SPOUSES JOINT PURCHASE DECISIONS - DETERMINANTS OF INFLUENCE TACTICS FOR MUDDLING THROUGH THE PROCESS

Marital purchase decision making is perceived as a process of muddling through. A spouse expressing a desire for a product causes a situation which may or may not represent a conflict between the partners. Conflicts or disagreements need to be resolved in a way that ensures the realization of one's wishes and at the same time avoids heated disputes which may escalate. In order to get their way, spouses in disagreement use tactics to persuade or convince the other to yield. This study investigates the tactics used in intimate relationships and the dependence of choice of various tactics on the type of conflict, gender of agents, relationship characteristics and personality variables. A questionnaire on the likelihood of using 18 different influence tactics and relationship and personality variables was completed by 252 couples. It was found that choice of a specific tactic depends on all variables under investigation except personality. The likelihood of using reason was higher in probability conflicts than in value and distributional conflicts. Women reported using weak tactics more frequently than men but were not less rational than their partners. The distribution of frequencies for the reported use of 18 tactics differed significantly between happy and unhappy couples and was also different for patriarchal, egalitarian or matriarchal relationships. Moreover, it was shown that with increasing length of cohabitation spouses developed roles which govern dominance in purchase decisions.