Family structure and joint purchase decisions: two products analysis

PurposeAddresses the impact of family structure on joint purchase decisions of Malaysian spouses for the following products: furniture, vacation, and aggregate or overall products (a combination of furniture and vacation).Design/methodology/approachA total of 103 couples responded to the survey conducted in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, to understand the impact of family typing namely, strong vs weak cohesive family and modern vs traditional family on joint purchase decision on furniture, vacation, and aggregate products.FindingsThe outcome shows consistent results across the three products as follows: a strong cohesive family makes more joint decisions on furniture than a weak cohesive family and a modern family makes more joint decisions on furniture than a traditional family; a strong cohesive family makes more joint decisions on vacation than a weak cohesive family and a modern family make more joint decisions on vacations than a traditional family; and a strong cohesive family makes more joint decisions on aggregate products than weak cohesive family and modern family makes more joint decisions on aggregate products than a traditional family.Practical implicationsSupports the preponderance of strong cohesive families over weak in making joint decisions on furniture, vacations and both.Originality/valueModern families make more joint purchase decisions than traditional families.