The Nag Factor

The “Nag Factor” is the tendency of children, who are bombarded with marketers' messages, to unrelentingly request advertised items. Using quantitative and qualitative methodologies, we interviewed 64 mothers of children ages 3 to 5 years. All the participating mothers indicated that their young children engaged in some form of nagging. While overall media use was not associated with nagging, one's familiarity with commercial television characters was significantly associated with overall and specific types of nagging. Mothers described packaging, characters, and commercials as the three main forces compelling their children to nag. Ten strategies were offered as ways to deal with children's nagging; these fell on two continua from child- to parent-controlled and reactive to proactive strategies. This work scientifically examines the Nag Factor and offers a platform from which to propose future research and policy recommendations to lessen children's repeated requests for advertised items.