To batter understand the mechanisms of decision making and purchase behavior within an adoptive family take the case of a nuclear family, formed from a 48 years old mother, a 51 years old father and an adopted 15 years old son. The mother is a clinical psychologist and the father is currently an out of work electrician. In this particular case:

big ticket purchases are generally decided by the mother, since she is the sole provider of the family; the father is charged with the family vacations food and toiletries are purchased on individual preference basically because the mother does not have enough time to cook group decisions are made in regard to the places where to dine out or electronic appliances to be purchased for the home the child's power of influence is revealed by his capability to research certain products and provide his mother with the required information to make the purchase parents have no control over the items the child buys for his consumption more and more common feature is the increased influence children have in the purchase decision. Take for instance the case of McDonald's which transformed children into independent consumers. Also, teenagers have "more control over things that are purchased by or for them, even to the extent of influencing family cars and homes" (South Western Learning, 2004).

Marketing Strategy

Marketers must always develop and implement their strategies in accordance with the purchasing behavior of consumers. The basic decision making process of consumers' follows five steps: becoming aware of a problem or an opportunity; searching for information; evaluating alternatives; deciding on what to buy and then purchasing it and finally, reassessing the purchase (South Western Learning, 2004).

Keeping this in mind, as well as the characteristics of the presented family types, markets must clearly identify the major decider within the family and then place their products as showing the benefits...

Then, they must offer extensive data on the products as to allow customers to become informed. Then, the prices must be competitive on the market; otherwise the product sold could easily be replaced with a substitute.
All in all, the marketers must follow the next four steps as to ensure a successful marketing campaign:

Step 1: Make significant investments in order to clearly understand the fundamentals of economy and customer behavior

Step 2: Use this knowledge to identify the needs, wants and demands of customers

Step 3: Develop products that are customer oriented and satisfy the needs identified previously

Step 4: Develop appropriate strategies incorporating personalized messages, addressed to small customers group (Business Standard, 2004)