CHAPTER 10
The Family and Its Social Standing
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
10.1 To understand consumer socialization.
10.3 To understand the family life cycle.
10.5 To understand the impact of social class on consumer behavior.
10.7 To understand how to employ geodemographics to locate target markets.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Learning Objective 10.1: To understand consumer socialization.
The family is the primary reference group for many attitudes and behaviors. The family is also
the prime target market for most products and product categories. As the most basic membership
group, a family consists of as two or more persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption who
reside together. Socialization is the process of making people behave in a way that is acceptable
to their society. In the context of marketing, the most important role of the family is the
socialization of family members, ranging from young children to adults. This process includes
imparting to young children the basic values and modes of behavior consistent with their culture,
including moral principles, interpersonal skills, acceptable dress and grooming standards,
appropriate manners and speech, and the selection of suitable educational and occupational or
career goals.
Learning Objective 10.2: To understand how families make purchase decisions.
Marketers recognize that families operate as units in terms of consumption behavior, and many
researchers have studied the dynamics of family decision-making. 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 family members
can assume in buying, using, and maintaining their possessions. Most consumer studies classify
family consumption decisions as husband-dominated, wife-dominated, joint, or autonomic
of relative influence during a purchase decision, which precludes interviewing all members
together.
Learning Objective 10.3: To understand the family life cycle.
The family life cycle represents the life stages of a typical family. It is a composite variable that
combines marital status, size of family, age of family members (focusing on the age of the oldest
or youngest child), and employment status of the head of household, and then classifies the
family into a “typical” stage. The ages of the parents and the relative amount of disposable
Learning Objective 10.4: To understand the consumer behavior of nontraditional families and
households.
Some living arrangements today cannot be categorized as “typical.” Families that do not readily
fit into the family life cycle include childless couples, people who marry late in life, young
people who continue to live with their parents or return after having moved out, and divorced
couples. Living situations that are not legally defined as families (e.g., couples who live together
Learning Objective 10.5: To understand the impact of social class on consumer behavior.
Social stratification (or social class) is the division of members of a society into a hierarchy of
distinct status classes, so that members of each class have relatively the same status and members
of all other classes have either more or less status. Some form of class structure (or social
stratification) has existed in all societies throughout history. In contemporary societies, people
who are better educated or have prestigious occupations have more status relative to other
Learning Objective 10.6: To understand the demographics, lifestyles, and consumption patterns
of social classes.
Lifestyles, consumption patterns, leisure activities, hobbies, media exposure, and scores of other
factors are homogeneous within and heterogeneous among social classes. There is no uniform
definition or even general agreement as to how many distinct classes depict the class structure of
the U.S. population accurately. Most early studies divided Americans into five or six social-class
groups; other researchers have found nine-, four-, three-, and even two-class schemas suitable.
The choice of how many separate classes there are depends on the amount of detail that the
researcher believes is necessary to adequately explain the attitudes or behavior under
study. We identified seven social classes:
1. Upper-Upper class—inherited wealth and privilege;
3. Upper-Middle class—high educational attainment and prestige;
5. Upper-Lower class—solidly blue collar, with highly routinized jobs and steady incomes;
7. Underclass—mostly unemployed and dependent on the government).
Learning Objective 10.7: To understand how to employ geodemographics to locate target
markets.
Marketers use geodemography to identify the geographic locations of consumers belonging to
different social classes. The rationale for using geodemographics is that families with similar
socioeconomic status reside in the same neighborhoods or communities, as illustrated by the
saying that “birds of a feather flock together.” Geodemographic segments are groups of
households that have been identified, classified, and described according to zip codes and data
CHAPTER OUTLINE
INTRODUCTION
1. Family and social class are two reference groups that have a powerful impact on consumer
behavior.
a) Family is two or more persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption who reside
together.
b) Social class is the division of members of a society into a hierarchy of distinct status
classes, in which members of a class have relatively the same status and members of all
other classes have more or less status.
*****Use Key Terms family, social class Here; Use Figures #10.1A and 10.1B Here*****
Family and Consumer Socialization
1. Socialization refers to the process of making people behave in a way that is acceptable to
their society
2. The aspect of childhood socialization that is particularly relevant to the study of consumer
behavior is consumer socialization, which is defined as the process by which children
acquire the skills, knowledge, and attitudes and experiences necessary to function as
3. A socialization agent is a person or organization involved in the socialization process
“because of frequency of contact with the individual and control over the rewards and
punishments given to the individual. “
*****Use Key Terms consumer socialization and socialization agent Here; Use Learning
4. Parental styles influence children’s development and consumer socialization.
a) Parental styles are classified along two dimensions:
i) permissive vs restrictive.
ii) very nurturing vs. non-nurturing.
b) Four parental styles include:
i) Indulgent parents
ii) Neglecting parents
iii) Authoritative parents
iv) Authoritarian parents
*****Use Key Terms indulgent parents, neglecting parents, authoritative parents,
authoritarian parents Here; Use Figure #10.3 Here*****
5. Consumer socialization is learning.
a) Materialism increases from middle childhood to early adolescence then declines from
6. Socialization begins in early childhood and extends throughout a person’s life.
8. There are three stages to consumer socialization:
9. Families have supportive functions: economic well-being, emotional support, and suitable
family lifestyles.
a) Economic well-being: Providing financial means to its dependents is unquestionably a
basic family function.
b) Emotional support: The provision of emotional nourishment (including love, affection,
*****Use Figures #10.4, #10.5 Here*****
Family Decision-Making and Members’ Roles
1. Marketers recognize that families operate as units in terms of consumption behavior.
2. Marketers study the dynamics of family decision making (e.g. husband-wife decision-
3. Four consumption patterns of husband-wife decision-making.
a) Husband dominated
4. The relative influence of a husband and wife on a particular consumer decision depends in
part on the product and service category.
5. Over the past several decades, children have played a more active role in what the family
buys, as well as in the family decision-making process.
7. Adult children who care for aging parents may help assist with decision making.
8. Family members play different roles in buying decisions.
a) Parents are gatekeepers
b) Children might be influencers, deciders, buyers, preparers, and users depending on the
product category.
c) Maintainers and disposers also participate.
The Family Life Cycle
1. The family life cycle (FLC) represents the life stages of a typical family.
a) The FLC is a composite variable created by systematically combining such commonly
2. The model has five basic stages.
a) Bachelorhood. Young single adult living apart from parents.
b) Honeymooners. Young married couple.
Nontraditional Families and Non-Family Households
1. Marketers distinguish between two type of families or households that are not typical.
a) Nontraditional families do not readily fit into the family life cycle
b) Non-family households are not legally defined as families
3. Same-gender families are a lucrative market for many marketers.
*****Use Figures #10.12A and #10.12B Here*****
Social Standing and Consumer Behavior
1. Social class is the division of members of a society into a hierarchy of distinct status classes,
so that members of each class have relatively the same status and members of all other
classes have either more or less status.
2. Researchers define each social class by the amount of social status or prestige the members
of that class have in comparison to members of other social classes. Status is composed of:
3. To secure an understanding of how status operates within the minds of consumers,
4. The level of identification with a given social class is social-class consciousness.
*****Use Key Term social-class consciousness Here *****
5. There is no general agreement as to how to measure social class.
a. The choice of how many separate classes to use depends on the amount of detail that
2. The most frequently used questions are about occupation, amount of
income, and education.
4. Occupation is a widely accepted and probably the best documented
measure of social class, because it reflects occupational prestige.
5. The level of a person’s formal education is another commonly
6. Researchers who favor income as a measure of social class use either
amount or source of income.
6. A multivariable index systematically combine a number of socioeconomic variables to form
one overall measure of social-class standing.
a. They seem to better reflect social class complexity than single element indicators.
b. Two of the more important composite indexes are:
i. Index of Status Characteristics—the Warner Index of Status Characteristics
(ISC)—is a classic composite measure of social class that weighs occupation,
source of income, house type, and dwelling area equality of neighborhood.
ii. Socioeconomic Status Scores—the United States Bureau of Census
developed the Socioeconomic Status Score (SES) that combines the
socioeconomic variables of occupation, family income, and educational
attainment.
America’s Social Classes
1. Lifestyle factors (shared beliefs, attitudes, activities, and behaviors) distinguish members of a
2. Individuals can move either up or down in social class standing from the class position held
by their parents.
a) Upper-Upper class—inherited wealth and privilege;
3. Most Americans think of upward mobility.
a) This results in the upper classes being the reference group for many ambitious men and
4. Social class mobility also contributes to products and services filtering down from a higher
6. Lower-income, or downscale consumers are households earning $35,000 or less.
a) Downscale consumers are more brand loyal than wealthier consumers because they can
7. Most people dress to fit their self-images, which include their perceptions of their own social
class membership.
9. Social class groupings differ in terms of how they transmit and receive communications.
a) When it comes to describing their world, lower-class consumers tend to portray it in
10. Downward mobility, defined as moving down, rather than up the social ladder, is taking
place with today’s second youngest generation; they will experience lower living standards
than their parents.
Geodemography and Social Class
1. Marketers use geo-demography to identify the geographic locations of consumers belonging
to various social classes.
a) “Birds of a feather flock together”
b) Geodemographic segments have been classified and described according to zip codes
and data from census sources.
REVIEW AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
10.1 How does the family influence the consumer socialization of children? What role
does television advertising play in consumer socialization?
The family influences the consumer socialization of its children by imparting values, beliefs,
attitudes and modes of behavior that relate to consumption through either direct instruction of
10.2 As a marketing consultant, you have been retained by the Walt Disney Company to
design a study investigating how families make vacation decisions. Among the family
members, whom would you interview? What kind of questions would you ask? How
would you assess the relative power of each family member in making vacation-related
decisions?
As Disney’s marketing consultant, you must identify the distinct roles in the family decision–
making process regarding vacations. You should identify and interview both the influencers
10.3 Which of the five stages of the family life cycle constitutes the most lucrative
segment for each of the following products and services: (a) TV cable subscriptions, (b)
a Club Med vacation, (c) Domino’s Pizza, (d) iPods, (e) mutual funds, and (f) the fastest
internet access available in one’s location? Explain your answers.
Students should segment the markets for these products in the context of the information
presented on the five basic stages of the FLC, and propose appropriate strategies to market
10.4 Why do marketing researchers use objective, rather than subjective, measures of
social class?
The objective method is often preferred because: a) The objective approach is based on
consumers’ responses to one or more factual questions about socioeconomic items (e.g.,
occupation, income, education), which can be easily included in most self-administrated
10.5 Under what circumstances would you expect income to be a better predictor of
consumer behavior than a composite measure of social class? When would you expect
the composite social-class measure to be superior?
Whether income alone or a composite measure of social class is a better predictor of
consumer behavior is likely to depend on what dimension of consumer behavior is being
10.6 Which status-related variable—occupation, education or income—is the most
appropriate segmentation base for: (a) family vacations, (b) opera subscriptions, (c)
subscribing to online.wsj.com, (d) shopping at Whole Foods supermarkets, (e) buying
from freshdirect.com, (f) purchasing new models of the iPhone, and (g) becoming a
member of a 24-hour fitness center?
Occupation is the most appropriate segmentation base for personal computers and cellular
telephones because these products reflect a person’s career and profession. Education should
10.7 Consider the Rolex watch, which has a retail price range starting at about $4,500 for
a stainless-steel model to tens of thousands of dollars for a solid-gold model. How might
the Rolex use geodemographic clustering in its marketing efforts?
First, Rolex should identify the socioeconomic characteristics of the buyers of its product
line. A service such as PRIZM could be used to pinpoint the geographic areas in the United
10.8 You are the owner of two furniture stores: one catering to upper-middle-class
consumers and the other to lower-class consumers. How do social class differences
influence each store’s: (a) product lines and styles, (b) advertising media selection, (c)
the copy and communication style used in the ads, and (d) payment policies?
(a) The furniture directed at the upper-middle class should be distinctive, highly styled,
modern, and with an artistic quality. The furniture directed at the lower-class should be
traditional, sturdy, comfortable, and highly utilitarian. (b) Upper-middle-class consumers
HANDS-ON ASSIGNMENTS
10.9 In this chapter, we have considered how parents and siblings play a role in
consumer socialization of their children and young brothers and sisters, and how
adults continue to be socialized throughout their lives. However, we have not
considered how children (especially teens and young adults) influence the socialization
of their parents. List ten ways in which you have contributed to or influenced the
ongoing socialization of your parents.
Instructor’s Discussion
10.10 Identify one traditional family and one nontraditional household featured on the
Ikea website (http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/ideas). Classify the traditional household
according to the family life cycle stage and the other according to the living
arrangements featured in Table 10.3. Compare the characteristics and consumption
patterns of the two households.
Instructor’s Discussion
Many TV sitcoms depict nontraditional families or households; the contrast between the two
10.11 Copy the list of occupations in Figure 10.13A, B, and C, and ask students majoring
in areas other than marketing (both business and nonbusiness) to rank the relative
prestige of these occupations. Do you believe that any differences in the rankings are
related to the students’ majors? Explain.
Instructor’s Discussion
Figures 10.13A, B, and C, presents findings from a continuing survey that estimates the
relative honesty and perceived ethical standards that people assign to many basic
S.T.A.R. PROJECTS
Ethical Issues in Consumer Behavior
S.T.A.R. Project #1
The National Beverage Company (see www.nationalbeverage.com) makes the popular Shasta
and Faygo drinks. The company also produces water products and juices. The company has
provided low cost alternatives to store brands and more heavily advertised national brands (such
as Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola) for a number of years. The Shasta brand is especially popular with
cost-conscious moms. Assume that National Beverage is considering a product line expansion to
include a wine cooler product. The product will be named Shasta Cooler—“Shasta with a
punch!” The rationale behind the move is to capitalize on the popular Shasta name, expand into
the rapidly growing wine cooler field, and to increase profits. Assume the company believes that
this spin-off brand will also be popular with cost conscious consumers. Evaluate the possibility
of this line expansion from an ethical perspective. Considering what you have learned about
groups and the family, make a decision for the company. Be sure to explain your position and
describe any modifications that you might feel are necessary.
Instructor’s Discussion
Students should see that, although adding the wine cooler product might be an opportunity for
Small Group Projects
S.T.A.R. Project #2
The modern grocery store has undergone some dramatic changes that have mirrored the
demographic changes that have occurred in our society over the last ten to fifteen years. Family
units, singles, and relationships between couples have changed and are continuing to change.
Your group assignment is to go to a local grocery store and observe the product categories on the
grocery shelves. Consider product line mixes and any perceived changes from a few years ago.
S.T.A.R. Project #3
Ask any bride what the major problem with holding her wedding was and she will probably
respond, “the planning and all the tension it brought.” As experts in human behavior studied this
problem, a simple solution was derived — have someone else do the planning and bear the
tension. Today, this is all possible (with a minimal cost) by using the Internet. Many brides–to-be
have been thrilled to discover that such Web sites as The Knot (www.theknot.com) or
Brides.com that take the burden off of their beautiful shoulders and place it where it should be—
with the experts. Does the process work? Your assignment is to see. In other words, plan your
own wedding using one of the sites above. Once you have made the attempt, write a short
evaluation paper that describes your experience. What connections did the merchants involved
attempt to make with you as a potential consumer? What do you perceive to be the principle
value of such sites? What problems did you encounter? What other services besides wedding
planning could such sites undertake?
Instructor’s Discussion
Yes, even males find this assignment interesting. Students can begin the assignment by listing all
the advantages to using such services. Follow with disadvantages. How do the two lists