Introduction
A household refers to a group of people living in a single housing unit (Current Population Survey, 2012). A structure, room, or house qualifies as a housing unit if it houses a group of people as a distinct living area and when people living in a housing unit do not share a unit with other people. Also, to qualify as a housing unit, a structure must afford singular access to the outside through a door or a corridor (Current Population Survey, 2012). A household consists of related and unrelated family members like domestic workers adopted children and visitors. A household also refers to a single person living alone in a housing unit or a group of people utilizing a single housing unit (Current Population Survey, 2012). However, group quarters do not qualify as households.
Households fall into two distinct types: family households and nonfamily households. A family household refers to a household in which members of one family live and accommodate other unrelated members of a family (Hawkins, Mothersbaugh, & & Best, 2010). Such members, as earlier seen, include domestic workers and visitors. As such, the basic determining factor of a family household is the presence of a family, which either lives alone or accommodates other people. A nonfamily household refers to a household characterized by the presence of a single person inhabiting a housing unit. It may also refer to a situation in which a householder shares a housing unit with unrelated people.
The third type of household, mixed household, refers to a situation where married couples divorce and re-marry (Hawkins, Mothersbaugh, & Best, 2010). Children from first marriage live with stepmothers and stepfathers in a housing unit.
A householder refers to an owner or owners of a housing unit. In situations where a married couple owns a housing unit, a wife or husband becomes a householder. In most cases, a householder is a reference person in a household (Current Population Survey, 2012).
Factors that Influence Family Decision-Making
Various factors influence decision-making in a family. The first factor, socio-economic status, dictates how cohesive a family unit is in making a decision (Belch, Belch, & Sciglimpaglia, 2013). In most cases, families from upper classes and those from lower classes in society find it hard to make a decision. A middle-class family finds it relatively easier to come up with a unanimous decision. Difficulties in upper classes arise because each individual has enough resources and sees no need for consulting other family members or parties in the household. The scarcity of resources makes it difficult to decide because it is hard to decide what to do with meager resources owned by the family. Different members have varied needs, and agreeing on what should take priority is difficult because each member feels that their need is superior to those of others (Belch, Belch, & Sciglimpaglia, 2013).
Spousal resource influences decision-making in a household. If any of the spouses contribute more, especially in terms of finance, that spouse influences decision-making in a household. Also, a spouse designated as a householder, influence decision making more than any other member in a household since members fear contradicting householders who, in most cases, are the top of most authorities in various households. Experience in decision-making influences decision making because households that have frequently engaged in the decision-making process find it easier to make a decision. Households not used to decision-making find it hard at the beginning but eventually catch up.
I have lived with my stepmother, and my stepbrothers and sisters since my father and my mother divorced. Hawkins sufficiently describes the nature of family purchase roles in my family. Decision-making is an intricate endeavor that involves feelings and crosses personal relations as well as product analysis and purchase (Hawkins, Mothersbaugh, & Best, 2010). Some household members participate in decision making because they prefer a particular product. Others participate because of role specialization, while others bring in personal characteristics to the decision-making process (Hawkins, Mothersbaugh, & & Best, 2010). Culture plays an important in decision-making because upbringing instills different preferences for different people. As such, people in a household participate and contribute to decision-making based on their preferences. In most households, consensus-building leads to decision-making, where the most preferred decision carries the day (Belch, Belch, & Sciglimpaglia, 2013).
However, conflicts manifest in other households, and mechanisms for solving such conflicts assist in breaking deadlocks. Such mechanisms include problem solving, persuasion, bargaining, and politics. Problem-solving involves getting more information on an issue that has generated conflict to look for alternatives preferred by most members in a household. In most cases, households seek information from reliable sources outside a household circle (Belch, Belch, & Sciglimpaglia, 2013). Persuasion involves talking to members as opposed to a decision agreed by majority members in a household. A household does not seek further information from outside but seeks to persuade a member or members to change their mind (Belch, Belch, & Sciglimpaglia, 2013). Households use the bargaining process to solve conflicts in situations where members adopt fixed opinions towards purchase motives. In such a situation, members must first agree that conflicts exist before applying distributive justice in resolving conflicts. Lastly, politics involve solving both conflict and lifestyle issues in a household (Belch, Belch, & Sciglimpaglia, 2013).
References
Belch, M. A., Belch, G. E., & Sciglimpaglia. (2013). Conflict in family decision making: an exploratory investigation. Web.
Current Population Survey. (2012). Current population survey (CPS) – definitions. Web.
Hawkins, D. I., Mothersbaugh, D. L., & Best, R. J. (2010). Consumer behavior: building marketing strategy (11th Ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw Hill.