Influence of Family Structure on Consumer Decision-making Style in Iran

Abstract

Purpose- The purpose of this conceptual paper is to attempt to demonstrate the impact of marital roles andfamily structure on consumer decision-making style within an Islamic culture.Design/methodology/approach- This paper wants to understand how husbands/wives with Eastern norms andIslamic culture use different decision-making style. Reviews of literature in consumer decision-making andfamily structure served for the development of the conceptual arguments. This article utilizes the library andsecondary data from World Bank Group (2006) and Statistical Center of Iran (2007) for analysis.Findings-Family structure (that is male-dominate, wife-dominate, joint decision-making or egalitarianism style)and also Islamic norms and Iranian culture have profound impact on decision-making style on Iranian families.Research limitations/implications- Since the paper presents only the conceptual framework and secondary data,it does not include empirical research that could be carried out to validate the arguments presented in this paper.Children have incredible influence on family decision-making styles. But this paper does not address theseeffects.Practical Implication- It is believed that male and female consumers in Iran may also have certain distinctivecharacteristics in terms of their decision orientation towards shopping and buying that could be of equal interestto both researchers and marketing practitioners.Originality/Value- Current Islamic research is limited to Halal and Islamic finance, and little investigation hasbeen done on Muslims’ consumer behavior. So this conceptual paper reveals that family structure can influenceon a wife or husband`s decision-making style.

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