1. Journal of Consumer Behaviour
/ Consumer Behav. 6: 203-217 (2007) ..••;•• ®wiLEY
Published online in Wiley InterScience ii'^
(www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/cb.215 ^«-
Parental consumer learning or
'keeping up with the children'
Karin M. Ekstrom*
Centerfor Consumer Science, School of Business, Economics and Law, Goteborg University, Sweden
• Children are socialized as consumers earlier now than any other time in history. The
rapidly changing pace of society especially with regards to technology, information
processing, transportation, etc. makes it possible for them to experience purchasing
and consumption at a much faster rate than that of their parents. Children may possess
knowledge which their parents lack and they may share their experience and knowledge
and in so doing influence their parents. It can result in parents learning about con-
sumption from their children, something which has not been sufficiently acknowledged
by previous research. We purpose of this paper is to further the understanding of how
consumption patterns and knowledge are transferred from children to parents. In-depth
interviews carried out with 'children' of age group 13-30 show that they contributed
information prior to and during thepurchase, but also afterwards by helping to instal or
showing parents how to use a product. The adolescents and adult children had often
introduced new products to their parents and made them aware of recent trends. Often
they also seemed to deal more easily with new technology than their parents.
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Introduction and Wackman, 1972) or 'pester power' (e.g.
_, ., , • ,. J . Tufte, 1999). An increase in dual working and
Children are socialized as consumers and ^ .,• . , . .
. . . . . ^ . . one-parent lamilies may involve parents having
exposed to the lntncacies of purchasing and , . . 1 . V.,J , .
,. ^, ° less time and result in children playing a more
consumption at earlier ages than previous . 1 • u 1 • 1 J • •
. _, , , . important role in helpmg to make decisions.
generations. They are extremely brand con- ™. . c J 1 C ,
. . . . , , Time pressured parents of today may also feel
scious and their importance both as current -i^ u » ...• t. • • i.
, . . , guilty about not spending enough time with
and prospective consumers is something ». . . 1^ j u c 1, ^
, . . ^ ^ their children, and therefore allow them more
marketers have become more aware of (e.g. . „ TU • J J 1 L U
T • J '.r^rv'. £> 1- , J J ^. influence. There is a tendency to delay child-
Lindstrom, 2003; Sutherland and Thompson, ,, . ^ c i- 1. • i - u
^„„^. r. • u u c ^ beanng, and families w h o have children
2003). Previous research has referred to , . . . , . . ^ • 1
. . , , , . „ . , ., . J relatively late may be in a better financial
children s influence as child power (Ward -^ • n u • u u -a
^ ^ situation to allow their children more mflu-
ence. The fact that parents today also have
fewer children may also increase the influence
•Correspondence to: Karin M. Ekstrom, Center for Con- ^f g^ch child. Tufte (1999) postulates that this
sumer Science, School of Business, Economics and Law, . , , , , . , , ,
Goteborg University, Box 600,405 30 Goteborg, Sweden, development may lead to children becoming
E-mail: karin.ekstrom@cfk.gu.se 'dream children' or 'trophy children'.
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, July-August 2007
DOI: 10.1002/cb

2. 204 Karin M. Ekstrom
Children can be expected to influence not
only their ow^n purchases and consumption,
but also those of their parents to a far greater
extent than previous generations. The rapidly
changing pace in our society regarding techno-
logy, information processing, transportation,
etc. makes it possible for children, younger as
vell as adolescents and adult children, to
experience purchasing and consumption at a
rate much faster than that of their elders. A
British study found that 52 per cent of the
children underfiveyears of age, and 21 per cent
of those under two, were capable of operating
a videotape-recorder (Options, 1990), Chil-
dren sometimes possess knowledge about
purchasing and consumption that their parents
lack. This generation gap can result in a
situation where children share their experi-
ence and knowledge w^ith their parents, and as
a result, parents are influenced or learn
different consumption roles from their chil-
dren. Mead (1970) discusses the development
of our society into a prefigurative culture: a
culture in which adults learn not only from
adults, but also from their children. Mueller
(1958) found that the desire for innovation
(defined as becoming interested in a nevi^
product before it attains widespread accep-
tance) was higher among couples w^ith
children than among those with no children.
The purpose of this paper is to further the
understanding of the transfer of consumption
patterns and knowledge from adolescents and
adult children to parents.' First, some theor-
etical concepts are presented, followed by the
results from an empirical study.
Theoretical framework
Parental learning and consumer
socialization
Research in consumer behavior has not
sufficiently dealt with the fact that parents in
their own consumption get influenced and
Even though the focus in this paper is on the transfer
from children to parents, it should be recognized that
many other sources influence parents such as spouses,
colleagues, media, etc.
learn from their children. This is surprising
since interaction, negotiation, influence and
learning about consumption occur betw^een
parents and children, in particular when they
live together, but also throughout life. An
exploratory study (Sorce et al., 1989) on
middle aged children's influence on their elderly
parents, indicates that over two thirds of the
children influenced their parents by providing
advice or information. Changing family struc-
tures, increased geographical mobility, and
new information technology may have led to
new forms of interaction in families, but
consumption is still a joining and dismantling
power in the nexus of family ties.
Research on learning within families focuses
almost entirely on children learning from parents
Gohn, 1999). Such unidirectional studies
assume a simple asymmetrical causality model
where parents shape children (e.g. Cromwell
and Olson, 1975). The fact that parents also
learn from their children is then not acknowl-
edged. Even though the reciprocal nature of
parent-child relations w^ere addressed long ago
(e.g. Bell, 1968, 1971; Brim, 1957), it has not
been covered well. White etal. (1971, p. 96l)
state that 'as the parent socializes the child, he
almost certainly as a consequence both teaches
certain things to himself and also learns from
the grooving child'. Other researchers (e.g.
Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Tallman et al., 1983;
Ziegler and Child, 1973) also emphasize that
socialization occurs in the course of a
relationship and involves learning as well as
teaching.
Studies on children's consumer learning
(e.g. Carlson and Grossbart, 1988; Grossbart,
Carlson and Walsh, 1991; Peracchio, 1992;
Roedder ef«/,, 1986;Stampfle?flZ., 1978; Ward
et al., 1977) or adolescent consumer learning
(e.g. Churchill and Moschis, 1979; Moore and
Stephens, 1975; Moschis and Churchill, 1977,
1978; Moschis, 1985; Moschis and Moore,
1979, 1982, 1985) have often been conducted
in the context of consumer socialization. Also,
the few existing studies on parents learning
from their children in consumer behavior
literature discuss consumer learning in the
context of consumer socialization (e.g. Fox-
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Journal of Consumer Behaviour, July-August 2007
DOI: 10,1002/cb

3. Parental consumer learning 205
man et al., 1989a,b; Grossbart et al., 2002).
Ward (1974) defines reverse socialization as
children's influence on their parents' knowl-
edge, skills, and attitudes related to consump-
tion.
The lack of studies is surprising, since
consumer learning is expected to be a
continuous process. It is through learning that
we, children as well as adults, adapt to changes
in the environment and develop as human
beings. One reason for the lack of studies on
parental consumer learning might be the
predominant view on childhood and adult-
hood over time, discussed next.
Views on childhood and adulthood
Research on consumer learning and consumer
socialization of children has been strongly
influenced by cognitive developmental theo-
ries (e.g. Piaget, 1970). The prevailing view
among these theories is that learning and
socialization are assumed to be strongest
during childhood. Childhood is looked upon
as a transition from the incomplete to the
complete Qohansson, 2003). This might
explain the focus on children's rather than
parent's consumer learning and socialization
among earlier research even though both
researchers in sociology (e.g. Brim, 1966,
1968; Vernon, 1972) and marketing (e.g. Ward,
1974) have recognized that socialization is a
life long process.
More recently, it has been argued that
childhood should be viewed as a social
construction (e.g. Johansson, 2000). Children
are beginning to be seen as equal to adults
(Tufte et al., 2003). This is illustrated in the
United Nation's convention of children's rights
from 1989 and also reflected in that the social
sciences talk about children as actors, the
humanities talk about children as creators, and
the political sciences refer to children as
citizens with democratic rights (Tufte et al.,
2003). Quortrup (1994) distinguishes between
human being and human becoming. A child
who is looked upon as human being is given
respect and considered competent. A child
who is considered human becoming is a
growing incomplete human being. Lee
(2001) continues this discussion, but empha-
sizes that he does not consider becoming as
having less status. Instead, it represents the
continuous changes we face in life. According
to Lee (2001), w^e are all becomings, both
children and adults. As a consequence, learn-
ing and consumer socialization should be
considered equally important for both children
and parents. James and Prout (1997) point out
that there exists no universal childhood
because childhood cannot be distinguished
from other variables like class, gender or
ethnicity. They argue that there are childhoods
instead of childhood since each childhood is
unique. The fact that families are complex and
differ from each other makes generalizations
neither viable nor desirable.
The unexpected nature of learning
Another reason for the lack of research on
parental consumer learning could be its
unexpected nature. Research on learning in
consumer contexts appears to often have an
agent perspective. Consumer learning in
families is, how^ever, probably seldom purpo-
sive, but expected to occur as a result of family
members' interaction w^ith each other. Ward
et al. (1977), vv^ho studied child consumer
learning, support this opinion, as does Moschis
(1985) in a study on the consumer socialization
of children. Ward (1974, p. 155) states: 'It
seems that consumer socialization proceeds
more through subtle social learning processes,
rather than through purposive and systematic
parental training'. Neither children nor parents
are probably fully aware of parental consumer
learning or socialization. The implicit pattems
of family communication need to be con-
sidered in family studies (e.g. Sillars and
Kalbflesch, 1987). It is also important to
acknow^ledge direct and indirect consumer
learning. Direct learning can imply that a
person learns something by being told some-
thing while indirect learning is learning by
observing. The latter can occur by vi^atching
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Joumal of Consumer Behaviour, July-August 2007
DOI: 10,1002/cb

4. 206 Karin M. Ekstrom
Table 1. Sample
Selected family with children in Parents living in
Affluent area
Female Male
Less affluent area
Female Male
Grammar school
7th grade
8th grade
9th grade
High school
1st year
2nd year
3rd year
20 years old
25 years old
30 years old
1 child
1 child
1 child
1 child
1 child
1 child
1 child
1 child
1 child
1 child
1 child
1 child
1 child
1 child
1 child
1 child
1 child
1 child
I chUd
[ child
1 child
I child
1 child
1 child
I child
[ child
I child
1 child
1 child
1 child
1 child
1 child
1 child
1 child
1 child
1 child
another person or what is referred to as
observational learning. It can also happen
when watching ^vhat happens when someone
else behaves. A parent may become aware of
and learn about a product by being told or
shown how to use a product or from seeing
his/her child using a product.
Retroactive socialization
The concept 'retroactive socialization' was
coined by Riesman and Roseborough (1955),
implying a child can leam consumer-related
skills from peers and media and then influence
his/her parents w^ith those skills. Children and
parents consumption experiences differ at
home, watching TV or using the Internet, at
school, w^hen shopping or being with friends.
This might result in transfer of consumption
pattems and knowledge. Moschis (1976)
found a positive relationship between the
number of consumer-related courses taken at
school and the adolescent's propensity to
discuss consumption w^ith parents. A study
discussed in the Marketing New^s (1992)
indicates that one third of the parents had
changed their shopping habits (i.e. both
learning to avoid and to purchase products)
because of the environmental-related infor-
mation learnt from their children who had
studied it in school.
In summary, previous research has not
sufficiently recognized that parents learn about
consumption from their children. Studies on
consumer learning and consumer socialization
have focused on children rather than parents.
Also, research has often been based on
cognitive developmental theories and there-
fore assuming learning to be strongest during
childhood. There is a need to reconsider this
and to look at learning as an on-going social
construction throughout life.
Method
Semi-structured in-depth interviev^^s w^ere con-
ducted in 36 families in Sweden's second
largest city, Goteborg. Interview's were chosen
in order to get a more in-depth understanding
of parental consumer learning. Research on
family consumption has mainly used quanti-
tative methods, w^ith a few exceptions (e.g.
Commuri and Gentry, 2005; Palan and Wilkes,
1997). An affluent area (18 families) and a less
affluent area (18 families) with expected
differences in socioeconomic variables were
chosen. In total, 72 interview's were conducted
since the child and the parent(s) were
interviewed separately. The divergence in
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Journal of Consumer Behaviour, July-August 2007
DOI: 10,1002/cb

5. Parental consumer learning 207
answers between parents and children in the
few previous studies which have included
parents and children (e.g. Belch et al., 1985;
Foxman et al., 1989a,b) points to the import-
ance of including both. All but four of the
interviews took place in the families' homes. It
gave a picture of the family's living conditions
and the family members w^ere expected to be
more relaxed. Three families w^ere interview^ed
at the university and one family in their family
office.
The sample was based on children's age and
randomly selected from class lists as well as
from official personal registers and is pre-
sented in Table 1.
Table 1 shows that the sample consisted of
families w^ith children in the 7th, 8th, and 9th
years of grammar school,^ families with
children in high school,' and families with
'children' w^ho were betw^een 20 and 30 years
old. The focus on consumer leaming and
socialization made it interesting to study
adolescents and adult children in particular.
In Sweden, it is not uncommon that 'children'
between 20 and 30 years old live at home, due
to the housing shortage in bigger cities. Only
five families interviewed had no children living
at home. An equal number of each gender was
selected.
The actual family composition in each family
w^as not know^n to the interview^er before
visiting the family. Thirty of the 36 families had
two to four children. The focus on the
parent-child relation and the scope of the
study made it necessary to limit the number of
persons interviewed even though the ideal
situation would have been to include and
interview all family members. However,
despite the fact that only the child in the
selected age group was interviewed, the
interviewer asked about all the children in
the family in order to get a more comprehen-
sive picture. It also happened during the
interviews that the parents and the child
interviewed referred to the other children in
the family.
Since family structure w^as not monitored,
the sample consisted of 31 two-parent families
and five one-parent families. Both parents were
interviewed together in 19 of the 31 two-
parent families and for the rest only the
mother.'* In one-parent families, the parent
living with the child was interviewed. The
interview guide covering questions on durable
goods, convenience goods, shopping goods,
services, leisure activities, and other issues
related to purchasing and consumption w^as
pre-tested in three other famUies. There was no
order regarding who w^as interview^ed first; the
parents or the child. Each interview took
approximately 1.5-2 hours. All the interviews
were conducted by the researcher, who after
each interview^ w^rote a description of the
impressions, and later transcribed the inter-
views verbatim.
Results
The results are presented according to differ-
ent themes identified during the analysis,
followed by a discussion on household
characteristics. Abbreviations are used when
presenting the results such as most (28-36),
many (19-27), several (10-18), and few (1-9)
families. These should not be regarded as a
desire to generalize the results, but be seen as
informative, merely clarifying the results.
Awareness of new^ products and trends
The interviews indicated that children had
often introduced and made their parents aware
of new trends (e.g. clothes) or relatively newly
launched products (e.g. new spices, new types
of pasta). A father (#5, D, MA, child 17^) said:
In Sweden, children begin 7th grade at the age of 13.
'in Sweden, children begin high school at the age of 16.
The reason given during the interview was that the
fathers did not have time to participate in 12 of the 31
two-parent families. Since many of the two-parent
families were dual working families, there might be other
reasons as well such that they felt less interested in the
study or less obligation to participate.
'The number indicates the family interviewed (1-
36 families were interviewed), D: dual parents, DS: dual
parents with one stepparent, S; single parent, HA: high
affluence, MA: middle affluence, LA: low affluence, and
the age of the child interviewed.
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Joumal of Consumer Behaviour, July-August 2007
DOI: 10.1002/cb

6. 208 Karin M. Ekstrom
I think we would in some way have a more
restricted life if our children were not
around, if we did not have this reciprocal
exchange. I still think that they make us
feel a littleyounger, and that we areforced
to keep up with development and trends
even if our children are in no way extreme
regarding trends. They probably tell us
about things that are trendy among young
people even if they do notfollow the trends
themselves, they do make us more aware
of it.
In many families, the parents had been
introduced to new music by their children
and started to like it. Parents in a few families
had, for instance, leamt to like rap, reggae, and
rock music played on television. A mother said
that the idea of listening to music played on
MTV w^ould never have occurred to her if her
son had not introduced her to it. The situation
for influence differed in that parents w^ere
sometimes introduced to and told what to
listen to w^hile at other times they were merely
exposed to their children's music. Parents
were also inspired by trips taken by their
children. In a few families, the children had
introduced their parents to a sporting activity,
for example, water-skiing, windsurfing, down-
hill skiing, and aerobics. Parents in most of
the families were also influenced with regards
to cooking. In many families, the parents
had leamt to cook the dishes introduced
by their children. Several families indicated
that the children liked to try new^ recipes.
Children w^ere described as being interested
and not afraid of trying new^ things. For
example, a mother (#14, DS, LA, child 15)
said regarding children's introduction of new
dishes:
children try cooking dishes which I do
not cook. If I make a mistake, Ifeel bad for
a long time, but they don't.
Other examples involved wine and restau-
rants. In one family (# 8, D, HA, child 30), the
children had introduced new types and higher
quality wine. In the same family, the parents
had also been introduced to new restaurants
when they were abroad:
Our children are a little more courageous
when it comes to visiting restaurants, we
do not choose. We have leamt front them
that it can be a good restaurant even
though it does not really look like a
restaurant from the outside.
In another family (# 22, D, HA, child 25),
parents who were introduced to new^ restau-
rants said:
'If wego out and eat at a new restaurant, it
is our children who have discovered if.
This illustrates that children sometimes
open doors. In a few^ families whose children
owned mountain-bikes, the parents w^ere now^
considering purchasing such bikes themselves.
Peters (1985) found in a study on adolescents
as socialization agents to parents, that children
had large influence on sports, personal care,
and leisure. The fact that children make
parents aware of new products and trends
has, however, not been discussed sufficiently
by previous research.
Expert and referent pow^er
Children contributed information in all the
families influenced when the parents had
purchased a boat, stereo, automobile, bicycle,
or camera. Children had also contributed
information in more than half of the families
infiuenced vi^hen the parents had purchased a
television, fiirniture, satellite dish, or compact
disc player. One family referred to their son as
"researching the market," as he collected
information and analyzed it before the rest of
the family w^ent to the store to make a
purchase.
The interviews indicate that children used
expert power (French and Raven, 1959) for
some decisions, for example, technically
complicated products. Expert pow^er was also
noticeable w^hen children had informed their
parents about fashion and trends. Further-
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sotis, Ltd. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, July-August 2007
DOI: 10.1002/cb

7. Parental consumer learning 209
more, the results indicate that children used
referent power (French and Raven, 1959). A
parent may behave in a certain way to identify
with his/her child or compare and judge
whether the child would be supportive or
not when making a decision. For example, a
parent who wants to feel young may dress like
his/her child or dress like his/her child
suggests. Parents in most families w^ere
influenced regarding clothes, fashion aware-
ness and music. The interviews indicate also
that the parents asked for advice regarding
hair-style. For example, a daughter (# 4, D, HA,
child 15) said:
Mum always wants advice regarding her
hair-style. Both my brother and I always
get to say what we think. For example,
when she should have aperm or how she is
going to have the perm or if she is going to
perm, her hair. If she is going to have
highlights or whatever she is planning to
do, then we always give advice. So it is just
about the whole family who lives in mum's
hair."
A few families mentioned that the children
had infiuenced their parents to change their
hair-styles. However, it also happened that
children did not want their parents to change
hair-styles. For example, a son (#29, DS, MA,
child 17) did not want his mother to highlight
her hair and had infiuenced her not to continue
doing it. The mother said:
/ know thefirst time I colored my hair. Now
I am grey-haired, but I sotnetimes use
highlights and then my son says: But,
mum, you cannot look like that. It does not
suit you... you should look like a mum, he
told me spontaneously. You should not
look like Madonna.
The results confirm that children often
provided information both prior to, during,
and after the purchase (by showing the parents
how to use a product). A parent who lacks
knowledge or seeks information is probably
more w^illing to be infiuenced. Also, it is
possible that a child who feels that he/she can
contribute knowledge is more anxious to
infiuence and sees to it that the parent makes
a satisfactory purchase. Previously, Kim et al.,
1990 found eighth grade students' perceptions
of expert power to be significantly related to
their perceived influence in decisions invol-
ving major products for the family's use.
Showing how to use a product
In most of the families interviewed, the
children had shown their parents how to use
a product. Examples of products spon-
taneously recalled during the interviews were
videotape-recorders, televisions, watches,
computers, microwave ovens, clock radios,
compvuer/TV-games, and food processors.
Some parents had leamt to use the product
on their own, w^hile other parents continued to
ask their children for advice. Overall, chil-
dren's infiuence was strong for products
which were technically complicated. It
seems as if some children dealt more easily
with technology than their parents. For
example, a daughter (#36, D, HA, child 16)
continuously helped her mother to install
the channels on the car radio. A mother
(#26, D, HA, child 13) whose children more
easily used the remote control for the stereo
said:
The children manage the remote control
very easily, but I have to think carefully
before I can use it. It also takes much
longer for me to record music. It is much
easier for the children to use such things;
they are more used to it than we are.
Again, the pattem appeared that children
showed interest and did not seem afraid of
trying new things. One daughter (#31, D, HA,
child 20), for example, referred to technical
things in general and said:
It isprobably more so that we children are
thefirst ones who examine how it is going
to work and then we teach our parents. We
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Joumal of Consumer Behaviour, July-August 2007
DOI: 10.1002/cb

8. 210 Karin M. Ekstrom
read the instruction book and then we
show them how to do.
Also, the mother (#31, D, HA, child 20) said
that her children show^ed more interest in how^
things w^orked in general:
They are much more interested in such
things; when we purchase new things, for
instance, how it works and things like that.
I do not especially enjoy learning such
things. I do what I have to do.
Some parents were not interested in learn-
ing, for example, a son (#32, D, HA, child 25)
who had showed his father how to operate the
microwave oven and the videotape-recorder,
referred to his parents saying:
"/ do not think they are interested in
programming. They count on me. I am
often at home and they know it will be
done right"
The father had leamt how to tum the
videotape recorder on and off and put a tape in
and take it out, but could not program the
videotape recorder. In another family (#31, D,
HA, child 20), the father could program the
videotape recorder, but not very w^ell. The
mother did not know^ how^ to program it and
said:
It is simpler to tell the children: please
program it for me. And then the children
say: Can you never ever learn? But then I
say: I do not want to learn.
Overall, in many families, the children
show^ed their parents how^ to operate a
videotape recorder. A father said that he and
the children often sat together and tried to
figure out how new things w^orked and then
told the mother. In a few families, children
infiuenced their parents to read instructions
better. A daughter (#36, D, HA, child 16) said:
Mum usually reads instruction books. Dad
only does it sometimes. He loves to just
switch it on and does not read any
instructions thinking he knows it all.
He presses some buttons and then every-
thing goes wrong. Sometimes I can get
him to read the instruction books or
usually I just push him away and say:
now I will do it, otherwise everything will
go wrong.
Children in another family had taught the
mother how to play computer games and
written instructions so that she could play
even w^hen they were not around. A few
families who did not have their children living
at home said they telephoned their children to
ask for advice regarding, for example, compu-
ters, printers or videotape recorders. Further-
more, a few families indicated that chUdren
sometimes found 'hidden' functions or altema-
tive ways to use products which their parents
had not previously discovered. The role of
family members helping each other navigate in
a society with increased technological com-
plexity is an underdeveloped topic in con-
sumer research.
Values, health, and environmental
issues
Parents in several families had been infiuenced
regarding values related to purchasing and
consumption. For example, in a few^ families,
the parents had been influenced to allow^ them-
selves more purchases, more entertainment, to
become more modem or open-minded. A
father (#2, S, HA, child 14) expressed:
Of course the children keep up with parts of
life much better than I can, which
influences us all.
Parents in a few families had been infiu-
enced not to consume certain things and gave
as examples being infiuenced not to visit
McDonalds, and not to purchase furniture
made from rainforest w^ood. Aspects such as
health and environment vv^ere also mentioned.
Parents in a few families had been infiuenced
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, July-August 2007
DOI: 10.1002/cb

9. Parental consumer learning 211
to reduce their consumption of fat. For
example, a mother had been influenced to
use less butter w^hen cooking. In another
family, a daughter shared what she had learnt
in school about eating habits and would tell her
parents if they ate something that was
unhealthy. A son (#29, DS, MA, child 17)
who had been involved in his mother's
attempts to loose weight by introducing
aerobics at home and telling her to eat
healthier said:
/ managed to get her to lose 6Kilos. And all
because of aerobics at home on the living
room floor. But at the same time, I have
told her that now she really has to eat well,
otherwiseI will not be happy. I also told her
that now you have to take care of your
eating habits otherwise we will quit the
aerobics. She hasprobably eaten healthier
since then, for example, salads, and
stopped eating sweets and chips and such
things.
The interview with the mother confirmed
this, but indicated also that the doctor had told
her to exercise because of problems w^ith her
back. Parents in a few families had been
influenced after their children had discussed
environmental issues or participated in an
environmental project at school. A daughter (#
9, S, HA, child 17) described how her brother
influenced their mother to start recycling
batteries and newspapers when he was work-
ing on a school project in ninth grade. It
illustrates that school can play an important
role in transferring knowledge to parents.
Another mother (#13, D, MA, child 16) who
influenced said:
/ have a daughter who is 13 years old and
she is very aware of such things. A person
should go to the recycling center. My
daughter has probably been influenced
at school
One father was influenced to stop smoking
when there was a lot of propaganda against
smoking in his children's school. Also, a few
families indicated that children attempted to
influence the parents to stop smoking, particu-
larly when it was discussed at school. For
example, a mother (#36, D, HA, child 16) said
her daughter used to ask her why she was
smoking, particularly when smoking was
discussed at school. Even though these results
are similar to previous research (Moschis,
1976; Riesman and Roseborough, 1955),
show^ing that children transfer kno^edge to
parents from school, it has not been discussed
sufficiently in consumer research. Also,
research has not discussed that children
influence parental values. An exception is
Peters (1985), w^ho found that adolescents had
made their parents more tolerant toward
people in general, others' opinions, teenagers,
and music.
Backfire
Too many attempts to influence can some-
times backfire. A daughter's (#25, S, LA, child
25) continuous attempts to infiuence her
mother to stop smoking resulted in that the
mother became even more resistant to stop
smoking or cut down on her smoking. The
daughter talked about health and cancer risks
and had infiuenced the mother to smoke with
the balcony door open. Also, the mother had to
smoke on her daughter's balcony when visiting
her. The mother said:
/ have been irritated several times. I am
very much aware of the fact that it is not
good (foryour health). It is not, but I like to
smoke.
The phenomenon has previously been
called a 'boomerang effect' by Wilke (1986,
p. 700) implying that '.. .people resist the
infiuence more than they would have, had they
not felt their freedom to be threatened'. This is
based on a theory by Brehm (1966) called 'a
theory of psychological reactance'. Bumkrant
and Cousineau (1975) and Clee and Wicklund
(1980) also refer to the boomerang effect as
producing behavior just the reverse of that
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, July-August 2007
DOI: 10.1002/cb

10. 212 Karin M. Ekstrom
which was intended. Previous consumer
research has not considered that people will
tolerate attempts to influence, or actual
influence only up to a certain point. When
this 'threshold' has been exceeded, children's
attempts to influence or actual influence can
sometimes backfire, making the parents less
susceptible to influence.
Explicit and implicit patterns of family
communication
Inflvience w^as both direct and indirect and
differed between families as w^ell as within
families from time to time. For example, while
children in one family had told their mother
that it was time for new wallpaper a mother in
another family w^as indirectly inspired to
change her interior decoration when visiting
her daughter. Influence regarding movies was
often direct in that the children recommended
movies to their parents. A daughter (*28, DS,
MA, cbild 20) said:
/ always see the movies before my parents.
I always say which movies are good, I
always do that. We (the children) always
say to ourparents: You should see that one
and that one. So I really do influence. The
whole..almost 100 per cent
Tbe fact tbat influence often appears to be
more indirect in families w^as implied by a
fatber (# 32, D, HA, cbild 25) wbo stated:
/ wonder what my daughter would think
about these clothes.
wben sbe went shopping for berself. Parents
w^ere also influenced by seeing w^bat tbeir
cbildren wore. Another mother (*10, D, HA,
child 16) said:
/ think that I dress morefashionably now
because I have them and also see their
clothes. I maybe would not keep up with
the trends otherwise. Now I know through
my children what is fashionable...
In a few^ families, tbe parents bad tbemselves
been influenced to purchase fasbionable jeans
brands wben accompanying tbeir cbildren to
purchase jeans. Furtbermore, parents in many
families indicated tbat tbey borrow clotbes
from tbeir cbildren. For example, a motber (#
28, DS, MA, cbild 20) wbo did not like to go
sbopping said her daugbter often purcbased
clotbes to sbare witb ber. Also, tbe cbildren in
tbe same family often reminded botb parents
about tbe need for new clotbes (for tbe
parents). Tbe interviews indicate tbat borro^v-
ing clotbes was often a reciprocal process
between parents and cbildren. Tbe results
point to implicit patterns of family communi-
cation (e.g. Sillars and Kalbflescb, 1987). Tbis
bas not been studied sufficiently in previous
research and one reason, apart from being
difficult to determine, could be tbat previous
researcb on family researcb bas predominantly
used surveys.
The children may not influence verbally,
but people adapt when they have children.
We adapt automatically, maybe faster
than we would if we had not had any
children. Then we would have continued
in our old ways.
Anotber example of indirect influence was
wben a parent adopts fasbion styles or clotbes
tbat tbe cbildren prefer ber/bim to wear
w^itbout being told so. A motber (#15, D,
HA, cbild 18) said sbe often tbougbt:
Children as equals
Tbe interviews witb tbe one-parent families
indicate tbat parents and cbildren seemed to
bave more of a friendsbip relation tban a
parent-cbild relation, and tbey often discussed
purcbases and consumption togetber. It
appears as if tbe cbildren in tbe one-parent
families studied often took parental roles in
family decisions. How^ever, a similar pattern
was also found for two-parent families. If one
spouse was not interested in a decision, tbe
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, July-August 2007
DOI: 10.1002/cb

11. Parental consumer learning 213
other w^ould try to involve the children in the
decision. For example, a mother (# 15, D, HA,
child 18) asked her children for advice
regarding interior design, because her husband
was not interested at all. Another mother (*34,
D, LA, child 14) said also that her husband did
not notice changes and therefore she asked her
daughter regarding the interior of the home:
And there is no point in asking my
husband because he does not notice when
I hang new curtains'
hi one family (#30, D, MA, child 25), the
mother did not like to shop for clothes for her
husband together w^ith him since there w^as
never anything he liked. Instead a daughter (22
years old) sometimes went shopping with the
father to give him advice. The interviews showed
also that mothers and children sometimes
shopped together for clothes for the fathers.
These results indicate that it is not sufficient
to determine children's influence based on
family structure, one must also consider other
factors, such as parental interest in a particular
issue. The fact that parents and children
sometimes form alliances when one of the
spouses is not interested in something that is
going to be purchased has not been explored
sufficiently in previous research. The results
show that children are not just absorbers of
know^ledge, but that they also are providers
and equals. Bates and Gentry (1993) found the
same phenomenon in their study on single
parents.
Household characteristics
Affluent families allow^ed their children more
influence than families living in less affluent
areas. This corresponds w^ith previous research
(e,g, Moschis and Mitchell, 1986), Affluent
families may perceive lower financial risk. Also,
such families often have more opportunities
for consumption and thereby children have a
larger number of opportunities to infiuence.
Furthermore, living in a special environment
may also reinforce particular behavioral pat-
terns, A few families mentioned that family
behavior among children's peer groups living
in the same area affected the interviewed
families' purchases and consumption. For
example, parents in one family said that they
felt pressured to purchase a satellite dish in
order for their children to keep up with their
peers in school when discussing programs on
satellite TV, In a majority of the families
interview^ed, the parents w^ere w^ell educated.
Parents were highly infiuenced in about half of
the families w^ith w^ell-educated parents.
It was inferred from the interviews that
families with a concept-oriented communi-
cation structure (i,e, they encourage children
to discuss and develop their own ideas) allow
their children more infiuence than families
with socio-oriented communication structure
(i,e, children have learnt to avoid controversy
and not to argue). This corresponds with
previous research (e,g, Foxman et al., 1989a),
Many of the families appeared to have a
concept-oriented commvmication structure
and it is possible that such families are more
interested in participating in this type of study.
Iniluence increased with age. Children
become, with increasing age, more knowl-
edgeable and parents are more likely to
consider them trustworthy. In a few families,
children between 17 and 19 did not want to
accompany their parents to McDonalds or go
shopping for clothes together, because they
felt embarrassed to be seen with their parents.
At that age, children may want to liberate
themselves from their parents and they may
care less about their parents' purchases and
more about their ow^n. It was interesting to
notice that 'children' between 20 and 30 years
old had a great deal of infiuence. One reason
could be that many of them still lived at home.
Onlyfivefamilies interviewed had no children
living at home and infiuence was lower in
these families than the others. One reason
could be that the frequency of interaction, and
hence the opportunities for infiuence, is
expected to be lower w^hen parents and
children do not live together. Also, it is
possible that children who do not live at home
are less interested in infiuencing than children
who live at home.
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Joumal of Consumer Behaviour, July-August 2007
DOI: 10,1002/cb

12. 214 Karin M. Ekstrom
Finally, even though differences regarding
gender were noticeable in that daughters
dominated decisions regarding interior design
and appeared to be more interested in both
mother's and father's clothes, and sons seemed
more involved in many technical durable
items, it was overall the children's interest,
know^ledge and situation which determined
their involvement and infiuence.
Conclusion and future research
In-depth interviews with parent(s), adoles-
cents and adult children in 36 families confirm
that parents leam about consumption from
their children. Children contributed infor-
mation in relation to purchases, but also
afterwards helping to install or use the
products purchased. At times, they seemed
to deal more easily with technology than their
parents. The wider assortment of products and
services, as a result of increased competition
and deregulation (e,g, telephone and electri-
city companies), and increased technological
complexity of products (e.g. mobile phones,
computers), has made consumer choice more
difficult. If children have the knoivledge, they
may sometimes serve as important contribu-
tors to alleviate their parents from often
complex and time consuming decision making
processes. This may be of interest to both
consumer policy makers and marketers.
The study show^s that children play a role in
diffusion of innovations to parents. It may not
always be easy to determine whether con-
sumer learning has occurred or whether it is
some type of 'keeping up with the children's
effect' based on a similar idea to the 'keeping
up w^ith theJoneses', While visibility and group
norms are the determining factors for the
latter, visibility, family norms and social
pressure determine the former. Consumption
may be a joining link and reduce the genera-
tional gap betw^een parents and children. To
keep up with the children's consumption
could also be a result of social pressure, A
parent who is infiuenced by his/her children's
consumption may in some cultures be per-
ceived as child oriented or representing a
modern family. In Sweden, it is considered
'normal' to involve children in family de-
cisions, something which was not the case
years back. Children's participation in family
decision-making illustrates more democratic
families. Also, different political decisions
indicating greater child-orientation per se are
noticeable, for example, the office of a special
ombudsman for children 'Bamombudsman'
that was established in Sweden some years ago.
The study indicates that children not only
absorb knowledge, but that they are providers
and sometimes even equals. The relations
between parents and children often seemed to
be more like a friendship relations than
parent-child relations, A reason could be that
adolescents and adult children w^ere inter-
viewed. Recent debate in Sweden has dealt
with whether relations between parents and
children resemble too much of a friendship
relation. Critics argue that there is a lack of
authority among parents, A Danish psycholo-
gist. Bent Hougaard (2005), uses the term
'curling parents' to describe parents who do
everything to make their children's childhood
as smooth as possible. In other w^ords, they let
their children decide and it results in a lack of
respect which may affect the relations
between children and adults negatively, both
at home and in school. In Russia, I encountered
the attitude of 'the child as a dictator', implying
a child who has too much infiuence on
parents. In China, children are sometimes refer-
red to as 'little emperors', implying children
are spoiled and have enormous infiuence. It is
interesting to refiect upon how children's
participation in family decision-making is per-
ceived in difi'erent cultures. Do they partici-
pate, contribute or interfere in their parent's
consumption? Do infiuence from children
increase w^ith age, as indicated in this study,
and is learning from 'children' perceived as
positive or negative? A child who is allowed to
participate may feel more satisfied, but may
also feel too much responsibility at a too young
an age. It is also possible that an adolescent or
adult child who is expected to participate in
his/her parent's consumption decisions may
feel burdened.
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Journal of Consumer Behaviour, July-August 2007
DOI: 10,1002/cb

13. Parental consumer learning 215
An interesting observation was that chil-
dren's attempts to influence parents can
sometimes backfire, that is, making parents
less susceptible to influence. Furthermore, the
study shows that children transfer knowledge
from their school to their parents. This has not
been discussed sufficiently in consumer
research. Since sponsoring of school material
is common, it is relevant to discuss the impact
on children, but also on parents. Parents are
indirectly exposed to sponsored school
material through their children. It is relevant
to ask to what extent marketers and edu-
cationalists should be allowed to use children
intentionally to reach the parents?
The study illustrates transfer of consumption
patterns and knowledge from adolescents and
adult children to parents. Influence was
strongest when children lived at home, but
future research need to consider the implicit
pattern offamily communication, negotiations,
transfer and translation of knowledge both
between family members who live together
and those who do not live together. This
requires ethnographic methods, which are also
expected to benefit the needed theoretical
development in this field of study. The impact
of technology, for example, e-mail and mobile
phones, on family communication, transfer
of consumption patterns- and knowledge
between generations, is also an interesting
area for future research.
Acknowledgements
Comments on earlier versions of this paper
made byJim Gentry, the editors, and the anon-
ymous review^ers are gratefully acknow^ledged.
References
Bates MJ, Gentry J. 1993. Keeping the famUy
together: how we survived divorce. In Advances
in Consumer Research, 21, Allen C, Roedder
John D (eds). Provo, UT: Association for Consu-
mer Research; 30-34.
Belch G, Belch MA, Ceresino G. 1985. Parental and
teenage child influences in family decision vtvak-
mg. Journal of Business Research 13: 163-176.
Bell RQ. 1968. A reinterpretation of the direction of
effects in studies of socialization. Psychological
Review 75: 81-95,
Bell RQ. 1971, Stimulus control of parent or care-
taker behavior by offspring. Developmental Psy-
chology 4: 63-72.
Brehm JW. 1966.^ Theory of Psychological Reac-
tance. Academic Press: New York.
Brim OG. 1966. Socialization through the life cycle.
In Socialization After Childhood: Two Essays,
Brim OG, Wheeler S (eds). John Wiley & Sons:
New York; 1-50.
Brim OG. 1957. The parent-child relation as a
social system: parent and child roles. Child
Development 28: 343-364.
Brim OG. 1968. Adult Socialization. In Socializa-
tion and Society, Clausen J (ed.). Little, Brown &
Co: Boston.
Bronfenbrenner U. 1979. The Ecology of Human
Development; Experiments by nature and
design. Harvard University Press: Cambridge.
Bumkrant RE, Cousineau A. 1975. Informational
and normative social influence in buyer
behavior. Journal of Consumer Research 2:
206-215.
Carlson L, Grossbart S. 1988. Parental style and
consumer socialization of children. Journal of
Consumer Research 15: 77-94.
Churchill GA, Jr, Moschis GP. 1979. Television and
interpersonal influences on adolescent consu-
mer learning. Journal of Consumer Research
6: 23-35,
Clee MA, Wicklund RA. 1980. Consumer behavior
and psychological reactance. Journal of Consu-
mer Research 6: 389-405.
Commuri S, Gentry JW. 2005, Resource allocation
in households with women as chief wage earn-
ers. Journal of Consumer Research 32(2):
185-195,
Cromwell RE, Olson DH, 1975. Multidisciplinary
perspectives of power. In Power in families.
Sage Publications: New York; 15-37.
Foxman ER, Tansuhaj PS, Ekstrom KM, 1989a.
Family members' perceptions of adolescents'
influence in family decision making. Journal of
Consumer Research 15: 482-491,
Foxman ER, Tansuhaj PS, Ekstrom KM. 1989b.
Adolescents' influence in family purchase de-
cisions: a socialization perspective. Journal of
Business Research 17: 159-172.
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, July-August 2007
DOI: 10.1002/cb

14. 216 Karin M. Ekstrom
French JR, Raven BR. 1959, The bases of social
power. In Studies in Social Power, Cartwright D
(ed.). Institute for Social Research: Ann Arbor,
Michigan; 150-167,
Grossbart S, McConnell HS, Pryor S, Yost A, 2002,
Socialization aspects of parents, children, and the
internet. In Advances in Consumer Research,
vol. 29. Broniarczyk SM, Nakamoto K (eds).
Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research,
66-70.
Hougaard B. 2005. Curlingfordldrar och service
bam - En Handbok i bamuppfortran. Pan:
Stockholm.
James A, Prout A. (eds). 1997, Constructing and
Reconstructing Childhood: Contemporary
Issues in the Sociological Study of Childhood.
The Falmer Press: London,
Johansson B, 2000. Kom och at, jag ska bara do'
fdrst... Datom i barns vardag. Etnologiska fore-
ningen i Vastsverige: Goteborg.
Johansson B. 2003, Bam som aktorer i konsum-
tionssamhallet. In Mediebarndom.m.en: Artikkel-
samling basertpd en konferense i Trondheim,
27-28 mars, Selmer-Olsen I, Sando S (eds). Dron-
ning Mauds minne: Trondheim.
John DR. 1999. Consumer socialization of children:
a retrospective look at twenty-five years of
research. Journal of Consumer Research 26:
183-213,
Kim C, Hanjoon L, Asit S. 1990. Adolescent's power
and perceived influence in family purchase de-
cisions. In Developments in Marketing Science,
Proceedings of the thirteenth annual confer-
ence of the Academy of Marketing Science,
Dunlap BJ (ed.). Louisiana: New Orleans, vol.
13 (April), 25-29.
Lee N. 2001. Childhood and Society; Growing up
in an Age of Uncertainty. Open University Press:
Buckingham.
Lindstrom M. 2003. Brandchild. Kogan Page Lim-
ited: London.
Marketing News, 1992, Kids teach parents how to
change their buying habit, (March) 2,
Mead M. 1970, Culture and Commitment; A Study
of the Generation Gap. Natural History Press/
Doubleday and Co. Inc.: New York.
Moore RL, Stephens LF. 1975. Some communi-
cation and demographic determinants of adoles-
cent consumer learning. Journal of Consumer
Research 2: 80-92.
Moschis GP. 1976. Acquisition of the Consumer
Role by Adolescents. Unpublished doctoral dis-
sertation. Graduate School of Business, Univer-
sity of Wisconsin, Madison.
Moschis GP. 1985. The role of family communi-
cation in consumer socialization of children and
adolescents. yoMrn«/ of Consumer Research 11:
898-913.
Moschis GP, Churchill GA, Jr. 1977. Mass Media
and Interpersonal Influences on Adolescent Con-
sumer Learning, in AMA Educators' Conference
Proceeding 41: 68-73.
Moschis GP, Churchill GA, Jr. 1978. Consumer
socialization: a theoretical and empirical
analysis. Journal of Marketing Research 15:
599-609.
Moschis GP, Mitchell LG. 1986. Television advertis-
ing and interpersonal influences on teenager's
participation in family consumer decisions. In
Advances in Consumer Research, 13, Lutz RJ
(ed.). Association for Consumer Research: Utah,
181-186.
Moschis GP, Moore RL. 1979. Decision making
among the young: a socialization perspective.
Journal of Consumer Research 6: 101-112.
Moschis GP, Moore RL. 1982. A longitudinal study
of television advertising effects. Journal of Con-
sumer Research 9. 279-287,
Moschis GP, Moore RL. 1985. Racial and socioeco-
nomic influences on the development of consu-
mer behavior. Advances in Consumer Research
12: 525-532.
Mueller E. 1958. The desire for innovations in
household goods. In Consumer Behavior;
Research on Consumer Reactions, Clark
Lincoln H (ed.). Harper and Brothers Publishers;
New York, 13-37,
Options. 1990. Today's under-fives; the facts.
November 12-15.
Palan KM, Wilkes RE. 1997, Adolescent-parent
interaction in family decision making. Journal
of Consumer Research 24: 159-169,
Peracchio LA. 1992. How do young children learn
to be consumers? A script processing approach.
Journal of Consumer Research 18: 425-440.
Peters JF. 1985, Adolescents as socialization agents
to parents. Adolescence 20(8): 921-933,
Piaget J, 1970. The stages of intellectual develop-
ment of the child and Piaget's theory. In Read-
ings of Child Development and Personality,
Copyright © 2007 Jolrn Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, July-August 2007
DOI: 10.1002/cb

15. Parental consumer learning 217
Mussen PH, Conger JJ, Kagan J (eds). Harper and
Row: New York.
Quortnip Jens. 1994. Childhood Matters. Social
Theory, Practice and Politics. Aldeshot: Avebury.
Riesman D, Roseborough H. 1955. Careers and
Consumer Behavior. In Consumer Behavior,
vol. 2: The life Cycle and Consumer Behavior.
Clark Lincoln (ed.). New York University Press:
New York, 1-18.
Roedder John D, Wliitney JC. 1986. The develop-
ment of consumer knowledge in children: a
cognitive stmcture approach./owrna/ of Consu-
mer Research 12: 406-417.
Sillars AL, Kalbflesch PJ. 1987, Implicit and
explicit decision making strategies in couples.
In Dyadic Decision Making, Brinberg D,
Jaccard J (eds), Springer-Verlag: New York,
179-214,
Sorce P, Loomis L, Tyler PR, 1989, Intergenerational
influence on consumer decision making. In
Advances in Consumer Research, vol, l6. Srull
TK (ed.). Provo, UT: Association for consumer
research, 271-275.
Stampfl RW, Moschis GP, Lawton JT. 1978. Con-
sumer education and the preschool child. Jour-
nal of Consumer Affairs 12: 12-29,
Sutherland A, Thompson B, 2003. Kidfluence.
McGraw-Hill: New York.
Tallman I, Marotz-Baden R, Pindas P. 1983. Adoles-
cent Socialization in Cross-Cultural Perspective,
Planning for Social Change. Academic Press:
New York,
Tufte B, 1999, Genom tjat har barnen tagit makten
bland storkonsumentema, Sydsvenskan, lorda-
gen den 6 febmari.
Tufte B, Kampmann J, Hassel M. 2003. Bomekul-
tur, et begreb i bevaegelse, Akademisk forlag,
Vernon GM. 1972. Human Interaction, 2nd ed.
The Ronald Press Inc.: New York, Chapter 26.
Walsh A. 1991. Consumer socialization and frequency
of shopping with children.Journal of the Academy
of Marketing Science 19: 155-163, 66-70.
Ward S. 1974. Consumer socialization./owma/ of
Consumer Research 1: 1-16.
Ward S, Wackman DB. 1972. Children's purchase
influence attempts and parental yielding. Jour-
nal of Marketing Research 9: 316-319.
Ward S, Wackman DB, Wartella E. 1977. How
Children Learn to Buy: The Development of
Consumer Information Processing Skills. Sage
Publications: Beverly Hills, Califomia.
White RM, Foner A, Hess B, Toby ML. 1971. Socia-
lization for the middle and later years. In Hand-
book of Socialization Theory and Research,
Goslin DA (ed.). R. McNally and Co.: Chicago, Illinois.
Wilke WL. 1986. Consumer Behavior. John Wiley
and Sons: New York,
Ziegler E, Child IL. 1973. Socialization and Person-
ality Development. Addison-Wesley Publishing
Co.: Reading, Massachusetts.
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, July-August 2007
DOI: 10.1002/cb