Family Life cycle in Consumer Behaviour

ROLE	DESCRIPTION
Influencers	Family member(s) who provide information to other members about a
	product or service
Gatekeepers	Family member(s) who control the flow of information about a
	product or service into the family
Deciders	Family member(s) with the power to determine unilaterally or jointly
	whether to shop for, purchase, use, consume, or dispose of a specific
	product or service
Buyers	Family member(s) who make the actual purchase of a particular
	product or service
Preparers	Family member(s) who transform the product into a form suitable for
	consumption by other family members
Users	Family member(s) who use or consume a particular product or service
Maintainers	Family member(s) who service or repair the product so that it will
	provide continued satisfaction.
Disposers	Family member(s) who initiate or carry out the disposal or
	discontinuation of a particular product or service

The family life cycle in consumer behavior are given below

1.      The bachelor stage—young and single.

2.      The newly married couples—young, no children.

3.      Full nest 1—young, married, with child.

4.      Full nest 2—older, married, with children.

5.      Full nest 3–older, married, with dependent children.

6.      Empty nest—older, married, with no children living with them.

7.      Solitary survivor—older, single, retired people.

1. Young Singles
Young singles may live alone, with their nuclear families, or with friends, or they may co-habitat with partners-translating into a wide range of how much disposable income is spent on furniture, rent, food, and other living expenses in this stage .Although earnings tend to be relatively low, these consumers usually don’t have many financial obligations and don’t feel the need to save for their futures or retirement. Many of them find themselves spending as much as they make on cars, furnishings for first residences away from home, fashions, recreation, alcoholic beverages, food away from home, vacations, and other products and services involved in the dating game. Some of these singles may have young children, forcing them to give up
2. Newly married couples:
Newly married couples without children are usually better off financially than they were when they were single, since they often have two incomes available to spend on one household. These families tent to spend a substantial amount of their income son cars, clothing, vacations, and other leisure activities. They also have the highest purchase rate and highest average purchases of durable goods (particularly furniture and appliances) and appear to be more susceptible to advertising.
3. Full Nest I:
With the arrival of the first child, parents being to change their roles in the family, and decide if one parent will stay to care for the child or if they will both work and buy daycare services .Either route usually leads to a decline in family disposable income and a change in how the family spends its income. In this stage, families are likely to move into their first home; purchases furniture and furnishings for the child; buy a washer and dryer and home maintenance items; and purchase new items such as baby food, cough medicine, vitamins, toys, sleds, and skates. These requirements reduce families’ ability to save, and the husband and wife are often dissatisfied with their financial position.
4. Full Nest II
In this stage, the youngest child has reached school age, the employed spouse’s income has improved, and the other spouse often returns to part-or full-time work outside the home. Consequently, the family’s financial position usually improves, but the family finds itself consuming more and in larger quantities. Consumption patterns continue to be heavily influenced by the children, since the family tends to buy large-sized packages of food and cleaning suppliers, bicycles, music lessons, clothing, sports equipment, and a computer. Discount department stores (such as Cost co and Sam’s Club) are popular with consumers in this stage.
5. Full Nest III
As the family grows older and parents enter their min-40s, their financial position usually continues to improve because the primary wage earners income rises, the second wage earner is receiving a higher salary, and the children earn spending education money from occasional and part-time employment. The family typically replaces some worn pieces of furniture, purchases another automobiles, buys some luxury appliances, and spends money on dental services (braces) and education .Families also spend more on computers in this stage, buying additional PCs for their older children. Depending on where children go to college and how many are seeking higher education, the financial position of the family may be tighter than other instances
6. Empty nest
Older married with no children living with them. Financial position stabilizes and there is no expense on children. The couple is free to enjoy their own pursuits and spend on luxury or self-improvement items and medical care.
7. Solitary survivor

Older single retired people. Retired people living alone after the death of a partner. Life becomes lonely and income may reduce due to retirement. This again changes the consumption pattern and living style of old people.

Another point to note is that the family life cycle concept segments the families on the basis of demographic variables, and ignores the psychographics variables (families interest and opinions) of family members. Family life cycle is also related to the spare time and the available income, education, etc. A marketer has to take these elements into consideration.

The stages at which families find themselves, affect the nature of the goods and services required, their wants and consumption patterns, as well as the volume of consumption on specific products. The traditional view of the family life cycle has been criticized for failing to recognize that a single family unit may not exist throughout the life of an individual. Families may be created by second marriages, and these may involve children from prior marriages. The traditional model also ignores the existence of single parent households. The modern family lifecycle which takes into account the existence of working women is a more complex and more useful model than the traditional model.

Marketing strategy for family decision-making
It is realized that various purchasing tasks are performed by various members of the family. The products are bought for joint use of the family. Refrigerator, TV, sofa set, car, etc. The product is to be purchased by family funds where more than one person may be contributing to the fund. Sometimes the funds are not enough and other products may have to be sacrificed town an expensive product. Some family members may not be agreeable to the choice made for the product, and may consider it as a profligate expenditure. These are the main influences in the family decision making, which are the outlets preferred by the family members for the purchase of the product. All the above considerations are important, and once all this is known strategy can be formulated in a better manner.