The nature and development of children’s consumer competence: evidence from the aisles

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to understand the nature of children’s consumer competence and the role that parents play in its development.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 15 parent/children dyads provided a novel and participatory approach. Children were accompanied to their local supermarket to conduct a grocery shop for their families and asked to explain the reasons for each consumption choice. Parents were interviewed separately to discuss their role in the development of their children’s consumer competence. Both sets of responses were analysed thematically to identify commonalities.

Findings

The research identified four themes comprising children’s consumer competence: decision-making; advertising, brands and promotion; financial awareness and shopping knowledge. The themes are the result of an intentional process of parental socialization that enable children to move from simple to complex and contingent shopping scripts as an essential stage in the development of their consumer competence.

Research limitations/implications

Although the study comprised a mixed sample of participants, its small size prevents extrapolation of the results to inform wider conclusions. It should also be noted that the influence of social desirability bias needs to be acknowledged.

Originality/value

Results show that children are highly aware of the competing demands of individual and family needs and able to make the consumption decisions necessary to meet them. These decisions are underpinned by parental values and attitudes that are explicit in the socialization of their children’s consumption. The authors define children’s consumption competence as the ability to make informed, independent, contingent, complex and values-based consumption decisions.

Citation

Watkins, L. and Aitken, R. (2024), "The nature and development of children’s consumer competence: evidence from the aisles", Young Consumers, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/YC-05-2024-2080