It's Not Kids’ Play!

Abstract

Marketers are interested in the knowledge, opinions, attitudes and behaviours of today's young consumers. This paper explores the nature of child-orientated survey research by means of an unstructured observational study. A total of 376 children between the ages of 7 and 12 participated in a study that examined consumer knowledge and behaviour. Participant's behaviour was observed during the questionnaire administration process with four primary issues being noted: group management, peer interaction, the ability to maintain interest and the desire to be ‘correct’. When using a self-completed questionnaire, it is suggested that the administration group size should be limited to eight children, questionnaire length should be limited to approximately 100 items or 10 to 15 minutes' completion time, and questionnaires should be collected immediately after completion.