Age, Gender and

Household Influence on
Consumer Behavior

By
Dr. Kevin Lance Jones
How Age Affects
Consumer Behavior
 Age trends in the USA
– The median age of US consumers was 32.9 in
1990 and was 35.3 in 2000.

– American adults (18+) make up more than 74

percent of the overall population.

– The senior market is a growing segment with

significant buying power.

– Younger adults age 20-34 is shrinking.

How Age Affects
Consumer Behavior
 Teens
– Look to develop a distinct identity and
self-image.

– Have a need to gain acceptance from

peers.

– Want independence but will not deviate

from a group for fear of rejection.
How Age Affects
Consumer Behavior
 Teens
– Are very tech savvy, using internet, cell
phones, computers and other digital
devices to communicate, play games, do
homework and shop.

– Many earn their own money gaining

financial independence earlier than
previous generations.
How Age Affects
Consumer Behavior
 Teens
– Rock, hip-hop and rap music symbolizing
rebellion are very popular.

– Clothing establishes an identity, a way of

labeling individuals.

– Have sophisticated decision making skills

because they come from two career families or
single parent families and they are required to
make more decisions for themselves.
How Age Affects
Consumer Behavior
 Teens
– Are considered thrifty and savvy
shoppers.
– Are particular about how they spend their
money
– Shop mostly on weekends with the
females shopping more than males.
– Find friends as a major source of
information about products.
How Age Affects
Consumer Behavior
 Teens
– Personal purchasing power is $108 billion,
not counting the $47 billion more they
influence in family purchases.

– Female teens spend $37 billion on beauty

and fashion items and 50 percent are
cosmetically brand loyal by age 15.
How Age Affects
Consumer Behavior
 Teens
– Advertising often incorporates symbols, issues
and language which they can relate.

– Music and sports are commonly used because

they fall into the universal language of
teenagers.

– Process information faster than earlier

generations and prefer short, snappy, phrases to
long-winded explanations.
How Age Affects
Consumer Behavior
 Generation X
– Individuals born form 1965-1976
– Stereotyped as feeling alienated and
resentful due to difficulties in career
placement and advancement.
– Many believe in “status panic”.
– Called Boomerang kids
How Age Affects
Consumer Behavior
 Generation Xer’s
– $120 plus billion in spending
– Prefers customized offerings
– Key segment for music, movies, travel,
alcohol, fast food, clothing, cosmetics
– Twenty-four percent of budget spend on
eating out.
How Age Affects
Consumer Behavior
 Generation Xer’s
– Cynical about obvious marketing
techniques
– Objectionable ads may contain:
exaggerated claims, stereotypes,
cigarettes , alcohol, sexually explicit
content and political, religious or social
messages.
How Age Affects
Consumer Behavior
 Baby Boomers
– Born between 1946-1964
– Largest demographic segment 78 million
– Heavy consumers of financial services
– Delayed child rearing (parents of some
Xer’s and most Gen Y)
– Focus on staying young
How Age Affects
Consumer Behavior
 Boomers
– Young Again: Individuals from age 50
to 65 tend to think of themselves as
about 15 years younger than they really
are in terms of cognitive age.

– Gray market: consumers over 65

How Age Affects
Consumer Behavior
 Boomers represent a critical growing
marketing for health-related and
medical products and services,

 Already spend more than twice the

national average on prescription
drugs, accounting for more than 40
percent of all pharmaceutical sales.
How Age Affects
Consumer Behavior
 Boomers have an active lifestyle, they buy
leisure based products and services such as
educational seminars, travel and sporting
goods.

 Grandparents spend as much as $30 billion

on clothing, toys and other goods and
services for their grandchildren.
 How Gender and Sexual
Orientation affect Consumer
Behavior
 Men and Women behave based on sex-roles
learned early in childhood and defined by
their culture.

 In Western Societies men previously were

guided by agentic goals that stress
mastery, self-efficacy, strength, and
assertiveness; characterized as being
emotionless.
How Gender and Sexual
Orientation affect
Consumer Behavior
 Women, in western societies have
been guided by communal goals
that stress affiliation and fostering
harmonious relations with others;
characterized as being submissive,
emotional and home oriented.
 Men vs. Women
 Men  Women
– Competitive – Cooperative
– Independent – Interdependent
– Externally motivates – Intrinsically
– Risk takers motivated
– Sports – Arts
– Hunting – Activities fostering
– Fishing social ties
– Mechanical tasks
Changing Sex Roles
 Women delay marriage and child-bearing in favor
of building a career and working in fields that were
traditionally male dominated, such a management,
engineering and law.

 In dual-career families, some husbands are

assuming greater responsibility for household tasks
and child rearing, although a significant number still
fail to do their share.

 Men express emotions, be more sensitive and more

caring and loving fathers.
Gender and Sexual
Orientation
 Gender refers to a biological state (male or female).

 Sexual orientation reflects a person’s preference

toward certain masculine or feminine behaviors.

 Masculine individuals whether male or female display

male oriented traits.

 Feminine individuals display female oriented traits.

 Androgynous individuals display both male and

female traits.
Gender and Sexual
Orientation
 According to Census Bureaus statistics the US has
more than 601,000 same sex households (304,000
gay male couples and 297,000 lesbian couples).

 Gay and lesbian consumers are likely to distrust ad

messages more than heterosexual consumers.

 They respond well to sexual orientation symbols

and ads that reflect their lives and culture.
 Men vs. Women Differences in
Acquisition & Consumption
Behaviors
 Men
– Selective examination of
ad messages
– Decisions based on
heuristics
– Agentic goals
– Pay attention to positive
emotions in purchase
decisions
 Women
– Detailed examination of
ad messages
– Decisions based on
attributes
– Communal goals
– Pay attention to
negative emotions in
purchase decisions
– Compensatory eating
 Marketing Implications
Based on Gender & Sexual
Orientation
 Products are becoming less sex-typed as sex
roles evolve.

 Marketers still target particular genders

 Ads are depicting more modern images for

both men and women.

 Cause Marketing is an effective way to

reach women.
How Household Influence
Consumer Behavior
 Households are the most important
unit of analysis for consumer behavior
because most decisions for acquisition,
usage and disposition are made by
households rather than individuals.
 Types of Households
 Household is a single person living
alone or a group of individuals who
live together in a common dwelling,
regardless of whether they are related.

 This term include cohabitating

couples: unmarried opposite sex,
same sex or roommates.
 Types of Households

 The traditional stereotype of the

American family consisted of a
husband a the primary wage earner, a
wide who was a non-wage earner at
home, and two children under the age
of 18. Only 6 percent of families fit this
profile.
Types of Households
 Female single head of households
have increased three times the
number of two-parent households.

 Twenty-nine percent of all US

households consists of married couples
without children (empty nesters or
chose not to have kids).
 Types of Households
 Family is usually defined as a group of
individuals living together who are related
by marriage, blood, or adoption.

 Nuclear family is a father, mother and

children (traditional family unit).

 Extended family is the nuclear family plus

relatives such as a grandparents, aunts,
uncles and cousins.
Types of Households

 Households are also termed based on

family life cycle:
– Singles
– Young married
– Parents
– Empty nesters
Types of Households

 Many households consider pets to be

family members.
– 60% of American families own pets
 59 million dogs
 75 millions cats

 25 million birds

 250 million fish

 125 million other animals

Changing Trends in
Households
 Five factors have altered the basic
structure and characteristics of
households:
1. Delayed marriage
2. Cohabitation
3. Dual careers
4. Divorce
5. Smaller families
Changing Trends in
Households
 Delayed marriage
– Many individuals are delaying marriage or
not marrying at all
– Never married individuals age 30-34 has
risen 9.4% for men 6.2% for women.
– Married couple under the age of 25 has
decreased by 1/3 since 1980.
Changing Trends in
Households
 Cohabitation
– More individuals live with one another
outside the bonds of marriage.
– Defining aspect is that they view personal
possessions as personal property and
leave the possibility of the relationship
not lasting.
– Leads to greater discretionary income
Changing Trends in
Households
 Dual Career Families – 2 types
1. The woman is concerned about career
advancement and personal fulfillment

2. Woman works out of financial necessity and

considers her employment “just a job”.
– Increased discretionary income
– Increased burden of family and career (role
overload)
– Husbands are taking on more nontraditional
roles in the family.
Changing Trends in
Households
 Divorce
– Divorce rate have more than doubled since
1960.
– Four out of ten marriages end in divorce.
– Influences household structure/ creates single
parent families
– One out of three families in the USA are one
parent households.
– Remarry with greater frequency creating
stepfamilies which ½ end up in divorce as well.
Changing Trends in
Households
 Smaller families
– Boomers and Xer’s are having fewer
children
– Average family size is 3.14
– Childless families are one of the fastest
growing types of households
Roles that Household
Members Play
 Household decision roles refers to the roles
that different members play in household
decisions.
1. Gatekeeper
2. Influencer
3. Decider
4. Buyer
5. User
– Each role can be performed by different
household members and by a single individual,
subset of individuals or the entire household.
Roles that Household
Members Play
 Household decision roles can be
instrumental meaning that they are
related to tasks affecting the buying
decision.

 Roles are also expressive which

means they indicate family norms
such as choice of color or style.
Roles that Household
Members Play
 Household decision roles can create
conflict:
1. Reason for buying
2. Who should make the decision
3. Which option to choose
4. Who gets to use the product or service

– Households can resolve conflicts through

problem solving, persuasion, bargaining, and
politics (persuasion and problem solving are
used most frequently).
Roles that Household
Members Play
 Joint decisions are most likely to be
made when:
– Perceive risk is high
– The decision is an important one
– Time is not limited
– Household is young
Roles that Household
Members Play
 The role of spouses:
– Husband dominant decisions
– Wife dominant decisions
– Autonomic decisions
– Syncratic decisions
Roles that Household
Members Play
 Spouses
– As spouses get nearer a final decision the
process moves towards syncratic (two
deciding together) decision making.

– If the family has strong traditional sex-

role orientation, tasks are stereotypical in
nature and more husband-dominate
decisions are made.
Roles that Household
Members Play
 The process of bargaining which
involves a fair exchange of
preferences or concession in which
the spouse gives in on some points to
get what her or she wants in other
areas couples tend to make equitable
decisions that result from
compromises.
Roles that Household
Members Play
 Children
– Children nag parents.
– More likely to influence parents on child-
related products i.e. cereal, cookies,
snacks, ice cream, pizza, vacations etc…
– Less likely to influence families who are
more traditional and conservative.
– Parents are more likely to give in to
children if both work.
– The more TV children watch the more
they try to influence parents.
Roles that Household
Members Play
 Children
– The older the child the more influence he
or she will exert.
– Older children generate income on their
own creating power.
– Children use techniques such as
bargaining, persuasion, emotional appeals
and requests.