ASSESSMENT OF FAMILY MEMBER INFLUENCE ON THE PURCHASE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS

Currently, with the introduction of information technologies and advent of new goods and services, consumer behavior has changed dramatically. In this view, of special interest is research on family as a consumer of goods and services to be used by all family members or individually. This paper examines the influence of individual family members (husband, wife, and child/children) over the stages of purchase decision process. On the basis of the survey data, an investigation directed at identifying the role of each family member in decision making for buying a number of goods (household appliances, toys, family vacation) has been conducted. The estimates of family members influence are calculated with the help of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) developed by T. L. Saaty. Comparative analysis of these estimates in terms of various indicators characterizing the process of consumer decision making is carried out. On the results of the analysis performed conclusions concerning irregularity of individual family member influence on making a decision about buying certain goods and services and the stage of the decision process are derived. Data of this sort may be helpful for any company aimed to construct effective strategies of product positioning and to establish communications with family members making purchase decisions, as well as for obtaining information about tastes, preferences, and behavior of a family as a consumer in whole.