Family purchase decision making: exploring child influence behaviour

Children have long been acknowledged as playing an important role within family purchase decisions, with their ability to directly and indirectly influence decisions. The research discussed in this paper arose from an identified opportunity to develop knowledge surrounding the important role that children play within family purchasing by including them as direct research respondents. The methods adopted included an in-depth interview with parents and children separately, and the completion of a decision mapping tool followed by a family interview. The findings address a specific and important aspect of the data, namely the influence behaviour adopted by children during high-involvement family purchase decisions. The children in all of the respondent families were found to have direct influence over the purchases discussed. They demonstrated a range of sophisticated influence behaviours that included justifying and highlighting the benefits of purchases, forming coalitions, compromising and remaining persistent. These behaviours were underpinned and enhanced by the use of product-related knowledge and information, which was viewed positively and encouraged by parents.