Arab’s children’s influence on the buying process: comparing parent and child perceptions

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to identify the perception levels of the child and parents towards the child’s influence on different product categories and stages of the family buying process in an Arab country Oman. Design/methodology/approach On the basis of the research gap identified from the literature, two separate bilingual questionnaires (parent and child) in English and local language (Arabic) were developed. The research commenced with a pilot study on 10 school students followed by contact with school authorities requesting to conduct a survey on school students 8–12 years of age and data collection through the survey on the students and their parents (either father/mother) during September-November, 2017–2018. Data analysis was made through an independent sample t-test and confirmatory factor analysis was made using AMOS 24. Findings A model was proposed incorporating three product categories as noisy, quiet and loud goods and perceptions of Arab parents and children were examined for the three stages of the family buying process. The findings of the study reveal that significant differences exist in child-parental perceptions on the child’s influence in the search, evaluation and final buying stages. The mean score among the three product categories was highest for noisy goods (Mean = 3.21, SD = 0.817) while in the case of buying stages, the mean of the final buying stage was highest (Mean = 2.11, SD = 0.514). Research limitations/implications More research studies are required in the Arab context, especially bringing in the social status of parents to justify their different shopping behaviours. This analysis is based on the perceptions of the tweenager segment, adding perceptions of the teenage segment could generate better research implications. Practical implications The research will serve as a base to consumer marketers in understanding distinct features of Arab tweenagers towards different products and will aid them in designing appropriate marketing strategies targeting parents and children in the Arab region. Originality/value After an extensive review of the consumer literature, it is assumed that almost no research study has been made examining parent-child perceptions towards the different product categories and buying stages targeting traditionally oriented families in the Arab region.