Effects of social variables on urban children’s consumption attitude and behavior intentions Samsinar Md. Sidin and Mohd K. Abdul Rahman Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia Md. Zabid Abdul Rashid Universiti Tun Abdul Razak, Selangor, Malaysia, and Md. Nor Othman and Ainul Z. Abu Bakar Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of age, gender and city of dwelling on children’s consumption attitude and behavior intentions. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 300 children were interviewed in four different cities in Malaysia. Samples were selected using purposive sampling. Findings – Findings indicated that age and city of dwelling were significant influence on children’s consumption attitude and behavior intentions. Research limitations/implications – This study has looked at consumer behavior of the younger members of Malaysia households whereby only Malaysian children between the ages of nine and fourteen years old have been examined, the study however did not consider the teenagers. Practical implications – These findings would help increase marketers’ understanding of family decision-making process. By understanding the decision framework and the various influencing factors affecting children’s consumer attitude and choice, marketers will be able to plan and execute effective marketing strategies to maximize sales for selected children’s products in Malaysia. Originality/value – This research provides meaningful information on children consumption attitude and behavior intentions. Keywords Children (age groups), Consumer behaviour, Socialization Paper type Research paper An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this article. Introduction Marketers and consumer researchers have ignored children as a consumer segment because of their little disposable income. As children are consumers, it is certainly reasonable to inquire about their shopping behaviors, such as the motivations underlying where they shop and what they buy. Children’s unique shopping patterns are developed and affected by socialization agents, which include family, peers, media, and schools (Moschis, 1981; Ozgen, 2003). These influences are critical consumer socialization agents among children and adolescents, and may often impact whether or not the young will buy certain products or brands. Young consumers change their shopping patterns depending on the relative presence or absence of interfamily communication about consumption matter and adolescents’ media use. Also, youthful consumption patterns influence consumer behavior as adults. Consumer socialization of children was also found to be associated with demographic variables, especially age. Children’s learning of consumer behavior pattern has been of interest to researchers since the early 1960s when the first study of the development of consumer behavior patterns among children was published in 1964 (McNeal, 1964). Subsequently, children began to be recognized as a market (Ward et al., 1977). Only recently have marketers begun to consider children as a segmentable market with discretionary income (Rose et al., 2002; Wilson and Woods, 2004; Ozgen, 2003; Chan, 2005; Shoham and Dalakas, 2005). Many factors interplay to affect children’s consumer decision- making that can directly influence their purchase behavior and family has been identified as one of the most influential factors affecting children’s related decisions and behavior, operating at the levels of parent modeling and parent-child interaction. Past research has found that children’s involvement in family consumer decision-making varies with product type, decision stages, and product sub-decision (e.g. Ahuja, 1993; Belch et al., 1985; Foxman and Tansuhaj, 1988). Overall, children appear to have significant influence in product decisions for which they are the primary consumer. This is particularly true when the product involves low financial costs. Their involvement is greatest in the need recognition stage and declines significantly by the decision stage. This is especially true for major products related to children (Beatty and Talpade, 1994). Children’s involvement is lowest in the sub-decisions regarding make, model, and brand choices. Concept oriented communication has also been found to increase purchase influence of children (Rose et al., 2002). Gender has also been shown to be a distinguishing factor for children between the ages of 5 and 18 as consumers. Halling The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0736-3761.htm Journal of Consumer Marketing 25/1 (2008) 7–15 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 0736-3761] [DOI 10.1108/07363760810845363] 7