Children and Young People‟S Developing Concept of Perceived Value

Children and Young People‟s Developing Concept of Perceived Value By i Janine Williams A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Marketing School of Marketing and International Business Victoria University of Wellington 2012 Abstract This thesis examines value perception as part of the decision to purchase, from the perspective of the child consumer. To date no academic research has defined the concept of value perception from a child‟s perspective. On the basis of a two stage qualitative investigation with children aged eight to fourteen years, value for children was found to be an important concept in consumer decisions. Even from the age of eight years, evidence emerged that children were quite „canny‟ in their purchasing. While value was found to be comprised of benefits and costs of purchase for children from this young age, the nature of these factors and the way they contributed to value i perception varied considerably as they grew older. Six distinct dimensions emerged from diaries and a series of in-depth interviews with children. The benefits which were identified were functional value, emotional value, social value and curiosity/novelty value while the costs included both price and risk related factors. The way in which the dimensions were considered was found to vary with age, changing from separate consideration of benefits and costs to a more adult like trade- off between the two. The emotional value of products was consistently important for children of all ages, sensory response in particular. Several concepts were found to become increasingly complex. Conceptual understanding of quality emerged as children grew older. Branding was found to be central to children‟s value perceptions despite limited conceptual understanding for very young consumers and the way price was considered changed markedly with age and experience. A conceptual model defining perceived value from a child‟s perspective is detailed and a series of propositions relating important conditions to perceived value are advanced. A discussion of the findings as they relate to the extant literature is provided along with directions for future research, building on the results of this work. Finally, a discussion of the implications of this work for the field of Marketing is presented. i Acknowledgements It is a wonderful feeling to be writing my acknowledgements for this thesis. It has been a long journey and many people have contributed along the way. First and foremost I want to thank my supervisors Professor Peter Thirkell and Professor Nicholas Ashill. Peter has been a constant source of encouragement, guidance and support throughout the process and believed in me from the beginning when I returned to university and changed direction from my earlier Chemistry degree. Nick has also been an inspiring and supportive mentor remaining as my supervisor even when he left Victoria University of Wellington to join the American University of Sharjah. Both these professors made valuable suggestions and questioned me at each step to help improve my work. They are both inspiring teachers and people. They invest their time and energy unselfishly to share their knowledge and help others succeed. I would also like to acknowledge the assistance of Professor Michel Rod in the development of the research approach. I would like to thank my fellow PhD students who I have met along the way and who have made the journey so much fun. I would particularly like to thank Dr Nick Thompson, with whom I shared an office and Dr Aaron Gazley. We shared many lunches and laughs together. Dr Kate Daellenbach has also been a great friend and support throughout the process. My fellow PhD student and colleague in tutoring Lachlan McLaren has been a wonderful friend in more recent times as have my current office mates Suzana Samsudi and Vu Dang. Vu has also generously shared his technical knowledge. I would like to thank the staff of the School of Marketing and International Business for teaching me, encouraging me and providing me with a scholarship and employment which allowed me to complete this degree. Finally, this thesis would not have been possible without the support of my family. My husband, Paul has helped me, supported my decision to return to University and loved me throughout, which has not always been easy. My sister Kathryn has been a second „mum‟ to our children as well as encouraging me, listening and making me laugh. Our three children Jessie, Ollie and Tim believed in me and came in to university whenever they got the chance. My parents, Dawn and Alan came to Wellington at times when I had exams or deadlines to meet. I would particularly like ii to thank my mum, Dawn who stepped in to help out whenever I needed her. I would like to thank my brother in-law Carl for proof reading my thesis and for generally providing useful philosophies on life. My parents-in-law Bev and Ian were happy to help out whenever they were in Wellington. I also had the support and encouragement of my brother and sister in-law who also were completing postgraduate study. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful family. Finally all my friends who have helped me along the way – Adele, Kate, Gabe, Tess, Emma, Jan, Sarah, Susie, Russell, Dave and Mark thank you for your friendship! iii Table of Contents Chapter 1. Introduction .................................................................................... 1 1. 1. Background ....................................................................................................................... 2 1.1.1 Children as Consumers ........................................................................................................ 2 1.1.2 The Perceived Value Concept .............................................................................................. 4 1.1.3 Identification of the Research Gap ....................................................................................... 7 1.1.4 Value of the Research ........................................................................................................ 10 1. 2. Research Objectives ........................................................................................................ 12 1. 3. Research Overview and Structure of Thesis .................................................................. 12 Chapter 2. Literature Review ......................................................................... 15 2. 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 16 2. 2. Perceived Value .............................................................................................................. 16 2.2.1 Children and Perceived Value ............................................................................................ 27 2.2.2 Involvement and Perceived Value ...................................................................................... 29 2.2.3 Perceived Value, Behavioural Intention and Behaviour ...................................................... 29 2. 3. Perceived Price................................................................................................................ 30 2.3.1 Children and Prices ........................................................................................................... 35 2. 4. Perceived Quality ............................................................................................................ 39 2.4.1 Children and Perceived Quality ......................................................................................... 42 2. 5. Children’s Use of Product Attributes ............................................................................. 44 2. 6. Brand .............................................................................................................................. 44 2.6.1 Children and Brands .......................................................................................................... 45 2. 7. Consumer Socialisation Theory ...................................................................................... 48 2.7.1 Social Learning Theory ..................................................................................................... 50 2.7.2 Cognitive Developmental Theories .................................................................................... 53 2.7.3 Summary of Socialisation Theoretical Implications ............................................................ 62 2. 8. Children’s Understanding of Economic Concepts ......................................................... 63 iv 2. 9. Summary of the Literature Review ................................................................................ 66 Chapter 3. Research Methodology ................................................................. 69 3. 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 70 3. 2. Research Question and Objectives.................................................................................. 70 3. 3. Research Paradigm ......................................................................................................... 71 3. 4. Grounded Theory ............................................................................................................ 73 3. 5. Qualitative Research ......................................................................................................

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