Intergenerational influence on brand preferences
| Date | 01 March 2011 |
| Published date | 01 March 2011 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/10610421111107978 |
| Pages | 5-13 |
| Author | Maria Eugenia Perez,Dan Padgett,Willem Burgers |
| Subject Matter | Marketing |
Intergenerational influence on brand
preferences
Maria Eugenia Perez
EGADE Tecnologico de Monterrey, San Pedro Garza Garcı
´a, Mexico
Dan Padgett
College of Business, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA, and
Willem Burgers
China Europe International Business School, Pudong, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the role that elapsed time and culture may play in affecting intergenerational influence (IGI) on brand
preference. The results of an empirical study conducted in Mexico reveal that coincidence in family life-cycle stage emerges as an important factor in
determining IGI strength.
Design/methodology/approach – A total of 600 questionnaires were collected from 300 dyads of mothers/daughters. This research extends Moore
et al.
’s basic methodology and findings to the Mexican context by including daughters at different stages of their family life cycle covering a time frame
of up to 15 years out of the parents’ household.
Findings – The findings support results from previous research conducted in the USA, signaling IGI as influencing brand preferences. However, the
results diverge by demonstrating that in certain cultural contexts (e.g. Mexico), coincidence in family life-cycle may have a stronger influence on IGI
than the amount of elapsed time not living with parents.
Research limitations/implications – Understanding how IGI evolves in different cultural contexts may be applicable in the design of product and
communication strategies leading to brand preference.
Originality/value – This study contributes to the literature by providing knowledge about the factors affecting consumers’ brand preferences in
Mexico, a country sharing cultural values with an important number of nations (including Latin America) where research conducted on these issues is
scarce and where effective brand strategies need to be developed.
Keywords Brands, Influence, Culture, Mexico, Lifestyles
Paper type Research paper
An executive summary for managers and executive
readers can be found at the end of this article.
Introduction
Successful brand management across international markets
requires an understanding of how brands gain equity both
within and across markets. Brands gain equity as consumers
have positive personal experiences or are exposed to positive
brand information over time. In the optimal scenario, a brand
achieves enough positive association for a consumer to
develop a positive relationship with the brand, which leads to
brand preference and brand loyalty (e.g. Fournier, 1998).
These positive brand experiences are often passed from one
individual or generation to another (Lemon et al., 2001),
which suggests long-term brand equity is often the result of
brand preferences being transferred between consumers,
which are especially likely between parents and their children
(Olsen, 1993, 1995).
In the socialization literature, the transfer of beliefs, ideas,
and preferences (such as brand preferences) fr om one
generation to the next is referred to as intergenerational
influences or “IGI” (Moore et al., 2002). IGI has been
studied in a variety of contexts, including social influence
(Hoge et al., 1982), political effects (Niemi and Jennings,
1991), patterns of decision in the family (Davis, 1976;
Moschis, 1985; Beatty and Talpade, 1994), and consumer
behavior (Woodson et al., 1976; Bearden and Etzel, 1982;
Moore-Shay and Lutz, 1988; Childers and Rao, 1992;
Obermiller and Spangenburg, 2000), among others.
In the marketing realm, the foundation for our
understanding of IGI on consumption is based on about a
dozen key articles, with the central papers listed in Table I.
From the key articles in Table I we can summarize the
findings in two points. First, IGI does play a role in
determining brand preferences as children do pick up brand
preferences from their parents. This seems to be true across a
wide range of product categories. Second, while certain
product classes seem to be more or less susceptible to IGI, the
effects appear to erode over time as the children move out of
the parents’ house and begin more independent lives (e.g.
Woo d so n et al., 1976). Presumably, children develop
independent preferences with more experience and less
contact with their parents as they get older.
While IGI have been linked to a variety of consumer
behavior contexts, including the transfer of brand preferences
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
20/1 (2011) 5–13
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/10610421111107978]
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