Television viewing and consumer behaviour

Abstract

Looks at the influence of television on children’s development as consumers, beginning with a literature review of consumer socialisation which establishes the importance of television as an influential model for children’s expressions of nonverbal behaviour and emotion. Explains the results of a survey of Malaysian schoolchildren which considers demographic variables such as gender and family income, and also personality traits, in relation to television viewing habits and consumer behaviour, including propensity to buy, time spent watching television, preferred type of programme etc. Discusses the results, which indicate the importance of family income as a predictor of differences in socialisation; gender is less influential, and of the six personality traits studied, the aggressive ‐ passive is the most influential on socialisation.