"GROw"ing up: tweenagers' involvement in family decision making

Abstract

Practitioners in particular have noted that kids are growing older younger (KGOY) and academic research has in parallel shown that children are becoming more involved in the final stages of purchase decisions, albeit in a limited number of product categories studied. This quantitative and qualitative study examines the relatively under-researched but increasingly important tweenager market across a number of product categories and the extent to which 10-12 year olds are involved in the final stages of purchase decision making. Further to this, the paper considers whether a liberal versus traditional approach to decisions made within the family (Gender Role Orientation) affects the degree of involvement. The findings suggest that gender role orientation (GRO) is indeed a factor in family decision making but that the relationship is far from a simple one. The authors posit why perceptions of involvement are sometimes inconsistent and why some kids may not be growing older younger (KGOY) in the way previously thought but may simply believe they are more involved in purchase decision making as a consequence of parental strategies as well as the influences of media, school and peers. The authors describe the implications for marketing practitioners and academic researchers. Key Words: