PARENTS’ PERCEPTION OF TEEN’S INFLUENCE ON FAMILY PURCHASE
DECISIONS: A STUDY OF CULTURAL ASSIMILATION
Dr. Gurvinder S. Shergill
Senior Lecturer in Marketing, Department of Commerce
Massey University, Private Bag 102 904 NSMC
Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Ph: +64 9 414 0800 x9466
Email: G.S.Shergill@Massey.ac.nz
&
Min Zhao
Decorator Consultant
Freedom Furniture
19 Link Drive Rd
Wairau Park
North Shore City
Auckland, New Zealand
Email: lzzmyx@hotmail.com
Abstract
This study investigates the cultural assimilation influence on family purchase
decision-making of Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand, and in Chinese
families living in China (PRC). The data is collected from 200 respondents.
One-hundred families have been chose from each of these countries. The results of this
research show that cultural assimilation does have an influence on parental perceptions
of teen’s influence on family decision-making. Chinese immigrants’ teenage children in
New Zealand were perceived as having more influence within the family than their peers
in Chinese families living in China.
Key Words: cultural assimilation, family purchase decision, Chinese family, Chinese
immigrant family, decision-making stages, product types.
INTRODUCTION
As the primary, and basic, consumption unit the family has been paid increasing
attention by marketers and marketing research in recent years, including the
decision-making stages and the influences on decision-making (Kim and Lee, 1997;
Moore et al., 2002). Many studies have examined the influence of husbands and wives
on their family purchase decision-making, in terms of various consumption decisions
and across different cultures (see, for example, Cox, 1975; Davis, 1976; Hempel, 1974).
Some researchers have pointed out that children will influence the family
decision-making process and an increasing number of research results show that
teenagers are an attractive market segment, through their influence on their parents’
spending, as well as through spending their own money, as well as through the fact that
they will spend more in the future (Martin and Bush, 2000; Zollo, 1995). Furthermore,
due to the spending power controlled by the teenage demographic, this group is usually
a trendsetter in terms of consumption patterns (Martin and Bush, 2000).
Increasingly, children are no longer passive observers; they are increasingly becoming
active participants in the family purchase decisions (Martin and Bush, 2000). They not
only spend their own money on a diversity of products and services of their choice, but
also have extensive influence on family purchase decision-making (Wimalasiri, 2004).
According to McNeal (1992), in China, there are more than 300 million people under
the age of fifteen years, with children being referred to as little Emperors. They are
interested in everything from confectionary to computer games (Zikmund and d’Amico,
1998). According to Wimalasiri (2004), the teenage market in Australia is worth around
AU$3.9 million, and is worth around AU$800,000 in New Zealand.
Teenagers are perceived by parents as having influence on family purchase
decision-making. The perception of parents in this area will, however, be influenced by
the family’s cultural background. Under different cultural backgrounds, parents will
have different perceptions regarding teenagers’ influence on family purchase
decision-making (Lassere and Schutte, 1995; Adler, 1987; Shoham and Dalakas, 2003;
2005). This research tested whether cultural assimilation influences Chinese immigrant
parents’ perceptions of children’s influence on family decision-making in New Zealand.
To isolate the effects of the Chinese and New Zealand cultures, two surveys were
conducted: One of Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand; and the other of
Chinese families residing in China. The surveys dealt with the parents’ assessment of
the children’s influence on different types of products purchased and the family
purchase decision-making stages. The surveys also tested whether cultural assimilation
influences parental perceptions of children’s influence as the children grow up.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Factors impacting children’s influence
In this research, a family purchase is defined as, “…one in which all family members
were involved in the decision-making process or consumption of the purchased item or
service” (Thomson, 2003, p.23). Research into family purchasing patterns often focuses
on the role of spouses, or of the husband and wife separately (Cox, 1975; Davis, 1976;
Hempel, 1974). This ignores the important role of children in family purchase
decision-making and, therefore, misrepresents the reality of family purchasing
behaviour, whereby products are purchased and consumed together by the family
(Thomson, 2003). Many previous studies have indicated that children were perceived by
parents to have influence during the family purchase decision-making process, and that
this influence varies due to a number of different factors. These factors include, product
type (e.g. Foxman and Tansuhaj, 1988; Jenkins, 1979), the decision stage (e.g. Nelson,
1979; Shoham and Dalakas, 2003) and the child’s age (e.g. Nelson, 1979; Atkin, 1978).
In this research the impact of these three factors on children’s perceived influence is
investigated. Therefore, the following section will present the studies related to these
three factors’ and their impact on children’s perceived influence.
Product type
Product type is one important source of variation in children’s influence in the family
purchase decision-making process (Mangleburg, 1990). Most of the studies in this area
found that children were perceived to have more influence on the purchase of products
for which they were the primary users (Shoham and Dalakas, 2003). For instance,
children are perceived to have substantial influence in the purchase of breakfast cereals,
snack foods, toys, children’s clothes and school supplies (Atkin, 1978; Belch et al.,
1985; Brody et al., 1981; Foxman and Tansuhaj, 1988; Foxman et al., 1989a; Jenkins,
1979; Mehrotra and Torges, 1977; Moschis and Mitchell, 1986; Holdert and Antonides,
1997; Chavda et al., 2005). The main explanation for the above phenomenon is that
children will be more involved in the purchase of products for themselves and in the
purchase of those products which are seen by them as being personally relevant to them
(Mangleburg, 1990).
On the other hand, children were perceived to have less influence on the purchase
decisions regarding products which are used by the entire family (Mangleburg, 1990).
For example, children have been found as being perceived to have little influence on the
purchase of motor vehicles, life insurance and televisions (Belch et al., 1985; Foxman et
al., 1989b; Jenkins, 1979). Parents prefer to make these decisions without permitting the
child to influence them, due to the financial risks involved, meanwhile, children are also
found to have less motivation in influencing the purchase of those products which have
low personal relevance to them (Mangleburg, 1990).
Decision stages
The other important source of variation in children’s influence is the decision stages
during the decision process (Mangleburg, 1990). Most of these studies found that
children were perceived as having greater influence on the early stages (problem
recognition and information search), with this influence declining as the
decision-making progresses through the stages (Nelson, 1979; Szybillo and Sosanie,
1977; Swinyard and Sim, 1987; Wimalasiri, 2004). Wimalasiri (2004) found that
children were influencers during the family purchase decision stages and used different
tactics to influence parental decision-making. Holdert and Antonides (1997) found,
however, that children are perceived to have more influence at the stages of alternative
evaluation, make choice and make purchase during the family decision-making process,
than at the problem recognition stage.
Child’s age
Most studies have found that older children will have more influence than will younger
children. For example: Atkin (1978) found that older children were perceived as having
more influence on family cereal purchases than were younger children; Nelson (1979)
concluded that older children had more influence in choosing the restaurant for the
family to eat out at than did younger children; and Ward and Wackman (1972) also
pointed out that older children had a stronger influence than younger children in the
purchase of relevant foods, less relevant foods, child-durables and toiletries. In other
words, based on the previous studies, we could conclude that children’s influence is
increase as they grow up.
To sum up, the three variables examined above have all been shown to significantly
impact on children’s perceived influence on family purchase decision-making. This
research uses the basis of these three factors to test whether cultural assimilation
impacts Chinese parent’s perceptions of children’s influence. To better understand the
influence of cultural assimilation it is first necessary to understand the cultural
differences between New Zealand and China, and then review the literature regarding
cultural assimilation.
The cultural differences between New Zealand and China
According to Hofstede and Hofstede (2004), the scores of these two countries on three
culture dimensions are as presented in Table 1 below.
Table 1 Culture index scores of China and New Zealand
China
New Zealand
IDV (Individualism Index)
20
79
UAI (Uncertainty Avoidance Index)
30
49
PDI (Power Distance Index)
80
22
Source: Hofstede and Hofstede (2004)
Hofstede’s (1993, p.89) definition of Individualism (IDV) is, the “…degree to which
people in a country prefer to act as individuals rather than as members of groups”. From
the index of individualism, China scored 20 points, which is much lower than New
Zealand. This indicates that individual initiative is more strongly discouraged in China
than in New Zealand, and that the Chinese culture places more emphases on the group
than on the individual. Therefore, children in New Zealand more actively make
individual decisions, with their parents more likely to respect these individual decisions.
On the other hand, children in China are expected to have more faith in their family, to
be more obedient and to follow their parents’, or family’s, decision, and not make
individual decisions themselves. Therefore, in regards to this dimension, it can be
summarized that children in China are expected to have less influence on family
purchase decision-making than children in New Zealand.
Uncertainty avoidance (UAI) is defined as, “…the degree to which people in a country
prefer structured over unstructured situations” (Hofstede, 1993, p.90). From the index of
uncertainty avoidance, it can be seen that China scored 30 and New Zealand scored 49
points. New Zealand’s higher index of 49 points means that people in this kind of
culture do not like change, they avoid risk, and that younger people tend to be
suspicious of change (Hofstede, 1980). Therefore, it can be said that New Zealand
parents are likely to doubt their children’s ideas and decisions, since they believe that
their children are not mature enough to make their own decisions. On the other hand,
New Zealand children are likely to strive to avoid conflict with their parents and to seek
consensus more than are Chinese children (Shoham and Dalakas, 2003). As a result,
children living in New Zealand will be expected to have less influence in family
purchase decision-making than will Chinese children.
The definition of Power distance (PDI) is, “…the degree of inequality among people,
which the population of a country considers as normal; from relatively equal … to
extremely unequal” (Hofstede, 1993, p.89). Based on Hofstede (1993), it can be
concluded that New Zealand has a much lower power distance than China. This means
that New Zealand parents value their children’s obedience less in comparison to parents
in cultures with a high power distance. Therefore, New Zealand parents are more likely
to encourage, and be more open to, their children’s involvement in family
decision-making. As shown, the index of Power distance (PDI) in New Zealand is 22,
which means that children in New Zealand will be more likely to be encouraged to
become involved in family decision-making than will children in China. In other words,
the parental perception of children’s influence on family purchase decisions in New
Zealand is expected to be stronger than for their counterparts living in China.
Cultural Assimilation
As previously indicated, there are huge cultural differences between China and New
Zealand. This means that Chinese families who immigrate to New Zealand will
experience a process of changing their existing cultural values in order to adapt to New
Zealand cultural values. This process is called cultural assimilation. The most widely
accepted definition of assimilation is from Park and Burgess (1921, p.735):
“Assimilation is a process of inter-penetration and fusion in which persons and
groups acquire the memories, sentiments and attitudes of other persons or groups
and by sharing their experience and history, are incorporated with them in a
common cultural life”.
In this research, the subculture is the Chinese (PRC) families who have immigrated to
New Zealand, and the dominant culture is the New Zealand culture. To become more
involved in New Zealand society, or to achieve a better lifestyle, or a good career,
Chinese immigrants have to assimilate into the New Zealand culture. During, or after,
this process, the cultural values of the Chinese immigrants will change, which means
that, to some extent, the Chinese parents’ perceptions of their children’s influence on
family purchase decision-making will also change. By reviewing the literature, it is
found that there are a few studies regarding the influence of cultural assimilation on
parent’s perceptions of their children’s impacts on family purchase decision-making.
Ganesh’s (1997) found that spousal consumer behaviuor is significant different in
decision-making stages when compared with Asian-Indians living in India,
Asian-Indians living in the US and American nationals. He concluded that, for
immigrants, while there are large culture differences between host country and home
country, there must be an Americanisation process. Wallendorf and Reilly (1983) found
that Mexican-Americans experience a cultural assimilation process toward their
internalised conception of American life, and this acculturation could influences their
food consumption behavior.
Therefore, it can be seen that changes in cultural background will definitely impact
consumer behaviour. Since the cultural differences between China and New Zealand are
large, when a Chinese family moves to New Zealand, cultural assimilation is necessary.
As a result, parents will develop a different view of their children’s influence on family
purchase decision-making, compared with the view of parents living in China.
The review of the literature shows, however, that there are no studies which focus on the
influence of cultural assimilation on children’s perceived influence on family purchase
decision-making. This is a research gap which the current research intends to fill.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The more specific objectives of this study are listed below:
1. To investigate whether parents have the same perceptions of their children’s
influence in regards to different products and family purchase decision-making
stages in Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand, and Chinese families
living in China.
2. To investigate whether parents’ perceptions of children’s influence on family
purchase decision-making will have any significant difference as the children
grow up in Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand, and in Chinese families
living in China.
Based upon above research objectives, following hypotheses have been fromed to be
tested in this research:
H1: Parents in Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand perceive that their children
have a significantly different level of influence on family purchases of different products,
when compared with the parental perception in Chinese families living in China.
H2: Parents in Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand perceive that their children
have a higher level of influence on family purchases of different products, when
compared with the parental perception in Chinese families living in China.
H3: Parents in Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand perceive that their children
have a significantly different level of influence on family purchase decision-making
stages, when compared with the parental perception in Chinese families living in China.
H4: Parents in Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand perceive that their children
have a higher level of influence on family purchase decision-making stages, when
compared with the parental perception in Chinese families living in China.
H5: As a child grows up, there will be a significantly different trend in parents’
perception of the child’s influence on family purchases of different products in Chinese
immigrant families in New Zealand, and Chinese families living in China.
H6: As a child grows up, there will be a significantly different trend in parents’
perception of the child’s influence on family purchase decision-making stages in
Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand, and Chinese families living in China.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Population
The target population of the research is defined as urban middle-class (defined as
having pre-tax income from NZ$2500 monthly to NZ$8333 monthly; as per Barker,
1996), with children’s ages being from thirteen to nineteen years for Chinese immigrant
families in the study who have been residing in New Zealand for between two to five
years; and urban, middle-class (defined as having pre-tax income from ¥5,000 monthly
to ¥41,667 monthly; as per Statistics China, 2005), with children’s ages being from
thirteen to nineteen years for the Chinese families residing in China. The reason for
choosing this income level is that, these families are more easily to find to collect the
data.
In New Zealand the respondents were selected from Auckland, as Auckland has the
largest immigrant population in New Zealand. In China, the respondents were from nine
different cities. The reason for choosing these respondents is that they are all known to
the researcher’s relatives, which increased the ease of finding suitable families for the
research
Sample Size
Due to the constraints of time and budget, 260 families (135 families in China and 125
families in New Zealand) were approached for this research. Most of the families in
New Zealand are familiar with the researcher; and the families in China are known to
the researchers’ relatives. They were also asked to provide referrals of middle-class
families with teenage children to the researcher and the researchers’ relatives.
Questionnaire design
Questions in the questionnaire were taken from Swinyard and Sim (1987) and Shoham
and Dalakas (2005). Questions relating to five family use products and six children use
products were included in the questionnaire. Questionnaire was divided into three parts.
In the first part, respondents were asked to rate the children’s influence using a five
point scale for the eleven products (Foxman et al., 1989a; 1989b). The second part
tested the general influence of children on family decision-making stages (Swinyard and
Sim, 1987; and Shoham and Dalaka, 2005). The last part included the demographics
such as family income and the age of the child.
Data collection methods
Snowball sampling was adopted to collect the data. A self-administered questionnaire
was developed to collect the data in New Zealand and China. Participant families were
known to the researcher and they were asked to provide referrals of other middle-class
families with teenage children.
Both parents were asked to complete the questionnaire together, and it took
approximately five to ten minutes to complete the questionnaire. All respondents were
informed as to the purpose of the research. Approximately 260 potential couples were
approached (135 families in China and 125 families in New Zealand). Of the total
sample, 100 respondents from each country who matched the criteria (middle-class
income family and child’s age 13-19 years) were chosen for the study.
Reliability of questionnaire
The reliability test of the questionnaire showed Cronbach’s Alpha larger than 0.7 which
proved the questionnaire has an acceptable level of reliability.
DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
Sample profile
The demographic information regarding the respondents includes family income and the
children’s ages. This is presented in Table 2 in order to describe the characteristics of
the sample used in the research
Table 2 Respondent profile
Chinese immigrant
families
Demographics
Categories
Frequency Percentage
30
30%
Family income $3000-$3999
(pre tax monthly) $4000-4999
61
61%
More than
$5000
9
9%
Total
100
100%
13
14
14%
Children's age
14
14
14%
15
22
22%
16
12
12%
17
19
19%
18
10
10%
19
9
9%
Total
100
100%
Average
child
15.74
age
Chinese families
Categories
Frequency Percentage
¥5000-¥5999
68
68%
¥6000-¥6999
8
8%
More than
¥7000
24
24%
Total
100
100%
13
20
20%
14
10
10%
15
23
23%
16
17
17%
17
10
10%
18
7
7%
19
13
13%
Total
100
100%
15.60
Parents’ perceptions of children’s influence on products
The answers of the parents were analysed across the eleven products (see Table 3).
These results indicate that, except for children’s records/CDs, the parental perception of
children’s influence has significant difference in the two types of families. For
children’s records/CDs, children were perceived as having similar influence in both
types of families.
Table 3
Means of influence ratings on different products by parents
Products
Chinese immigrant
Chinese
Difference
families
families
Child's record/ CD
3.67
3.75
-0.08
Child's PC
3.65
3.12
0.53
Family PC
1.99
1.66
0.33
Groceries
2.87
2.14
0.73
Living room furniture
1.45
1.79
-0.34
Child's toothpaste
4.41
3.80
0.61
Family toothpaste
1.98
1.64
0.34
Child's dress clothes
4.52
3.74
0.78
Child's bicycle
3.62
4.17
-0.55
Family car
2.04
1.60
0.44
Child's magazine
4.91
4.33
0.58
3.19
2.89
0.30
Average influence
Notes: Scale anchors were 1= decision solely by parents and 5= decision solely by child.
P-value
0.594
0.001
0.015
0.000
0.001
0.000
0.010
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
Regarding the parents’ perceptions of children’s influence, those of Chinese immigrant
families living in New Zealand exceeded those of Chinese families in eight out of the
eleven products. With the exception of child’s bicycle, child’s record/CD and living
room furniture, teens in Chinese immigrant families were all perceived as having a
higher level of influence than their peers in Chinese families living in China. The largest
difference between the two types of families is in the category of child’s dress clothes.
The lowest difference relates to child’s record/CD. On the other hand, for those three
product categories it was perceived that children in Chinese families had a higher level
of influence than children in Chinese immigrant families. The largest difference of the
three products was for the child’s bicycle. Overall children in Chinese immigrant
families were perceived as having a higher level of influence than children in Chinese
families. Therefore, Hypothesis 1 and Hypothesis 2 are both supported, in that parents
in Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand perceive that their children have
significantly different and higher levels of influence on family purchasing of different
products, when compared with the parents in the Chinese families in China.
Parents’ perceptions of children’s influence on decision-making stages
Table 4 presents the means of children’s influence across the decision-making stages in
both types of families. From the result, the overall means of the influence showed that
children in Chinese immigrant families were perceived as having higher influence than
their peers in Chinese families living in China but this mean difference is not significant.
Thus, Hypothesis 3 was not supported. On the other hand, even though no overall
significant difference is found, the higher average children’s influence in Chinese
immigrant families indicates that children in Chinese immigrant families were perceived
as having higher levels of influence during family decision-making stages than their
peers in Chinese families. Therefore, Hypothesis 4 is supported.
Table 4
Means of influence ratings on decision-making stages by parents
Decision-making stages
Chinese
Chinese
Difference
immigrant
families
families
Notices family needs (stage one)
2.42
2.63
-0.21
Search information (stage two)
2.40
2.76
-0.36
Makes final choice (stage three)
3.07
3.19
-0.12
Makes purchase (stage four)
3.45
3.19
0.26
2.84
2.94
-0.10
Overall influence
P-value
0.100
0.004
0.289
0.020
0.246
Notes: Scale anchors were 1 = strongly agree that child has influence and 5 = strongly disagree that
child has influence.
Influence of children’s age on products and decision-making stages.
From Table 5, regarding product types, all the product coefficients in Chinese
immigrant families are positive and significant whereas in Chinese families 3
coefficients are negative and 6 coefficients are not significant at 95% significant levels.
This means that the relationship between children’s age and the eleven products are
positive or, put differently, the children’s influence will increase as the children’s ages
increase. On the other hand, for the Chinese families, three products have negative
coefficients (groceries, child’s toothpaste and family toothpaste), which means that, for
these three products, the children’s influence will decrease as they become older. These
results show that parents of these two families perceive that as children grow, they have
different influence on products in two family types. Thus Hypothesis 5 is supported.
Regarding decision-making stages, all 4 coefficients of the decision-making stages of
Chinese immigrant families are negative and significant whereas for Chinese families
they are all positive but only one is significant. It indicates the children’s influence in
Chinese immigrant families decreases as children grow. On the other hand, in Chinese
families the influence of children on family purchase decision increases as they grow
older. These results indicate that parents do have different perceptions of children’s
influence in Chinese immigrant families and in Chinese families living in China.
Therefore, Hypothesis 6 is supported.
Table 5 The GLM of children’s age influence on products and decision-making stages in
both types of family.
Chinese immigrant families
Chinese families
Child age
Child age
Products
Coefficient
F
P
Coefficient
F
P
Music records/CD
0.200
19.824
0.000
0.120
3.956
0.049
Child's PC
0.260
35.170
0.000
0.160
6.160
0.015
Family's PC
0.160
9.491
0.003
0.100
4.940
0.029
Groceries
0.100
13.710
0.000
-0.020
0.283
0.596
Living room furniture
0.090
7.343
0.008
0.040
1.073
0.303
Child's Toothpaste
0.170
32.539
0.000
-0.110
2.950
0.089
Family's Toothpaste
0.150
7.398
0.008
-0.060
2.310
0.132
Child's clothes
0.160
30.689
0.000
0.170
13.147
0.000
Child's bicycle
0.210
25.987
0.000
0.070
2.063
0.154
Family's Car
0.120
10.448
0.002
0.070
2.960
0.088
Child's magazines
0.090
9.549
0.003
0.050
4.362
0.039
Decision Stages
Notices
-0.170
18.772
0.000
0.150
9.825
0.002
Searches
-0.190
27.642
0.000
0.090
3.406
0.068
Final choice
-0.160
15.854
0.000
0.060
2.112
0.149
Purchases
-0.100
7.092
0.009
0.000
0.001
0.980
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
Conclusions
This research has proved that parents under different cultural backgrounds do have
different perceptions of children’s influence on family purchase decision-making. When
parents immigrate to New Zealand, their social values and purchase perceptions change
in comparison to their counterparts living in China. Chinese immigrant parents adapt to
New Zealand culture, which means that they more likely to give increased rights and
power to their children to attend to family purchase decision-making. This is a result of
cultural assimilation. The specific results were evidenced across eleven products and
four decision making stages, with children in Chinese immigrant families being
perceived by parents to have a higher average influence than their peers in Chinese
families living in China. Parents in Chinese immigrant families are more open, and
encourage children to attend to family decision-making more than do parents in Chinese
families living in China. The high Individualistic (IDV) and low Power Distance (PDI)
culture leads Chinese immigrant parents in New Zealand to be more likely to trust and
listen to their children, than are the parents under high Collectivism (IDV) and high
Power Distance (PDI) cultures in China.
This research also found that parents believed that children’s influence across three
products (family’s and children’s toothpaste, and groceries) and the first three
decision-making stages (noticing family needs, searching information and making final
choice) will decrease as children’s age increases in Chinese families, with no increase or
decrease trend in stage four (making purchase from store). On the other hand, in
Chinese immigrant families, for all eleven products and four decision-making stages,
parents perceive that children’s influence increases as they grow up. Again, the
influence of cultural assimilation was also proved by this result. Even though children
from both types of families grow up and face more pressure from study, Chinese
immigrant parents give their children more power to attend to family purchase
decision-making than do Chinese parents in China. This is due to the adaptation to more
Individualistic (IDV) and low Power Distance (PDI) cultural values in New Zealand.
To sum up, 5 hypotheses, out of 6, have been supported by this research, with the
finding that cultural assimilation influences parents’ perceptions of children’s influence
on family purchase decision-making.
Implications
The findings of this research have some implications for marketing practitioners. For
example, it was found that teenagers in Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand are
perceived by their parents to have higher levels of influence in family purchase
decision-making than are teenagers in Chinese families living in China. This means that
the former group of teenagers have more power to influence their parents’ decision.
Therefore, marketing practitioners could use specific advertising and other promotion
marketing strategies to attract the attention of these teenagers to products and services,
as it is an effective way to reach the Chinese immigrant families market. Similarly,
Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand, or in other countries with highly
Individualistic and low Power Distance cultures, develop different cultural values to
their counterparts in China. Therefore, marketers could use more Western promotional
methods to reach this market segment.
Furthermore, this research has also proved that children do have an influence on family
decision-making and that they have more influence in terms of child-products, for
which they are the primary users. Therefore, marketing practitioners can use the
findings of this research in determining that they should appeal to children as much as
to their parents. Marketers could improve, or create, the direct relevance between their
products/services and teens, which will make the products/services become more like a
child-product/service
(not
just
being
relevant
to
the
family,
or
being
parents-products/services) in order to increase children’s involvement.
The research also found that children’s age would significantly influence children’s
influence on family decision-making, especially in Chinese immigrant families.
Therefore, marketers should target children as they grow, in order to effectively
influence family purchase decision-making. For example, marketers could advertise, or
promote, products/services targeting late teen children.
CONTRIBUTION OF THIS RESEARCH
The main contribution of this research is the finding that cultural assimilation does have
an influence on parents’ perceptions of children’s influence. This research fills a gap in
the existing literature as there is no research that focused to investigate the impact of
cultural assimilation on children’s influence on family purchase decision making.
The influence of cultural assimilation was reflected from two aspects. One aspect is that
parents in Chinese immigrant families are influenced by New Zealand’s culture, and
they perceive that their children have more influence on family purchase
decision-making than their counterparts in Chinese families living in China. The second
aspect is that there are some significant differences in parents’ perceptions of children’s
influence as children grow. This finding holds true for both types of families.
LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH
The primary limitation of this research is the fact the Chinese immigrant families
sample has only been chosen from Auckland, which might not accurately represent the
whole Chinese immigrant population in New Zealand. Similarly, even though the
Chinese families sample was drawn from nine different cities in China, because China is
such a large country, the sample might still not accurately represent Chinese parents’
perceptions of children’s influence. So further research should focus on wider selection
of cities from both countries.
Secondly, a snowball sampling method was used to gather the data, meaning that most
families in the sample were recommended by others in the sample. This means that the
sample used in this research may produce results which are difficult to generalise to the
Chinese immigrant population in New Zealand and the Chinese population in China. So
an attempt should be made to use random sample, if possible, from both countries.
Lastly, the research focused on middle-class families with children aged from thirteen to
nineteen. A sample including families with other income levels and/or families with
younger children might produce different perceptions of culture assimilation. So future
research should target different income levels and age groups.
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