How to Engage Children into the World of Traditional Car Brands? Exploration of Specific Touchpoints between Future Buyers in the Car Industry and Established Brands

Abstract

This paper aims to define the consumer journey of children through their childhood stages and provide specific touchpoints relevant for a given age, which could be integrated into the marketing communication of car brands to start building this young audience as future buyers. A qualitative study of children in different age brackets was used to identify their current and potential touchpoints with the car industry. The results of the study present specific stands on the prepurchase stage of the children's consumer journey where the brand might interact with children and build the long-term positive attitudes of this group of potential customers. Specific implications for the industry in terms of understanding the language of the mobile game applications, computer games, YouTubers and integrating those specific activities into the brand's marketing communication are highlighted for the car industry marketers.

Ethical issues about kids targeting

“…Children, as seen by marketers, have a power to influence parent purchase, and they are not only seen as existing customers but also as future customers (Lahouel, B, et al 2020; Mikolajová, K. et al 2017).Targeting children is commonly known to advertise sweets and toys,nowadays, some marketers lean towards promoting products such as clothing, sport equipment, cars and other products meant for adults Mikolajová, K. et al (2017).What implicates lobbyists, parents and interested parts to question the ethical outcomes of such actions, especially that the digital marketing technics and the online environment in general are less regulated than in traditional media Aleksandra Krajnović et al (2019). The problem with targeting children is advertising that is considered inappropriate for children, such as exposure to gambling, pornography or alcohol products.…”