Buying Behavior of Children: Differences Related to Traditional, Dual Career and Single Parent Family Structures

The past decade has seer, a dramatic change in the lifestyles enjoyed by most families. Due to a variety of reasons more and more wives are joining the work force. Another major trend involves the increasing number of divorces which leads to more and more single parents. Additionally, the value structure around which most families have been based has changed giving children a stronger position in family decision making. The literature has normally based most of the research on the family buying process around the traditional family structure where the husband is the main provider. There are, however, some notable exceptions where studies have focused on differences in family buying based on family structure (see for example: Anderson, 1972; Hoffman, 1965; Niffenegger, Taylor and Taylor, 1980; and Quails, 1982). Again this literature has focused on determining differences in the influence of the husband and wife in the buying process with little consideration given to the influences of children. The purpose of this study is to examine whether or not differences exist in the influence that children from three different family structures (traditional, dual career and single parent) have in the purchasing prccess of their families.