The importance of children as consumers

This article is written by Noor Hasmini Abd Ghani of University Utara, Malaysia. The basic idea that is discussed in the article is that children are also very important to be considered as consumers. There are 3 reasons to consider young people as consumers Firstly children may have their own money and can become potential buyers. Secondly they can be a source of influence on other people such as their parents. Thirdly in future they will grow and become more active part of the market. For this purpose a study is conducted in 3 schools in Malaysia This study evaluates the importance of television in influencing childrens consumer behavior.

This study was made to calculate the influence of television on childrens consumer behavior. The influence of childrens gender, parental income and personality traits on their television viewing habits, and the relationship between television viewing and childrens consumer socialization were considered. Methodology: Procedure: The respondents of this study were 138 primary school children aged 10 to 12 years from three schools in Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia. Simple random sampling was used in the survey and the structured questionnaire was translated into Malay. Out of 138 questionnaires distributed, 110 were returned complete and usable. Measurement: Consumer socialization The aspects of childrens consumer socialization included in this study are how much television children watch, what they watch and their purchasing behavior.

Demographics The childrens gender and family income are considered as influences on their television viewing and consumer socialization. These demographic factors have been documented as a significant influence on the consumer socialization of the children Personality According to Mowen (1995), personality is the distinctive patterns of behavior, including thoughts and emotions that characterize each individuals adaptation to the situations of his or her life. So similarly the buying behavior of a certain child will also depend on his personality.

The study focuses exclusively on primary school children in Bandar Baru Bangi in the Selangor region, located in the western peninsula of Malaysia. Hence the study represents only part of the Selangor population. so it cannot be called a complete and comprehensive study.

Results: Sample characteristics: The sample of demographic and socioeconomic traits of children and their parents show 18.2% children were 10 years old, 36.4% children were 11 years old 44.5% children were 12 years old

Most of the children came from families of four children (30%) . A gross household monthly income of US $527 and above. Most children in the sample were the third child in their family (26.4%).There were more girls than boys in the sample. Most of the children were assisted in completing the questionnaires by their mothers.
The level of education of parents in the sample may be divided into Those with primary education only were 7.3%, Those with secondary school education were 36.4% Those with higher education were 54.5% Most of the parents were executives 25.5%, professional were 18.2% and housewives were 13.6%.

Demographic influences on socialization factors : The family income is an important factor in relation to the amount of Time children spent watching television each day. Analysis showed that Children from low income families like to watch television between 8.30pm and 10.59pm. Children from high income families tended to watch television between 5.00pm and 6.59pm and 8.30pm to 9.29pm. The amount of time children spent watching television was not influenced by gender. Boys and girls tended to spend an equal amount of time each day watching television. In terms of the programs the children watched, gender and family income showed significant effects. The results showed boys were interested in documentaries and girls preferred programs in a series. Family income is the only demographic variable to have a significant effect on childrens purchase behavior. Family income appeared to have a strong significant effect in association with frequency of request to purchase product seen on television advertising. Gender did not exert a significance influence on purchase behavior.

The influence of personality on childrens consumer behavior: Here the relationship between the childrens television viewing habits and their personalities is discussed. The aggressivepassive and studiousplayful variables were significant in relation to the amount of time children spent watching television each day. Children with more aggressive personalities were more likely to watch television between 5pm and 6.59pm, and 8.30pm and 9.29pm. Children with passive tendencies who mostly watched between 5pm and 6.59pm. Children who were keen on reading preferred to watch between 5pm to 6.59pm and 8.30pm to 9.29pm. Children with playful characteristics preferred to watch between 5.00pm and 6.59pm. There was a relationship between number of hours of television watched per week and children with personality characteristics of roughgentle and bravecowardly . Children with a rough personality watched between 16 to 25 hours of television each week. Children with gentle personalities who watched between 16 and 20 hours per week. Children with brave characteristics watched 10 hours of television or less. Children with cowardly characteristics watched 16 to 20 hours per week.

This study examines influence of television on childrens consumer socialization by looking at the influence of demographic variables, socioeconomic variables and personality traits on television viewing and purchase behavior. The results showed that children of different ages ,genders, income group and personality have different patterns of watching television and buying goods.