negotiating adult to adult relationships with children. Adjusting to living as a couple again. Adjusting to including in-laws and grandchildren within the family circle. Dealing with disabilities and death in the family of origin.

Stage 5: Later family life

During this phase the main tasks are:

Coping with physiological decline in self and others. Adjusting to children taking a more central role in family maintenance. Valuing the wisdom and experience of the elderly. Dealing with loss of spouse and peers. Preparation for death, life review, reminiscence and integration.

How family affect the consumer behavior Family members influence to buy a product. Again sometimes products are not used for the family members. A marketer should consider the family environment. We can see that in the world of advertising and marketing, children are the targets. For many reasons, children are greater influence on family buying decisions. Understanding how and why a child influences purchasing decisions is important to marketing and business today. If marketers want to be successful they need to look to the children. The objective of this paper to demonstrate the cause and effect children have to family decisions, consumer behavior, business, and marketing.

Social class Social class,also called class , a group of people within a society who possess the same socioeconomic status. Besides being important in social theory, the concept of class as a collection of individuals sharing similar economic has been widely used in studies of social mobility.

How Is Social Class Measured Social classes are cultural or economic arrangements of groups in society and they are measured by lifestyle of people in that group. It is normally measured according to the family's values, financial status, appearances, or housing. Social class is a perception, not essentially something you can quantify.

How social class affect of consumer behavior A major influence on one's purchasing habits and consumer behavior is the social class in which one finds him or herself. Social class is considered an external influence on consumer behavior because it is not a function of feelings or knowledge. Social class is often hard to define; in fact, many people dispute the existence of social classes in the United States. Usually, however, people are grouped in social classes according to income, wealth, education, or type of occupation.

Perhaps the simplest model to define social class is a three-tiered approach that includes the rich, the middle class, and the poor. Other models have as many as a dozen levels. People in the same social class tend to have similar attitudes live in similar neighborhoods, dress alike, and shop at the same type of stores. So a marketer should know about social class of consumer because the consumers are influenced by the social class to purchase a product.

From the above discussion we can say that a marketer has to know about the family and social class standing of consumer rather than the business will not run properly. The End