Ruppal Walia Sharma and
Pinaki Dasgupta are
Associate Professors at the
Indian Institute of Foreign
Trade, New Delhi, India.
Received July 2008
Revised January 2009
Accepted May 2009
Abstract
Purpose – This paper seeks to identify the focus areas for marketing strategies targeting children.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper integrates and structures key insights from existing research on children’s influence and roles in decision making and postulates a planning framework for marketing to children. Current marketing examples are cited to illustrate and support the framework.
Findings – The PPP planning framework developed here highlights what should be the direction and focus of marketing strategies, given the level of interest and influence of children in a particular brand/category.
Research limitations/implications – The framework postulated is conceptual and has not been tested empirically.
Practical implications – The paper seeks to help marketers tailor their strategies to create maximum impact in the children’s segment.
Originality/value – The paper presents an integrated perspective incorporating both the interest and the influence levels of children and develops a practical planning tool that can be leveraged by marketers.
Keywords Consumer marketing, Children (age groups), Business planning
Paper type Research paper
I n the last decade or so children have emerged as a segment that most marketers cannot afford to ignore. The sphere of influence of children has expanded considerably to include products and services from a cross section of industries, and children have moved from being followers of parental consumption patterns to becoming pace setters for much of household consumption behaviour (McNeal, 1991). Research shows that children constitute a major consumer market, with direct purchasing power for snacks and sweets and indirect influence while shopping for big-ticket items (Halan, 2002; Singh, 1998).
The growing interest in children stems largely from three factors:
1. The growing market for children’s products.
2. The increasing influence of children in purchases of goods and services across product categories.
3. The trend of accepting and encouraging children as co-decision makers in families.
Today, upbringing has become more liberal and families have become ‘‘negotiation families’’ (Du Bois-Reymond et al.
, 2001), where influence may travel in either direction between parent and child (Bridges and Briesch, 2006) and parents have become more accepting of children’s preferences (John, 1999). As the extent of children’s influence increases, children are becoming a part of most marketers’ target audience even if they are not part of the target market. Children are often influencers/co-deciders at the time of purchase of personal products, consumables, financial products, vacations, educational
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products, and family automobiles, while they are buyers of family toiletries, and initiators or gatekeepers for purchases of household durables (Dhobal, 1999).
Children’s ability to influence purchase decisions and their interest/involvement levels vary across product categories and marketers need to take these variances into account. This paper attempts to develop a conceptual framework for marketing to children, keeping in mind their levels of interest and degree of influence across different products and services.
This framework identifies three zones of influence and suggests that marketers can choose the focus and direction of their strategy depending on which zone is most applicable to their brand.
McNeal (1998) highlighted that children constitute three distinct consumer markets: primary, influence and future. The role of children, as a primary market for products like toys, snacks, clothes etc., has long been acknowledged and addressed by marketers. However the power and size of this market has now gone up considerably.
Marketers of adult product categories are also intensifying efforts to woo children for their role as influencers and future consumers. Recent studies recognize that children play a part in family decision making (Howard and Madrigal, 1990; Gram and Therkelsen, 2003; Gram,
2007) where children might initiate the purchase, collect information about alternatives, suggest retail outlets, and have a say in the final decision (John, 1999).
While formulating marketing strategies targeting children, it is important to consider whether the product category is one in which children might have influence (Bridges and Briesch,
2006). The degree and nature of children’s influence in turn depends on who is the user, what is the perceived importance of the product to the user (Beatty and Talpade, 1994; Foxman and Tansuhaj, 1988) and what is the extent of children’s involvement in the purchase decision.
Based on insights from past research on the role of children as consumers, influencers and decision makers, and on an analysis of marketing practices targeting children, it is possible to develop a framework which can serve as a planning tool for marketers.
Aspects like nature of the product category, its relevance and interest for children, and involvement of children in the decision making process, will impact marketing strategy design. Therefore the first step in developing the framework would be to identify different zones that take into account differences in these aspects.
Depending on the degree of interest and the level of influence children have for different product categories, three distinct zones of influence can be defined (Figure 1). These zones can be termed as the preference zone, the pester zone and the purchase zone.
Each of these zones will require a different marketing approach. By analyzing the kinds of products and services covered in each zone and the role played by children in the purchase decision process, one can identify the key focus areas and activities required for a successful marketing strategy.
2.1 Preference zone
In the preference zone, parents are the initiators, decision makers and purchasers, but they may take into account children’s preferences. Young children exert indirect and passive influence by indicating their likes and dislikes (John, 1999). The products and services covered in this zone will generally be for adult or family consumption, and will include the following:
B Products and services where children have moderate interest and low to moderate influence – this influence is likely to be indirect, in the form of a need or preference known to parents. It will include products that are for family/household consumption and involve decisions where there is an automatic narrowing down of the consideration set to include
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Figure 1 Zones of influence in marketing to children
B only those options that the children will also like. For example, while buying soap the mother will keep in mind the child’s preference and its suitability for the child.
Products and services for which the children are future consumers – which means both interest and influence could be low. It presents an opportunity for marketers to build brand familiarity and liking which can result in stronger brand loyalty as the brand grows
(McNeal, 1998; Connor, 2006). For instance technology and telecom brands may like to create brand exposure at an early age.
B Products and services for which children could have moderate to high interest but can exercise only limited influence – these will typically include expensive adult/family items like car, refrigerator, etc. Since children’s influence for such products, is primarily in the problem recognition and information search stages (John, 1999), marketers can influence the set of options children suggest to their parents.
B Products and services where children have low interest, but parents would like to encourage their consumption, as in case of health foods. Here the marketer’s efforts would be to make the brand/category appealing or at least acceptable to children. For instance promoting milk as a fun, ‘‘cool’’ product.
In the preference zone, the marketing efforts directed to children should focus on creating brand awareness, familiarity and liking. At the very least, the choice of brand should be acceptable to the child and at best he/she could develop a strong liking and preference for the brand. Adults would be the marketers’ primary target. However, in order to leverage the preference factor, marketers need to highlight features that could appeal to children or convince parents about the acceptability/suitability of the brand for children.
2.2 Pester zone
In the pester zone, parents are the decision makers and purchasers but children have very strong influencing power. They could even be the initiators in some cases. The products and services covered in this zone could be for children or for family consumption, where parents are less involved and are not the sole users, and where financial risk is low (Jensen, 1995).
Pester power has a strong role to play in this zone. Bargaining and persuasion are employed as children grow older, and demands for products turn into discussions and compromises between parents and children (Rust, 1993; Palan and Wilkes, 1997). The Pester zone will include the following:
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B Products and services in which children have a high interest and moderate to high influence. This would include expensive items for self consumption like watches, video games, apparel, etc as well as not so expensive items which interest the child, but are perceived as frivolous or undesirable by parents. For example: tattoos, superhero costumes, toy guns, etc. In this zone the decision and purchase is made by the parents but is a result of pestering by the child. Parents may make the purchase even if they themselves have insufficient knowledge or are unfavorable towards it.
B Products and services in which children could have moderate interest and moderate influence. This would include products for family consumption like consumer durables, technology products, soap, toothpaste, choice of TV channels and programs, trips to cinema halls/restaurants, etc. Children have not been observed to have a large impact on instrumental decisions such as how much to spend, but rather play a role while making expressive decisions such as color, model, brand, shape, and time of purchase (Belch et al.
, 1985; Jenkins, 1979; Szybillo and Sosanie, 1977; Kaur, 2003; Kaur and Singh, 2004;
Verma, 1982; Darley and Lim, 1986; Sen Gupta and Verma, 2000; Singh, 1992; Kaur and
Singh, 2003; Synovate, 2004, cited by Kaur and Singh, 2006).
Some of the product categories included in the pester zone could also be placed in the preference zone or the purchase zone. Age of the child and influence of the child in a particular family will determine the brand/category’s exact position. As it is, influence of children increases with age (Atkin, 1978; Darley and Lim, 1986). Products and services for which children have low interest but where they could exert high influence will normally lie in the preference zone but could enter the pester zone if marketers work to increase their interest level and involvement.
In the pester zone marketers need to primarily create pull among children for their brand.
Marketers could talk only to children or to both children and adults. If the marketer is addressing only the children then they may also need to ensure that parents can access enough information to be assured that the brand/product is not harmful to the child.
2.3 Purchase zone
In the purchase zone, parents may be the purchasers while children are the decision makers or co-decision makers. In some cases children may be the purchasers as well. While the influence was indirect in the preference zone, direct and persistent in the pester zone, it is strongest in the purchase zone because here children play decision-making and/or purchasing roles rather than merely an influencing role. This zone will include the following:
B Products and services which are for children’s individual consumption and which children can purchase directly with their pocket money. In such products, children will have high interest as well as influence. In fact the decision on what to buy and when to buy will be solely the child’s subject to certain guidelines by the parents. These will typically be low value products like candy, soft drinks, small toys etc. For older children with higher pocket money the list could include items like accessories, music CDs, gift items, movie tickets, etc.
B Products and services for which the purse strings are still with the parents but children are the decision makers or co-decision makers. These include choice of family holiday destinations and restaurants (Gram, 2007), grooming products, children’s apparel, etc.
For many of these categories the parents may be the budgeters and the children the decision makers for the brand.
In the purchase zone, children are the primary target audience as well as the target market for children’s products which can be purchased with their pocket money. Marketers need to ensure that their product/service offering as well as the communication appeals to them. The focus of marketing efforts should be on moving the children from interest to desire and conviction. As far as parents/adults are concerned marketers will do well to create awareness and liking but at the very least they should ensure that there is no negative perception among parents.
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For product categories in which children are co-decision makers, marketers will need to address both parents and children highlighting product characteristics and value as well as creating excitement with creative themes and elements that attract them.
In lifestyle products, often the sub-category and budget may be decided by the parents with the brand choice left to children. Sometimes even the sub category and budget may be a result of joint decision. Therefore marketers in this category can well leverage the purchase zone. For instance, many kidswear brands, talk unapologetically straight to the child in their brand communication. Brands in this category are also known to undertake collaborative marketing programs with schools to engage with the children (Lifestyle Lounge, 2008).
While children consult parents and are important allies for marketers, influences like friends, television and magazines, in addition to brand name and price, play a greater role in the child’s purchase decision process (Moschis and Moore, 1979; Key Note Publications, 2001).
Therefore, marketers’ plans for the purchase zone should look at establishing a positive connect with parents and leveraging mass media as well as peer influence.
As highlighted earlier, the focus and direction of marketing efforts targeting children would depend on the level of interest and influence exhibited by the children for a particular brand/category. The stage of hierarchy of effects at which children are targeted would vary in each of the zones and the strategic focus on children versus adults would also vary.
The preference-pester-purchase (PPP) planning framework, postulates what should be the focus of marketing strategy in each of three zones of influence (Figure 2).
In the preference zone, marketers need to address parents but have to keep in mind appeal for children. Focus is on convincing parents and at the same time ensuring some level of likeability or at least acceptability for children. Building preference and conviction with parents also becomes easier, if benefits for children are highlighted.
Figure 2 PPP planning framework: focus of marketing strategies directed at children
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Marketing examples in this zone include school level computer education programs started by software/IT companies to build awareness and desired associations among children. Products like antiseptic solutions and nutritional supplements have frequently cited benefits like gentleness and good taste respectively, to highlight acceptability to children.
In the pester zone, where interest levels are high, marketers need to tap into the pester power by building desire for their brand and encouraging consumption. Emphasis is on building desired associations and establishing an emotional connect with the children. In the lower part of the pester zone where interest is relatively low, marketers need to build pester power by increasing interest and involvement of children in their brand/category. In this zone, marketers definitely need to address children through some marketing activities either independent to or in conjunction with activities targeted at parents. Marketing activities targeted at parents will aim to create some level of awareness, and if possible, liking, for the brand.
Harry Porter is one example where the ability of the brand (a children’s book), to create excitement among both children and parents the world over, was a critical reason for its success. McDonalds’s Happy Meals has become a success, based purely on the nag factor, where the main attraction is the collectible toys range of which the kids get one with every meal. Leveraging popular cartoon or movie characters is also a useful marketing technique in the Pester zone.
For many products, marketers have launched kids’ versions as well. Pizza chains have special meals for kids keeping in mind their small appetite and need for variety while toothpastes have kids versions with special flavors and cartoon characters.
In the purchase zone, focus is on becoming the brand of choice. Marketers need to come up with exciting brand building activities, promotions and incentives that can drive conviction and purchase in children. In product categories where children are the sole deciders and purchasers, marketers can focus all efforts on children while ensuring there are no negative perceptions for their brands in the parents minds. In product categories where children are co-decision makers, marketers need to cover both parents and children through their marketing programs. Focus should be to provide information and highlight the value proposition as well as create excitement around their brand.
When communication is aimed at young children, brand appeals need to offer new characters, bonus offers, movie tie-ins and premiums (Dalmeny, 2003). Emphasis should be on associating the product with fun and happiness, rather than on providing factual product-related information (Seiter, 1993). Children are also expected to be more influenced by promotional activities than adults (Young, 2003).
In case of restaurants, often advertising and positioning are primarily focused on adults, while many promos and theme based events are added for attracting children.
Cinema halls also design special promotions, F&B ‘‘combo’’ packs and movie merchandise for children (Bannerjee et al.
, 2008). Health drinks usually target children in their role as co-decision makers, through brand engagement activities like sports competitions and quiz contests and related promotions. At the same time these brands appeal to mothers on the health and nutrition platform.
Tweenagers today seem to be acting older much earlier and want to be treated as such
(Wiley et al.
, 2007). Hence, many marketers are now addressing them as independent individuals and this is reflected in their communication strategies. Personal care and beauty products often use the ‘‘cool’’ quotient or ‘‘admiration by peers’’ as a lever to become the brand of choice. For products like video games, word of mouth and internet based campaigns targeting children are very successful. Marketing efforts using blogs and websites like YouTube, leverage peer advocacy leading to greater acceptance and credibility.
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This paper has tried to present an integrated perspective incorporating both interest and influence levels of children and used this as a basis to develop a conceptual framework for marketing to children. The PPP planning framework can be used by marketers worldwide as an effective planning tool. By identifying which zone is the most applicable for their brand, marketers can tailor their strategies to create maximum impact.
The limitation of this paper is that the framework is as yet at the conceptual stage. The next step would be to collate empirical evidence supporting its basic premise and applicability.
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Ruppal Walia Sharma is studying for a PhD from Birla Institute of Science and Technology
(BITS), Pilani, India. Ruppal Walia Sharma is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: ruppalws@yahoo.co.in
Pinaki Dasgupta is an Associate Professor in Marketing Area, at the Indian Institute of
Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi, India.
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