The Socialization of Young Children

Consumer socialization is a developmental process “by which young people acquire skills, knowledge, and attitudes relevant to their functioning as consumers in the marketplace” (Ward, 1974, p. 2). Drawing on appropriate academic literature, explain who, or what, is the most significant agent of consumer socialization for twenty-first century children. Make sure that you justify your position (i.e. it may be that you can identify multiple socialization agents for children, but which is the most influential in terms of their developing consumer skill-set?). Use academic literature to substantiate your position.

By Lauren Ogilvie

Word Count: 1998

“Brand loyalty is sought from the cradle” (Hill, 2011 p.351). Historically academics and practitioners haven’t been interested in the consumer behaviour of children, as they have minimal disposable income (Ward, 1974). In today’s society however we see marketers ruthlessly target this demographic (Barber, 2013), as the kids industry is identified as being increasingly lucrative.  Marketers acknowledge the importance of establishing relationships with children, as more than half the brands used in childhood continue to be used in adulthood (Percheux and Derbaix, 1999). Not only do marketers target children with the objective of gaining life-long brand loyalty, but they also work indirectly on parents through ‘pester power’, or simply to seek children out directly as consumers (Dotson and Hyatt, 2005).

This sheer level of targeting on children makes the topic of consumer socialization extremely prevalent, as media forces compete with adult caregivers in their ability to capture the attention of children and guide them accordingly (Hill, 2011). This essay will focus on parents as a socialization agent for children, whilst exploring how they must adapt to the socioeconomic changes in our environment. The traditional portrayal of parents as a domineering influence on children will first be analysed, followed by a discussion on how modern developments of family structures and the Internet have sped up the consumer socialization process in children. How this progression has enabled reverse socialization to take place will then be explored. Finally the ethics of children’s amplified consumer experience as a result of increased media exposure and online targeting will be discussed.

Ward (1974) highlighted the importance childhood experiences have in shaping our patterns of behaviour later on in life. As parents are present in these formative stages of our lives (Roedder-John, 1999) they arguably have the most influence in a child’s socialization journey and therefore are an important agent to reflect upon. Previous studies have argued that parents are “the dominant influence role until the child reaches adolescence” (Dotson and Hyatt, 2005 p. 36). This implies that younger children are heavily dependent on their parents in order to develop their consumer learning. Traditionally academics have argued that pre-adolescents progression comes from observation or imitation of their parents’ behaviours (Carlson and Grossbart, 1988). Moschis (1985) develops this by stating that young children are passive and have low power in the decision-making process. Newborne disagrees with this as he states that in our modern society children are active learners and are in fact “deeply involved in family purchases, be it their groceries or a new car” (1999 p.82). This development in children becoming more involved in household purchasing could come as a result of recent socioeconomic changes, one of which being the diminishing nuclear family.