ROLE OF FEMALES IN FAMILY BUYING DECISION-MAKINGA STUDY AMONG FEMALES IN UTTRAKHAND Som Aditya Juyal and M. P.

Singh _____________________________________________________________________________ _ The objective of this research paper is to investigate the effects of female role orientation on role structure in the family decision making. Five different purchase decisions were examined. A total of 300 females were interviewed in Dehradun district of Uttrakhand. Structured questionnaires were used to interview females. It was found that there is difference in female role orientation vis--vis their family type (joint or nuclear), age, education and income levels. Females are found to play more positive role in the purchase of durables they personally use than the durables for the family usage. _____________________________________________________________________________ _ Key Words: Female Buying Behaviour, Consumer Durables, Family, Female Role Orientation _____________________________________________________________________________ _ INTRODUCTION Family members may have different roles to play in making decisions within the family. They may initiate demand or contribute information, and they may decide on where to buy, which brand and style to buy, how to pay for the products, how to consume any product, what benefit to expect from such products, and how to share their roles in maintaining the product. Past research in this area has found that the roles played by family members differ with regard to the product being purchased, the stage in decision-making process, and characteristics of families and spouses (Belch and Ceresino, 1985; Davis, 1976; Piron, 2002; Webster, 1995). These roles may change over the period due to changes in the environment such as economic development, which consequently may lead to adjustments in the role structure of the decision-making process. Changes are also occurring in the perception of role of women in the societies. These changes in education, the advent of career women, and the growing number of dual-income families have challenged earlier beliefs on the role structure and purchase influence (Webster, 1995). Female Role Orientation Sex role orientation is made up of norms that reinforce gender inequalities between male and female, specifically between husband and wife (Qualls, 1987). These values were inculcated in

the young individuals in their socialisation process. The norms and specific behaviour of each spouse are brought into marriages and are reflected in many ways, one of which is the family buying process. Sex role norms dictate the appropriate behaviour patterns and roles to be played by each spouse. Conflicts may arise if the ideologies of the husband and wife do not match. Among the variables that are thought to affect sex role orientation are individual attitude, lifestyle norms and demographic variables. Sex role norms may be thought of as being on an array along the continuum from traditional to modern. A traditional view reflects distinct roles for the male and female. A modern or nontraditional sex role ideology is based on an equal distribution of power between the husband and wife. Sex role norm is an important factor in the family decision-making, especially in the context of the wifes involvement in the decisionmaking processes. Even though numerous studies have supported this idea (Qualls, 1987; Scanzoni and Polonko, 1980), additional studies need to be conducted to investigate whether there are any differences in sex role orientation among races in a developing, multi-racial country and what factors influence the perceptions of sex role orientation. It is anticipated that modernisation changes some cultural norms, such as sex role norms, creates more opportunities for women to work outside the house, delays in marriages, and shifts societal standards (Lee and Beatty, 2002; Qualls, 1987). These trends would consequently lead to some adjustments in the family in terms of the relative influence of husbands and wives in the family decision-making. Moreover, the changes also alter composition and decision role structure of families. When wife is employed outside the home and contributes an income comparable to the husbands, new role structures emerges within the family that usually involve wife having more power and influence in the familys major economic decision-making. This research systematically investigates how modernisation affects the perceptions of sex role orientation and how it will be useful for both regional and national marketers in Uttrakhand State. As many other states in India are going through a similar process, the findings of this research can be extrapolated to other settings. The major objectives of the study is to uncover the general patterns of family decisionmaking in Uttrakhand involving females and their buying role orientation for consumer durables, and to investigate the variables which affect female role orientation. The relevant questions which have been addressed include:

1. Are there any differences in the female role orientation among different demographic

groups in Uttrakhand?
2. What is the influence and role of females in the family purchasing decisions of durable

products? REVIEW OF LITERATURE Changes in the economic environment have led to changes in the roles of husbands and wives (Cherlin, 1992; McConocho and Tully, 1993). The authors concluded that even though changes in the environment brought transformations in the decision-making roles, these changes could not be generalised to all products though. Sex role orientation involves those values and norms that are related to the duties and responsibilities of each sex. The behaviour of each spouse within the family is affected by the attitude norms and preferences which each spouse brings into the family. These norms are, in turn, shaped by the factors including individual attitudes, attitudes of each spouses parents, and the environmental factors. Several studies reported diminishing role distinctions between men and women, resulting into more complex and vague roles. According to Green and Cunningham (1975), more women are performing traditionally male dominated tasks and vice versa, and with the increased autonomy, the wife is able to have more influence in the decisions within the families. One of those areas affected by the diminishing sex role distinction is in consumption aspects of family decision-making. In Green and Cunninghams study, a sample of 257 married women was divided into the groups of conservatives, moderates, and liberals. The findings showed that husbands of liberal wives make relatively fewer decisions compared to the husbands of moderate and conservative wives. Decisions related to groceries were found to be wife dominated in the three groups, and decisions related to life insurance were husband dominated. Decisions regarding to the purchase of furniture were reported to be made jointly. Interestingly, decisions related to the purchase of major appliances, automobiles, and vacations were reported to be related to the attitudes of the wives. In each of these categories, the husbands of the liberal wives made fewer decisions relative to the husbands in the other categories. The authors concluded that the relationship between purchasing behaviour and sex role orientation is product specific, and that the influence of the husband is declining. The body of knowledge in sex role orientation is

supported by the fact that more decisions are made using an egalitarian approach with the husbands and the wives sharing decision-making tasks. Younger, more educated couples and couples with higher social class were also found to have modern sex role norms (Davis, 1976; Filiatrault and Ritchie, 1980). It was suggested that couples with modern sex role orientations will make more joint decisions relative to the couples with more traditional sex role orientations, who will be more likely to have one spouse dominate the decision-making process. Traditional sex roles are rigid and tend to make the decision-making in the family less complicated, i.e. the expected roles and responsibilities of each spouse are quite clear. With the modern sex roles, the expected behaviour of each spouse is less predictable due to the flexibilities and autonomy associated with each role, complicating the decision-making process. In a study involving single and dual income families, Sexton and Perlman (1989) reported that dual income wives perceived themselves as less feminine than the single income wives, even though their perceptions of masculinity were not significantly different. The authors suggested that these results were indications that, at very least, career-minded women in the sample perceived themselves as having attributes traditionally regarded as masculine. In further analysis, the authors reported that even though wives are different in terms of their traditional orientation, they did not show significant differences in terms of power structure in the family. This finding suggests that even though couples are different in terms of their marital structure, the ideology of marital power is similar. Sex role orientation is also found to affect equality or inequality of power between the spouses (Scanzoni, 1982; Scanzoni and Polonko, 1980). Attitudes toward the wifes career and sharing of responsibilities in the household were found to influence the determination of roles in the familys financial management. Webster (1995) found that the most important factor for wives in determining role structure for high involvement products is sex role orientation. Wives with high modernity in sex role orientation have high orelative influence. However, husbands with modern sex role orientation have low relative power. In a related study, Piron (2002) found that husbands of working wives more often share household chores since their wives started working outside the home. As can be seen from the discussion in this section, sex role orientation and task allocation within a family are changing; therefore, traditional generalisations about family decision-making

may be obsolete. Non-traditional husbands are playing greater role in the purchase of traditionally wife-dominated products and wives are playing a more active role in the traditional husband dominated purchases such as durable goods and financial management. Two hypotheses were developed for this study. H1: Demographic factors have a significant influence on female purchase decision making. H2: Females play more significant role in purchase decision for their self usage durables than durables for the family usage. METHODOLOGY Personal interviews using a structured questionnaire were used for data collection. Data were collected from a sample of 300 females. This study investigated the role structure of females in the decision-making settings of purchasing consumer durables. These products were chosen for the study because of several considerations. First, these products represented two categories, durables for family usage (colour television, washing machine, refrigerator and car), and durables for self usage (mobile phone and two-wheeler). In this study, family purchase decision-making was operationalised as the decisionmaking process that a female (house lady) along with other family members (husband and children) participates in the purchasing process of a particular product used by self or the whole family. The study was conducted in the Dehradun district of Uttrakhand State and the survey included Dehradun, Rishikesh and Musorrie districts. Dehradun being the state capital is most advanced and economically prosper region and has a higher education level and employment among females thus, providing a formidable rationale to conduct the study. The research instrument included both qualitative and quantitative questions. Information regarding brand, usage period, source(s) of information regarding product purchase, who contributes in product decision related to brand, design, colour, size, timing of purchase and from where to purchase (dealer), influence on media and their rating was also collected. To ascertain

the buying behaviour and attitude among females five point Likert scale was used (1-Strongly Disagree and 5-Strongly Agree). To analyse the data statistical tools like Independent Sample t-Test, and One Way ANOVA has been used. DESCRIPTIVE PROFILE OF THE RESPONDENTS Frequencies and percentages of the sample for corresponding demographic variables are shown in the Table I. As can be seen from the table, almost 60 percent of the females are from nuclear families. And about 60 percent of females had a family size of not more than four members. The age group of female respondents was largely in the 31 to 40 years (51 percent) and 41 to 50 years (34 percent). Majority of them had Post Graduate (39 percent) or Graduate (36 percent) as educational qualification. Income of respondents largely falls in the bracket of rupees 30,000 to rupees 45,000 (36 percent) or rupees 15,000 to rupees 30,000 (30 percent). Occupation among the respondents is mainly education (40 percent), government service (10 percent), doctor (8 percent) and engineer (3 percent). About 30 percent of respondents surveyed are housewives. RESULTS H1: Demographic factors have a significant influence on females purchase decision making This hypothesis was tested by using independent sample t-test and ANOVA for various demographic variables.

Females in the joint families were found to be careful and considerate about the kind of impression they make while purchasing than their counterparts in the nuclear families. This was concluded from the independent sample test conducted with females in the joint families (3.62) having a higher mean score than the females in the nuclear families (3.40).

Statistically, the difference was found to be significant at t-value of 2.23 and significance level of 0.026 (refer table 2). Education level of females has a significant influence in their purchase decision. As the education level of females increases so does their ability to take decisions on their own. It is concluded form One Way ANOVA conducted among females with different education levels and how confident they are to take decision on their own. Females with education up to school level had least scores (2.58) which steadily increased as their education level. The score increases as we move from graduates (2.65) to post-graduates (2.75) and professionals (3.08). The result was found to be statistically significant at F-value of 2.654 and significance level of 0.049 (refer table 3).

Level of education of females also influences the extent to which they are worried about the impression they are going to make with their purchase decisions among the family members. This is observed by One Way ANOVA conducted among the females with different education levels and the extent to which they are worried about the impression their purchase decisions would create among the family members. Females with only school level are worried the most (3.76). This score lowers down as we move up the education level among females, graduates (3.59), post graduates (3.54) and is least for professionals (3.10). The result was found to be statistically significant at F-value of 5.232 and significance level of 0.002 (refer table 4).

Age was found to have a significant impact on females being dependent on others for the purchase decision. One Way ANOVA was conducted to find out the differences in the dependency level among females with different age groups. The mean scores suggest that as age increases there is decrease in their dependency for taking purchase decisions on others. It is least in the age group of 21 to 30 years (2.90) and steadily decreases as the age of females increases to 31 to 40 years (2.84), 41 to 50 years (2.68) and is lowest for females in the age group of 51 and above (2.08). The result was found to be statistically significant at F-value of 2.661 and significance level of 0.048 (refer table 5).

Similarly as age increases so does their extent of taking decisions on their own. One Way ANOVA was conducted to find out the extent to which females take their own decisions vis-vis their age. The responses generated suggest that females with higher age group feel free to make their own decisions in comparison to females who are younger. The mean score is lowest for females in age group of 41 to 50 years (2.36), and is almost same for age group of 21 to 30 years (2.54) and 31 to 40 years (2.57). It is highest for age group of 51 and above age group (3.33). The result was found to be statistically significant at F-value of 3.802 and significance level of 0.011 (refer table 6).

Occupation of females has an influence on the extent to which they consider other peoples opinions while taking decisions. The One Way ANOVA conducted supports the fact that occupation of females influences their level of consideration of others opinions while purchasing. Professionals are found to be least considerate of other views (3.18). So are government employees (2.93) and teaching fraternity (2.73), in that order. However selfemployed and housewives are most considerate of other peoples opinions and suggestions (2.65 each). But the differences are not statistical significant at F-value of 2.052 and significance level of 0.087. However, the differences can be considered to be indicatively significant at 0.10 level of confidence (refer table 7).

Occupation of females also influences the extent to which they are concerned about the kind of impression they will make with their family by taking a purchase decision. The One Way ANOVA conducted indicates that teachers (3.63), self employed (3.53) and housewives (3.47) are highly concerned about the family and what impression their purchase decision will create among them. Professionals (3.15) and Government Employees (3.34) are less concerned on what impression their purchases will create on the minds of their family members. But the differences are not statistical significant at F-value of 2.373 and significance level of 0.052 (refer table 8).

Income levels of family influences the females perception that other people may find fault in their purchase decision making. The One Way ANOVA conducted to study the influence of

family income on females perceived level of fault other will find on her purchase. To a greater extent we see that as income increases so does their fear that other people may find fault in their purchases. It is highest for the income group of rupees 30, 001 to rupees 45, 000 (3.67) and almost same for income groups of rupees 15, 001 to rupees 30, 000 (3.30) and rupees 45, 001 and above (3.27). It is lowest for the income group of rupees 15, 000 or less (3.14). The result was found to be statistically significant at F-value of 3.561 and significance level of 0.015 (refer table 9). H2: Females play more significant role in the purchase decision for their self usage durables than durables for the family usage. The role of females in purchase decision was studied by analysing their decision making in the brand, design, colour, and size of durable purchased along with the timing of purchase and dealer from where the durable is purchased. The study as discussed earlier was conducted for colour television, washing machine, refrigerator, two-wheeler, car and mobile phones.

In deciding the brand of the durable to be purchased, females have a high say for mobile phones (50.2 percent) and least for car (01.3). The females also play not so significant role in the brand decision for colour television (9.7 percent), washing machine (20.5 percent) and refrigerator (16.6 percent). However, females seeming appear to have a larger say in the brand decision for two-wheeler (25.9 percent). Females largely depend on their husbands while deciding which brand of colour television (55.3 percent), washing machine (29.5 percent), refrigerator (29.7 percent), two-wheeler (26.5 percent), car (34.8 percent) and mobile (31.9 percent). Females along with their husband play a prominent role in deciding the brand to be purchased for washing machine (33 percent), refrigerator (40.2 percent), and two-wheeler (26.5 percent). Children, in the family, play a limited role in deciding the brand of consumer durable to be purchased. Car purchase is supposedly a family decision making (48.1 percent) (refer table 10A).

Females seemingly appear to have a higher level of decision-making when deciding the design or model of the brand is to be purchased. They have significantly higher say than their husbands while deciding the design or model of durable for mobile (53.4 percent) and two-

wheeler (27.8 percent) than other family members. Design of car to be purchased is largely a family decision (47.8 percent) or decided by the husband (26.4 percent). Husbands evidently dominate the design decision for colour television (45.3 percent). Joint decisions by husband and wife appear to play prominent role in washing machine (34.3 percent) and refrigerator (38.2). Females have greater say while deciding the design for washing machine (29.5 percent), and refrigerator (28.0 percent). Children of the family play insignificant role in deciding the design of brand to be purchased (refer table 10B).

When deciding about the colour and styling of the brand of durable to be purchased, females evidently appear to play more important role. They contribute more than any other family member when deciding the colour and styling of durables mobile (53.8 percent) and twowheeler (29.6 percent). Husbands dominate only in deciding the styling and shade of colour for colour television (39.7 percent). Even for car it is both husband and wife (15.7 percent) who decide it together. Besides car joint decisions dominate for washing machine (33.6 percent) and refrigerator (37.5 percent). Children appear to be more concerned about the colour and styling of two-wheeler their parents buy (21.0 percent) (refer table 10C).

Size of durable purchased gains prominence as either both jointly decide or either of the two takes the decision. Females are more concerned about the size of mobile phone they need to buy (53.0 percent). Males dominate the decision regarding the size (cms) of colour television to be purchased (44.3 percent). Jointly the two decide for the size of washing machine in kilograms (40.3 percent), refrigerators in liters (40.9 percent) and two-wheelers in cc (30.4 percent). Females contribute higher in the decision making regarding the size of durables than males for washing machines (29.1 percent), refrigerators (24.7 percent) and twowheelers (28.6 percent). Deciding about the size (capacity) of car to be purchased is largely a family decision (48.4 percent) (refer table 10D).

Except for mobile phones (45.0 percent) females play no major role in deciding the timing for purchase of durables. Husbands dominate in deciding the timing for purchase of colour television (52.8 percent) and also contribute significantly in deciding the purchase timings

for washing machines (38.8 percent), refrigerators (37.8 percent), two-wheelers (34.6 percent), car (33.3 percent) and mobile (36.0 percent). However, it is the joint decision of both male and female spouse that dominates the timing of purchase decision making for washing machines (43.7 percent), refrigerators (46.6 percent) and two-wheelers (41.4 percent). Car, as always, is a family decision making (40.3 percent) (refer table 10E).

Deciding on the place or dealer from where the durable is to be purchased is primarily dominated by males. Even for mobile phones where females largely decide the brand, design, size, colour and timing of purchase, males dominate (52.5 percent) than females (33.5 percent). For other durables males are major decision makers for colour television (65.7 percent), washing machines (54.9 percent), refrigerators (51.2 percent), two-wheelers (53.1 percent) and car (41.5 percent) (refer table 10E).

CONCLUSION Females purchase roles and decision making ability is affected by their family type (joint or nuclear), education level, age, occupation and income levels. Females living in joint family set up are more concerned about the impression their purchase decisions will make on their in-laws. Their concern purports the social and cultural fabric where in-laws, particularly parents occupy a higher level of importance than the spouses. The age of females has a meaningful impact on their purchase decision. We find that as the age of females increases so does their confidence and trust on the purchase decision they take. Education improves the purchase decision making capabilities amongst females. Higher education also makes them free and confident about the purchase decision they take. Professionals were found to be more free and relaxed when taking the purchase decision. They do not give much importance to what others feel about the purchase decision they take either within the family or in their social circles. Housewives and selfemployed females, on contrary, are quite considerate of other peoples views both in the family and social circles. Females employed as professionals are more confident, outgoing and trust themselves in the decisions they take. Housewives and self-employed females on the other hand are more reliant on their spouses and other family members and lack confidence to undertake independent decisions. Income levels of family also affects the way females perceive that other people feel about their purchase decisions. Females with high income bracket are more confident

and less concerned about the societal norms and thus ignore what others feel about their purchase decisions. Among the low income groups, the purchase is more in the basic product category and hence the fallacy of what other perceive about their purchase decision is not so significant. However it is the higher mid income group that is more considerate about scaling the social ladder and thus give importance to what others perceive about the brand and durables they purchase. Females are found to play a significant role in the purchase of mobile phones. Being a personal device females contribute largely in all aspects of buying decision making while deciding the purchase of mobile phones. Their role is also found to be significant while deciding the purchase of two-wheelers. Today, females are employed and require a personal vehicle to commute. Females largely decide on design, colour, and size of two-wheelers to be purchased, whereas their husbands or both together decide the timing and dealership from where the twowheeler is to be purchased. Home use durables like washing machine and refrigerator purchase have a major influence of females. Females predominantly decide the design, colour and size of washing machine to be purchased. It is female who generally use the two and hence have major say in deciding the deciding the design, colour and size. Children have not so significant role in deciding the purchase of durables, except for two-wheelers and that too is limited to colour and style of two-wheeler to be purchased. Car being a family possession, all related decisions are largely taken by the whole family. ANNEXURE

Table 1: Demographic Profile Family Set Up Joint Nuclear 40.7 59.3 Joint Nuclear Family Size Up to 4 5 to 10 More than 10 59.0 33.7 07.3

Table 2: Family Type and Purchase Consideration Family Type N 122 178 t-value Sig. Mean 3.62 3.40 SD 0.76 0.92 2.233 0.026*

Independent Sample tTest

Table 3: Education and Purchase Decision Making Age Groups 21 to 30 years 31 to 40 years 41 to 50 years 51 to 60 years School Level Education Graduate Post graduate Professional Up to Rs. 15, 000 Rs. 15, 001 to Rs. 30, 000 Rs. 30, 001 to Rs. 45, 000 Rs. 45, 001 and above Education Occupation Govt. Service Doctor Engineer Advocate Self Employed Housewife 09.6 07.7 02.7 00.7 10.7 29.7 All values in percent Table 5: Age and Purchase Dependence Age 21 to 30 years 31 to 40 years 41 to 50 years 51 to 60 years ANOVA Table 6: Age and Self Purchase Age N Mean 21 to 30 Years 31 to 40 Years 41 to 50 Years 51 to 60 Years ANOVA 33 152 103 12 F-value Sig. N 33 152 103 12 F-value Sig. SD Mean 2.90 2.84 2.68 2.08 SD 1.12 1.01 0.97 0.28 2.661 0.048* 11.0 50.7 34.3 04.0 05.7 36.3 39.0 19.0 04.7 30.3 35.7 29.3 Table 4: Education and Family Concerns Education School Level Graduate Post Graduate Professional ANOVA N Mean SD 17 3.76 0.83 109 3.59 0.80 117 3.54 0.85 57 3.10 0.91 F-value 5.232 Sig. 0.002** Education School Level Graduate Post Graduate Professional ANOVA N 17 109 117 57 F-value Sig. Mean 2.58 2.65 2.75 3.08 SD 0.93 0.97 0.77 1.00 2.654 0.049*

Income

Table 7: Occupation and Purchase Opinions Occupation Teaching Govt. Employees Professionals Self Employed Housewife ANOVA N Mean SD 117 2.73 1.01 29 2.93 1.16 33 3.18 1.04 32 2.65 0.90 89 2.65 0.93 F-value 2.052 Sig. Table 9: Income and Family Concerns Family Income Up to Rs. 15, 000 Rs. 15, 001 to Rs. 30, 000 N 14 91 Mean 3.14 3.30 SD 0.94 1.10 0.087+

2.54 0.97 2.57 1.03 2.36 0.88 3.33 0.88 3.802 0.011*

Table 8: Occupation and Purchase Opinions Occupation Teaching Govt. Employees Professionals N 117 29 33 Mean 3.63 3.34 3.15 SD 0.79 1.11 0.87

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Som Aditya Juyal (aditya.juyal@gmail.com) is an Associate Professor in Marketing at the Faculty of Management, Graphic Era University, Dehradun. He has an experience of more than a decade in Industry and Academics. His area of interest includes Customer Relationship Management, Retail, Research and Strategic Management. M. P. Singh (dmps96@yahoo.com) is Professor of International Marketing and Economics at the Faculty of Management, Graphic Era University, Dehradun. He has an experience of more than 15 years in teaching and research. His area for academic research includes Consumer Behaviour, International Marketing and Rural Economics.