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24 December 2012

Parents Open For Children’s Christmas Requests

Keywords: Christmas, parents, Australia & Oceania, consumer behavior, decision making, marketing, marketing strategy, survey,

A study in the Journal of Consumer Marketing again shows that parents are open for their children’s Christmas gift wishes. When in doubt, they discuss with their kids the suitability or appropriateness of the gift – rather than just turning down the request. However, fathers tend to limit requests more often than mothers.

Take aways

  • Most parents are open for the Christmas requests of their children and allow them to learn from their choices. 
  • In order to help children making the right requests, parents tend to ask them about the suitability or appropriateness of the gift. 
  • Parents not often rejected gift requests, or limit them to certain types of products or brands, but they do still make the final decision. 
  • Fathers tend to limit requests more often than mothers.

Study information

  • The question?

    Do parents influence or dominate the Christmas requests of their children?

  • Who?

    450 parents with at least one child between the ages of 3 and 8 years old (179 fathers and 271 mothers, between the ages of 24 and 59 years). Most families had an average income of $1,000 - $2,000 (Australian dollars) per week.

  • Where?

    South East Queensland, Australia

  • How?

    Five primary schools and seven kindergartens supported the research by sending questionnaires to parents in November. About one-sixth of the parents filled out the questionnaire, answering questions about their influence on the Christmas requests of their children. 

Facts and findings

  • Parents created an open atmosphere to encourage children to share gift ideas and preferences. 
  • Parents tended to ask their kids how they felt about the gifts they requested, and where they got their ideas from. 
  • Most parents did not limit their children’s requests to certain types of products or brands. 
  • However, fathers tended to limit requests more often than mothers did. 
  • The more enthusiastic a child was about his or her Christmas request, the higher the chance that parents took it into consideration, whether or not the gift was suitable. 
  • Tip! The original article contains an executive summary, discussing implications for managers and executives (see link on the right side).