Use of time as a determinant of family market behavior

Abstract

An attempt is made to represent the concept of life style in terms of the use of time. The variables obtained are used to test their effectiveness, in conjunction with socioeconomic and attitudinal variables, for explaining certain types of consumer financial behavior, using data from two panels of young married couples, one of 130 couples in Decatur-Peoria, Illinois, and the other of 185 couples in Chicago. The results indicate that use-of-time variables are significant in helping to explain purchase of durables, ownership of credit cards, and amount of insurance.