For this discussion, we will be looking at the wedding industry from the perspec

Question

For this discussion, we will be looking at the wedding industry from the perspective of consumer (purchase) behaviour, utilitarian and hedonic value.

The average cost of a wedding in Canada today is approximately $30,000 according to various sources … and this is before the honeymoon trip is factored in. A 2015 poll conducted for Global News discovered that Canadian couples believed that their wedding should cost under $9,000.

This is a $21,000 gap.

Global How Much Canadians Spend on Weddings Will Surprise You

What happens to create such a big difference between engagement day (or earlier) thinking and the wedding day spending reality for some brides and grooms?

In your discussion, discuss how “brides and grooms to be” in developed countries like Canada make purchase decisions for their weddings? Which types of wedding-related decisions provide utilitarian value? Which types of wedding-related decisions provide hedonic value and how do hedonic decisions get rationalized? (Which wedding-related purchases do the bride and groom want to make and which are driven by tradition, family, friends, culture etc.)

For the weddings industry overall, will “materialistic” weddings continue to flourish or will today’s millennial generation and the generations that follow bring down the average costs of weddings? If you believe that the average cost will go down, why do you think this will happen?

Support your response with consumer behaviour research and examples. A minimum of two reliable sources is required. (Preferably academic sources.)

Write a 400-600 word post that reflects your opinion and research findings about this topic and the questions above in bold.

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Explanation / Answer

'Brides and Grooms to-be', or rather the Wedding Customers in developed countries make their wedding purchase decisions mostly based on the financial aspects as well as the expected size of the wedding. Other factors may also include whether they want a DIY or destination wedding or a glam wedding, etc. These factors can be categorized under three headings as follows:

Decision based on Product Factors provide utilitarian value. The project paper presented by Avery Rounala, titled ‘An assessment on future trends in wedding planning’ is an effort to enlist the factors which lead to wedding related decisions based on product factors like Theme, Décor, Venue, Invites, Food, etc.

While Product Factors are more inclined towards utilitarianism values, the wedding-related decisions that provide a hedonic value are that based on Differentiation. In today’s competitive and fast paced world, people not only want their weddings to be unique, out of the box but also differentiate it to certain extent so that their wedding is remembered by all the invitees. It has been seen that usually the parents save fortunes for weddings of their children and are willing to go to any extent to make the wedding a successful and remembrance-worthy event. It is due to the parents’ wish that these hedonic values get rationalised.

While wedding-decisions like the theme, food, grandeur of the wedding are solely the choice of the bride & groom, decisions like wearing the customary attire, type of venue, wedding proceedings and rituals are decided and driven by the culture, traditions and families. Activities for engagement of the guests are the most common decisions driven by friends.

From the above statements in support for rationalization of hedonic decisions as well as product factors, it can be observed that the millenal generation is attracted towards materialistic weddings. In the project paper published by Sivemalar Krishnan titled, ‘FACTORS INFLUENCING THE DEMAND FOR THEMED WEDDING PACKAGES ’, it can be observed how the millennial trends are moving towards increasing the wedding expenses even after the guest lists have become smaller and there are technological alternatives available. The millennial generation prefers taking a small group of guests but spending fortunes on grandiose themed weddings or destination weddings. Also, the formal invitations have been replaced by e-invitations but a huge amount is spent upon the various wedding photoshoots. Last but not the least, the increasing business of wedding planners can also be directly linked to the conclusion that materialistic weddings would yet continue to flourish in the future.

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