Parental Perception of the Impact of Television Advertisements on Childrens Buying Behavior

Manish Mittal1, Anisha Daga2, Ginni Chhabra3 and Jyoti Lilani4

Parents believe that television advertisements are changing the pattern and behavior of children. They have negative impact on children since children demand, nag and pester their parents to purchase the advertised product. Television advertisements are an important factor which drives their product choice and inculcate unhealthy eating habits in them. The present study indicates that Indian children love watching television and prefer it over social interaction, physical and developmental activities. It also indicates that TV advertisements provide children knowledge about products and brands. It demonstrates that children demand more of the product whose advertisements they like. The study was carried out in Indore, a city of Central India, using a sample size of 300 parents and the data were collected through a structured questionnaire.

Introduction
According to a recent survey in the US, children spend more time watching television than they do anything else and children between ages of 6 and 14 watch about 25 hours of television per week and are exposed to 20,000 commercials in a single year. Television advertisements stimulate wants in children and they pester parents for advertised products (Leonhardt and Kerwin, 1997). Children in the
1

modern society have assumed larger roles in their homes and are involved in the shopping and buying decisions. In the US, children under the age of 12 are estimated to influence $130-670 bn in the family purchases (Schor, 2006) As children are exposed to several advertisements, they acquire product-related information which translates into increased purchase requests by them.

About the Authors

Lecturer and Program Coordinator, Daly College Business School, Residency Area, Daly College Campus, Indore, Ma dhya Pra desh, India; and is the cor responding author. E-mail: manmittal_1969@rediffmail.com Student, Daly College Business School, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India; and pursuing BA (Hons.) Business Studies degree from Leicester Business School, DeMontfort University, UK. Specializing in Marketing. E-mail: anishadaga@yahoo.com Student, Daly College Business School, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India; and pursuing BA (Hons.) Business Studies degree from Leicester Business School, DeMontfort University, UK. Specializing in Marketing. E-mail: gchhabra998@gmail.com Student, Daly College Business School, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India; and pursuing BA (Hons.) Business Studies degree from Leicester Business School, DeMontfort University, UK. Specializing in Marketing. E-mail: jyoti.lilani@gmail.com

40 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved. IUP Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. IX, Nos. 1 & 2, 2010 The

In India, too, Television has come up in a huge way and advertising is a huge multimillion dollar industry that has an enormous impact on the development of a child (Clay, 2000). Parents believe that there is change in the pattern and behavior of children when they watch television advertisements. Television advertisements have a negative impact on children since whenever they come across an advertisement, they demand, nag and pester their parents to purchase the advertised product. Refusal of such requests often results in conflict and deteriorates parents relationship with their children. They think that children need some kind of protection from advertisements; otherwise advertisers will exploit their credulity and loyalty (Sullivan, 2005). This is the reason many countries have tried to control advertising through certain regulations. Norway has introduced a total ban on television advertising directed at children. In Sweden, television advertisements are banned for children under the age of 12 years. Australia does not allow advertisements on television during programs for pre-schoolers. Countries like Greece have proclaimed a partial ban on advertising, prohibiting toy advertising between 7 am and 10 pm. On the other hand, in countries like India marketers are increasingly targeting children because they find children are the only market segment that do not change their preferences rapidly and are easy to influence through advertisements. Television advertising offers product and brand-related ideas and information to children that results in purchase request to parents (Sullivan, 2005). This issue to what extent television advertisements

are effective in defining and changing the buying behavior of childrenis worth investigating, and has motivated us to undertake this study. The section after 'Introduction' presents a brief review of relevant literature. The section thereafter describes the methodology of the study. Analysis and results are presented next, followed by conclusion in the end.

Literature Review
Many earlier researches have concluded that children participation in family purchase decision is increasing and television advertisements are playing important role in defining their product choice and buying behavior pattern. Kunkel et al. (2004) reported that television advertisements are effective in influencing children who lack the relevant knowledge, but still want their parents to get them endless array of products which they have seen in advertisements. Television commercials are also changing childrens eating habits. Unhealthy and junk food commercials have resulted in their increasing demand among the children. This has resulted in parents negative attitude towards television advertisements. Spungin (2004) concluded that advertisements play vital role in molding eating habits of children in UK. Around 80% of mothers agreed that they had been requested to buy the advertised products by their children and also agreed that if their children asked them to buy certain food product it was because of the advertisements. The results of his study showed high level of acceptance of advertisements among parents, but only a small segment of them showed positive attitude9% of the parents agreed that
41

Parental Perception of the Impact of Television Advertisements on Childrens Buying Behavior

advertisements offer their children a chance to learn and 6% agreed that it provides proper knowledge about the products. While 84% of the parents claimed that advertising manipulates children. Galst and White (1976) and Stoneman and Brody (1982) in their studies made an attempt to measure the efficacy of television advertising in shaping the purchase-related behavior of children. They exposed children to food advertising in an experimental situation and then observed the effectiveness of food advertisements in influencing selection of products and brands in a natural situation (while shopping with their mothers). In a similar study Reeves and Atkin (1979) also observed childrens behavior while shopping, but the children were exposed immediately prior to the shopping trip, to television advertising in general and not only to food advertising. All three of them observed a strong correlation between purchase influence attempts with total number of hours of commercial television watched per week. Buijzen and Valkenburg (2003) found that television commercials lead to increase in number of requests for advertised products which also increases number of product denials because parents cannot honor all requests made by their children. This makes the child unhappy. They observed a direct relationship between unhappiness and exposure to commercials. This may also be because when a child watches an advertisement, he compares his situation with the idealized world in the commercials and the gap between the two makes him unhappy. Similarly, Wilson and Wood (2004) and Hansen et al. (2005) found that television
42

advertisements targeted at children force them to nag their parents due to the increase in desire in them to acquire the advertised product, thereby influencing the family buying decisions. Due to the constant exposure of children to television advertisements, they are able to differentiate between good and bad products and are in the situation to convince their parents easily to purchase the product they desire (Wilson and Wood, 2004). Their research study points that parents have agreed to the fact that children play a very imperative role in influencing decisions of the family, sometimes parents even seek their childrens advice. For example, many parents (71%) consult their children when they want to purchase computers.

The Indian Context

Indian culture is collectivistic which means that Indians emphasize their self as relational and interdependent with in-group members such as family and relatives (Hofstede, 1980; Verma, 1999; and cited in Mukherji, 2005). Traditionally, the joint family system was the dominant form of family with multigenerations living together. However, with modernization and migration to urban areas, the joint family is giving way to nuclear family structures (Mukherji, 2005). Another development which has taken place in the recent years is that, the proportion of women in the workforce has increased tremendously. This has caused a shift in the role of purchase agent for the family from women to children. Children are increasingly becoming the buyers for the entire family. In most of the Indian families children are consulted not only for

The IUP Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. IX, Nos. 1 & 2, 2010

buying the products which are intended to be consumed by them but also for the products not meant for them. Children in India represent the direct purchase powers for the kids products. According to the statistics given by Indiantelevision.com (2006), children drive 84-96% purchase decision for themselves and their family for the products like ice creams, candies, books, etc., which are for their direct consumption (Figure 1). Their powers go far beyond. Children have indirect purchase influence for big-ticket items like computers, mobiles, refrigerator, washing machine and other consumer durables. Cartoon Network undertook the study to understand kids influence on purchase decision for 27 consumables and 10 durables covering 3,253 children and 735 mothers in 14 prime cities of India and the results were striking. Children drive 10-32% of the purchase decision for durables (Figure 2).

The survey demonstrates that the Indian kids are becoming far more judicious. They have more knowledge about product than their parents especially for products like TVs and computers. In homes where parents are old or are in the lower level in the company, children tend to invariably know more than their parents (John, 2002). Children in such homes play a critical role in category as well as brand purchase decisions. Television viewing tops the list of preferred activities among Indian children. A survey by AC Nielson also showed that on an average an Indian child watches TV for about three hours on weekdays and 3.7 hours on weekends and the time spent in front of television increases with age (The Child, Branded, 2004). Television plays an important role in influencing purchase decision of children in India. A study done by Media Consumer Insights division of communications services major Group M

Figure 1: Kids Influence on Spending [Kids Influence Purchases Made for Themselves/The Family (% Moms Claiming They Consult Children/Children Choose)]
96 94 % of Purchase Decision 92 90 Juice Drinks Games/Toys Ice Cream 88 86 84 82 80 78 Products
Source: Indiantelevision.com Parental Perception of the Impact of Television Advertisements on Childrens Buying Behavior 43

Chewing Gum

Candy

Salty Snaks

School Supplies

Cookies

Books

Figure 2: Kids Influence on Spending [Kids Influence Purchases for Durables (% Moms Claiming They Consult Children/Seek Their Advice)]
60 50 40 Computer Refrigerator Television Bicycles Mobile Phone 30 20 10 0 Durables
Source: Indiantelevision.com

% of Purchase Decision

Music System

which covered about 700 respondents in 13 countries revealed that Television advertising influences the purchase decision of the Indian children the most with 77% of the respondents indicating television advertising as key influencer driving childrens purchase decision (TV Ads Influence Kids Most, 2003). Bandyopadhyay (2001) also found children to be an important audience who watch television and influence family purchase decisions and so marketers are now targeting them. Television commercials lead to frequent demand for the advertised product and 61% of the parents succumb to the demands of children. Dudani et al. (2006) in their study found 90% of the parents agreeing that children play an important role in familys buying decisions. About 95% of the parents said their kids watch television for two to three hours a day and during holidays it goes up to four to five hours a day. Around 99% of the parents agreed that the frequency of watching television is too high and kids
44

carry that influence for a long time with 45% parents agreeing that advertising is the major tool which influences the opinion building process of their children. When kids were asked what they do when parents dont get them the product they want, 95% of the kids said they nag, cry loud till their parents surrender. But the parental perception on the impact of television advertisements on buying behavior of children in India has not been studied by the researchers extensively; this is the reason why we have selected this topic for our research.

Methodology
Objectives
The objectives of the study are to study parental perception about: Whether their children like watching television and the number of hours their children spend before television on weekdays (school days) and on weekends and vacations (non-school days).

The IUP Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. IX, Nos. 1 & 2, 2010

Microwave Oven

Car

 Whether children prefer watching television over talking to their friends, playing outdoor games and studying. The role played by children in family purchase decisions.

The most influential factor driving childrens purchase decision (demand for a product). Impact of television advertisements on their children (whether television advertisements are increasing childrens knowledge of brands and products, encouraging unhealthy food habits, increasing purchase requests and turning them into naggers). What categor y of product advertisement their children like watching the most and whether it transpires into demand for the same.

the average television viewing we asked a closed-ended question to the children how many hours on an average do they watch television daily. They were presented four alternativesless than 1 hour, 1-2 hours, more than 2 hours but less than 3 hours, and 3 hours and above. The responses were collected separately for school days and non-school days. The parental perceptions of various issues selected for the study were collected on a 5-point Likert scale (1-strongly agree; 5-strongly disagree). Through the last part of the questionnaire the demographic details of the participants like their gender, number of children and gender of the children were collected.

Analysis of Data and Results

Childrens Television Viewing Habit
The findings for parental perception about the television watching habits of their children are shown in Figure 3 and Table 1. Parents believe that their children love watching television. About 85% of the parents agreed when asked about it. They also indicated that their children watch television on an average of 2.48 hours on schooldays and 3.47 hours on non-school days. Parents also perceive that their children prefer watching television over more desirable physical, social and development activities. Around 60% of the participating parents agreed that their children prefer watching television over talking to their friend (with 29% strongly agreeing to it). They also agreed (48% of them) that children prefer television viewing over
45

Tools of Data Collection and Analysis

The study employs primary data collected by communicating with the parents with the help of a structured questionnaire. Before undertaking the survey, pilot survey was undertaken with 40 parents. Their views were incorporated in the final questionnaire. The survey was carried out in Indore city (in Central India) during Februar y-March 2008. The study employed non-probabilistic quota sampling. In the sample size of 300, 150 fathers and 150 mothers were surveyed. The analysis of data was carried out using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 15.0 for Windows. A closed-ended questionnaire was used for the purpose of data collection. To determine

Parental Perception of the Impact of Television Advertisements on Childrens Buying Behavior

Figure 3: Children Enjoy Watching Television

300 Frequency 200 100 0 Yes No Do Your Children Enjoy Watching TV?

Table 1: Average Television Viewing Time of Children

N How many hours in a day do your children watch TV on schooldays? How many hours in a day do your children watch TV daily on non-schooldays? Valid N (listwise) 300 300 3.4767 1.29681 300 2.4800 1.16653 Mean Std. Deviation

playing outdoor games with 21.7% agreeing strongly to it. The most concerning factor from parents point of view is that th ey fi nd thei r chi ld ren preferri ng television watching over their studies. A whopping 68.3% of the parents believe that their children prefer to spend time before television than studying with 37% of the parents strongly believing it. Table 2 presents results of our analysis.

Childrens Buying Behavior

Parents agree that the present day children play an important role in family buying decision. About 73.3% of the parent respondents agree that their children are consulted and heard for during family purchases which indicate children dominance in family purchase decisions. Parents responses are summarized in Table 3 and presented in Figure 4.

Table 2: Childrens Preference for Television Viewing

Prefer TV Over Talking To Friends Playing Outdoor Games Studying Strongly Agree 87 29.0% 65 21.7% 94 31.3%
46

Agree 93 31.0% 79 26.3% 111 37.0%

Cant Say 28 9.3% 16 5.3% 27 9.0%

Disagree 60 20.0% 110 36.7% 43 14.3%

Strongly Disagree 32 10.7% 30 10.0% 25 8.3%

Mean 2.5233 2.8700 2.3133

Std. Deviation 1.36956 1.37334 1.27825

The IUP Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. IX, Nos. 1 & 2, 2010

There are many factors which affect childrens product choice/demand. When the parents were asked to identify the most influential factor driving their childrens purchase decision, they indicated that television advertisement is the most important factor influencing the demand for a product among children with 38.7% of the

participating parents choosing it over other options. Peers (Friends) were also found to be very influential with 33.7% of the parents picking it over other factors. Other factors like radio, comics, hoarding and sibling were not found to be very influential in driving the demand of a product. The results are shown in Figure 5.

Table 3: Childrens Role in Family Buying Decisions

Frequency Valid Strongly Agree Agree Cant Say Disagree Strongly Disagree Total 111 109 29 36 15 300 Percent 37.0 36.3 9.7 12.0 5.0 100.0 Mean Std. Deviation 2.1167 1.17800

Figure 4: Childrens Role in Family Buying Decisions

120 100 Frequency 80 60 40 20 0 Strongly Agree Agree Cant Say Disagree Strongly Disagree

Do Children Play Major Role in Family Buying Decisions?

Figure 5: What Drives Demand for a Product in Children?

120 100 Frequency 80 60 40 20 0 Friends Comics TV Hoardings Sibling Others Advertisements Factors Driving Childrens Demand of a Product Radio
47

Parental Perception of the Impact of Television Advertisements on Childrens Buying Behavior

Impact of Television Advertisements on Buying Behavior of Children

Table 4 summarizes the findings of impact of television advertisements on childrens buying behavior. Parents strongly agree (49.3%) that television advertisements help in economic socialization of children by adding to their knowledge of products and brands with another 35.7% agreeing with the statement. Parents believe that food advertisements on television are inculcating unhealthy eating habits in their children with 44% of the responding parents strongly agreeing with it and another 29% of them agreeing with it. They also agree that TV advertisements tend to increase purchase request of children. When they see a product advertisement they want to own it resulting in purchase request to parents. Around 36.7% of the parents strongly agree and 41.7% agree that TV advertisements are instrumental in increasing purchase request of their

children. Parents, obviously cannot fulfill all and frequent requests made by their children. The refusal to buy the product makes children nag with their parents to buy them the advertised product. Parents hold TV advertisement responsible for turning their children into naggers. In our survey 32.3% strongly agree with the statement that TV advertisements are turning children into naggers with another 36.0% agreeing with it. We also investigated from the parents which product categor y advertisements their children like watching the most and wh ether th e chi ld ren demand those products. The findings are as follows. Figure 6 show that children like chocolate advertisements the most followed by snacks advertisements. It also reveals that food advertisements are liked by children more than any other product category. Figure 7 indicates that childrens liking for a product advertisement translates

Table 4: Impact of TV Advertisements on Childrens Buying Behavior

TV Strongly Advertisements Agree Add value to childrens knowledge of brands and products Encourage unhealthy food habits Increase purchase requests of children Turn children into naggers
48

Agree 107 35.7% 87 29.0% 125 41.7% 108 36.0%

Cant Say 21 7.0% 29 9.7% 21 7.0% 40 13.3%

Disagree 14 4.7% 44 14.7% 33 11.0% 43 14.3%

Strongly Disagree 10

Mean

Std. Deviation

148 49.3% 132 44.0% 110 36.7% 97 32.3%

1.770 3.3% 8 2.7% 11 3.7% 12 4.0% 2.033 2.030

1.000

1.169

1.099

2.216

1.160

The IUP Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. IX, Nos. 1 & 2, 2010

into its demand. About 72.3% of the parents agree that their children demand

interaction with television and television advertisements and their impact on

Figure 6: Product Category Advertisements Children Like the Most

200 150 Frequency 100

Chocolate

Stationery

Snacks

Others

Product Category

Figure 7: Childrens Demand for the Product Whose Advertisements They Like

250 200 Frequency 150 100 50

Yes

No Demand More of the Product

Missing

more of the product whose advertisement they like.

Conclusion
The study provides important insights into parental perception of their childrens

childrens buying behavior. The study indicates that parents accept that their children love watching television for long hours. They on an average watch television for 2.48 hours on weekdays and 3.47 hours on weekends. The children also prefer
49

Parental Perception of the Impact of Television Advertisements on Childrens Buying Behavior

spending time before television than engaging themselves in talking to friends or playing outdoor games or studying. The parents also believe that children are increasingly playing important role in family buying decision and television advertisements are the most important factor affecting childrens demand for a product. The study also reveals that children demand more of the product whose advertisement they like. Parents consider television advertisements responsible for changing their childrens behavior. They feel that TV advertisements do help in economic socialization of their children by providing them relevant knowledge about brands and products but also are changing their food habits, making them demand the advertised products more frequently and turning them into naggers to fulfill their demands. Of all the product categories, children like watching food (chocolates and snacks) advertisements the most. But the limitations of the research are that the data were drawn from a single time period and a single region of India and studied limited product categories. Thus, future research should validate these findings using other times, cities and product categories. Nevertheless, the study provides evidence that parents perceive that TV advertisements help in economic socialization process of children by providing them relevant knowledge about brands and products. So they will not recommend a ban on TV advertisements targeted to children. As consumers, the children need to learn how to make choices, to collect relevant information and assess and compare products. Advertising will certainly help in all these. There is a need to make children understand the intention
50

of advertising in their early stage of development so that they can become better at using the ad verti sements constructively. The serious issue is that television advertisements are changing eating habits of children. In our research we find that of all the product categories children like the advertisements of chocolates and snacks and they demand more of these products. The results are consistent with prior research (Kelly et al., 2002) which indicates that advertising for a brand tends to increase desire for the product category. Both may not be considered good for children, but neither are they inappropriate products that the law would prohibit selling to children. Much of the public policy literature has dealt with exposure of children to advertising for adult products such as cigarettes, alcohol, etc. By comparison, advertising for food products that may contribute to child obesity seems tame, but child obesity is a growing concern in developed countries worldwide (Bridges and Briesch, 2006). Using the results of our research we can say that advertising food category brands is likely to increase the desire for the product among the children. Thus, the food category would appear to be the most effective level for any public policy intervention. To make children aware of the health hazards consumer educational campaigns and product labeling may also be used. J

References
1. Bandyopadhyay S (2001), Is Television Advertising Good for Children: Areas of Concern and Policy Implications, International Journal of Advertising, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 89-116.

The IUP Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. IX, Nos. 1 & 2, 2010

2. Bridges E and Briesch R A (2006), The Nag Factor and Childrens Product Categories, International Journal of Advertising, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 157-187. 3. Buijzen M and Valkenburg P (2003), The Impact of Television Advertising on Materialism, Parent-Child Conflict, and Unhappiness: A Review of Research, Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 437-456. 4. Clay R A (2000), Advertising to Children: Is it Ethical?, Monitor on Psychology, Vol. 31, No. 8, September. 5. Dudani C, Chandak K and Soni A (2006), Role of Children in Advertising, Working Paper, Indira Institute of Management, Pune, available at http:// w w w. i nd i ai nf oli ne.com/ content/ bschool/Students_Corner/2006/05/ 30052006/role.pdf, accessed on 15/2/2008. 6. Galst J P and White M A (1976), The Unhealthy Persuader: The Reinforcing Value of Television and Childrens Purchase-Influencing Attempts at the Supermarket, Child Development, Vol. 47, No. 4, pp. 1089-1096. 7. Hansen F, Nielsen J and Christansen P (2005), Childrens Influence Upon Family Purchase Decision Making, Working paper, Copenhagen Business School, available at http:// www.warc.com/LandingPages/Generic/ Results.asp?Ref=344, accessed on 18/2/08. 8. Hofstede G (1980), Cultures Consequences: International Differences in

Work-Related Values, Beverly Hills, Sage Publications, California; cited in Mukherji J (2005), Maternal Communication Patterns, Advertising Attitudes and Mediation Behaviors in Urban India, Journal of Marketing Communications, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 247-262. 9. Indiantelevision.com (2006), Kid Power: Excerpts from the Indian Survey, available at http:// w w w. i n d i a n t e l e v i s i o n . c o m / marketdatabase/demographics/ kidpower.htm, accessed on December 15.

10. John S (2002), Marketers Bow to Mighty Kid Power, The Times of India, Februar y 2, available at http:// timesof india.ind iatimes.com/ articlesh ow /1 2 38 58 0 44 4 .cms, accessed on January 1, 2007. 11. Kelly K J, Slater M D and Karan D (2002), Image Advertisements Influence on Adolescents Perceptions of the Desirability of Beer and Cigarettes, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 295-304. 12. Kunkel D, Wilcox B L, Cantor J, Palmer E et al. (2004), Psychological Issues in the Increasing Commercialization of Childhood, Report of the APA task force on advertising and children, available at http://www.apa.org/ releases/childrenads.pdf, accessed on 15/2/2008. 13. Leonhardt D and Kerwin K (1997), Hey Kid, Buy This!, Business Week, June 30, pp. 62-67. 14. Mukherji J (2005), Maternal Communication Patterns, Advertising
51

Parental Perception of the Impact of Television Advertisements on Childrens Buying Behavior

Attitudes and Mediation Behaviors in Urban India, Journal of Marketing Communications, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 247-262. 15. Reeves B and Atkin C K (1979), The Effects of Television Advertising on Mother-Child Interactions at the Grocery Store, Paper Presented at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism, August 5-8, Houston, Texas, available at http:/ /www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/ 0000019b/80/32/9e/91.pdf, accessed on 25/2/2008. 16. Schor J B (2006), Regulation, Awareness, Empowerment, Young People and Harmful Media Content in the Digital Age, Nordicom, p. 103, June. 17. Spungin P (2004), Parent Power, Not Pester Power, Young Consumers, Vol. 5, No. 3. 18. Stoneman Z and Brody G H (1982), The Indirect Impact of Child-Oriented Advertisements on Mother-Child Interactions, Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 369-376. 19. Sullivan T (2005), Advertising and Children: What do the Kids Think?, International Journal of Market Research, Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 371-384.

20. The Child, Branded (2004), Exchange4media Chennai Bureau, Hindustan Times, March 1, available at http://www.exch ange4media.com/ Kid s/KidsFullStor y.asp?section_ id=24&news_id=11101&tag=5765, accessed on January 3, 2007. 21. TV Ads Influence Kids Most (2003), The Hindu Business Line, December 9, available at http:// www.thehindubusinessline.com/2003/ 12/09/stories/2003120902110600 .htm, accessed on January 2, 2007. 22. Verma J (1999), Collectivism in the Cultural Perspective: The Indian Scene, in Lasry J C, Adair J and Dion K (Eds.) Latest Contributions to CrossCultural Psychology, pp. 228-241, Swets and Zetlinger, Lisse, The Netherlands; cited in Mukherji J (2005), Maternal Communication Patterns, Advertising Attitudes and Mediation Behaviors in Urban India, Journal of Marketing Communications, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 247-262. 23. Wilson G and Wood K (2004), The Influence of Children on Parental Purchases During Supermarket Shopping, International Journal of Consumer Studies, Vol. 28, No. 4, pp. 329-336.

52

The IUP Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. IX, Nos. 1 & 2, 2010

Annexure
Research Questionnaire

1. Do your children like watching television? Yes No

.

2. How many hours on an average do your children watch television daily?

School days Holidays Less than 1 hour 1-2 hours Less than 1 hour 1-2 hours 2-3 hours More than 3 hours 2-3 hours More than 3 hours

3. Do your children prefer watching television overStrongly Agree Talking to friends Playing outdoor Games Studying Agree Cant Say Disagree Strongly Disagree

4. Do your children play an important role in family purchase decision?

Strongly Agree Agree Nither Agree Nor Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree

5. What according to you is the most influential factor affecting childrens purchase decision?
Friends Comics Radio Hoardings TV advertisements Siblings Others

Parental Perception of the Impact of Television Advertisements on Childrens Buying Behavior

53

Annexure (Cont.)
6. State your level of agreement with the following statements?
Strongly Agree TV Advertisements add value to childrens knowledge of brands and products TV Advertisements encourage unhealthy food habits in children TV Advertisements increase purchase requests of children TV Advertisements turn children into naggers Agree Cant Say Disagree Strongly Disagree

7. Advertisements of which product category do your children like watching the most? (Please tick)
Chocolate Stationery Snacks Others

8. Children demand the product more whose advertisement they like? (Please tick)
Strongly Agree Agree Nither Agree Nor Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree

Reference # 03J-2010-02/05-03-01

54

The IUP Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. IX, Nos. 1 & 2, 2010

Copyright of IUP Journal of Marketing Management is the property of IUP Publications and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.