Young Consumers: Insight and Ideas for Responsible Marketers

Bamforth, Jill; Geursen, Gus

2017 Young Consumers: Insight and Ideas for Responsible Marketers

doi: 10.1108/YC-01-2017-00658

PurposeYoung consumers represent a significant purchasing group, but little is known about how they make money management decisions. This study aims to identify and classify different approaches to money management that may impact purchasing behaviour.Design/methodology/approachData from focus groups with 40 respondents between 18 and 24 years were recruited via campus notices across three campuses in a university in Melbourne, Australia.FindingsBased on how respondents accommodated economic, social and psychological influences in their money management approach, the authors identified three distinct approaches to money management: conservative money managers, creative money managers and entrepreneurial money managers.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is based on a small sample consisting of 40 individuals in Australia.Practical implicationsYoung consumers share common traits as a group but have diverse attitudes and approaches to money management. The authors identify three distinct approaches to money management based on respondents’ management of factors affecting their money management. Companies must consider these differences to effectively approach millennial consumers.Social implicationsThe indebtedness of young consumers is a common concern in society. Analysis of their approaches to money management offers an opportunity for organisations to support responsible individual money usage amongst young consumers.Originality/valueWhile exploratory, the current study is the first to consider how differences in money management behaviour in young generations may impact consumer decision-making.

Basfirinci, Cigdem; Cilingir Uk, Zuhal

2017 Young Consumers: Insight and Ideas for Responsible Marketers

doi: 10.1108/YC-12-2016-00653

PurposeThis study aims to investigate gendered meanings of food and its relationship with identity management for Turkish university students’ food practices and beliefs.Design/methodology/approachMethodologically, both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used in this study as a complementary way. Data were collected from a total of 711 university students.FindingsTaken together, the findings strongly support gender-based food stereotypes as consistent with previous literature with some cultural variations. As another important finding, gendered associations of foods are stronger than those of non-alcoholic beverages among Turkish university students.Originality/valueIn terms of original contribution, this study not only provides valuable information about young consumers’food beliefs and practices in terms of gender-based stereotypes and identity management, but also enriches the current literature, specifically focusing on Turkey, which has a completely different cultural background as compared to Europe, the USA and the Far East. To the best of authors’knowledge, this is the very first study on this subject specifically focusing on Turkish consumers’ gift-buying behaviors through the internet channel.

Carrero, Isabel; Aleti, Torgeir

2017 Young Consumers: Insight and Ideas for Responsible Marketers

doi: 10.1108/YC-02-2017-00664

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the roles of mothers, fathers and children in family decision-making (FDM) processes in families with different characteristics in terms of household structure, parents’ resources and family communication styles. As several structural changes regarding families have taken place within the last decades, there is a need to update the theories around FDM – in particular, regarding to the role of women and children.Design/methodology/approachA survey was distributed to 520 individuals in 183 families, where mothers, fathers and children above nine years living at home completed the survey.FindingsThe study demonstrates that the product category largely influences FDM dynamics, as well as housework division, parental characteristics and communication style. The study also reveals that structural changes may put more pressure on mothers. This pressure can partly be relieved if the family encourages children to become independent consumers rather than trying to control their consumption. Moreover, when fathers take a larger part in the housework, traditional gender roles become more fluid.Social implicationsFor policymakers concerned with equality within the family, it may be a better approach to enable fathers to more actively participate in household chores than to try to change behaviour through information about equality.Originality/valueThis study extends the understanding of FDM in contemporary households by taking into account the views of all family members and produces a more complete picture of the decision-making dynamics within families.

Nicolini, Valentina; Cassia, Fabio; Bellotto, Massimo

2017 Young Consumers: Insight and Ideas for Responsible Marketers

doi: 10.1108/YC-02-2017-00665

PurposeThis study aims to understand the impact of rational and emotional appeals on children’s attitude towards two public service announcements (PSAs) that promoted eating fruits and vegetables.Design/methodology/approachA mixed-methods study was conducted with children aged 8 to 11. A convergent parallel design was selected that comprised a questionnaire for the quantitative approach and a semi-structured focus group for the qualitative approach.FindingsThe results from the quantitative and qualitative phases converged, showing that both components (i.e. emotional and rational) play a significant role in children’s preference towards an advertisement, but the emotional component appeared to be the preeminent.Research limitations/implicationsFuture studies should use other social subjects and children of different age brackets from various countries to test whether they continue to prefer emotional appeals in advertising.Practical implicationsAn understanding of which elements children prefer in PSAs will enable advertising campaigns and social marketing strategies with targeted approaches that respect children’s tastes to be planned.Social implicationsA properly designed social advertisement could have important effects on disseminating useful information, changing or preventing unhealthy habits and adopting good practices in children.Originality/valueFew studies have examined the effectiveness of PSAs, especially those targeted at children. This paper contributes to extend concepts from the commercial field of advertising directed to children to the field of social advertising. To date, this field has received little attention.

Chan, Kara; Tsang, Lennon; Chen, Jie

2017 Young Consumers: Insight and Ideas for Responsible Marketers

doi: 10.1108/YC-03-2017-00672

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the banking experiences and awareness of marketing efforts of banks among youth in mainland China.Design/methodology/approachFour focus-group interviews were conducted. A convenience sample of 26 participants aged 17 to 20 years was recruited in Laiwu, Shandong, a medium-sized city in China. They were asked to report experiences that could illustrate good and bad banking services. They were also asked to recall bank marketing promotions.FindingsParticipants’ perceived service quality of banks was determined by staff attitude, service delivery, physical environment and comparison of user experience. The marketing communication activities they recalled most frequently included product placements, advertising slogans, entertaining commercials and co-branding with online games.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings were based on a non-probability sample. The study also did not differentiate between personal experience and indirect experience with family and friends. Similar studies can be conducted in large cities or in rural China to compare banking experiences in different social economic settings. Further studies can be designed using quantitative methodology to measure the importance of various factors in influencing perceptions of service quality. Online banking experience can also be studied in the future.Practical implicationsBanks in China can enhance their competitiveness and brand reputation through raising the professionalism of their front-line staff, improving efficiency and transparency and streamlining the service process. Banks can make contacts with youth through offline and online promotional activities, such as co-branding with popular online games.Originality/valueThis is the first study on banking services among youth conducted in a medium-sized city in China.

Bamforth, Jill; Jebarajakirthy, Charles; Geursen, Gus

2017 Young Consumers: Insight and Ideas for Responsible Marketers

doi: 10.1108/YC-11-2016-00645

PurposeThe money management behaviour of undergraduates is a noteworthy study for many stakeholders, as these students are more likely to carry forward this behaviour into later life. The literature on student money management behaviour heavily focuses on financial literacy. However, economic, social and psychological factors also affect undergraduates’ money management behaviour. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to empirically investigate how undergraduates respond to and account for these factors in their money management behaviour.Design/methodology/approachThis study was carried out in Australia. This study adopted a qualitative exploratory approach. The data were collected using six focus group discussions (FGDs) held in one Australian university, in which 40 undergraduates participated.FindingsThe key themes identified from the thematic analysis include undergraduates’ understanding of money management and managing economic, social and psychological aspects relating to undergraduates’ money management behaviour. Several subthemes were identified under each theme, which specifically showed how undergraduates manage and respond to each of these factors relating to their money management behaviour.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was conducted with the data collected from a relatively small sample of respondents and was limited only to undergraduates. Moreover, this study was conducted in Australia, indicating that some of the results might be specific to the Australian context.Practical implicationsThe authors have suggested promoting multiple payment methods and internet usage to undergraduates, and providing them with stress management programmes will help them maintain prudent money management behaviour.Originality/valueThe extant literature on undergraduates’ money management behaviour tends to focus on financial literacy. This study extends the scope of the literature beyond financial literacy and has shown how undergraduates respond to economic, social and psychological aspects relating to money management behaviour. This study has applied a qualitative exploratory approach, in contrast to quantitative methods which have generally been applied for studies relating to undergraduates’ money management behaviour.

Fischer, Daniel; Böhme, Tina; Geiger, Sonja Maria

2017 Young Consumers: Insight and Ideas for Responsible Marketers

doi: 10.1108/YC-03-2017-00671

PurposePromoting sustainable consumption among young consumers has become a key priority on the research agenda in such different fields as education for sustainable development, environmental psychology and consumer policy. Progress in this field has been hampered by a lack of sophisticated research instruments capable of measuring consumption behaviors that are relevant both in terms of their sustainability impacts and their suitability for teenagers. This study aims to address this research gap and presents a scale for young consumers’ sustainable consumption behaviors (YCSCB) in the areas of food and clothing.Design/methodology/approachThe scale was developed in a two-step, mixed-methods approach. In an initial qualitative interview study, the actual behaviors of theoretically selected young consumers (n = 8) were identified with regard to acquiring, using and disposing of consumer goods in the areas of food and clothing. The YCSCB scale was constructed using the findings of this qualitative study and then validated in a subsequent quantitative study (n = 155).FindingsThe YCSCB scale is a valid and reliable scale to measure young consumers’ sustainable consumption behavior in the areas of food (n = 14 items) and clothing (n = 13 items).Originality/valueThe findings of this research provide a twofold contribution to advancing research on YCSCB. Firstly, it presents a consolidated scale that is explicitly constructed for teenagers and their consumption contexts. Secondly, it proposes a heuristic for developing more sophisticated measurements of SCB among young consumers that would allow a comparison between studies, is focused on behaviors (instead of confounding behaviors with intentions, attitudes or values) and is impact-oriented in terms of sustainability relevance.