Influence of children in family decision-making – An emperical study on selected durable and non durable goods

Most researchers in the area of family decision-making have focused mainly on husband-wife decision-making and have excluded or ignored the role of children. The last decade has witnessed a substantial change in the family role structure and family decision-making which is, in turn, reflected in the marketplace. The influence of children in family decision-making has been a much too neglected subject of inquiry. Children enjoy greater discretion not only in making routine consumption decisions but also in influencing their parents to buy other products desired by them. The amount of influence exerted by children varies by product category and stage of the decision making process. For certain products they are instrumental in initiating a purchase, while for others, they make the final selections themselves. This study has made an attempt to find the role of children in family purchase decision, in case of selected products such as Household furniture, automobiles, personal computer, Household appliances, Breakfast cereals and in vacation decisions. In total 230 families who have children aged between 10 to 15 in Hyderabad were selected for the study. A convenient sampling method was adopted to select the samples. With the prior consent of the family members i.e. wife and husband interview was conducted in their respective houses. In total 200 families have given their opinion. It concludes that children though not much but exhibits a considerable amount of influence in the house hold purchases and with the increase in their age so does their influence increases.