Chapter 1 Case study
Value-savvy kids go shopping!
Janine Williams
Victoria University of Wellington
Source: Kevin Britland/Alamy Stock Photo
An 11-year-old boy arrives at the park on a Saturday morning for footy; he points out a player
in the opposing team and says: ‘He must be really good, mum, he’s wearing the new Nike
Hypervenom boots, the ones I’m saving up for!’ What do children value when they go
shopping? Why are some products and brands favoured over others and does this change as
they get older?
Value has been largely studied with adults and is found to comprise the benefits a consumer
perceives they get, as well as what they have to give up, the perceived costs.1 Children are a
unique consumer group: they are learning to be consumers through the process of consumer
socialisation, and psychological research demonstrates that their conceptual understanding
is changing.2,3 Research on children’s consumer behaviour finds major changes in their ability
and thinking as they grow. They are increasingly able to think about more than one aspect of
a product and to take others’ perspectives into account in their decision making. Children also
change from relying on what we call concrete attributes to incorporate what we call abstract
concepts in their decisions and this is reflected in their understanding of brands.4 These
concrete attributes are things like colour and size, which can be directly experienced, whereas
abstract concepts are those that are intangible and unable to be directly experienced via the
senses. Examples of abstract concepts are aspects like quality or sophistication. Concrete
attributes are often used to signal abstract concepts.
Given that evidence suggests that most children have shopped by the time they are eight
years old5 and that this age limit is getting younger as the internet facilitates their ability to
do so,6 we asked children exactly what they consider when thinking about value while
shopping.7
A developing concept of value
Children indicated that they shop from a limited variety of categories. They purchase toys and
food at younger ages, but the variety gets broader as they age incorporating such categories
as clothing, footwear, books, computer games and phones. Thinking about these categories
it is apparent that their purchasing is mainly about wants rather than needs, with adults
usually catering to their lower-level needs in developed economies.
To begin with, the focus is on the benefits they will gain, but children discuss being concerned
with money once they gain experience purchasing. Just like adults, they consider benefits and
costs when they shop, but exactly what these benefits are and the ways in which they
consider them changes as they grow older. Emotional, social and functional benefits are
paramount, while novelty benefits are salient for certain products that are new or where
variety creates interest. Costs children consider are mainly financial or product-performance
related. As children develop they are able to consider a greater number of benefits and costs
and their value perceptions become increasingly complex. One of the most important benefits
for children is emotional.
Is it all about emotion?
‘If I love it, I’ll buy it!’ The immediate emotional response to the sensory aspects of a product
such as its beauty or style are paramount for children and found to contribute to perceived
value for children of all ages. Football boots that ‘look cool’ will make a child ‘feel happy’ and
this source of value prevails over other benefits at young ages. While emotional value is a key
value perceived in purchases, it is usually not considered in isolation.
How about what it is supposed to do?
Children are usually also concerned with what products can do! For toys, attributes like the
complexity or moving parts, and for clothes the material or features such as adjustability
might be considered. They consider the amount of use they will get and this extends to the
duration of this use as they get older. Quality emerges as children gain experience shopping,
with nine-year-olds beginning to mention quality aspects of durable goods, such as whether
it will last or break straight away. As children grow older this becomes a common
consideration along with the fit for clothing and shoes and how well the product is made.
And will I fit in and is it reflective of who I am?
The social value of products is an important value consideration. If children can use the
product with others or it increases their social acceptability, it enhances the value. If they can
show their new football boots to their friends and they will probably be impressed, this will
contribute to their social value. If their new boots allow them to play with others who are
good footballers, then this social acceptance will contribute value. Until around 10 years of
age, these are the predominant social considerations. By 11 years of age children have a more
nuanced understanding of the ability of products to enhance their social self-image and
reflect who they are. This reveals an understanding of the symbolic nature of products.
The boy arriving at footy and observing the boots of his opponent assesses the opponent’s
ability on the basis of the quality of his boots. This assessment reveals a rudimentary
understanding of the social symbolic meaning of goods and his desire to also own a pair
reflects the social symbolic value these boots are considered to confer.
Am I just curious?
Some products such as new flavours or products have value because of their novelty or the
curiosity they satisfy and children recognise this newness contributing value.
Novelty/curiosity value is often category specific and is associated with entertainment and
food purchases.
What about costs?
Finally, children consider the monetary sacrifice and risks involved in their purchase. Very
young children simply think about price in terms of affordability, making them vulnerable to
unethical pricing practices. As they get older they consider price magnitude and can compare
prices more accurately. They develop an understanding of what certain benefits are ‘worth’
in monetary terms. They also consider the financial and performance risks.
Despite their increasingly savvy value perceptions, the benefits can far outweigh the costs,
especially if children have the money. The children in this study received money in many
ways—gifts, pocket money or as payment for chores—yet their ability to relate the monetary
price in quantitative terms to the benefits they perceived reflected a naïve level of
understanding. Hence an 11-year-old boy may be willing to pay around $240 for the latest
Nike football boots. These are boots he loves, believes will help him kick goals and will impress
his friends, and he can’t wait to wear them to the opening match to show what kind of
footballer he really is!
Questions
1. What aspects of consumer perceived value is shared between adults and children?
2. Why do children perceive value differently from adults? Why does this change as
children get older?
3. Specifically consider the way children incorporate the monetary price in their value
perceptions and how this changes as they grow older. How would these
developmentally linked changes affect their vulnerability?
4. What characteristic purchasing behaviour of children would suggest that curiosity
value was important to them?
5. Thinking about the 11-year-old boy in the example, discuss the value he perceives in
the Nike football boots.
Notes
1. VA Zeithaml, ‘Consumer perceptions of price, quality, and value: a means-end model
and synthesis of evidence’, Journal of Marketing, 1988, 52(3): 2–22.
2. DR John, ‘Consumer socialization of children: a retrospective look at twenty-five years
of research’, Journal of Consumer Research, 1999, 26(3): 183–213.
3. DR John, ‘The stages of consumer socialisation’. In CT Haugtvedt (ed.), Handbook of
consumer psychology, New York: Psychology Press, Taylor & Francis Group, 2008.
4. GB Achenreiner & DR John, ‘The meaning of brand names to children: a
developmental investigation’, Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2003, 13(3): 205–19.
5. ‘Age of the app: children spending online before getting money lessons at school’
<www.bba.org.uk/news/press-releases/age-of-the-app-children-spending-onlinebefore-getting-money-lessons-at-school/#.WelNKaYUmUk> accessed 16 October
2017.
6. P Thaichon, ‘Consumer socialization process: the role of age in children’s online
shopping behavior’, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 2017, 34: 38–47.
7. J Williams, N Ashill & P Thirkell, ‘How is value perceived by children?’, Journal of
Business Research, 2016, 69(12): 5875–885.