Husband-Wife Influence in Purchase Decisions: A Confirmation and Extension

A LIMITED STUDY CONFIRMS CONCLUSIONS THAT GLOBAL MEASURES AND INDEX ARE POOR INDICATORS OF RELATIVE SPOUSAL INFLUENCE IN PURCHASE DECISIONS. NEITHER MEASURES PRODUCES MEANINGFUL CORRELATIONS BETWEEN HUSBANDS' AND WIVES' PERCEPTIONS OF RELATIVE INFLUENCE. SUCH MEASURES SIMPLY FAIL TO EXAMINE THE RELEVANT PREPURCHASE ACTIVITY OF INTEREST TO MARKETERS. QUICK ADOPTION OF SOCIOLOGICALLY BASED MEASURES BY MARKETING RESEARCHES WILL PROVE TO BE COSTLY CONVENIENCE. STUDY ALSO DEMONSTRATED THAT MARKETERS MUST INVESTIGATE THE ENTIRE DECISION PROCESS SINCE RELATIVE INFLUENCE MAY VARY FROM ONE DECISION PHASE TO THE NEXT. HUSBAND-WIFE INFLUENCE MUST BE INVESTIGATED FOR EACH STAGE RATHER FALLING PREY TO THE ASSUMPTION OF STABLE INFLUENCE ACROSS THE PROCESS BASED UPON INTUITION OR LIMITED INQUIRY INTO A SINGLE PHASE OF THE PROCESS. THE VALUE OF A MULTITRAIT-MULTIMETHOD APPROACH HAS BEEN FURTHER VERIFIED IN THIS STUDY. CHARTS, & GRAPHS.