A cross‐national study on children's purchasing behavior and parental response

Children use various influencing tactics to persuade the parents to comply with their requests. Parents' responses vary from outright denial to total acceptance. A sample of 255 parents selected from the Fiji Islands, Tonga and the Cook Islands were interviewed using a structured questionnaire to measure the effects of children's influence on the parental decision making process. This preliminary investigation suggests that the children in the Pacific Islands have not moved from parent‐centered family environment to the modern, mostly Western, child‐centered family environment. The second part of the research was designed to identify the demonstrated influence tactics used by the children in the island nations. The findings indicate that the children are less demanding and more persuasive in their attempt to obtain parental approval. Details of statistical analysis of the study are given. The implications of the findings for marketing management are also discussed in the paper.