Role of Family Influences on Consumer Behavior (Essay Sample)

Role of Family Influences on Consumer Behavior
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The family is the most important consumer unit that most companies focus on. This is because families possess a huge purchasing power. This has led most of the companies to conduct research about how family structures are changing. There has been a steady change in the family structures in the past three decades due to an influence by the social trends that emerge year after year. The traditional description of families is one which comprises of parents and children who are unmarried. Modern definition of families has changed from containing only a couple and the unmarried children to a family household. A family household is a group of people who are living together.
Changes in the family structures presents an opportunity to marketing companies (Kanuk & Schiffman, 2007). Changes in the composition of families lead to a more diversified demand and needs of families. Over the past three decades, there has been a reduction in the number of families made up of married couples with children and the number of married couples without children. It can also be noted that the number of family households has also been increasing. Reasons for an increase in a number family households are the social trends such as; delayed marriages, delayed child births and unmarried cohabitation (Roger, 2012). Over the past few years, there has been an increase of the number of working women and divorces. This is the reason that can be attributed to an increase in number of single women.
Products that are made for the family means that they are suitable for all family members and if the family consists of children the product should not be inappropriate for children. Insurance products have for a long time been products that were initially intended for families with children. Insurance education and health plans are consumed mainly by families that want to secure a future for their children. Consequently, due to declining in the number of families that comprise of married couples with children, health insurance companies have developed products that are low-cost. Insurance companies know that young adults either cannot afford the normal insurance products, or they think that they do not need coverage. Insurance companies have also developed strategies to make insurance look desirable to the young men and women living alone. They do this by investing in technology and communicating to them at their convenient time through websites and emails (Roger, 2012).
Cars are another product that was mainly used by families in the past few decades. Vehicles were intended to transport the family. The increase in the number of women and men who live alone has created a huge market for car companies. These young men and women are mainly interested in pr...