No abstract

Purpose This paper aims to analyse how children behave during a purchasing process in a simulated shop and how they put their goals into effect at the Point of Sale (POS). The focus of this research is children in Germany aged between 8 and 10 years. The results reveal answers to the following questions: which criteria do the children consider important when buying groceries? How efficiently and effectively do children pursue the goals demanded of them at the POS? This knowledge can support parents, teachers and educational organisations in teaching children consumer literacy. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through interviews and a subsequent observation of the behaviour in a purchase simulation. A total of 436 school children aged 8 to 10 years answered a questionnaire about their behaviour at the POS and perceived demands during the purchasing process as well as their understanding of purchase-relevant concepts. Subsequently, purchase behaviour and decisions in a digitally simulated shopping environment of a supermarket were analysed for a subsample (n = 170). This combination of methods enables the collection of observable decision-making behaviour as well as of the declarative knowledge and the purchasing habits of the children. Findings Children often act differently from the way they themselves intended and expected during the purchase decision at the POS. Only a small number of children behaved purposefully, whereas the vast majority was distracted by the great amount of stimuli in the simulated supermarket. The results reveal factors that helped children cope with the shopping task and shielded them against purchase impulses from the stimuli at the POS. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to combine questionnaires about children’s declarative knowledge of the shopping process with observation of the real decision behaviour in a supermarket simulation task.

The present study aims to investigate elementary school children’s self-control as an important aspect of their purchasing literacy in a simulated supermarket. To this end, 136 children were asked to shop on a limited budget and work through a given shopping list. We processed the data of this task in two ways: First, we combined process and product data into a common score for a differentiated assessment of task performance. Second, we derived theory-based behavioral indicators from the log data. By means of a structural equation model, we confirmed that the covariance between them could be explained by a factor of self-control. Within the structural equation model, we also investigated whether self-controlled behavior mediated the relationship between self-reported impulsivity and task performance. This could not be confirmed, even though self-controlled behavior was positively related to task performance. Self-control and impulsivity both correlated positively with a distrustful attitude toward advertising. Higher self-control was also significantly related to better monitoring one’s finances at the point of sale.

The authors argue that a large part of economic competencies in adolescents are likely to be acquired in informal settings because generally economic education is taught only to a small amount in German schools. In order to assess the very character and extend of informal learning in economic education the authors explain the theoretic background and present a pilot project (ECOS -Economic Competencies Study). We assume that performance in a simulated online environment is regarded as an indicator for competencies. With this method informally acquired competencies in economic education are to be quantitatively assessed. JEL-Classification: A21, I21