Exploring Children's Attitudes towards Research Participation

Abstract

Marketing researchers are interested in the consumption-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of children. As a result, children often constitute the target population for marketing-related research, participating in focus groups and interviews and completing questionnaires. However, what are children's attitudes towards participating in such research? This paper presents the results of a series of focus groups conducted to address this question. Findings suggest that, overall, children (5–12 years of age) enjoy participating in research. Children over the age of 6 were also found to have a good understanding of why marketers conduct research and hold a positive attitude towards the use of information obtained. Children were found to prefer research activities that are short and visually appealing, that enable them to express their opinions and are not completed independently.