Parents' perception of teen's influence on family purchase decisions: A study of cultural assimilation

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the cultural assimilation influence on family purchase decision making of Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand, and in Chinese families living in China.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected from 200 respondents. In total, 100 families have been chosen from each of these countries. The data were collected by the snowball sampling method across 11 different products and four decision-making stages.

Findings

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.

Research limitations/implications

The research used a sample size of only 100 respondents from each country. Furthermore, it used snowball sampling and mid-income group families only.

Practical implications

These findings help marketers to gain a better understanding of the influence of cultural assimilation, and use specific marketing communication and promotion strategies.

Originality/value

The paper empirically demonstrates that Chinese parents living in China and Chinese immigrant parents living in New Zealand perceive their children's involvement in family purchase decision differently. Chinese immigrant parents perceive that their children are becoming assimilated with New Zealand culture. This is the first ever study done on Chinese Immigrant families living in New Zealand and Chinese families living in China by collecting and using the cross-culture data from New Zealand and China.

Citation

S. Shergill, G., Sekhon, H. and Zhao, M. (2013), "Parents' perception of teen's influence on family purchase decisions: A study of cultural assimilation", Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 162-177. https://doi.org/10.1108/13555851311290993