Typology of measures of children engagement in parental purchase decisions

Abstract

PurposeAlthough there is a common agreement that children participate and impact parental purchase decisions, the research results are rather inconsistent. One of the reasons for the differences in the findings could be attributable to different operationalisations of a child engagement variable in surveys. This study aims to classify the instruments used to measure children engagement in parental purchase decisions and to develop a typology of these instruments.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 67 articles that reported details and results of the surveys where a variable of children engagement in family decisions was operationalised were selected on a systematic basis. In total, 82 measures were extracted, reviewed and assigned to the particular category.FindingsThe typology of measures of children engagement into parental purchase decisions was developed. The features of particular measures, as well as their applicability for different types of child engagement measurement, are discussed.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample of articles was limited to nine major scholarly databases and framed for 1985-2015, excluding conference presentations, dissertations, studies and other types of primary research publications.Practical implicationsThe analysis demonstrates that authors who had seemingly similar or the same purpose of measuring variable of child engagement into parental purchase decision in fact have used different measures. The differences in measures tend to produce different size of engagement effect. The proposed typology will support scholarly community in establishing more clear definitions and measures of children engagement in parental purchase decision domain.Originality/valueThe typology of measures of children engagement into parental purchase decision is the first attempt to introduce systematised approach toward different domains within the field and their measurement.