Children as Household Decision-Makers - Essay Sample

Influence of Children in Household Decision Making

Children's influence on household decision-making tends to be significant in the current world. Understanding the family buying behavior is very significant since, in the past, it used to be that the husband holds the dominant influence in household decisions making. However, the role is changing as the children influence various products required by the family-like food and toys. Hence, it implies that the marketers must be conversant with children's buying decisions and the nature of media that can be effectively used to socialize products to them. According to Schiffman and Kanuk (2015), children play a significant role in family decisions as they influence the family purchase decisions; therefore, they are a primary influencer and future market.

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How Children, Learn, Make and influence the Purchase decisions

Childhood consumer socialization plays a critical role for children as they can acquire skills and knowledge important to their functioning as consumers in the market. Children learn about the consumption and purchasing from their guardians. Berger and Berger 2015 assert that parents tend to be primary agents of consumer socialization as they introduce their children to retail stores, shelve products while under their care. Peers also play a significant role in teaching and influencing the purchase decision s of children. Since children are expected to conform to group norms, they learn from their peers to fit in the group. For example, when one child has a toy, she influences other children, who request their parents to purchase toys for them. According to Kotler (2017), media is a medium that enables children to learn as it is a communication channel that passes information to children through advertising, especially television advertising, as it influences the type of things the children see as they react to various brands.

Description of the toy store

A toy store is a retail business that specializes in the selling of a variety of toys. From the website, I can see a wide range of products as the specific room is full of toys organized concerning color and theme. For instance, the blue kites and flying toys are arranged in one section, as the dolls are also in a different subsection.

How Children navigate Isles

Navigating the shop isles tends to be a significant challenge, especially when traffic as the parents ensure that the children do not tamper with items in any store. However, it seems to be challenging for aggressive children.

How children make wishes Known to parents

Many children make their wishes known to them by requesting their parents to help them acquire some items. As a result, the parents, in most cases, react by telling them to be patient enough as one day they will fulfill their wishes.

The influence of family and nonfamily members in purchasing decisions is very significant as it influences the marketer's actions. For instance, the marketers ensure that they direct their efforts towards attracting the members. They also ensure they understand the individual's social classes to influence the type and quantity of goods purchased. Various theories relating to children learning manifest themselves in the marketplace as they help children see, learn, and do. The best one relates to social learning theory.

Social Learning Theory

It is a theory by Albert Bandura that asserts learning to be a cognitive process that takes place in a social context like, in our case, the market place and it is through observation and instruction even in the absence of direct reinforcement (Tri Harinie, 2017). The children observe social behavior in the marketplace and, in turn, imitate the actors in the market. As a result, the marketers employ a mechanism that attracts children to the products they convince parents to purchase.

Conclusion

Indeed the current society has a role shift in household decision making as the children impact the purchasing decision. Various agents play a critical role in enabling children to learn, make, and influence the purchase decision. For instance, television and peers. Children learn through social learning theory as they can directly observe actors' behavior in the marketplace, hence imitating them.

References

Berger, P.L., and Berger, B., (2017), Becoming a Member of Society, in "Children as Consumers," McNeal, J. U., eds., Texas, USA.

Kotler, P.,( 2015), Marketing Management, Analysis, Planning, Implementation, and Control Prentice-Hall International editions, New Jer-sey, USA

Schiffman, L. G., & Kanuk, L. L. (2015). Consumer behavior. Harlow, England: Prentice-Hall.

Tri Harinie, L. (2017). Study of the Bandura's Social Cognitive Learning Theory for the Entrepreneurship Learning Process. Social Sciences, 6(1), 1. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20170601.11