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1 – 10 of over 27000Over the past ten years, geographers have contributed to the growing body of interdisciplinary research developing new ways of undertaking research with children. Traditional…
Abstract
Over the past ten years, geographers have contributed to the growing body of interdisciplinary research developing new ways of undertaking research with children. Traditional research methods which do not directly involve working with children, such as the large scale observation of children, have been criticised for carrying out research on rather than with children. Instead, drawing upon the increasingly important children’s rights movement, researchers have been developing inclusive and participatory children centred methodologies, which place the voices of children, as social actors, at the centre of the research process. In this paper, we draw upon two ongoing postgraduate geographical research projects with children to reflect upon our own experiences of adopting children centred research methodologies. We also critically evaluate our own use of different innovative children centred research techniques, such as photographs, diaries, in‐depth interviews and surveys.We also highlight the importance of considering the impact of the spaces in which we conduct our research.
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Juan Francisco Dávila and Mònica Casabayó
This paper aims to answer two questions: According to research carried out in the last decades, what are the factors that influence materialism in children? And, can these factors…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to answer two questions: According to research carried out in the last decades, what are the factors that influence materialism in children? And, can these factors be classified in a comprehensive conceptual framework?
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reviews the most cited articles on the topic published in academic journals during the last 35 years, as well as a selection of articles in specific journals published during the last ten years.
Findings
A conceptual framework is provided which classifies the factors in three groups: individual factors, semi-contextual factors (family related) and contextual factors (external influences).
Practical implications
The classification helps to understand how the factors relate to each other, and is intended to be a tool for parents, educators and policy makers willing to understand how to deal effectively with materialism in children.
Originality/value
As far as is known, this paper is the first attempt to classify the factors that influence materialism in children in a conceptual framework.
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Stacey Menzel Baker, Susan Schultz Kleine and Heather E. Bowen
This paper explores the symbolic meanings that children of elementary school age attach to souvenirs from different types of vacation destinations. Data from interviews and…
Abstract
This paper explores the symbolic meanings that children of elementary school age attach to souvenirs from different types of vacation destinations. Data from interviews and pictorial projectives illustrate the meaning of souvenirs for children, including how children skillfully use souvenirs in their everyday lives and how they interpret souvenirs as symbols of people, places, and experiences. More specifically, the interview data reveal the meanings attached to souvenirs which are possessed, including how souvenirs are clearly distinguished from other objects which are possessed and how they are used for their contemplation and action value, for their communicative properties, and to provide continuity across time and place. In addition, the data from pictorial projectives reveal the latent motives of souvenir acquisition as well as how different types of places lead to different types of souvenir choices. Thus, the paper demonstrates the many layers of meaning associated with souvenirs in both acquisition and consumption processes and provides evidence that the meanings between children, places, and objects are inextricably linked.
– This article aims to explore, and compare, the perceived association between economic resources and peer relationships among two age groups of Swedish tweens.
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to explore, and compare, the perceived association between economic resources and peer relationships among two age groups of Swedish tweens.
Design/methodology/approach
The data consist of 101 drawings by Swedish tweens, aged nine, and aged 12. The children were asked if and how children can attract friends through the use of money.
Findings
Most children did perceive economic resources as a means to attract friends. However, both the kind of items that were found in the drawings, and the children's perceptions of how to use the items, were relatively different between children aged nine and children aged 12.
Research limitations/implications
Because of the small sample size, it is not possible to generalize results obtained in the current study to a population of children in general.
Practical implications
If children believe that they can use material goods to become more popular and accepted, they may be highly vulnerable to the internalisation of materialistic values. In order to more deeply understand the meaning of consumption in children's peer relationships, there is a need to gain more knowledge of the extent to which children themselves perceive money as a means of attracting friends.
Originality/value
Previous research indicates that material possessions are important for children in order to gain popularity among peers. However, few studies have tried to investigate if and how children perceive economic resources as a means to attract friends, in different age groups.
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Anna R. McAlister and Danielle Bargh
The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) proposes two routes to persuasion – the central route (persuasion occurs via information) and the peripheral route (persuasion occurs via…
Abstract
Purpose
The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) proposes two routes to persuasion – the central route (persuasion occurs via information) and the peripheral route (persuasion occurs via visual cues, attractive actors and other source characteristics). The central route is typically used for high-involvement decisions and the peripheral route is used in low involvement situations. The ELM has received extensive support when tested with adults; however, its ability to explain young children’s responses to persuasive communications has not been fully tested. Hence, the purpose of this research is to assess whether the standard tenets of the ELM apply to children’s processing of persuasive messages.
Design/methodology/approach
This study involved 84 preschool children, ages three to six. It used a 2 (involvement) × 2 (argument strength) × 2 (source attractiveness) design to test children’s responsiveness to advertisements for a novel breakfast cereal.
Findings
The findings suggest that children are naturally inclined to be persuaded by advertising messages, regardless of their level of involvement. It is the weak arguments and weak peripheral cues that dissuade children who are highly involved with a message.
Originality/value
This research makes an original contribution to the existing literature by testing the extent to which the ELM applies to children’s processing of persuasive advertisements. The finding that weak peripherals dissuade children from believing an ad’s message has strong implications for advertising practitioners.
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Kristien Daems, Ingrid Moons and Patrick De Pelsmacker
This study aims to explore which media 9- and 10-year-old children and 12- and 13-year-old teenagers encounter and which campaign elements (media, spokesperson, appeal and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore which media 9- and 10-year-old children and 12- and 13-year-old teenagers encounter and which campaign elements (media, spokesperson, appeal and message) are most appreciated by these target groups in awareness campaigns to raise their advertising literacy.
Design/methodology/approach
The study applies a methodology that is commonly used in design sciences to the field of advertising. Co-creation workshops with minors and professionals are used for the development of awareness campaign stimuli. In the first study, four co-creation workshops with 19 children (11 girls and 8 boys) of the fourth grade and four co-creation workshops with 16 teenagers (10 girls and 6 boys) of the seventh grade were organised. In the second study, nine professionals who work for and/or with minors or have experience in product design or marketing participated in a co-creation workshop.
Findings
Children are best approached though traditional media, whereas social media are used best to reach teenagers. Children prefer cartoons, whereas the results for the most appealing spokesperson in teenagers are mixed. Humoristic campaigns with a short message are preferred by both target groups.
Research limitations/implications
The results offer implications for practice and public policy with respect to awareness campaign building and social media marketing campaigns targeted at children and teenagers. To further corroborate the findings of this study, more pupils from different schools and different age groups should be studied. Moreover, the method used in this study can be applied in future research on awareness campaigns aimed at minors for other causes.
Originality/value
The methodological contribution of the study is the application of co-creation tools and techniques on the development of advertising campaigns for minors.
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Joseph Z. Wisenblit, Randi Priluck and Stephen F. Pirog
This study aims to examine parental styles based on levels of nurturing and authoritarianism to determine mothers' awareness of children's media exposure, likelihood of setting…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine parental styles based on levels of nurturing and authoritarianism to determine mothers' awareness of children's media exposure, likelihood of setting media and consumption limits and communications with children about commercial messages.
Design/methodology/approach
The research design included a survey aimed at mothers of children ages four‐eight. The researchers collected demographic, behavioral and consumption information regarding the mother's youngest child.
Findings
The results suggest that nurturing mothers are more aware of advertising aimed at children and talk more to children regarding advertising and consumption than authoritarian mothers. Mothers who are nurturing and not authoritarian are more likely to yield to requests and favor more regulation than other parents.
Research limitations/implications
The research is based on a convenience sample of mothers who were willing to provide confidential personal information about their children.
Practical implications
From a marketer's perspective, nurturing mothers represent a barrier to reaching children with persuasive messages. Such mothers not only limit access, but train children to be skeptical of advertising. Marketers who deal honestly with customers will be more successful in appealing to nurturing mothers and their market‐savvy children.
Social implications
For public policy makers, distinctions in parental style can be useful in developing and promoting policy regulating food marketing practices. Nurturing mothers are more supportive of regulation than are authoritarian mothers, and efforts to promote such regulation should target nurturing mothers. The factors that influence mothers to intervene and limit children's media and consumption behavior also affect attitudes toward regulation of food‐related advertising.
Originality/value
The paper is the first to examine mothers' parental styles and attitudes toward regulation and tie together attitudes toward consumption and policy with the same sample.
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Maria Kümpel Nørgaard, Karen Bruns, Pia Haudrup Christensen and Miguel Romero Mikkelsen
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to studies of family decision making during food buying. In particular a theoretical framework is proposed for structuring future…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to studies of family decision making during food buying. In particular a theoretical framework is proposed for structuring future studies of family decision making that include children's influence and participation at specific stages of the process.
Design/methodology/approach
The conceptual framework is developed on the basis of earlier theoretical work focused on family shopping as well as an ethnographic study of parents and children. The framework was refined after testing in a survey with 451 Danish families with children aged ten to 13 using questionnaires for both children and parents.
Findings
Family food decision making is often a joint activity, and children's active participation, among other things, determines the influence they gain. Parents and children do not always agree on how much influence children have in the various stages of the process, indicating the importance of listening to both parties in research into the family dynamics and processes involved in everyday food buying.
Research limitations/implications
Future research should further extend the knowledge about the areas where children have influence, about the techniques used by children to achieve influence, and more about those factors that explain when they gain influence.
Practical implications
Marketers can benefit from the findings when promoting food products to adults as well as to children. Specifically, the findings suggest that children have most influence on decisions regarding easily prepared meals.
Originality/value
This mixed‐method approach provides interesting new results, and the main findings emphasise the importance of looking at food decision making as a joint activity where children participate actively and gain influence.
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Zsuzsa Deli-Gray, Tamás Matura and Lászlo Árva
The purpose of this paper is to explore the theoretical background of the involvement and the entertainment of children of four to seven years of age in the purchase process at…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the theoretical background of the involvement and the entertainment of children of four to seven years of age in the purchase process at Hungarian retail stores. It also examines the practice of local and foreign retailers in Hungary.
Design/methodology/approach
A review of literature is followed by the description of an exploratory study as well as its findings. The study contained two distinct phases: first 160 retail stores which were selling goods to children (exclusively or together with products for adults) were randomly selected and observed, and then 120 face-to-face or mini group interviews were made with Hungarian children.
Findings
At the moment retail store managers in Hungary do not recognise that children can, and often do affect the length of time their parents spend in retail stores and that children also exert influence on their parents’ purchase decisions and behaviour. Retail store managers rarely provide any entertainment for children and involve them in the shopping experience and even when they do, they fail to do it in the right way. Also, store personnel do not have the right mentality towards children. The study also reveals that children do not wish to have sophisticated or expensive games during the purchase process, but instead would like to be actively involved in the shopping experience by completing little “missions” or “challenges”.
Research limitations/implications
On the basis of the research results it becomes clear that creatively designed involvement and entertainment of children in retail stores would encourage families to spend more time spent in retail stores and may serve to increased sales. It would however presume collaboration between retail stores and the producers of toys and creative accessories.
Originality/value
The paper aims to address the rarely and sporadically analysed question of how retail managers should entertain and involve young children in the process of shopping. The exploratory study sheds light on the big gap between what is offered by the retail management and what is expected by the young children during shopping in Hungary. It also points to the apparent lack of attention and awareness amongst retailers concerning the influence that children have on parents during the shopping process.
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Steven Holiday, Mary S. Norman, R. Glenn Cummins, Terri N. Hernandez, Derrick Holland and Eric E. Rasmussen
This study aims to examine factors, beyond child requests, that influence parents’ perceptions of the most important gifts to give their children by assessing the influence of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine factors, beyond child requests, that influence parents’ perceptions of the most important gifts to give their children by assessing the influence of television advertising on children’s programming.
Design/methodology/approach
Using agenda-setting as a theoretical and methodological template, a content analysis of 7,860 commercials in children’s programming was compared using a questionnaire to 143 parents of 240 children to test the transfer of salience between advertising and parents’ perceptions. The study also examined the role of child purchase requests in this relationship.
Findings
The product categories that most prevalently advertised on children’s television had a significant relationship with the product categories that parents perceived to be the most important to give their children as gifts. Furthermore, the results indicate that this relationship was not contingent upon parental advertising mediation or child product requests.
Research limitations/implications
The results are limited to a single broadcast market during the Christmas season. Strategically, the research suggests that advertising through children’s television programming may be an effective way to directly inform parents’ gift-giving consideration sets, and this target and outlet should be strategically evaluated in subsequent campaign decisions about the marketing mix.
Originality/value
The findings add new insights to the gift-giving literature, indicating that advertising in children’s programming may be an alternative direct influence on parents’ perceptions. This research also extends research on advertising agenda setting into the new context of commercial advertising of consumer products.
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