Children's influence in family buying process in India

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold: to categorize and rank products based on children's influence and to compare their influence on the different stages of the family buying process.Design/methodology/approachThe study was based on an extensive literature review and focus group discussions. Using a structured questionnaire, a survey was conducted with children aged 8‐12 years. The sample size was 175.FindingsFactor analysis revealed three distinct product clusters: “loud”, “noisy” and “quiet” goods. Children's influence was found to be highest for noisy goods, lesser for loud goods and lowest for quiet goods. One‐way MANOVA analysis found that for loud and noisy goods children's influence was highest in the initiation stage, and lowest in the search stage. For quiet goods, the highest influence was in the final decision stage followed by initiation and choice stage.Practical implicationsThe identified product clusters and children's relative influence across the buying stages for these clusters are expected to enhance marketer's understanding of children's role in family decision making. Marketers should take these observations into consideration while designing and implementing their marketing strategies.Originality/valueThe results are important because previous studies have dealt with children's influence for various products at a broad level. In this paper, an innovative segmentation for products based on children's influence level has been identified and the influence measured across these clusters.

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“…Thereby, other variables must also be considered in order to provide a more complete explanation on the adolescent"s influence for this service decisions. Furthermore, in this study, the use of a convenience sample does not allow us to extrapolate the results, although this procedure is consistent with past research (Aleti et al 2015, Yang et al 2014, Chaudhary and Gupta 2012, Feng et al 2011).…”

“…The adolescent is an influencing member on family purchasing decisions within consumption unit, and this influence is manifested directly, that is, by actively acting in the direction of a certain decision (Kaur and Singh 2006, Beatty and Talpade 1994, Mangleburg 1990). For several researchers, the adolescent"s influence on family buying decisions is not adequately explained (Aleti et al 2015, Shergill et al 2013, Chaudhary and Gupta 2012, Kaur and Singh 2006.…”

“…The substantial and growing adolescent market needs marketers to understand the adolescent purchase behavior for current sales and their participation in the family structure (Niemczyk 2015, Srivastava 2015, Shahrokh and Khosravi 2014, Yang et al 2014). There is a good stream of research which has shown that adolescents" role in family purchase decisions varying by product, decision stage, adolescent, parental, and family characteristics (Aleti et al 2015, Ishaque and Tufail 2014, Shahrokh and Khosravi 2014, Shergill et al 2013, Ali et al 2013, Chaudhary and Gupta 2012.…”

Role of children in family purchase across Indian parental clusters

“…The NFO-MBL India survey in the year 2001 showed the growing influence of children in purchase decisions of product categories other than the obvious ones like chocolates, noodles, ice-creams, snacks or soft drinks (Vasudev, 2002). Classic advertisements for popular fast moving commercial goods (FMCG) brands like Pepsodent (toothpaste) and Lifebuoy (hand wash) showcase children eulogising about product benefits and bank commercials showing kids as smart investors all reinforce Chaudhary and Gupta's (2012) research findings that indicated the notable effect of children on their parents' buying and shopping behaviour across a wide array of exclusive and non-exclusive children's products in the Indian market.…”

“…Children and parents need to learn consumption-related behaviours to adapt to the new marketing practices (McNeal and Ji, 1999). Research conducted in the context of the developed markets often fail to address and assess the specific ground realities pertaining to emerging markets like India (Chaudhary and Gupta, 2012).…”