BUYERBEHAVIORASPROBLEMSOLVING 81
Family Oneofthemostimportantreferencegroupsforanindividualisthefam-
ily.A consumer'sfamilyhasa majorimpactonattitudeandbehavior.Theinteractionbetween
husbandandwifeandthenumberandagesofchildreninthefamilycanhavea significant
effectonbuyingbehavior.
Onefacetinunderstandingthefamily'simpactonconsumerbehavioris identifying
thedecisionmakerforthepurchaseinquestion.Insomecases,thehusbandistypicallydom-
inant,inothersthewifeorchildren,andstillothers, ajointdecisionismade.Thestorechoice
forfoodandhouseholditemsismostoftenthewife's.Withpurchasesthatinvolvea larger
sumofmoney,suchasa refrigerator,a jointdecisionisusuallymade.Thedecisiononcloth-
ingpurchasesforteenagersmaybegreatlyinfluencedbytheteenagersthemselves.Thus,
marketersneedtoidentifythekeyfamilydecisionmakerfortheproductorserviceinquestion.
Anotheraspectofunderstandingtheimpactofthefamilyonbuyingbehavioris the
familylifecycle.Mostfamiliespassthroughanorderlysequenceofstages.Thesestages
canbedefinedbya combinationoffactorssuchasage,maritalstatus, andparenthood.The
typicalstagesare:
- Thebachelorstate;young,singlepeople.
- Newlymarriedcouples;young,nochildren.
- ThefullnestI andII;youngmarriedcoupleswithdependentchildren:
a. Youngestchildundersix(FullnestI)
b. Youngestchildoversix(FullnestII) - ThefullnestIII;oldermarriedcoupleswithdependentchildren.
- TheemptynestI andII;oldermarriedcoupleswithnochildrenlivingwiththem:
a. Adultsinlaborforce(EmptynestI)
b. Adultsretired(EmptynestII) - Thesolitarysurvivors;oldersinglepeople:
a. Inlaborforce
b. Retired
Eachofthesestagesischaracterizedbydifferentbuyingbehaviors. Forexample,a chil-
dren's clothingmanufacturerwouldtargetitseffortsprimarilyatthefullnestI families.
Thus,thefamilycyclecanbehelpfulindefiningthetargetcustomers.
InternalI nfluences
Eachcustomeristosomedegreea uniqueproblemsolvingunit.Althoughtheycanbegrouped
intomeaningfulsegments.. inordertofullyappreciatethetotalityofthebuyingprocess,a
marketerneedstoexaminetheinternalforcesthatinfluenceconsumers.Theyarelearn-
ing/socialization,motivationandpersonality,andlifestyle.LearningandSocialization Asa factorinfluencinga person'sperceptions,learn-
ingmaybedefinedaschangesinbehaviorresultingfromprevious experiences.However,
learningdoesnotincludebehaviorchangesattributabletoinstinctiveresponses,growth, or
temporarystatesoftheorganism,suchashunger,fatigue,orsleep.Itisclearthatlearning
ISanongoingprocessthatisdynamic,adaptive,andsubjecttochange.Also,learningis an
experienceandpracticethatactuallybringsaboutchangesinbehavior.Forexample,inorder
tolearnhowtoplaytennis,youmightparticipateinit togainexperience,beexposedto
thedifferentskillsrequired,therules,andsoforth.However,theexperiencedoesnothave
tobeanactual,physicalone.Itcouldbea conceptualizationofa potentialexperience.In