Factors Influencing Children’s Preferences of Different Stores

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Raising purchasing power of children through the last decades brought to light this segment as yet another important consumers market. The importance of this market has been recognized both in marketing theory and practice. Research conducted by Sutherland and Thompson in 2001 revealed that children’s consumption has doubled in the 60ies, the 70ies and the 80ies, while in the 90ies it has even tripled. Some authors estimate that primary market in the USA accounted for $9 billion in 1989 and for $20 billion ten years later (McNeal 1992b, Davidson 1998).

According to McNeal (1992a) kids market is usually divided into three broad groups: (1) Primary market (2) Market of influencers and (3) Future market. While the above data mostly account for kids’ primary market, it should be noted that as a market of influencers it is even more significant. Namely, in 1992 this market was estimated at $132 billion (Power et al. 1991, Step 1993) and at the beginning of the century it accounted for $300 billion (Rosenberg, 2000), affecting family purchases in 62 product categories (McNeal 1992b).

In addition to undisputable growth in economic power of children it is important to understand their role in consumption has also changed. According to McNeal (1999) and Siegel, Coffey and Livingston (2001), the main shifts in family structure and therefore, in children’s socialization are following: (1) families becoming smaller; (2) increasing number of single parents; (3) rise in families’ discretionary income; (4) both parents work long office hours; (5) greater number of children live in stepfamilies; (6) giving children everything what they want in an effort to make up for time not spent with them. Consequently, kids are becoming more independent a...

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