1Assistant Professor, Faculty of Management Studies, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India, Email id: rkhandelwal@amity.edu
2Associate Professor, Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management Studies & Research, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, Email id: mohdnavedkhan@gmail.com
3Dean, School of Business Studies, Sharda University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India, Email id: prof.mukeshchaturvedi@gmail.com
Online published on 10 May, 2019.
The parent's concern over child-care and health is universal truth and especially the choice of baby food worries them. The research studies on infant feeding practices conducted globally mention a strong role of reference group members. The present study tests empirically the reference group influence on parents' choice of baby food in Indian context. A survey conducted on a sample of 115 parents based in Delhi-NCR through a structured questionnaire proves that primary reference groups-family and friends plays an important role in parent's choice of baby food, particularly for nuclear families and for young parents. It is heartening to see that involvement of fathers in infant care is on the rise though their knowledge on infant feeding guidelines and baby food products is deficient.
Baby Food, Indian parents, Reference groups, Support seeking
