Children's perception of dinner conversation with parents in Japan

The children's perception of dinner and dinner conversation with their parents was surveyed for sixth‐grade students of elementary school in Japan. The data were analysed from the gender of children and attending parents. The children had dinner and dinner conversation more frequently with their mother than with their father. With father attendance, girls and boys had the same frequency of dinner and dinner conversation, although, with mother attendance, girls had dinner conversation more frequently than boys. Most of the children felt happy when they had dinner with their parents. However, a lower percentage of children felt happy when having dinner conversation with their parents, thought that they were important to their parents and thought dinner conversation was useful. More children felt happy during dinner and dinner conversation with their mother than with their father. However, there was no perceived difference in the usefulness of the conversation based on the father or the mother attending. The contents of conversation were greatly affected by which parent was attending. Subjects concerning children's manners were talked about more frequently in conversation with mothers than with fathers. Children had more frequent conversations with their father about ‘social issues’ and the ‘parents’ surroundings’ than with their mother. Girls had more frequent conversations on a wider variety of subjects with their mothers than boys. Girls could more easily share in their mothers’ knowledge or sense of values through dinner conversation. Boys were, for the most part, excluded from this process in conversation with either parent.     

The Allocation of Food Expenditure in Married‐ and Single‐Parent Families

Differences in food expenditures in married‐ and single‐parent families are examined using the Consumer Expenditure Survey Diary Component (1990–2003). Single parents, compared to married parents, allocate a greater share of their food budget to alcohol and food purchased away from home; conversely, they spend a smaller share of their food budget on vegetables and fruits. Compared to married parents, single fathers spend a greater share on alcohol and food purchased away from home and a lesser share on vegetables, fruits, meat and beans, desserts and snacks, and prepared foods. Single mothers, compared to married parents, spend a greater share on grains and nonalcoholic beverages and a lesser share on vegetables and alcohol. Single mothers and fathers differ from each other in almost all categories of food and beverage expenditure. We also find important differences based on the employment status of parents in the household: families where all parents are employed, irrespective of family structure, spend a greater share of their food budgets on food purchased away from home and a lesser share on vegetables, fruits, milk, and meat and beans compared with married‐couple families in which the mother is not employed. We discuss ways in which family structure and parental employment status may be associated with food purchasing decisions.     

Family communication and parental influence on children's brand attitudes

This study examines the degree family communication affects the transmission of brand attitudes from parents to children. The results indicate that mothers with concept-oriented and fathers with socio-oriented communication are more likely to influence their children's brand attitudes. The article considers the effects of gender. Comparing with those of fathers', mothers' brand attitudes relate more to both male and female children's brand attitudes.     

Balancing health,harmony and hegemony: Parents' goals and strategies in children's food related consumer socialization

Parents play a pivotal role in socializing their children for healthy eating. The objectives of the present study were (1) to identify food socialization outcomes valued by parents, and (2) to study how parents socialize their children for (healthy) eating at home and during food shopping. Including both parents' perceptions of valued food socialization outcomes and associated processes addresses a significant gap in the food socialization literature. The study used semi‐structured, in‐depth interviews with parents of young children. Data were subsequently analysed by interpretive, thematic procedures. The sample consisted of middle‐ to high‐income families from two cities in Denmark. Findings reveal four main food socialization goals valued by parents: (1) Nutrition and Health, (2) Healthy Relationship with Food, (3) Food Assimilation and (4) Self‐Regulation and Autonomy. Parents prioritized children's acquisition of a healthy relationship with food which included preserving family relations and harmony, more than strictly attending a nutritious diet, contrasting the focus on the nutritional value of diet usually emphasised by public health authorities. The study therefore concludes that parents' notions of what constitutes healthy diets for their children is not completely aligned with common nutrition‐oriented recommendations. Also, fathers were found to play a very active role in their children's food‐related consumer socialization. The findings underline the importance of addressing the priorities and strategies of both mothers and fathers when marketers and policy makers target contemporary families regarding children's food socialization.     

Thou shalt not covet: Role of family religiosity in anti‐consumption

Anti‐consumption movements, as resistance or rejection of consumption, are opposed in nature to the values of materialism or the idea that possessions are essential to happiness. This article links one anti‐consumption practice, voluntary simplicity, to family religiosity by exploring whether parents' religiosity induces reduced levels of materialism in their children. Children aged 6–14 years and their parents in three secular and one religious school were surveyed, and data were analysed using structural equation modelling. Materialism was divided in four factors: money desire, shopping pleasure, possession pleasure and non‐generosity. Results show that parents with strong religious behaviours have children who exhibit less desire for money and less non‐generosity, but experience a higher shopping pleasure. The effects of parents' religious behaviours on children's materialism are both direct and partially mediated by school type (religious or secular). Religious values in the family environment may contribute to increased anti‐consumption lifestyles in following generations.     

Food for Kids: How Children Influence their Parents Purchasing Decisions

During the last decades, sociological changes have modified the role of children within families: participatory models have become more widespread, to the detriment of more authoritative ones: this change has had consequences also in reference to families’ purchases. In scientific literature some scholars have shown that this influence is real, and marketers try to take advantage of this through a communication style that attempts to “teach” children how to pester their parents: this is the so-called nag factor. To understand which are the parental attitudes toward kids’ food products, a questionnaire has been administered in schools (nursery and primary) to a random sample of parents, representative of a larger sample of kids (200 in all). Findings showed that pestering is a real attitude, in particular among the littlest children. Moreover, these findings reflect in part the reality described by marketing literature: children influence the purchasing decisions of their parents, but this influence decreases when mothers and fathers are more aware of the importance of a quality-based diet.     

The father role: father-child interaction in work on the farm

This study examines the relationship between the perceived success of farm men in the father role and (i) frequency of work with their children and (ii) perceived conflicts over work. Data were collected by mail survey from 124 men employed in farm work. This study concludes that fathers who think themselves successful in the father role are likely to have less conflict with their children about work. The age, education and income of the father do not contribute significantly to father-child conflict about work.     

The influence of children on parental purchases during supermarket shopping

Children are assuming larger roles in household consumer decisions and have also emerged as independent consumers, thus forming an increasingly powerful market segment. Children can be seen as forming, first, a primary market; second, as influencers on their parents’ decision making; and third, as potential future adult consumers. The second role is the main focus of this paper, centring on supermarket purchases. Using focus groups and in‐depth interviews, this study explores the influence of children on supermarket shopping. Participants included parents and children of families in Midlothian, Scotland. The results showed that children have a significant influence on supermarket product purchases. The factors which influence children's product preferences are analysed, and their ability to relay their choices to their parents is considered.     

Consumer goals/skills that mothers want their children to learn

The study purpose was to assess consumer practices and attitudes of mothers (n = 117), and consumer goals/skills that their children were to learn. Mothers with at least one child aged 5–9 years were recruited from an ongoing study and through posters, flyers and referrals. Mail‐out surveys included a validated consumer questionnaire and requests for information related to socioeconomic status (SES), age, paid‐employment and gender/age of children. Responses were analysed using SAS, Cronbach’s alpha and qualitative analyses. Results indicated that mothers were of middle/upper SES and had 2.3 children/family, and 64% were in paid‐employment. Mother–child co‐shopping and mothers’ role modelling were major means of teaching consumer goals/skills. Children were to learn about getting the best buy and quality for the money, cost/unit comparison, being knowledgeable about products and avoidance of impulse buying. Mothers were consciously consumer training their children.     

The role of parental influence and additional factors in the determination of food choices for pre‐school children

Every pre‐school child requires an adult to purchase and provide a variety of foods, to help ensure a balanced selection is included in the diet to avoid any nutritional deficiencies. Children under 5 years have a greater demand for nutrients and energy to support the body's requirements for growth and development than at any other time throughout their life cycle. The paper critically reviews the main factors that influence food choices made by parents on behalf of their pre‐school child. Dietary deficiencies in inner city areas remain a challenge for the government, educators and health professionals. A particular concern is iron deficiency as the prevalence of anaemia is common especially in British pre‐school children from various family backgrounds. Poor parenting skills often exacerbate the problem, especially the early introduction of pasteurized cow's milk, poor weaning practices and lack of dietary knowledge. Therefore, improving education and understanding about the importance of iron could potentially improve dietary iron intake. Phase 1 of the study was completed in West Bridgford area of Nottingham in the UK. This part of the study aimed to determine parental knowledge with regards to the feeding of their pre‐school child. A questionnaire and a 3‐day diet history method were employed. These methods enabled the diet adequacy of the pre‐schoolers to be analysed by NetWISP software. This study highlighted that iron deficiency remains a cause for concern and should be further addressed. The Sure Start programme is a possible means of education as it has the potential to access parents from all socio‐economic classes. The programme can support and empower parents to become healthier consumers. Good dietary habits, established early in life, contributes to a positive start, and can be advantageous to individuals throughout their lifetime. Such long‐term changes will help contribute to a healthier nation that the government envisages for the future.     

Parental beliefs about supervising children when crossing roads and cycling

Pedestrian and cyclist injuries are significant public health issues, together accounting for 11-30% of road deaths in highly motorised countries. Children are particularly at risk. In Australia in 2009 11.4% of pedestrian deaths and 6.4% of cyclist deaths comprised children aged 0-16 years. Parental attitudes and level of supervision are important to children's road safety. Results from a telephone survey with parents of children 5-9 years (N?=?147) are reported. Questions addressed beliefs about preventability of injury, appropriate ages for children to cross the road or cycle independently and the frequency of holding 5-9 year old children's hands while crossing the road. Results suggest that parents believe most injuries are preventable and that they personally can act to improve their own safety in the home, on the road, at work, as well as in or on the water. Most parents (68%) indicated children should be 10 years or older before crossing the road or cycling independently. Parents were more likely to report holding younger children's hands (5-6 years) when crossing the road and less likely to do so for 7- to 9-year olds. There was a small effect of child gender, with parents more likely to hold a boy's hand than that of a girl.     

Parental financial support: A safety net for young adults with debt problems

Parental financial support benefits young adults in societies with decreasing welfare‐state support and a pattern of early home‐leaving. This article focuses on the association between young adults’ debt problems and parental financial support: the extent to which indebted young adults receive financial help from their parents. We also investigate the extent to which specific benefits are associated with debt problems or parental financial support. The data were gathered in an online survey conducted among 18‐to‐35‐year‐old Finns (n = 1,019). The results revealed, first, that many parents safeguard their indebted adult children’s lives by means of financial support and second, that heavy cash‐welfare‐benefit users are particularly likely to receive parental financial support. Our analysis also revealed that the prevalence of debt problems as well as of parental financial support were especially high among those who had received social assistance, sickness benefit or labour‐market subsidy within the previous 12 months. In a society open to new social risks as well as to debt problems, young people who lack financial support from their parents have a rockier transition to adulthood than those who receive support.     

Parental influence upon children's diet: the issue of category

Food and drink are distributed via corporate institutions in categories, such as ready meals or carbonated drinks. Within these categories, a minority of brands advertise, capitalizing upon the popularity of the categories. The issue of childhood obesity and health has led to a focus upon these advertised brands in terms of their being targeted at children, but nothing has been done about the categories they represent. Furthermore, parents have an influence upon their children's diet, as their expenditure accounts for the majority of their children's consumption. This paper accounts for UK children's perceptions of the effect of advertising and marketing of food and drink upon their parents, and concludes that the children see advertising as having very little influence. Rather, they see that their parents' involvement with certain categories have become, over time, their norm. Children do not see that the regulation of advertising of food and drink to them will have any significant effect upon their diet, as their parents will continue to consume from within the categories supplied by the retail sector, which in their view constitutes the most influential aspect of food and drink marketing. Given the international focus upon the advertising of food brands, this paper draws attention to other, potentially more influential issues.     

Fathers' participation in infant-care

Ordinary least squares multiple regression was used to model time spent in child-care by 107 fathers of infants, 3–10 months of age. Time in both physical and non-physical care activities was reported by fathers for a weekday. Number of years married, hours employed for pay the previous week, and fathers' stress score in the child domain were negatively related to time spent in infant-care.     

The impact of ethical concerns on family consumer decision‐making

Ethical consumerism and family consumer decision‐making, including the influence of children in this area, are spheres of consumer behaviour in which a substantial amount of academic research has already been undertaken. However, the crossover of these two areas is as yet under‐researched, as well as the level of pester power parents are subjected to from children aged 3 and under. This paper uses qualitative methods to investigate the issues surrounding the ethical consumer decision‐making process with families who have children aged 3 years old or under. This research found that the motivation to pursue an ethical lifestyle varied across the sample, but the emergence of an ‘inheritance factor’, where parents are awakened to ethical issues because of the birth of their child, was prominent. Other issues that transpired from this research include the prominence of ethical trade‐offs in consumer decision‐making, ethical choices as normalizing behaviour and finally the presence of pester power in the ethical context. Ethical consumerism strongly emerged as an integral part of the parent's identity construction, especially for the mothers as they struggled to adapt to their new roles. Further research delving into the role ethical choices have on identity construction and the parental response to pester power would be a valuable addition to the overall context of this research.     

Food choice,nutrition education and parental influence on British and Korean primary school children

The nutritional status of children can influence their health and the risk factors for developing chronic diseases later in life. Korea is unique in that it is relatively westernized and yet maintains much of the traditional foods and cooking methods. Effective nutrition education should help children to choose a healthy diet through the establishment of positive dietary practices and habits. The main purpose of this research is to compare awareness towards nutrition education between primary schools in the UK and Korea and nutritional knowledge that children and parents have in these countries. Dietary and healthy eating knowledge data were collected by a questionnaire as part of a case study comparison using one primary school in Manchester, UK, and one in Seoul, Korea. A total of 171 primary school children and 124 parents of the children were recruited. The results indicated that children and parents appeared to be aware of the importance of limiting fat, sodium and sugar intakes, and requiring non‐starch polysaccharide (NSP). However, in the case of some foods they did not have satisfactory nutritional knowledge of which foods were high in fat, salt, sugar and NSP. British children had a better understanding of the health implication of fat than Korean children, whereas more Korean children considered excessive salt intake harmful than British children. There seemed to be differences in dietary pattern and familiarity with food between the two countries. Children identified parents as the main source of nutritional information. Therefore, parents as well as children need to learn about nutrition in order to give appropriate information or advice to improve the diets of their children. Children preferred exciting, fun, positive and a practical approach to learning about nutrition, such as computer packages and cookery classes. Parents wanted schools to give their children more information about nutrition. This research has shown that nutrition education in schools should be concerned not only to provide nutritional knowledge but also to encourage children to choose healthy food by redesigning nutrition education and school meals.     

Willingness to Pay for Non‐biotech Foods in the U.S. and U.K.

This study uses closed‐ended and payment card formats to elicit willingness to pay for breakfast cereals made from non‐biotech ingredients. U.S. consumers were willing to pay a 10%∼12% premium to avoid biotech breakfast cereals, whereas U.K. consumers were willing to pay a 19%∼35% premium. Risk perceptions about agrobiotechnology proved to be an important factor shaping willingness to pay a premium for non‐biotech breakfast cereals. If consumers perceived risks to human health or environments from the use of biotechnology in crop/food production, or affiliated biotech foods unfavorably with morality or multinational corporations, they were more likely to pay a premium. Conversely, if consumers associated agrobiotechnology with various benefits (i.e., reduction in chemical use in crop production, mitigation of world food shortages, and improved nutritional content), they were less likely to pay a premium.     

On the Origin and Distinctness of Skepticism toward Advertising

Two studies were conducted to investigate the origin and distinctness of consumer skepticism toward advertising, defined as a tendency to disbelieve advertising claims by Obermiller and Spangenberg (1998). The first study examined the role of socialization in the family by comparing levels of ad skepticism across generations. Significant associations were strongest for female children with their fathers; less strong but apparent for male children with their mothers. Further, the associations diminished with age, which was considered a surrogate for time away from home. The second study explored the relationship between skepticism toward advertising and skepticism toward other sources of product information. The results indicated some overlap between skeptical beliefs about advertising and salespeople, but, otherwise, ad skepticism appeared to be a separate construct from skepticism toward other sources of product information. Moreover, advertising was viewed as the least believable of the five sources of product information that were considered.     

Transiting to Work: The Role of Private Transportation for Low‐Income Households

This study examines the role of reliable vehicles in facilitating employment, using a new data set, the Iowa Transportation and Employment Survey. The empirical results document significantly higher levels of transportation problems and human capital barriers among low‐income households compared to other households and among low‐income nonworking adults compared to their employed counterparts. The multivariate analysis of low‐income households shows that employment and reliable transportation are related. Respondents without access to a reliable vehicle are less likely to be employed; those employed are more likely to have access to a reliable vehicle. Residence in an area adjacent to a metropolitan area has a positive effect on working.     

Like Father Like Son: How Does Parents' Financial Behavior Affect Their Children's Financial Behavior?

This paper investigates the intergenerational influence on financial behavior. Using two national longitudinal studies: the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey Children and Young Adults (NLSCYA) and the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey (NLSY79), we link the financial behavior of 2,520 young adults back to their general self‐control skill and their parents' financial behavior conducted during children's adolescence. We find evidence of intergenerational consistency in financial behavior between parents and their children. Results from the generalized structural equation model indicate that parents' financial behavior affects that of their children both directly and indirectly through general self‐control skill development. Furthermore, the influence of parents is moderated by parent–child relationship. These findings highlight the importance of parental financial socialization. Its implications are discussed.