Impact of the internet on teenagers inuence on family purchases

Anupriya Kaur and Y. Medury

Anupriya Kaur and Y. Medury are based at the Department of Professional Development, Jaypee University of Information Technology, Solan, India.

Abstract Purpose The primary purpose of this paper is to investigate empirically the impact of the internet on teenage childrens roles in purchase decisions. Design/methodology/approach Based on a survey administered to 346 parent-child dyads, regression analysis and ANOVA analysis were employed to analyze the impact of the internet on teenagers inuence on several purchase subdecisions related with purchase of high technology products and vacation planning in urban Indian households. Findings Results indicate that teenage children in urban Indian households are signicantly inuenced by the internet, i.e. they perceive and disseminate consumption related information from the internet and, further, this inuence is positively related to their role in family purchase decisions. Additionally, statistically signicant differences were found on childrens participation in decision making across the six subdecisions. Originality/value These results are important to academicians, researchers and practitioners because they show that the internet does act as a contemporary inuence on consumer socialization of children and impacts the teenage childs participation in family which has been relatively unexplored. Keywords Adolescents, Internet, Purchasing, Decision making, India Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
Worldwide there has been a huge explosion in the adoption and use of the internet. It has been a major inuence on the way we work, shop, make payments, travel, socialize and IT has digitalized our world. The leading users and adopters of this medium have been adolescent children. Adolescents constitute one of the fastest growing internet populations and the amount of time children and teens spend on the computer has tripled in the last ten years (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2010). In fact, the proliferation of the internet and its popular acceptance by this group has helped dene a new breed of consumers net generation or cyber-teens, terms used to describe teenage children of this generation (Lee et al., 2003). Teenagers spend more time online than adults and surpass all other age groups in their use of chat, instant messaging and other new forms of electronic communication (Montgomery, 2000). In a study undertaken in the UK by the market research agency ChildWise it was found that children and young teens are more likely to socialize than do homework online. Some 30 percent say they have a blog and 62 percent have a prole on a social networking site. The report is based on an annual survey, now into its 15th year, of 1,800 children at 92 schools across the country. This year [2009] has seen a major boost to the intensity and the independence with which children approach online activities says the report (Curtis, 2009). Indian teenage children are no different. In a survey conducted by Indias largest IT solutions provider Tata Consultancy Services across 14,000 high school children between the ages of 12-18 in 12 cities across India during 2008-2009 it was found 63 percent of urban students spend over an hour online daily; 93 percent are aware of social

Received: January 2010 Revised: August 2010 Accepted: October 2010

DOI 10.1108/17473611111114768

VOL. 12 NO. 1 2011, pp. 27-38, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1747-3616

YOUNG CONSUMERS

PAGE 27

networking with Orkut and Facebook being the most popular online destinations; 46 percent use online sources to access news; TV, newspaper users at 25 and 62 percent have a personal computer at home (TCS, 2009). Further, teenagers are also known to be more skilled than adults in engaging with this medium. As a matter of fact children are supposed to be the most sophisticated users of the internet within the family (BBC News, 2005). For these reasons, teenagers internet use interests social scientists, academicians, market researchers and practitioners. Thus, discerning the socializing effects of the internet on teenage children and its outcome on family decision making is a matter of interest. The increasing use of the internet as a communication tool makes this a potentially strong agent of socialization (Lee et al., 2003). Adolescents experience the internet as a physical and social space, allowing people to talk, form relationships, discuss issues and work, play games, train, and perform many of the social tasks normally performed in the physical environment (Damer, 1998). The extant literature is however, rather scarce on these aspects. Previous studies examined childrens association with the internet on issues such as uses and gratication (Eighmey and McCord, 1998; La Ferle et al., 2000; Parker and Plank, 2000); information seeking strategies (Madden et al., 2006), effects on academic performance (Jackson et al., 2006) and privacy concerns with the internet use (Moscardelli and Heyes, 2004). According to Belch et al. (2005) these studies support the notion that teens have greater interest in the internet and greater access to market information, however it has yet to be investigated what impact this might have on the teens inuence in family decision making. Their research introduced and empirically established support for the existence of teen internet mavens (net-savvy teenagers) within the household. These teen internet mavens received great personal enjoyment from surng the internet and used their virtual market knowledge to contribute signicantly in family decision making. This study aims to expand on this line of research. It attempts to measure empirically the internet (generic and consumer oriented) inuence amongst urban Indian adolescents with the objective of uncovering its effects on the teenagers role in family purchases. A related goal of this study is to examine the teenagers role contextual to specic purchase subdecisions. In the following sections rstly the theoretical background (childrens inuence in family decision making and consumer socialization of children) is presented upon which the research hypotheses are formulated. Then the research design and analytical methods are offered along with the empirical ndings. We conclude with discussion and implications from the results; as well as the limitations and directions for future research. 1.1 Inuence of children on family decision making Childrens roles in family decision making is essential to examine in light of the fact that not only do they constitute a sizeable market on their own but also act as inuencers in other family related consumption decisions. Kuhn and Eischen (1997) observe that children have experience in decision-making with regard to simple impulse purchases as well as for more planned, longer-term purchases. They highlighted that the child rather than the parent may in many instances be the primary decision maker. Additionally, McNeal (1999) pointed out that the number of parents who ask their childrens opinions about products they are going to buy for the whole family has been steadily increasing over the years. According to Belch et al. (2005):
Children are obviously an important group for marketers to study because their attitudes regarding products and brands are still in their formative stages, and their current experiences affect their future brand preferences and marketplace behavior. It is also necessary to note that children are not just a big homogeneous segment, but make up a number of diverse subgroups. More investigation is needed to be able to target these subgroups effectively.

Previous research undertaken on the role of children has focused on different aspects. One is the extent to which the childs involvement varies over different product categories. Researchers such as Shoham and Dalakas (2005) and Foxman et al. (1989) found that the involvement is higher when the child is the primary product user as in records/CDs or magazines but have less inuence for high-risk products like cars and televisions. Additionally, children were found to be directly inuencing family leisure activities such as

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vacations, travel, entertainment, and dining out (Foxman et al., 1989; Mangleburg, 1990). The decision-making stage and the relative inuence of the child have also been examined by past research on childrens inuence on family decision making. It was found that children exert most inuence at the initial stage, i.e. problem recognition stage than on subsequent phases of decision-making (Beatty and Talpade, 1994; Belch et al., 1985; Mangleburg, 1990; Swinyard and Sim, 1987). Further, previous studies have also provided empirical evidence on the varying level of childs inuence on product subdecisions. Childrens inuence was found to be lowest in the subdecisions of where to purchase (Belch et al., 1985; Jenkins, 1979), gathering information (Darley and Lim, 1986) and how much to spend (Belch et al., 1985; Darley and Lim, 1986; Jenkins, 1979; Nelson, 1979; Szybillo and Sosanie, 1977). Similarly, Foxman et al. (1989) found that both parents and children perceived that children had low inuence in selecting price ranges. Children are more involved in subdecisions regarding color, make/model, and brand choices (Belch et al., 1985; Darley and Lim, 1986; Jenkins, 1979; Nelson, 1979; Szybillo and Sosanie, 1977). Other factors affecting childrens inuence relate to demographic variables like family income and childrens age and gender. Family income was found to be positively related to childrens inuence (Foxman et al., 1989). Childrens ages also affect their level of inuence with older children having greater role in family consumption (Laczniak and Palan, 2004; Mangleburg, 1990; Swinyard and Sim, 1987). Gender has also been shown to be a distinguishing factor with boys being more informed, receiving more pocket money, knowing more brands and using the internet more frequently (Halling and Tufte, 2002). Studies such as Moschis and Mitchell (1986) and Caruana and Vassallo (2003) focused on consumer socialization of children and its impact on their level of inuence in family decision making. Parents, television and peers were found to be primary socialization agents inuencing the role of children in household consumption decisions. Obviously, past research has contributed greatly to our knowledge about childrens inuence in family decision making; however, much remains to be explored. For instance, the importance of the effects of the internet on teen life and its subsequent effects in family purchase decisions can no longer be denied (Moscardelli and Heyes, 2004). Further, as has been suggested earlier in the paper, internet inuence may rearrange the decision making dominance of the family members and thus merits further theoretical and empirical support. Secondly, although there exists an impressive body of knowledge about consumer behavior of children the majority of these studies have originated from and focused on mainly US children (McNeal and Yeh, 1997). While such studies are useful, there is a great need for a comprehensive examination of consumer behavior of non-US children to assist researchers and international marketers to answer various questions pertaining to their behavior as consumers and to draw inferences about their preferences, and accurately predict their future choice behavior in the global market (Sidin et al., 2008). India is an apt environment because of the rapid socio-economic changes that have taken place in the last ten years (Ruth and Commuri, 1998). Indian markets hold a lot of promise and are evolving fast. Indian consumers too, across different strata and market segments exhibit a behavior change in spending and consumption. As the family consumption patterns change, the family decision making too, is going through a metamorphosis, such as witnessing an increased level of childrens participation in family decision making. These aspects have hardly been investigated empirically before in the context of Indian families. Thus this study (in a different research setting) aims to bridge that research gap. Given the fact that children inuence consumption in households like never before, the point to ponder is what inuences their thinking, attitude, learning and beliefs towards consumption. In short what are the major drivers of consumer socialization amongst children? The following section dwells on consumer socialization, the traditional assumptions around it and the role of contemporary inuences such as the internet. 1.2 Consumer socialization traditional and contemporary inuences Marketing literature describes socialization as the process of learning consumer-related skills, knowledge and attitudes (Ward, 1974). Bush and Simmons (1981) describe

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socialization as the ways in which individuals learn skills, knowledge, values, motives and roles appropriate to their position in a group or a society. A variety of experiences shape the consumer habits of the young consumer all over the world. Moschis and Moore (1979, 1984) propose that consumer socialization is based on two types of learning. The rst, social learning, refers to socialization as a function of environmental inuences on a person. Various socialization agents in the environment (such as parents, media, and peers) act as learning media. The second type of learning, cognitive development is a cognitive psychological process of adjustment to ones environment. Essentially, cognitive development refers to learning which occurs as a function of information processing maturation. Various studies (McNeal, 1987; Moschis and Churchill, 1978; Szybillo and Sosanie, 1977) observed that parents play the most dominant role in shaping the consumer behavior of children. This is also enforced by cultural settings. Consequently, in a country like India where a lot of value is placed on traditions and customs and parents are looked upon as role models, the consumer behavior of children bears strong resemblance to that of their parents. The family has been identied as the most inuential factor that affects decisions concerning such purchases as food, health care products and other household items. Parents have an inuence on the extent to which a child successfully acquires consumer knowledge through the type, quantity and quality of consumer experiences and the information they share with the child (Roedder-John, 1999). Parents inuence the consumer socialization process of their children in several ways (Ward, 1974). First of all, children observe the consumer behavior of their parents. Children hear their parents talk about which expenses have priority over others and they see which products are bought and used. In this way parents have a normative inuence on their children. Secondly, there is an interaction between both parties in the sense that parents and children communicate about purchases and consumption (Ward, 1974). As the child reaches adolescence other socialization agents become more signicant. Peers and the media play a vital role in inuencing the discretionary purchase of the young. Peer interaction can provide the child with non-rational sources of consumer socialization (Dholakia, 1984). Peers can inuence children in ways that a parent may not be able to; this is due to the desire to conform to peer norms. Previous studies on consumer socialization have found peers to be a signicant source of inuence in choices concerning various products and services (Mascarenhas and Higby, 1993; Moschis, 1987; Moschis and Churchill, 1978). Media, particularly television, acts as another major socialization agent (Gunter and McAleer, 1997; Roedder-John, 1999; Moschis, 1987). Many urban children have an independent television set in their rooms. Television viewing remains a favorite pastime. Most children watch three to four hours of television per day; this is the number one after-school activity for 6 to 17 year olds (Center for Media Education, 2002). This exposure has led them to greater product awareness and the ability to distinguish between brands to form preferences and make choices. They are now able to perceive commercial intent in advertising and learn to be more discerning viewers. They almost certainly advance their consumer skills as a cumulative effect of all socialization agents coupled with their cognitive abilities. Additionally, their consumer skills are further augmented as they acquire advanced skills like using the internet. Children are now able to form (independent) perceptions about products, product use and develop brand preferences. It is also important to mention in the context of consumer socialization that parent-child interaction occurs in a reciprocal manner too, called reverse socialization. According to Ekstrom et al. (1987) reverse socialization may be described as the acquisition of consumer skills and product information of parents from their children. They viewed parent and child as a social system in which each participants responses constituted stimuli for the other. While the studies referred to are useful to the study of consumer socialization amongst children, however the fact remains that it is an area in need of a more contemporary approach. In

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particular, it is highly imperative to link present-day lifestyles and societal changes with the socialization process to further theoretical concepts. According to Lee et al. (2003) the increasing use of the internet as a communication tool makes this a potentially strong agent of socialization. These researchers postulated that the internet offers an environment for participatory learning through discovery and construction, bricolage and play and therefore can take the part of a socialization agent. It is further suggested by them, The internet has created a new learning culture, which is social in nature, allowing adolescents to share, discuss, inuence and learn interactively from each other and from the medium (Lee et al., 2003, p. 1709). Children are also known to be attracted to commercial internet sites because they are designed to be child-friendly: they are colorful and engaging and offer interactive games and products the child recognizes (National Institute on Media and the Family, 2000). The internet, unlike television, offers interactivity and control over what to view and adolescents understanding is enabled by trying things out (Lee et al., 2003). Specically, by virtue of teenagers engagement with the internet through activities like e-mailing, chatting, downloading music and other content, interactive gaming, information search for academic or non-academic purposes teenagers directly or indirectly internalize consumption related knowledge. They can also acquire explicit product related knowledge regarding availability, prices, features and benets, brands and models etc. Having acknowledged the internet as a contemporary inuence on consumer socialization, empirical research was undertaken to uncover its effects on a teenagers role in family purchases. The following section outlines the conceptual and methodical framework.

2. Conceptual and methodical framework

2.1 Internet inuence Internet inuence for the study was conceptualized on three dimensions: 1. The propensity to like and engage with the medium. 2. Ability to perceive information about products for self use, family use and adult use from the medium. 3. Ability to disseminate product information learnt from the medium. Based on these dimensions, an initial multi-item scale was designed and a pilot study was conducted with 44 parent-child dyads randomly selected from Delhi, India. Reliability analysis and exploratory factor analysis on this resulted in a nine-item scale for inclusion in the nal study (see Table I). A four point Likert scale (1: strongly disagree . . . 4: strongly agree) was used. Cronbachs alpha of 0.90 was well above the 0.70 threshold and is therefore acceptable (Nunally, 1978). Further, to validate the internet inuence scale all items were subjected to factor analysis. A principal component factor analysis followed by a varimax rotation yielded a single factor solution, establishing the validity of the scale. These results are presented in Table I. 2.2 Teenagers as co-decision makers high technology products and vacation High technology products (such as iPods, cell phones, camera, computers etc.) and vacation planning formed the context of the study. These were chosen to discern the teenagers role in decision making because, teenagers would have a direct active interest in their purchase/consumption and the internet would be an obvious choice for information search for these products. Teenagers roles in decision making were measured across several subdecisions (see Table II) using a ve-point scale with: (1) indicating it was fully the parents decision; (2) indicating it was mainly the parents decision; (3) indicating a joint decision; (4) indicating it was mainly the adolescents decision; and (5) indicating it was fully the adolescents decision. These were partially adapted from an earlier study by Shoham and Dalakas (2005) in Israel where they conducted research on the mother, father and child triad to capture their relative inuence on various product categories.

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Table I Questionnaire for teenagers for the measure of internet inuence with mean, standard deviations and factor loadings
Mean C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 I access internet everyday On holidays, I spend more time than usual surng net I nd using internet more enjoyable than watching TV I come to know about products for my use from internet I come to know about products for household use from internet I come to know about products for my parents use from internet I discuss the information about products I have viewed on internet with my parents Sometimes I insist my parents to co-view the information about the products we are about to purchase Sometimes my parents ask to nd information about products on the internet Overall Eigen value Percentage of variance explained 2.12 2.01 2.12 2.18 2.06 1.95 2.21 SD 0.86 0.77 0.90 0.92 0.81 0.73 1.01 Factor 1 0.76 0.76 0.77 0.71 0.72 0.66 0.84

2.13 2.12 2.11

0.89 0.86 0.61

0.74 0.76

C9

5.01 56.00

Table II Teenagers inuence on purchase subdecisions

Mean Technological products When to buy How much to spend Brand Model Color Where to buy Vacation Where to go How much to spend How much time to spend Where to stay When to go n SD

3.20 2.32 3.30 3.02 3.29 2.90

1.15 1.17 1.25 1.28 1.42 1.16

3.10 2.17 2.77 2.67 2.38 346

1.17 1.09 1.17 1.35 1.17

2.3 Research hypothesis In our research framework we proposed that that a teenagers internet inuence would signicantly relate to his/her role in decision making across the subdecisions on the two above mentioned product categories. In addition to this, the teenagers role in decision making would signicantly differ for the different purchase subdecisions. The two hypotheses were: H1. Internet inuence will be positively related to the teenagers role in decision making in purchase subdecisions contextual to purchase of (a) high technology products and (b) vacation planning in the households. The degree of the teenagers role in decision making will differ for the different subdecisions for (a) high technology products and (b) vacation planning in the households.

H2.

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2.4 Research instrument The data for this study were derived from a larger study attempting to measure various aspects related to childrens inuence on family decision making. A structured two part questionnaire (one meant for teenagers use and other for parents use) was used in data collection. The questionnaire was pre-tested among 44 parent-child dyads randomly selected from the city of Delhi, India. Minor revisions were made after the pre-test. Statements using Likert scales to measure the internet inuence were a part of the teenagers questionnaire. Perceived level of childs inuence on purchase decisions in the family contextual to the purchase of high technology products and planning for vacation were a part of parents questionnaire. The questionnaire also included descriptive measures including age, gender, amount of monthly pocket allowances, household income, parents occupation etc. 2.5 Study sample The instrument was administered to students of standard ninth to twelfth at several schools located in the national capital region (NCR) India. The rst author conducted the administration of the childs part of the questionnaire in the school premises. The second part of the questionnaire to be lled by any one parent was sent home with the child with the request to bring it back in three days. The schoolteacher was requested to remind students for the same. A usable sample of 346 was obtained consisting of 178 female and 168 male adolescents. The childrens age ranged from 13 to 17 years, with the mean age being 14.87 years. The mean age of the parent was 42.64 yrs. The distribution of the household income per annum was as follows: 30.6 per cent in the income category of up to rupees ve lacs ($10,770), 51.4 per cent between rupees 5 lacs to 10 lacs ($22,000) and 17.9 per cent were in the income category of above rupees 10 lacs per annum. Children received a regular pocket allowance with 62.4 per cent receiving an amount less than rupees 1,000 ($22), 35.3 percent an amount between rupees 1,000 and rupees 2,000 ($44) and 2.3 percent receiving an amount of more than 2,000 per month. All teenagers had internet access at home and/ or at school.

3. Results
A four point Likert scale was employed to measure the level of agreement or disagreement with each of the nine items comprising the internet inuence scale (1: strongly disagree . . . 4: strongly agree). A higher score (more than the mid-value of 2.0) would be indicative of children having a signicant internet inuence. The study measured the internet inuence as 2.11 amongst 346 urban Indian teenagers. The nding suggests that the internet does play a signicant role in the consumer learning of the young. On examination of mean scores of single items (see Table I) it was found that teenagers not only like to engage with the medium on a regular basis (C1: 2.12, C2: 2.01, C3: 2.12) but also seemed to perceive product information via the medium (C4: 2.18, C5: 2.06, C6: 1.95) and tended to disseminate such information in households (C7: 2.21, C8: 2.13, C9: 2.12). Simple regression analyses (Table III) were computed for testing H1 and showed that teenagers internet inuence does act as a predictor of the extent of teenagers role as co-decision maker in purchase subdecisions on both the product categories. Statistically signicant relations emerged for all 11 subdecision areas (six for high-technology products and ve for vacation) providing support for H1 (a) and H1 (b). In the case of high-technology products, internet inuence accounted for 11 percent variation in a teenagers role in decision making for the subdecision model. This was followed by internet inuence accounting for 10 percent variation for the purchase subdecision color. Internet inuence accounted for 6 percent variation for the subdecisions brand and when to buy and 5 percent for where to buy. As was expected by the researchers only 3 per cent of variation was for the nancial decision how much to spend. In case of vacation planning, surprisingly internet inuence accounted for 18 percent variation on the purchase subdecision how much to spend. Although not specically tested,

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Table III Regression results effect of internet on childs inuence on purchase subdecisions
Criterion variables Technological products When to buy How much to spend Brand Model Color Where to buy Vacation Where to go How much to spend How much time to spend Where to stay When to go Note: n 346 Constant Std. beta t-value p-value Model statistics F p-value Adj. R2

2.24 1.59 2.26 1.52 1.73 2.03

0.24 0.35 0.50 0.34 0.32 0.21

4.62 3.47 4.68 6.69 3.28 4.15

0.000 0.001 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.06 0.03 0.06 0.11 0.10 0.05

21.38 12.00 21.85 44.71 39.48 17.18

0.000 0.001 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

2.1 0.59 1.94 1.07 0.72

0.25 0.42 0.21 0.35 0.41

4.76 8.68 3.98 6.86 8.39

0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.06 0.18 0.04 0.12 0.17

22.61 75.33 15.83 47.04 70.31

0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

the nding seems to suggest that teenagers who might be searching the internet for information related to tariffs of hotels or travel expenses may enjoy a greater role in decision making for this purchase decision than others. Internet inuence accounted for 17 and 12 percent variation for the subdecisions when to go and where to stay. Further, 6 and 4 percent variation was reported for the subdecisions where to go and how much time to spend respectively. A repeated measures one-way ANOVA was employed to examine H2. The test revealed that there were signicant differences in childs inuence on the six product subdecisions for high technology products, F1; 345 30:46, p 0:000 supporting H2 (a). Although there was a relatively moderate effect size (eta-squared 0.09), LSD comparisons revealed that statistically signicantly differences existed between the purchase subdecisions. Table II presents the mean scores for the purchase subdecisions. Teenagers were assigned the highest role in decision making for the purchase subdecision brand, followed by color and when to buy and model. They had lesser role in subdecisions where to buy and how much to spend. In line with the previous research (referred to in an earlier section) the childs inuence was higher on color, model and brand and comparatively less on other subdecisions. The noteworthy outcome of this examination is that urban adolescent childrens inuence on product subdecisions in India is much the same as teens elsewhere across the world (as observed on previous studies referred to in earlier sections) once again validating the popular notion that teen consumer behavior has much in common and many marketing applications can be based on this generalization. Similar analysis followed for H2 (b). The test revealed that there were signicant differences in childs inuence on the six product subdecisions vacation planning, F 1; 345 33:45, p 0:000 supporting H2 (b). A moderate effect size was found with eta-square of 0.08. LSD comparisons revealed that the means for subdecisions for vacation were statistically different from each other except between the subdecisions how much time to spend and where to stay. Teenagers were assigned the highest inuence for the subdecision where to go, followed by how much time to spend. Lesser inuence was assigned to subdecisions where to stay and when to go and the least was on how much to spend.

4. Conclusions
The study reveals that urban Indian adolescents have a signicant inuence on the family decision making process. In the 11 subdecisions (six for high-technology products and ve for vacation) examined in this study, teenage childrens role in decision making was found to be more than the mid-value (2.5) in all cases except in the nancial decision how much to

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spend for both product categories. The reasons are not hard to decipher early consumer socialization, time-poor indulgent parents; rising media inuence, susceptibility to peer inuence all boost newer aspirations that dictate consumption. Today, children are becoming more knowledgeable and strategically sophisticated in terms of being shopping savvy and so are more likely to be invited to participate in purchase decisions or, failing this, to express unsolicited views more vociferously (Kuhn and Eischen, 1997). According to Lindstrom (2004), children today have grown up faster, are more connected, more direct and more informed. They have more personal power, more money, inuence and attention than any other generation before them. The study had specically aimed to uncover the effects of rising internet use on teenagers role in family purchase decisions and suggests that engaging with the internet and gaining consumption related knowledge signicantly impacts the teenagers role in family decision making. In the 11 subdecisions examined in the context of purchasing high technology products and vacation planning, teenagers internet inuence acted as a predictor of the teenagers role as co-decision maker in all the purchase subdecisions on both product categories. These ndings are consistent with earlier research undertaken in the US where the researchers (Belch et al., 2005) theorized that, due to the greater time pressures felt by parents and virtual market expertise of teenagers; teen internet mavens are likely to be integral participants in family decision making. These results are important to academicians, researchers and practitioners as nearly one out of ten people on the planet are under 25 years old and living in India. That is the signicance of Indias next generation and what they do, think and aspire to hold insights for all those who aim to engage with this Web 2.0 Generation (TCS, 2009).

5. Managerial implications
Our results have implications for marketers, policy makers and e-commerce business strategists. As the role of the internet increases as an important resource for information in family decision making, these ndings draw attention to how it can rearrange the decision making dominance of participant members on purchase options. Firstly, for the marketers the results demonstrate that teenage children can no longer be treated as passive participants in family purchase decisions; rather their role needs to be acknowledged and understood in order to correctly formulate marketing offerings in target markets. Secondly, in recognition of the fact that teenagers have a greater online presence than adults and may be actively disseminating internet acquired consumer knowledge within the household, web marketing communications may require a realignment to suit the comprehension and the maturity level of this group. Thirdly, the study provides insights on specic decision areas in which:
B

the teenage children enjoy a greater decision making role (for example color and brand in case of car purchase and where to go and how much time to spend in case of vacation); the impact of internet on teenagers decision making role (for example model and color in case of car purchase and how much to spend and when to go in case of vacation).

Understanding which decision areas remain as parents domain and which decision areas are teenage-dominant (and are additionally being affected by internet inuence) can help marketers strategize and develop their marketing mix more appropriately. Further, in the future a greater role for teenagers in the household can be envisaged, which will not be limited to participation in decision making but may extend to actual purchase. As the internet is a favored medium for this age group, it should not be uncommon to nd teenagers indulging in online shopping activities and online purchase quite frequently. There is a clear need here for e-commerce strategists to facilitate online nancial transactions which may (or sometimes may not) require adult supervision and validation. The ndings suggest that by manipulating the inuence of the internet on teenagers the product/brand selection and adoption can be encouraged in the households. However organizations need to maintain regulatory and ethical standards expected from responsible

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business organizations. It is perhaps for these reasons that Lee et al. (2003, p. 1713) suggested:
Policy makers need to consider regulations and/or guidelines for marketers to avoid the misuse of the internet when reaching this group of consumers. Marketers need to be provided with a code of ethics, or at least guidelines, similar to those provided to advertisers of traditional media, regarding the appropriate forms of communication.

As with any research, this study is not without limitations. Firstly, the study sample was restricted to one geographical location Delhi and adjoining areas (NCR). Although the city Delhi is widely acknowledged as having a rich cultural milieu with a strong presence of immigrant population future studies can include a broader geographical landscape to facilitate the generalizability of the patterns obtained here. Secondly, the study was limited to only two product categories and therefore further exploration on different product categories can be undertaken for better comparisons of results and to provide further insight on the role of the internet in socializing children. Future models for research should also endeavor to integrate other factors such as socio-economic household conditions, education levels, gender roles etc. to fully present the reality of teenagers role in family purchase decisions. In spite of the limitations, given the limited research attention on childrens inuence on decision making, especially outside the USA, it is anticipated that this study will provide meaningful insights on the role of teenagers in family purchase decisions and will be particularly helpful in clarifying the effects of internet use on their role as co-decision makers.

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About the authors

Anupriya Kaur is an Assistant Professor at Department of Professional Development, Jaypee University of Information Technology, Waknaghat, India. Her area of research includes consumer behavior and service marketing. Anupriya Kaur is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: anupriya.kaur@juit.ac.in Y. Medury is Chief Operating Ofcer, Jaypee Education System. A doctorate from University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA; he has over 25 years of experience in industry and academic institutes of repute.

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