The Influence of Family Members on Household Product Purchase Decision

Dr. Sanjit Kumar Dash is working as Associate Professor at Balaji Institute of International Business,Sri Balaji Society,Pune,Maharashtra ,India. He has done MSc(Ag) from OUAT,Orissa, MBA from Utkal University,Orissa, M.Phil from Annamalai University,Tamil Nadu and Ph.D from Utkal University,Orissa. He is having 15 years of PG teaching experience.

Consumer markets and consumer buying behavior have to be understood to formulate sound marketing plans. The family has a major influence on the consumption behavior of its members. It is also the prime target market for most of products and services. Family is the consumer units of critical importance in the study of consumer behavior for two reasons. First, families are the unit of usage and purchase for many consumer products. Second, the family has a major influence on the attitudes and behavior of individuals. The objective of this research is to determine the effect of families in decision making process for several important products and to understand, who in household influence the family purchase. This study is unique in the sense that, no such study has been done to understand such an important area like influence of Headman, Husband-Wife and Adolescents on product purchase in Orissa. The variation of influence occurs for different products have indicated an important area for developing marketing strategy. Most of the findings of the study support the normal behavior of Indian families. Further probing will help the marketers to understand the buyer behavior effectively.