Decisions, Decisions

By Elizabeth Quach, Senior Research & Insight Manager

Typically, if you asked who’s in charge of making decisions in a traditional home, you would have seen men and husbands step forward. However, the balance of influence within the household has shifted from a gender-specific, rigid structure to an equal and democratic one. The modern-day household encourages collaboration, rather than having one sole decision maker absorbing all responsibility.

To deconstruct how household decisions are made, quantitative research was conducted, surveying families of 3+ people nationwide.

An average adult perceives they hold between half to three-quarters of total influence in the decision-making process, leaving the remainder to the rest of their family members. In fact, parents state for every purchase decision made, every individual member has some form of influence or opinion considered. 4 in 5 agree this household flat structure is highly valued and essential in forming purchase decisions that are most relevant for the family.

 With all hands involved, it is essential for brands to widen communications beyond the targeted main shopper, and ensure they are speaking to all family members.

Becoming a household name...

Naturally, varied opinions will arise and conflict with different family members, even with the simplest of purchases.

Just ask yourself, what is everyone’s favourite cereal brand in your family, and how do you come to an agreed preference on which one, or ones to buy? Even a bowl of cereal has many cooks in the kitchen.

To be a household name, having shared knowledge amongst members is required. 3 in 4 respondents agreed having seen the same information or ad about a brand can get everyone on the same page. In the same breath, 1 in 5 respondents also stated not knowing the brand another member is interested in causes a divide in the decision-making.

Media use: Together and Isolation

There are only few media channels that can bring families together, and encourage shared knowledge. Consequently, brands should be cautious to use channels that have the potential to raise differing opinions.

Respondents indicated their internet, social, and TV consumption patterns were most likely to occur in isolation. Online channels are twice as likely to be consumed alone than any other channel*. Meanwhile, the TV landscape continues to be fragmented with audiences spread across more devices, channels, subscriptions and apps. Family agreement is disconnected by personalised algorithms, and different tastes in content. When content is skewed to an individual and there is no common ground, there is a challenge for joint discussion to be stimulated.

Meanwhile, our research shows Out of Home and radio channels have the highest propensity to be viewed together with other family members. This act of mutual viewing unites opinions, guaranteeing consumers are engaging with the same information, at the same time.

Scale + Mutual Viewing = Shared Knowledge

The one medium that proves to be the channel for everyone is Out of Home.

Out of Home’s superpower is the strength of broadcast and inclusive reach - engaging 13m households each week, more than any other channel. In addition, Out of Home is often consumed by multiple family members at the same time, from a trip to the shops, to family days out – all leading to shared knowledge.

Source: Clear Channel Decisions Decisions 2023 *Compared with Internet, OOH, TV, Social and Radio

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