Best Effects from Kids’ Pester Power

The children pester, and the parents resist. When shopping together, the kids push for items they want, and the adult decision makers push back if the purchases seem unwise. Based on video-recorded observation of 89 family shopping trips in a grocery store, researchers at University of South Australia conclude that the parents are, on balance, besting their children’s nagging. Although 80% of the children made a purchase request, only 20% of those requests led to a purchase. The percentage of parent grants was highest for salty snacks and dairy products. It was lowest for toys and cereals.
     I consider the study to be an important contribution, but the findings as indicating only a rough estimate of the extent of pester power in the broad consumer marketplace The observations were restricted to grocery stores. A range of studies indicate that children’s pester power is more frequent and more effective when the items being considered for purchase will be used at least in part by the children. The power of pester decreases as the potential cost of the purchase in money and time increases.
     Moreover, each participant wore a recording device. Participants were not told the real purpose of the observation until after the shopping trip. Still, knowing your behavior would be analyzed easily distorts behavior. I’ll note that the researchers reply this was not a concern, giving as evidence how one of the recordings included muttered obscenities by a shopper as she passed other people in the store.
     Even if pestering isn’t frequent, it makes the shopping trip unpleasant for the parents as well as for the store staff who witness it. Some retailers have chosen to reduce the problem by purging the cues. In 2007, Loblaw Companies Limited, as Canada's largest grocery retailer, began removing candy bars, gum, and other sweet treats from checkout counters. Loblaw got congratulations not only for cleaning up the overstuffed cash/wrap area, but also for enabling parents to guide their children and themselves through candy-free alleys, making it less likely the whole family would end up overstuffed.
     Persuasion agents of another sort have put children’s pester power to praiseworthy use. Researchers at University College Cork documented the effectiveness in schools coaching their students to nag parents to practice environmentally responsible behaviors. The success factors included the children engaging in those behaviors themselves and in pressuring the parents promptly after the wasteful actions are spotted.

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