A family life cycle model adapted to the Spanish environment

Abstract

Aims to demonstrate, from a marketing and market segmentation point of view, the need to adapt the construct of the family life cycle to the particular features of the Spanish social environment, given the obvious differences in the structure of Spanish households in relation to the USA. From this marketing and cross‐cultural approach, a review of the literature has been conducted on the evolution of the construct and the most significant models that have been arising as the outcome of that evolution. A new life cycle model has been designed reflecting these particular features. Also, on the basis of data taken from the Family Budgets Survey, the capacity of the adapted model has been analysed for predicting household expenditure in comparison with the main US models and the most habitual socioeconomic variables, and for detecting market segments with different needs. The results obtained show the utility of the construct adapted, both as a segmentation variable and as a predictor, together with the typical socioeconomic variables that explain household expenditure. The practical and academic utility of the model from a marketing approach, its potential adaptation to the Mediterranean European environment, and the main methodological limitation of the research are also discussed.

Citation

Redondo‐Bellón, I., Royo‐Vela, M. and Aldás‐Manzano, J. (2001), "A family life cycle model adapted to the Spanish environment", European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 35 No. 5/6, pp. 612-638. https://doi.org/10.1108/03090560110388132