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Households are growing faster. One way to avoid the problem
Sociological Variables Affecting Families and CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR of
whether to study families orhouseholds is to simply use the
Householdsterm consumer unit (CU) or minimalhousehold unit (MHU).
Marketers can understand family and household decisionsIt iseasier
and sometimes just as useful to avoid the distinc- better by
examining the
sociological dimensions of howtions between each group and refer
to CU or MHUbuying a le k o s me e i i n . hsociological fmiisma ec
n u rd c s o s T r e ebhvo. eair3variables that help explain how
familys function include cohesion, adaptability,
andcommunication.Structural Variables Affecting Pause for
Thought!!Families andHouseholds Japanese Smart HomesFami ly or
household variables affect consumerpurchasing, Have you ever woken
up in the morning to wonder, WhatsStructuralvariables include the
age of the head of household my blood sugar level today? orgone to
the store only toor family, marital status, presence of children,
and employmentwonder whether you need milk or not. In Japan,
homeownersstatus. For example,consumer analysts have enormous
interest will soon be able to run their homes, monitortheir
families,in whether families have children and how many they have.
and measure
the needs of the household with the touch of aChildren increase
family demand forclothing, food, furniture, button.homes, medical
care, and education, while theydecrease demandfor many
discretionary items, including travel, higher-priced By theyear
2003, the Matsushita Electrical Industry Grouprestaurants, and
adult clothing.hopes to market HII-Home Information
Infrastructure-to families and householdsthroughout Japan. HII is a
systemOther structural changes affect the types of productsthat are
that connects homes through fiber-optic cables to the
vastmanufactured. Forexample, in Japan, high-tech companies have
world outside, including the Internet,cable TV, hospitals,
andformed a consortium to standardize technology that has
beentravel agents. The system revolves around an HII
station-thedeveloped to monitor andmanage households. Consumer in
central nervous system that serves as a depositoryfor reams ofFocus
12.1 focuses on how households in Japan may be run in
information.Through screens in every room, occupants canthe future.
monitor appliancesthroughout the house, check securityActivity 1
cameras, and contract cyberspace. Thebedroom, for example,As a
marketing consultant, you were retained by Walt Disneycontains a
medical consultation kit through which consumersCompany to design a
studyinvestigating how families make can type in their ailments and
call the doctor, who thenmakes avacation decisions. Whom within the
family, would you diagnosis based on theinformation submitted and
electronicinterview? What kind of questions would you ask?How would
access to medical history from the household system.you assess
therelative power of each family member in At the heart of the
system is a wirelessterminal that permitsmaking vacations-related
decisions? remote access to the house.Consumers, therefore, can
monitor household needs, such as what is in the refrigeratoror in
the pantry. These homes also feature smart toilets, which weigh
individuals,monitor body fact, and measure sugar in the urine. And
special high-tech perks insidethe house cause lights to turn on
when someone enters a room and allow familymembers to monitor each
others movements, activities, blood pressure, weight, andschedules
inside the home. For U.S. consumers, the nearest equivalent may be
a homemanagement system designed by IBM that allows people to
operate all electronicdevices using a universal remote control
Source : Japanese Smart Homes Know All,
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The Columbus Dispatch (April 28, 1999). 2F. Cohesion is the
emotional bondingbetween family members. It measures how close to
each other family members feel onan emotional level. Cohesion
reflects a sense of connectedness to or separatenessfrom other
family members. Adaptability mea sures the ability of a family to
change itspower structure, role relationships, and relationship
rules in response to situational and
developmental stress. The degree of adaptability shows how well
a family can meet thechallenges presented by changing si tuations.
Communication is a facilitatingdimension, critical to movement on
the other two dimensions. Positive Copy Right:Rai
University11.623.3 209
