Services and Relationship Marketing: Perspectives on Young Consumers

Children can be defined as being aged between 0 and 12 years old (Valkenburg and Cantor, 2001) and are identified to be increasingly important and influential as consumers in marketing research, partly due to their higher levels of disposable income (Calvert, 2008; Šramová, 2014). This is primarily due to increasing amounts of pocket money being given to children. For example, Calvert (2008) states that around 87 per cent of young children’s income is supplied by parents, compared to 37 per cent for teenagers. In 2002, it was found that children aged 4–12 years old spend around $30 billion USD per year (Calvert, 2008). They also influence family household purchasing decisions, including snacks, holiday and car-purchasing decisions. Indeed, estimates show that children (aged 2–14 years old) can hold influence over approximately $500 billion USD per year (Calvert, 2008).