Involvement, cognitive development and socialization: three antecedents of the child’s cents‐off sensitivity
| Pages | 251-266 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/10610420310485050 |
| Published date | 01 July 2003 |
| Date | 01 July 2003 |
| Author | Isabelle Muratore |
| Subject Matter | Marketing |
Involvement, cognitive
development and socialization:
three antecedents of the child's
cents-off sensitivity
Isabelle Muratore
DeÂpartement Techniques de Commercialisation,
CREGO Universite Montpellier II, BeÂziers, France
Keywords Children (age groups), Brand awareness, Marketing strategy,
Cognitive mapping, Influence
Abstract The main purpose of this article is to get a better understanding of the child's
cents-off sensitivity and his brand sensitivity in influence situations. This study, carried out
on 702 parents and 702 children, underlines the important influence of the child's product
involvementon his cents-off sensitivity andon his brand sensitivity. Moreover,this research
shows the non-linear influence of the child's cognitive development on his cents-off
sensitivity as well as the role of parents' socialization. Furthermore, it appears that the
child's cents-off sensitivity shapes his brand sensitivity and his influence strategies.
Introduction
Because of the increasing importance of the child in family purchase
decisions and the significant expansion of promotional actions geared to
children, it seems relevant to study the child's cents-off proneness. Two
points lead us to study children's cents-off sensitivity. First, children have
their own classification of the different types of deals: they distinguish
between a free gift offered with the product, a competition or sweepstake
offered with the product, more of the product for the same price and cents-off
on a product (Muratore, 1998). So cents-off deals appear to be a specific type
of information for a child. Second, it seems that more than 50 per cent of
children are cents-off sensitive when they go to a store with their parents
(Muratore, 1999). It is for these reasons that this research aims at
understanding why children, aged between seven and 11 years, are sensitive
to cents-off when they go shopping with their parents. In other words, the
purpose is to find out why a child takes cents-off into consideration. This
research has two main objectives: first, to get a better understanding of the
child's cents-off deal representation and his cognitive processing of the
``cents-off'' information and, second, to comprehend the relationships
between a child's cents-off sensitivity and other key variables related to
product and brand.
After having defined the theoretical framework and put forward the research
hypotheses, we will present the methodology and the concept
operationalisation. We shall finally analyse the results.
Theoretical framework and research hypotheses
First, we will present the different links exposed in the review of the
literature concerning adults' deal sensitivity and different variables and then
we will present the characteristics which concern children in particular.
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/1061-0421.htm
Purchase decisions
JOURNAL OF PRODUCT & BRAND MANAGEMENT, VOL. 12 NO. 4 2003, pp. 251-266, #MCB UP LIMITED, 1061-0421, DOI 10.1108/10610420310485050 251
An executive summary for
managers and executive
readers can be found at the
end of this article
The concepts
First, we will present the main concepts of the ``deal sensitivity'' reviewed in
the literature.
According to the review of the literature connected with deal proneness, deal
proneness can be defined as the consideration of the ``sales promotion''
variable by the consumer or influencer, in a given line of products.
The analysis relative to deal proneness (Froloff-Brouche, 1994; Chandon,
1997 and Lichtenstein et al., 1995, 1997a,b) brings to the fore the necessity
to take into consideration the variety of deals, that is, the different techniques
and not just the word ``deal'' which is a generic term. Indeed, as a consumer
can be sensitive, for instance to cents-off rather than free gifts, it is relevant
to speak about specific sales promotion techniques sensitivity. So, it seems
necessary to study separately children's sensitivity to the different deal
techniques.
The main authors, such as Lichtenstein et al. (1990) and Froloff-Brouche and
Ben Miled (1995) emphasise the fact that it seems difficult to study deal
sensitivity without taking into consideration product involvement and brand
sensitivity. These two concepts seem to be linked. Brand sensitivity can be
defined, according to Kapferer and Laurent (1992), as the consideration by
the consumer or influencer of the ``brand'' information in a given line of
products.
At this stage, it is possible to propose, as in the case of Froloff-Brouche and
Ben Miled (1995), a theoretical model structured around these three
variables: the child's cents-off sensitivity, the child's brand sensitivity, and
the child's product involvement. Nevertheless, explaining the child's cents-
off sensitivity only through the child's product involvement and the child's
brand sensitivity would lead us not to take into consideration the existing
differences between the adult and the child. In fact, three main characterisics
lead us to distinguish the child from the adult:
(1) Indeed, childhood is a period during which an individual structures
himself and acquires new capacities in the information process (Piaget
and Inhelder, 1966). More precisely, in agreement with Derbaix (1982)
and BreÂe (1993), the child's cognitive development is subordinated to a
double movement characterised by an increasing ability to reason on
quantitative and abstract data and a progressive decreasing of the effect
(Figure 1).
(2) Socialization, taken as the process of learning, through formal and non-
formal social interactions, favours the child's acquisition of normative
consumption behavior. This socialization process is characterized by
three main factors: parents, peers and media. Nevertheless, Carlson and
Grossbart (1988) note that between the ages of seven and 11, parents still
constitute the main factor of socialization.
Figure 1. Cognitive development
Deal proneness
A theoretical model
252 JOURNAL OF PRODUCT & BRAND MANAGEMENT, VOL. 12 NO. 4 2003
To continue reading
Request your trial