How Households Make Buying Decisions

This lecture is on the factors driving household buying behavior. While individual consumption factors have been studied in-depth and addressed at length, this is an area which has received less than its fair share of emphasis. Prof. Sheth presents the factors driving the complexity of household consumption (changing demographics, lifestyle diversity, the rise of the roommate family and online procurement) and the types of household consumption (individual, household and household-unit). This is followed by a foray into the joint and autonomous decision making dichotomy and the factors that influence it (including perceived risk, social class and household lifecycle). Finally, conflict resolution arising from joint decision making scenarios is discussed, along with specific recommendations for marketers and businesses.