PESTER POWER: An Overview
Todays kids have more autonomy and decision-making power within the family than in previous
generations, so it follows that kids are vocal about what they want their parents to buy. "Pester power"
refers to childrens ability to nag their parents into purchasing items they may not otherwise buy.
Origin
This phrase was first cited in the Washington Post back in 1979:
At a press conference here yesterday, ACT released its new 22-minute film examining the
state of commercial children's television, "Kids for Sale." ... Portions of the movie deal
with the mission of advertising for children: to get their parents to buy a certain type of toy
or cereal. "They (the children) use all the pester power they can muster" to talk their
parents into purchases, a narrator warned.
Larry Kramer, "Kids Advertising Hearings to Open," The Washington Post, February 28,
1979
While kids have always held sway over what their parents bought them, it has increased steadily over the
past fifty years. We lived in a largely parent-centered world. Children were seen and not heard. But
Vietnam, the sexual revolution, womens lib all contributed to the changing nature of parent/child
relationships.
In the 1980s, we saw this change take shape economically as
marketers began to target children more directly in advertising and
product design. In the ensuing decade, we as a society became
more child-focused in everything from academic research to
marketing tactics. Today, the mindset of kid as client is
everywherefrom McDonalds to minivans to cell phones.
In the 1960s, children
influenced an estimated $5
billion worth of parental
spending. This figure grew to
20 billion by the 1970s, 50
billion by 1984, 132 billion by
1994 and 188 billion by 1997.
Kidfluence and the Nag Factor
2001s Kidfluence cites a 1998-1999 survey which said that between 20 and 40% of all toy, fast food and
apparel sales were the result of successful pleas to parents. According the book, pestering or nagging
can be divided into two categoriespersistence" and "importance." Persistence nagging (a plea, that is
repeated over and over again) is not as effective as the more sophisticated "importance nagging." This
latter method appeals to parents' desire to provide the best for their children, and plays on any guilt they
may have about not having enough time for their kids.
A study conducted by the Center for a New American Dream in 2002 produced statistics that reinforced
the marketers belief in pester power (and made parents cringe):
American children aged 12 to 17 will ask their parents for products they have seen advertised an
average of nine times until the parents finally give in.
More than 10 percent of 12- to 13-year-olds admitted to asking their parents more than 50 times
for products they have seen advertised.
The nagging strategy is paying dividends for kids and marketers alike: 55% of kids surveyed said
they are usually successful in getting their parents to give in.
While the nag factor, as its also come to be called, became a golden rule for marketers, it has been
seen as a nuisance by society as a whole. While successful, marketing to children was leaving a bad
taste in many mouths. Restrictions on childrens advertising were put in to place in the UK and a Directive
was just issued by the EU banning pester power in 2008, following the lead of Sweden where childrens
advertising is outlawed entirely. (Not surprisingly, McDonald has taken a lot of heat for their tactics.)
Team Players
A poll conducted by Harris Interactive showed that kids did heavily influence family spending decisions on
a number of purchases in 2003:
However, the studys authors noted a subtle shift taking place from child-centered to team-centered
decision-making. Whereas Generation X was infamously independent, Generation Y is more teamoriented and respectful of elders. As a result, they saw a lot more in-family collaboration over one-sided
assertions.
Today, households are far more child-centric that a generation ago, resulting in team
decision-making. Many purchases are now made though a process of family
dialogue. This collaborative, copurchase process is transforming consumer behavior:
Consider how parents and kids interact with each other when marketing to either one.
An article from May 2006 in Britains Marketing Week shows there is a conscious shying away from childdirected marketing tactics overseas. The targeting of children by brands employing pester power as a
way into parents' pockets has given family marketing a bad [Link] is a greater move these days
to try and target families as a whole, rather than encourage children to bother their parents to buy them
products.
The suggestion is to find common ground that unites families and unites them with brands. It is counter to
the historic notion of pester power. The point is made that People that have children find the children
become the center of their universe. Decisions are made with reference to the kids."
A study released June 27, 2005 by Yankelovich Youth echoed this call for team decision-making and
influence over adult purchases. It asserts that getting kids to nag their parents is not the most effective
focus of marketing dollars anymore. Whereas the nag factor pits children against parents, they are
actually more alike then ever before when it comes to consumerism. According to the study:
74% of parents said my child and I have a lot on common when it comes to things we like to do
and buy.
73% of parents say they talk with their child about important family decisions, up from about 60%
in the 2001 and 2003 waves of the study.
77% of parents, up from 68% in 2003, say they are having discussions with their kids about how
kids should spend their money.
70% of parents found knowing the brand their kids like made it easier to shop
Influencers and Secondary Consumers
This evidences a view of kids as influencers and secondary consumer rather than nags and pests.
According the 1999 YTV Kid & Tween Report, parents claimed that their kids had a larger influence on
household purchases than the tweens themselves did. Childrens opinions are being respected more and
without their even realizing ithaving a big impact. The Harris study showed that direct requests for
products are relatively rare, but that tacit, unspoken influences are where the true market power of
children exists. There is still power, just without pester.
In fact, childrens opinions are counted in making purchases of everything from groceries to big ticket
items such as cars and vacations. Harris pollsters also posited that we underestimate the single biggest
aspect of kid-fluencethe influence young people have on purchases adults make for themselves. This
last leap sees kids as tastemakersthe arbiters of cool for the older generation.
Cool is King
Incidentally, it is this notion of cool that keeps pester power in use. Today there is an increasing pressure
to keep up with the Jonesesand their 2.5 kids. The marketplace is flooded with products aimed at these
kids, and these products are more expensive than ever. A $400 camera phone. A $200 pair of jeans. $600
for a PS3. Parents are faced with footing high bills so their children can maintain social face. In a 2005
New York Times article entitled But I Neeeeeeeeeeeeeed It! She Suggested, Harvard psychologist
Susan Linn said, I think parents are really struggling. There are more things for kids to nag them for, and
because these things are expensive, theyre likely to go for their parents.
A Roper Youth survey in 2005 found substantial jumps in ownership across most of the cool categories
of consumer electronics for both boys and girls 13 to 17. More than three-quarters of teenagers between
15 and 17 have mobile phones now. The pressure to keep up in the digital spacewhich is increasingly
entwined with a teens social lifeis leading to more push from teens and push back from parents.
Sometimes, no amount of group dialogue will resolve the fact that all 3 kids want iphones while mom
and dad have a mortgage to pay.