CHAPTER 6
THE AMERICAN SOCIETY:
FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
LO1: Explain the concept of household types of households and their influence on
consumption
LO2: Summarize the household life cycle’s various stages and marketing implciations
LO3: Understand the family decision process
LO4: Describe the role that households play in child socialization
LO5: Explain the sources of ethical concern associated with marketing to children
SUMMARY
LO1: Explain the concept of household types of households and their influence on consumption
The household is the basic purchasing and consuming unit and is, therefore, of great importance to
LO2: Summarize the household life cycle’s various stages and marketing implciations
The household life cycle is the classification of the household into stages through which it passes over
LO3: Understand the family decision process
Family decision making involves consideration of questions such as who buys, who decides, and who
LO4: Describe the role that households play in child socialization
Consumer socialization deals with the processes by which young people (from birth until 18 years of
LO5: Explain the sources of ethical concern associated with marketing to children
Marketing to children is fraught with ethical issues. The main source of ethical concern is the limited
LECTURE TIPS AND AIDS
1) One good way to start the lecture on the household is to drive home the basic importance of the
household to marketing managers. Although it seems to be completely obvious, students need to
be reminded that in our society almost everyone is intimately involved with family and nonfamily
households. You might point out that even individual purchases, say a pair of jogging shoes, has
household implications because their purchase means that there is that much less for something
else the household wants or needs.
directed toward nonusers of the product who are the purchasers.
4) Table 6-2 is very powerful. I had a colleague who ran most of his course in consumer behavior
and a successful consulting practice around this table. It is simple, does not require sophisticated
analyses, and yet is predictive and rich in strategy insights. I strongly suggest you have your
students work with it.
5) Use Student Handout 1 to direct a discussion of consumer socialization.
Student Handout 1: Consumer Socialization and Birthday Parties
A study of birthday parties for children aged three to five revealed that the mothers used the situation
to (1) teach children how to plan a party, (2) indicate approval or disapproval of certain themes (e.g.,
Barbie, Ninja Turtles), (3) teach sharing and other positive values, and (4) instill social skills. The
following examples indicate the instrumental nature of the process.
Planning Skills
Theme Approval
• [Explaining why she would not let her son have a commercial theme at his party.] It is not so
much the money but the values I have about it …but I have to explain to Carl that we decided to do
it this way because we think birthdays are very special, but we celebrate them differently than
other people . . . that’s what we think is important that is the lesson we try to show.
Positive Values
• [I use] outdoor games . . . something where everybody wins. [In a treasure hunt] they all got in
like one big cohort, and they all helped each other ….It was really nice, they really liked it, and
everyone got a prize in the end.
excluded.
Social Skills
• I am petrified they are going to say something like, “Hey, I already have this.” My eight-year-old
would never do this because he knows I’ll take all his toys and give them to the Salvation Army if
I find out….With the four-year-old, I worry.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1) The household is described as “the basic consumption unit for consumer goods.’’ Why?
2) What is a traditional family? Can a single-parent family be a nuclear family?
3) How does a nonfamily household differ from a family household?
A family household consists of at least two members related by birth, marriage, or adoption, one
householder living alone or exclusively with others to whom he or she is not related.
4) Describe the multigenerational family?
5) How has the distribution of household types in the United States been changing? What are the
implications of these shifts?
Table 6-1 provides a good breakdown of the types of households. There is a trend toward smaller
6) What is meant by the household life cycle?
7) What is meant by the following statement: “Each stage in the household life cycle poses a series of
problems that household decision makers must solve’’?
Marital status and the presence and age of child place requirements on households such as the
8) Describe the general characteristics of each of the stages in the household life cycle.
a. Single I: (Under 35) live alone or, more typically, with parents or with others they are not
related to. The younger members of this group have limited incomes but limited expenses;
9) Describe the HLC/Occupational Category matrix. What is the logic for this matrix?
Table 6-2 outlines the different stages of the household life cycle and different occupational
10) What is meant by family decision making? How can different members of the household be
involved with different stages of the decision process?
Decision making about consumption that involves all or part of the household (i.e., more than one
11) How does family decision making differ from most organizational decision making?
Organizations have relatively objective criteria such as profit maximization which guide
purchases. Families lack such explicit, over-arching goals. Most industrial purchases are made by
12) The text states that the marketing manager must analyze the family decision-making process
separately within each target market and for each product. Why?
First, household members make specific sub-decisions or evaluations within the overall decision
13) What factors influence involvement of a household member in a purchase decision?
How family members interact in a purchase decision is largely dependent on the culture and
14) How do family members attempt to resolve conflict over purchase decisions?
A recent study revealed six basic approaches that individuals use to resolve purchase conflicts
15) What is consumer socialization? How is knowledge of it useful to marketing managers?
Consumer socialization is the process by which young people acquire skills, knowledge, and
16) What are Piaget’s stages of cognitive development?
There are four stages: (1) the period of sensori-motor intelligence (ages 0-2) – primarily motor
17) What do we mean when we say that children learn consumer skills, consumption-related attitudes,
and consumptions-related preferences?
18) What processes do parents use to teach children to be consumers?
Children learn about becoming consumers from their parents, friends, classmates, and the media.
19) Describe each of the five stages children go through as they learn to shop at stores.
Stage I: Observing. Parents begin taking children to the store with them at a median age of 2
months. During this stage, children make sensory contact with the market place and begin forming
mental images of marketplace objects and symbols. In the early months, only sights and sounds
are being processed. However, by 12 to 15 months, most children can begin to recall some of these
20) What ethical issues arise in marketing to children?
The major issue focuses on the limited ability of younger children to process information and to
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
21) Respond to the questions in Consumer Insight 6-1.
Whether or not the growth slows substantially will depend on the countervailing cultural factors
listed. It seems possible that ongoing immigration, delay in marriage, and sense of obligation for
22) Canada has legislation giving cohabiting couples who have been living together for one year or
more the same federal rights and responsibilities as married couples. Should the United States
have similar legislation?
23) Rate the stages of the household life cycle in terms of their probable purchase of the following.
Justify your answers.
a) Designer jeans
b) Trip to Cancun
c) Diapers
d) Breakfast bars
e) Contributions to SPCA
f) Golf clubs
a
b
c
d
e
f
Stage of HLC
Single I
5
5
1
5
1
3
Young couples
5
5
1
2
2
2
Full nest I
2
2
5
5
3
1
Single parent I
1
1
5
2
1
1
Middle-aged single
5
2
1
5
5
5
Empty nest I
3
5
1
4
5
4
Full nest II
2
3
2
2
5
4
Single parent II
1
1
2
4
3
2
Empty nest II
2
5
1
5
4
4
Older Single
1
2
1
5
4
5
24) Pick two stages in the household life cycle. Describe how your marketing strategy for the
following would differ depending on which group was your primary target market.
a) Minivan
c) Broadway show
25) Do you think the trend toward nonfamily households will continue? Justify your response.
Table 6-1 summarizes the size of the family and nonfamily households. As indicated in the
26) What are the primary marketing implications of Table 6-1?
Both family and non-family households are important considerations for marketers, which in
27) How would the marketing strategies for the following differ by stage of the HLC (assume
each stage is the target market)?
a) Cell phone
b) Scuba gear
d) Children’s toys
e) Detergent
28) What are the marketing implications of Figure 6-4?
29) What type of the following would be best suited for each cell in Table 6-2?
a) Hotel b) Television program
30) Name two products for which the horizontal axis in Table 6-2 should be the following. Justify
your response.
a) Occupational category
c) Education
31) How can a marketer use knowledge of how family members seek to resolve conflicts?
Understanding what causes conflicts can lead to products and communications strategies that are
32) Describe a recent family purchase in which you were involved. Use this as a basis for completing
Table 6-3 for a marketer attempting to influence that decision.
Students should recognize and discuss the key household influences and their motivation at
33) Describe four types of activities or situations in which direct instrumental training is likely to
occur.
This would most commonly involve high involvement products or products that directly affect
children’s health and safety such as expensive toys, snacks, pets, and restaurant meals.
34) Describe four types of activities or situations in which modeling is likely to occur.
35) Describe four types of activities or situations in which mediation is likely to occur.
36) Respond to the questions in Consumer Insight 6-2.
Q1 – Students will have different answers. One focus may be on how one decision becomes the
“key” to opening up other purchases. So, if Lowes can convince a consumer to remodel one part
of their home (a kitchen) then other purchases may follow as they remodel other parts of the
37) Are Piaget’s stages of cognitive development consistent with the five stages of learning to shop
that McNeal identified?
They are quite consistent. The big difference is that McNeal’s work indicates the wide variation