A Study of Children's Trading a Dissertation
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Cards, Creatures and Almost Anything: A Study of Children’s Trading A dissertation submitted to the Kent State University Graduate School of Management In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Marie A. Yeh Summer, 2013 1 Dissertation written by Marie A. Yeh B.S., University of Maryland, College Park, 1992 M.S.Ed., Old Dominion University, 1996 Ph.D., Kent State University, 2013 Approved by ___________________________________ Robert D. Jewell, Chair Doctoral Dissertation Committee ___________________________________ Alfred Guiffrida, Member Doctoral Dissertation Committee ___________________________________ Cesar Zamudio, Member Doctoral Dissertation Committee Accepted by ___________________________________ Representative College of Business Administration ___________________________________ Dean’s Office College of Business Administration 2 Acknowledgements This dissertation has been a long, rewarding journey that was inspired by my son, Sean, and that came to fruition through the staunch belief and faith of my advisor, Bob Jewell. To have the faith and support of such a supportive, intelligent and caring person as him, who as an advisor facilitated my growth and learning like I never have faced before and likely never will again, is an experience for which I will forever be grateful. I am also very grateful to my committee members, past and current, which include Al Guiffrida, Larry Marks, Mike Mayo and Cesar Zamudio, whose comments, feedback and assistance were incredibly helpful. To have been allowed the luxury of working on this dissertation without going to the poor house, I give thanks to the most helpful of department chairs, Pam Grimm, Kent State’s Graduate Student Senate and Beth Brandt. I also thank the children and their parents as well as the staff that so patiently work with them on a daily basis with little monetary reward for their support and cooperation in working with the hundreds of children who participated in this work. Finally, this work would not have been possible without the unwavering support from my loving husband, John, and the two greatest, smartest children in the world, Madi and Sean, who helped me stay sane and whole through this process and who inspire me every day to make myself a better person and the world a better place. I am incredibly lucky to have been blessed to have the love and support of the world’s finest people. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 12 Outline of Dissertation ................................................................................................ 17 Children as Consumers .............................................................................................. 18 How Do Children Get What They Want? ................................................................. 18 Consumer Socialization ............................................................................................ 21 Social Learning & Socialization Agents ................................................................... 22 The Cognitive Developmental Approach to Consumer Socialization ...................... 26 The Gap in Understanding Children as Consumers ............................................... 32 Addressing the Gap through the Study of Children’s Trading .............................. 37 The Socio-Cultural Framework ................................................................................ 38 Theoretical Contribution............................................................................................ 40 CHAPTER 2: AN EXPLORATION OF CHILDREN’S TRADING ............................. 44 Children’s Trading ..................................................................................................... 44 Barter ........................................................................................................................... 51 Play ............................................................................................................................... 63 A Conceptual Model of Children’s Trading ............................................................. 66 Study One .................................................................................................................... 70 Methodology ............................................................................................................. 70 Arranged Non-Participant Observation .................................................................... 72 4 Interviews .................................................................................................................. 74 The Sample ............................................................................................................... 75 Age as Factor. ....................................................................................................... 75 Gender as Factor. .................................................................................................. 76 Snowball Sampling ............................................................................................... 77 The Data .................................................................................................................... 79 Analysis..................................................................................................................... 82 Study One Findings..................................................................................................... 84 Antecedents of Trading ............................................................................................. 85 Parents. .................................................................................................................. 86 Siblings ................................................................................................................. 91 Peers. ..................................................................................................................... 92 The Existing Relationship between the Child and Trading Partners .................... 93 Socio-Cultural Context ......................................................................................... 95 A Place with Critical Mass ................................................................................... 96 Traded Goods ........................................................................................................ 97 Aspects of the Child ............................................................................................ 100 Motivation to Trade. ........................................................................................... 106 The Trading Process ............................................................................................... 110 The Stages of Trading ......................................................................................... 111 Actions in Trading .............................................................................................. 115 The Valuation Process ............................................................................................ 116 5 Perceptual Attributes ........................................................................................... 117 Cognitive Attributes ............................................................................................ 118 Value Derived from Contexts ............................................................................. 119 The Valuation Array ........................................................................................... 121 The Valuation Ratio ............................................................................................ 126 The Negotiation Process ......................................................................................... 126 Factors that Influence the Enactment of Negotiation ......................................... 127 Actions in Negotiation ........................................................................................ 130 Persuasion ........................................................................................................... 132 Stipulations ......................................................................................................... 133 Commentary of Third Parties.................................................................................. 135 Having More Than Two Parties .............................................................................. 136 Fairness and Ethics in Trading ................................................................................ 138 Group Norms and Dynamics .................................................................................. 141 Socialization ............................................................................................................ 146 Trader’s Regret ................................................................................................... 152 Study One Discussion ............................................................................................... 153 CHAPTER 3: CHILDREN AND THEIR VALUATION OF TRADED OBJECTS .. 169 The Determination of Value ..................................................................................... 169 Conjoint Analysis.................................................................................................... 171 Different Methods/Models of Conjoint Analysis. .............................................