Study shows how children influence family purchases

By Shannon Vicic

Your children want in-line skates and will do just about anything to
convince you to buy them. What kind of behavior can you expect from them?
That may depend on your parenting style and your children's genders,
according to Elizabeth Moore-Shay, a UI professor of business
administration.

Although many scholars agree that children play an important role in family
buying behavior, little research has been done on the tactics children use
to sway their parents' decisions.

A preliminary study directed by Moore-Shay suggests that the strategies
children use to influence their parents' buying behavior may be affected by
such factors as the child's gender and how controlling his or her parents
are.

Moore-Shay and UI doctoral student Rajesh Manchanda surveyed 38 mothers and
six fathers (representing 44 families) and their 11- to 13-year-old
children for the study, which they presented last month at the American
Marketing Association's Educator's Conference in Hilton Head, S.C. Among
their findings: Boys and girls reported using widely varying strategies to
influence parents' spending decisions.

Once they identify an item they want, boys and girls first use autonomous
influence strategies, such as simply asking for the item. These strategies
encourage negotiation between parent and child.

If asking for an item doesn't work, boys usually switch to another
autonomous strategy, such as bargaining ("I'll clean my room if you buy me
these Rollerblades"). But girls more often resort to strategies that
anticipate parental resistance, such as begging, pleading, sulking, acting
affectionate, or repeatedly asking for the item. Aimed at eliciting an
emotional response from the parent, these one-sided strategies may provoke
negative parent-child interactions, Moore-Shay said.

Parents reported that girls used a slightly higher number of autonomous
strategies than boys. The professor speculates that parents may not
recognize the contrasting standards of behavior they unwittingly
communicate to their male and female children. Other socialization agents,
such as television and peer groups, may also influence the children's
behavior.

But the parents' responses also could indicate that they are simply
unwilling to admit that their children use what may be less desirable
strategies. Or, she added, the survey results may indicate girls perceive
themselves to have less power than they actually have.

Another notable finding: Children of authoritarian parents reported
switching to negative strategies more quickly than children of more
democratic parents. By being too controlling, authoritarian parents could
be fostering unpleasant interactions with their children, Moore-Shay said.

Future research on this topic may help illuminate these early findings, she
said. Additional investigation is needed to determine how other factors,
such as age differences among children and exposure to the media, may
affect influence strategies, she said. The study was published last month
by the American Marketing Association.