proceedings 2015

PROCEEDINGS 2ND International Colloquium on Kids and Retailing: “Future Trends”

18th-19th June, 2015 ESSCA Budapest Hungary

Scientific Committee Professor Brigitte de Faultrier, ESSCA School of Management, Angers, France Brigitte is Professor of Retail Buying at ESSCA School of Management where she leads a Post Graduate Programme in Fashion Marketing. Her research interests are in the area of fashion retailing with a particular focus on kids and retailing, fashion retail buying and supply chain management. She co-authored Fonction : acheteur [The Role of Buyer](2nd edition 2009) and Manuel de l’acheteur, les achats en Textile-Habillement [Manual of Buyer, Buying for the Apparel Sector] (2009) and has published in a number of academic journals including International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management and Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. She was Guest-Editor of a special issue on Kids and Retailing for International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management

Professor Neil Towers, University of Gloucester, UK With over twenty five years industrial, commercial and academic experience Neil joined the University of Gloucestershire Business School from Heriot-Watt University (HWU) where he was Director of the Research Centre for Retail Excellence (CRE) managing funding from George Davies (HWU’s largest individual donor) and former Programme Director for MSc in International Fashion Marketing. In the Business School he is Lead for Research with responsibility for engaging with business, organizations and funding bodies in developing the high impact research agenda. Neil is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management since 2009, and Affiliate Professor at the leading Business School, ESSCA in France, Neil has worked with many retail and supplier companies. In 2007 he was invited as an Expert Advisor by the Gatsby Foundation to assist in the repositioning of the Tanzanian cotton garment industry. Recently he has worked with George Davies, Retailer Per Una, Footwear retailer Schuh, cashmere brand and producer Johnstons of Hawick and latterly with Waitrose and the Cheltenham Racecourse. He has authored a number of sector policy reports and is currently contributing to the European NovaChild Children and Retailing network cluster project. Professor Zsuzsa Deli-Gray, ESSCA School of Management, Budapest, Hungary Zsuzsa is Professor of International Marketing and Director at the Budapest site of the ESSCA School of Management. She obtained her ”Habilitation” in 2009 and her PhD in 2002 in the field of International Marketing. She delivers courses on Marketing and Logistics in Hungarian, English and French languages and conducts cross cultural researches on the involvement of young children in the process of buying. Her books on International Marketing and on Cases in Tourism Marketing are used at several universities in Hungary and abroad. She is the regional editor of an international journal and the reviewer of professional papers at other international journals. She is an active participant of the Hungarian academic life: she participates in the Peer Review Teams of the National Program Accreditation Process, and acts as a professional evaluator in the Bolyai Janos scholarship board.

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Patrick Blondeau, Managing Director NovaChild, France Patrick is the General Manager of Nova CHILD, Cluster of companies, public and private learning and research centers, innovating together for the well being of Children. NovaChild, based in France, represents 35000 employees and 70 companies in the sectors of: fashion, nursery, furniture, toys, services, food and healthcare. Nova CHILD has been involved for a few years with ESSCA business school, in a prospective approach of new needs and business models for distribution of goods and services to the children. Professor Valerie-Ines de la Ville, University of Poitiers, France Professor David Marshall, University of Edinburgh, UK David is Professor of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour at the University of Edinburgh Business School. His primary research interests include research on food access and availability; consumer food choice and eating rituals; and children’s discretionary consumption in relation to food advertising and marketing. He edited Understanding Children as Consumers (2010) and Food Choice and the Consumer (1995) and has published in a number of academic journals including The Sociological Review, Journal of Marketing Management, Consumption, Markets and Culture, Journal of Consumer Behaviour, International Journal of Advertising and Marketing to Children (Young Consumers), Appetite, Food Quality and Preference, International Journal of Epidemiology, Journal of Human Nutrition. Professor Mathilde Gollety, University of Paris II Pantheon Assas, France Mathilde has a PhD from University of Paris Dauphine and is professor at University of Pantheon Assas. Her qualitative based research works focusses on the consumer child with a particular emphasis on family process regarding consumption learning and innovation. She has published several papers in scientific journals, several book chapters and she has participated to number of PhD examinations relating to child and teenager consumer. She teaches Marketing and Communication theories for students and adults.

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Programme Thursday 18th June 9:30-10:00 10:00-10:15

Welcome

10:15-11:45

Keynote Speakers Kids and Retailing: The Hungarian Environment

11:45-12:30

Session 1 Shopping: Kids’ Perception

12:30-13:00 13:00-14:00 14:00-15:15

Publishers

15:15-16:00

Session 3 Bridging the Past and the Future

16:00-18:00

The Colloquium at the Mall

19:00

Session 2 Kids in the Store

Registration Zsuzsa Deli-Gray, Director, ESSCA Hungary Foundation; Eric Stevens, Associate Dean for Research, ESSCA Agnes Ducrot, Director, French-Hungarian Chamber of Commerce The retail sector in Hungary Dr Agnes Neulinger Born to buy? The influence of consumer kids on family consumption – a Hungarian perspective Daniel Horvath, Marketing Director, Formatex The toy is not a Toy. - How can we communicate efficiently and in which direction does the toy market go in the second decade of the Millenium. Zsuzsa DELI-GRAY, Marie-Pierre PINTO, and Cécile McLAUGHLIN The perception of young children of the ideal shopping process Florence FEENSTRA and Brigitte de FAULTRIER Channels and bridges opportunities Neil Towers, Editor of IJR&DM; Erzsebet Csibi, Pearson Lunch Kafia AYADI and Lanlan CAO Child consumers are not miniature adults: how children reappropriate store environments David MARSHALL Hanging out at the convenience store: discretionary food consumption among young Tokyo consumers Isabelle MURATORE What is the price perception of teen’s impulsive buyer Olivier BADOT, Joël BREE, Coralie DAMAY, Nathalie GUICHARD, Jean-François LEMOINE, and Max POULAIN The representation of shopping in children’s books Brigitte de FAULTRIER, Florence FEENSTRA, and Riina KORIS Child-orientation: A future trend for retailers selling products for children? Visit to the MOM Park Dinner at Columbus Pub

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Friday 19th June 9:00-9:45

Session 4 Roundtable

9:45-10:30

Session 5 Kids and Technology

10:30-10:45 10:45-12:00

12:00-13:00

13:00-14:00 14:00

Session 6 Kids in Context

Session 7 The Future of Kids and Retailing

Chairperson: David MARSHALL Roland Szilas Work-in-progress Discussion: Kid’s participation in the buying processes and their psychological development Fabien DURIF and Harold BOECK Social and ethical issues of RFID use with children Monali HOTA, Maud DERBAIX, and Karine CHARRY A real child in a virtual world: children’s motives for participating in virtual gaming communities Break Isabelle ULRICH and Pascale EZAN Boy+doll and girl+car: children’s reactions to incongruent visuals in a retail’s catalogue Christel de LASSUS and Virginie SILHOUETTE-DERCOURT Shopping for kids luxury brands: young mothers’ identity quest in retail spaces Damien ARTHUR and Claire SHERMAN Consumer socialisation in a marketer-sponsored children’s edutainment centre Chairperson: Neil TOWERS Rénald LAFARGE, NovaChild PROSPECT’KID: How children and their families will live tomorrow? Research opportunities Neil TOWERS Forum: Research Avenues for the Kids and Retailing Lunch City Tour

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Author Index

ARTHUR, Damien*, Zayed University, United Arab Emirates,

p8

AYADI, Kafia*, NEOMA School of Management, Mont-Saint-Aignan, France

p25

BADOT, Olivier*, ESCP Europe, Paris and Normandie University, Caen, France

p38

BOECK, Harold, UQAM, Montreal, Canada BRÉE, Joël, Normandie University, Caen, and ESSCA School of Management, Angers, France CAO, Lanlan, NEOMA School of Management, Mont-Saint-Aignan, France CHARRY, Karine, IESEG School of Management, Lille, France DAMAY, Coralie, ISC Paris Business School, France DELI-GRAY, Zsuzsa*, ESSCA School of Management, Budapest, Hungary

p53

DERBAIX, Maud, Kedge Business School, Bordeaux, France DUCROT, Agnes, French-Hungarian Chamber of Commerce, Budapest, Hungary

p55

DURIF, Fabien*, UQAM, Montreal, Canada

p71

EZAN, Pascale, University of Rouen, France FAULTRIER (de), Brigitte*, ESSCA School of Management, Angers, France

p95

FEENSTRA, Florence*, ESSCA School of Management, Paris, France

p98

GUICHARD, Nathalie, University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France HORVATH, Daniel, Formatex, Budapest, Hungary HOTA, Monali*, IESEG School of Management, Lille, France

p111

KORIS, Riina, Estonian Business School, Tallinn, Estonia LAFARGE, Rénald, NovaChild, France LASSUS (de), Christel*, University of East-Paris, France

p138

LEMOINE, Jean-François, University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, and ESSCA, Paris, France MARSHALL, David*, University of Edinburgh Business School, Scotland, United Kingdom

p157

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MCLAUGHLIN, Cécile, University of Limoges, France MURATORE, Isabelle*, Aix Marseille University, France

p171

NEULINGER, Agnes, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary

p196

PINTO, Marie-Pierre, Limoges University, France POSLAI, Gabor, Decathlon, Hungary POULAIN, Max, Normandie University, Caen, France SHERMAN, Claire, Zayed University, United Arab Emirates SILHOUETTE-DERCOURT, Virginie, University of Sorbonne Paris Cité, France SZILAS, Roland*, ESSCA School of Management, Budapest, Hungary TOWERS, Neil, University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham, United Kingdom ULRICH, Isabelle*, NEOMA School of Management, Mont-Saint-Aignan, France

p207

*First author

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Consumer socialisation in a marketer-sponsored children’s edutainment centre

Damien Arthur Zayed University, United Arab Emirates [email protected]

Claire Sherman Zayed University, United Arab Emirates [email protected]

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Structured Abstract Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate a marketer-sponsored children’s edutainment center as a consumer socialization agent and to examine the potential hyper-consumer socialization experienced within. Methodology: Interviews were undertaken with 17 children in their analytical stage of development as well as one of their parents immediately prior, immediately after, and one week following a part-day visit to the heavily branded children’s edutainment center Kidzania. Findings: The results suggest that children do experience a form of hyper-consumer socialization after engaging in a heavily branded children’s edutainment center. The brand placements were particularly effective with the majority of children switching preference to one of the four sponsored brands on at least one occasion and where a favorable movement in preferences of 34% was found. The children also demonstrated advances in transaction, and advertising and persuasion knowledge. Significant increases were found in product and brand knowledge, shopping scripts and retail knowledge, with some children moving beyond perceptual and analytical thought and demonstrating reflective thought. Originality/Value: This is the first study to date to examine a marketer-sponsored children’s edutainment center as a socialization agent. Our findings have value for marketers who have begun to see the virtues of growing customers from childhood and also for a society that is increasingly concerned of the moral virtues of new forms of marketing to children. Keywords: Kidzania, Edutainment, Consumer Socialization, Advertising to Children. Article Classification: Research Paper

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Introduction The process “by which young people acquire skills, knowledge, and attitudes relevant to their functioning as consumers in the marketplace” is referred to as consumer socialization (Ward, 1974, p.2). A steady stream of research investigating the topic has developed over the past four decades. John (1999) categorized this research as dealing with five aspects of consumer socialization: advertising and persuasion knowledge, transaction knowledge, decision-making skills and abilities, purchase influence and negotiation strategies, and consumption motives and values. Others have focused their examinations on the agents of socialization: family, peers, culture, and mass media and marketing. While these studies have contributed to our understanding of consumer socialization, no study to date has investigated the potential for hyperconsumer socialization that may be experienced in marketer-sponsored children’s edutainment centers. Research of this nature would have value for both marketers and society at large, as marketers have begun to see the virtues of developing customers from childhood (McNeal, 1999), and society has become increasingly concerned regarding the moral virtues of new forms of marketing to children (Cook 2004). This study addresses this gap in the research by evaluating the effectiveness of a marketersponsored children’s edutainment center as an agent of consumer socialization. The portmanteau ‘edutainment’ refers to the interactive pedagogy that converges learning with a fun and entertaining experience (Addis, 2005, Okan 2003). For example, in the Kidzania edutainment center located in Dubai, which is the context of this study, children learn about adult occupations and responsibilities through playing ‘grown-ups’ and undertaking occupational and consumer tasks (like the small “missions” Deli-Gray et al. (2014) found children enjoy) in a replica and heavily branded city. After catching an ‘Emirates’ flight to Kidzania, children are encouraged to learn and experience several of the numerous adult roles that exist within the fantasy metropolis. For example, children can learn to be a car salesperson in the Chevron dealership, a mechanic in the ACDelco auto repair shop, a kitchen hand in McDonalds, a factory worker in the Coca-Cola bottling plant or a news reporter for The National. For working in their chosen professions the children receive ‘KidZos’, the Kidzania currency, which they can deposit in their Al Hilal bank accounts, or spend at a number of real retail outlets within Kidzania. In fact, within the Dubai Kidzania children can take on any of 70 occupational roles including dentist, surgeon, and hairdresser, and experience interactions with over 35 real world brands, highlighting the richness of the site for a study on consumer socialization. Consumer Socialization Functioning in the marketplace requires the learning of consumer skills, knowledge and attitudes. This learning process is undertaken throughout childhood and is known as ‘consumer socialization’. As

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children’s cognitive and social abilities are related to age, so too is a child’s consumer development. Based on the work of established cognitive and social development theories, John (1999) categorized the consumer development of children into three stages: the perceptual stage, the analytical stage and the reflective stage. The perceptual stage is generally made up of children aged between 3 and 7, and is characterized by product evaluations of a single concrete and observable feature. Children in this stage exhibit some familiarity with consumer skills and knowledge, but rarely understand them beyond the surface level (John 1999). For example, these children have the transaction knowledge necessary to enact a basic shopping script (the sequence of events involved in shopping), but cannot formulate contingencies when events happen out of order or do not occur (John and Whitney 1986; Peracchio 1992, 1993). Similarly, they can distinguish advertisements from television programs based on perceptual features, but they are unaware of their persuasive intent (Robertson and Rossiter 1974). The most important developments in consumer knowledge and skills take place in the analytical stage, when children are approximately aged between 7 and 11. During this stage there is a dramatic increase in information processing abilities and a shift from perceptual to more symbolic thought. As such, this stage is characterized by an ability to conduct a more comprehensive information search, evaluate a product on more than one dimension, adapt and improvise procedures when enacting transactions, an expanding repertoire of influence and negotiation strategies, and a greater knowledge of brands and advertising. An understanding of the persuasive intent of advertising emerges during this stage (Robertson and Rossiter 1974) and forms the basis for cognitive defense against advertising. Shopping skills, pricing knowledge, and social consumption motives are also further developed in the analytical stage (Turner and Brandt 1978; Moschis and Churchill, 1978; McNeal and McDaniel 1981), though not concretized until the reflective stage (ages 11 to 16) when the nuances associated with social meaning are incorporated. Research investigating the agents of socialization has examined family (e.g. Carlson and Grossbart, 1988), friends and mass media (e.g., Moschis and Churchill, 1978), television (e.g., O’Guinn and Shrum, 1997), advertising (Moschis and Moore 1982), product placement (Auty and Lewis 2004), department stores (e.g., Hollander and Omura, 1989), and retailers (e.g., Tyler 2009). Social role model learning has been used to theorize the socialization process in a number of these contexts and has some relevance when examining the agency of a children’s edutainment center. However, due to relatively passive involvement common with social role model learning, the more active and engaging learning processes undertaken within a children’s edutainment center may be better theorized as situated learning. Proponents of situated learning argue that learning best takes place in authentic contexts where the knowledge, skills and behaviors are naturally utilized (Lave and Wenger, 1991). Indeed, a study conducted by Dresden, Okleshen Peters and Boyd Thomas

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(2008) found that the dramatic play undertaken within a preschool grocery store learning center had the power to teach children as young as three to enact basic adult shopping scripts. By providing the relevant social structure, rather than specific pieces of knowledge, situated learning takes place via doing, rather than observing. As most of the undertakings in a children’s edutainment center are experiential in nature and situated in context, learning requires less depth of analysis and is more easily translated to subsequent behavior in real life consumption situations (Lave and Wenger, 1991). The potential consequence is that transaction knowledge (particularly shopping scripts), decision-making skills, and influence and negotiating strategies may all be learned within a children’s edutainment center without the need for a strong analytical basis, and those in the perceptual and analytical stages may be socialized more rapidly via the experiential learning process. Aims of the Research The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a marketer-sponsored children’s edutainment center as a consumer socialization agent. To determine the effectiveness of the center in socializing the children in a manner consistent with the sponsor’s ultimate objectives was addressed by evaluating the children’s changes in brand preference. To uncover the specific ways in which the children’s edutainment center advances children’s consumer knowledge, skills and attitudes, changes to the five aspects of consumer socialization (advertising and persuasion knowledge, transaction knowledge, decisionmaking skills and abilities, purchase influence and negotiation strategies, and consumption motives and values) and how they relate to the developmental stages were examined. Methodology The site for this study was the Dubai outlet of Kidzania, a marketer-sponsored children’s edutainment center. Kidzania currently operates 16 edutainment centers in 13 countries, with 24 centers expected to be operating in 21 countries later this year (Marsh and Bloom 2014, Kidzania 2015). Positioned as an informal learning environment (Baker 2014), Kidzania was chosen as the site for this study as it is a heavily branded children’s edutainment center predominantly targeting those in the analytical stage of development (Marsh and Bloom 2014). Children in the analytical stage of development (aged between 7-11), who had not been to Kidzania before, were recruited for the study, along with one of their parents. In total, 17 children (10 expatriate children who were native English speakers and 7 Emiratis who were native in Arabic) and 12 parents (8 expatriates and 4 Emiratis) participated in the research study (the discrepancy in the number of parents to

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children is due to the participation of siblings). A demographic profile of the participants including the pseudonyms used in this study is provided in Table 1. Structured interview guides were developed for pre, post and follow-up interviews with both the parents and children. The children’s interview guide was informed by Peracchio's (1991) guidelines for designing procedures that are congruent with a child's cognitive capacity. The guides were improved after pre-tests were conducted with a father and a child at the lower end of the analytical stage.

Table 1: Demographic Profile of Participants Child

Gender

Age

Native Language

Parent

Andrew

Male

7

English

Mother

Danielle

Female

7

English

Mother of Danielle, Amy and Lizzie

Mohammed

Male

7

Arabic

Mother (of Mohammed, Layla and Saif)

Moza

Female

7

Arabic

Mother (of Moza and Afra)

Yoosuf

Male

7

English

Father

Afra

Female

8

Arabic

Mother (of Moza and Afra)

Declan

Male

8

English

Mother

Jen

Female

8

English

Mother

Layla

Female

8

Arabic

Mother (of Mohammed, Layla and Saif)

Mel

Female

8

English

Mother

Miles

Male

8

English

Mother

Noura

Male

9

Arabic

Mother

Amy

Female

10

English

Mother (of Danielle, Amy and Lizzie)

Brain

Male

10

English

Mother

Lizzie

Female

11

English

Mother (of Danielle, Amy and Lizzie)

Saif

Male

11

Arabic

Mother (of Mohammed, Layla and Saif)

Shaima

Female

12

Arabic

Mother

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The pre-interviews were conducted in a coffee shop immediately prior to entering the venue. In a simplistic manner, the child was asked questions to ascertain their advertising and persuasion knowledge, transaction knowledge, decision-making skills and abilities, purchase influence and negotiation strategies, consumption motives and values, and brand preferences in five consumer categories (burger stores, supermarkets, banks, airlines and telecommunications). To determine brand preference, three brand logos were displayed for each category (with one of the brands being present within the venue)1. The parent was also interviewed regarding their expectations, their thoughts on marketer involvement and the edutainment center’s possible impact on their child’s consumer development. After this initial interview the child-parent couple entered the edutainment center. Very few restrictions were placed on what the child and parent did while they were in the center to replicate a realistic consumer experience. However, the parent was required to have the child ‘work’ for the DU service center, play ‘shopping’ or ‘work’ as a cashier at the Waitrose supermarket, and deposit any unspent Kidzos in the HSBC bank as changing preferences toward these brands were measured2. Upon leaving the venue the researcher interviewed both the child and parent in the same coffee shop again. The child's post-interview was essentially the same as the pre-interview; examining the five aspects of consumer socialization and brand preferences in the five consumer categories. The parent was asked to reflect on the experience, the brands’ interactions with their child, and its likely impact on their development as a consumer. A week after the experience both child and parent were interviewed one final time. The child’s follow-up interview was virtually identical in content to the post-interview and was used to determine whether the consumer learning was forgotten shortly after the experience or retained in the medium to long term. This time however the parent was asked to reflect on any changes they had observed in their child’s behavior after the Kidzania experience. With the pre-, post- and follow-up interviews, a total of 87 short interviews were undertaken, constituting over six hours of recording. Thirty-three of these were conducted in Arabic by student researchers, and the remaining 54 were conducted in English by the first author. All 87 interviews were transcribed in English, and then coded and analyzed using NVIVO. Changes in brand preference and 1 Only two telecommunications brands were shown, as there are only two that operate in the UAE. 2 The sponsored bank within Kidzania changed during the data collection from HSBC to Al Hilal. As a result the bank category was excluded from the brand preference analysis, but the children’s comments were still analyzed qualitatively.

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advances in consumer socialization were determined by evaluating differences in the pre-, post- and followup interviews, and by evaluating the observational reflections of the parents in the follow-up interview. Rather than using direct observation of the child’s play, as has been done in previous studies, the aim was to understand the child’s retention and understanding of the consumption that was simulated within the center and the subsequent transition of this learning to the external world via parental observation. Findings We begin our results by discussing the effectiveness of Kidzania as socialization agent in generating a preference for their brand sponsors. Once effectiveness is established we detail the aspects of consumer socialization that assisted in generating preference. Of the five key areas of consumer socialization the most significant developments were in transaction knowledge. Advancements in children’s product and brand knowledge, and to a lesser extent shopping knowledge and skills were made and are discussed in detail. As a new form of socialization agent, the idea of advertising and persuasion knowledge is discussed, particularly as it was not found to conform to the developmental stage of the respondents. The children’s experience in Kidzania had very little impact on their decision-making skills and abilities, purchase influence and negotiation strategies, and consumption motives and values, and therefore these aspects are not discussed. As a socialization agent the edutainment center had a much greater influence on learning the process of consumption, through context and situation, rather than pushing ‘what to buy’. Brand preference Eleven of the 17 children switched preference to a brand that was present in Kidzania in at least one of the four categories investigated. After eliminating those instances where the target brand was already preferred before visiting Kidzania, there were 44 unique opportunities for someone to switch to a brand within Kidzania across all four categories and 17 children. Of this 44, on balance there were 13 changes towards the target brands directly after the visit and 15 changes in total after one week, representing a 34% shift in brand preferences overall. In the majority of cases, the children’s change of allegiance was consistent even a week later. For example, Mel, Amy and Danielle all initially preferred Burger King, but reported they preferred McDonalds in both the post and follow-up interviews after interacting with the brand in Kidzania. Similarly, Amy, Danielle and Afra all initially preferred the Spinney’s supermarket brand, but switched their brand preference to Waitrose in both the post and follow-up interviews after interacting with the brand in the edutainment center. The results above are differential figures in order to account for several counter movements in the children’s preferences. There were two instances where the children changed their preference towards a

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competitor brand. These changes were not observed directly after the visit but were noted in the follow up interviews, suggesting an intervening influence during the subsequent week. Furthermore, there were three instances where preferences changed towards the target brand but then reverted back to the original competitor brand a week later, and one instance where the preference changed towards a competitor directly after the visit yet reverted back to the target brand in the follow up interview. Although the sample is not sizable enough to make statistical inferences, these results strongly intimate that brand preferences are indeed affected by children’s interaction with brands in an edutainment setting. To lend further support, these preferences were also manifest in the children’s actions during the subsequent week. Take the following quote for example: “Mohammed and Layla keep saying to me and my husband that the next time we travel we should Fly Emirates because, as they say, ‘It’s the best airline’. Another change is with Layla, she kept asking me why don’t I use DU and that I should change from Etisalat to DU. She also said ‘When I grow up I want you to get my phone from DU’.” Transaction knowledge: Product and brand knowledge Analysis of the parents’ observations in the follow-up interviews revealed that their children possessed a greater general awareness of brands since the Kidzania experience. Consider this quote about supermarket brands from Andrew’s mother: “He knows that there are alternatives brands around and it’s not just Waitrose, you know, Waitrose, or Sainsbury’s, or Abella, or whatever.” As to be expected this awareness was evident more specifically for the sponsored brands, where there were a number of cases that the child became aware of the brand because of the Kidzania experience. This addition to the awareness set was permanent even a week later in all cases. Take these quotes from the follow-up interviews: Shaima’s mother: “I have noticed a change in Shaima’s awareness of brands, for example the HSBC bank, whenever we pass by she says this is the bank we used in Kidzania. She noticed the brand.” Yousef’s father: “But, you know, there’s one or two brands that he now associates with Kidzania, Emirates being one of them. Yes, that’s the same airline that he flies back home all the time with so it’s… It was quite surprising that he didn’t know it from there”

Interestingly, the results suggest the children moved from the analytical to a more reflective stage of development becoming substantially more aware of the adult-oriented product categories around them after spending time in the children’s edutainment center. Take the following quotes from these three different mothers about their children’s awareness of the sponsor banks:

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Mel’s mother: “We went for shopping center the other day, and she actually recognized HSBC.” Miles’ mother: “Absolutely, especially with the Al Hilal Bank, because he spotted it from quite a distance. And it’s set back off the road, so it’s not even really in your face to be able to spot it.” Noura’s mother: “Yes, when I went to withdraw money from the machine she asked what bank am using, and why not HSBC.”

This move from the analytical to a more reflective developmental stage was also evidenced in relation to the children’s structural knowledge of the product categories presented within the edutainment center. Again, although the more child-related product categories were understood prior to the experience, there was a clear change in the understanding of the more abstract, multi-dimensional product categories. For instance, all of the children demonstrated general knowledge of the following retail categories before entering the edutainment center: burger stores, supermarkets and airlines. However, their knowledge of the role of a telecommunications company and the services it provides was non-existent or very simplistic amongst all children in the pre-interviews. Their understanding of the functional aspects of a telecommunications provider advanced greatly during the experience. For example, Lizzie’s response to the question, ‘Do you know what a telecommunications company is’, evolved from “No, I don’t,” in the preinterview, to “A telecommunications company is a company that supports your mobile phone or your Internet access” in the follow-up interview. The typical response developed from stating the basic functions in the pre-interview to an elaboration of various communications functions. Similarly, while the majority of children demonstrated a basic understanding of the services a bank provides, their functional knowledge of this category also expanded to a more encompassing view of a bank’s purpose as evidenced by Mel’s explanation of what people use a bank for: Mel Pre-interview: “To store their money.” Mel Post-interview: “People use a bank to store their money, and they store their money or transfer like money like notes or coins into, like, a card” Mel Follow-up Interview: “They use a bank to store their money and they also use a bank to, like, turn coins into notes or, like, notes and coins into a credit card.”

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That these results suggest that children are being socialized to both understand the functions of more abstract product categories while simultaneously developing a more enhanced brand awareness may prove fruitful for sponsor brands, as the ‘first mover’ brands for these children within these product categories. Notably, there was no significant increase in the symbolic aspects of brand and product knowledge. Neither the children nor parents gave any symbolic evaluations at all, however it is worth noting that none of the product categories are highly symbolic. Transaction knowledge: Shopping scripts The most pronounced learning by the children was in their understanding of shopping scripts. This is perhaps unsurprising as enactment of both employment and consumer scripts, as a form of situated learning, are at the core of the various activities within this edutainment center; such as, earning money as a gas attendant, shopping in the supermarket, writing reports for the local newspaper, travelling by airplane or depositing their earnings, saving and withdrawing money from a bank. There wasn’t a strong indication that the children experienced more analytical or reflective thought typical of the later stages of development, however, developments of more complex perceptual thoughts were numerous. The detail in their explanations of the sequence of events that takes place at a supermarket, a bank, and to a lesser extent an airport, grew significantly. For example, in the pre-interview Mel describes the process that takes place in a supermarket as “You would take a trolley or a basket and you would select the food items that you want.” Compare this to her answer one week after her experience in Kidzania where she played the role of a cashier: “You would go there and choose your things you want, then you would go to a cashier and then they would scan it for you, and then they would give you a receipt, and then that’s how much you have to pay in total.” So, although the children previously understood the sequence of events within the basic shopping experience, enacting the supermarket shopping script themselves provided them with more exact detail. In this way, the scripts became more complex. Furthermore, not only was there more detail but the children could better sequence the multiple events within each script. This is typified by Afra’s explanation of how to buy groceries where the entire initial statement is based on a single step in the sequence: “We get the stuff and put them in the basket”. After the edutainment experience, she gives this single step a position surrounded by the other key stages in the shopping process: “First we write a list of what we need, then put the stuff in the basket, then pay in the cashier.” The situated learning undertaken in the edutainment center proved powerful enough to add a new stage within the children’s scripts. For example, four of the parents whose children played the role of the

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‘customer’ rather than the cashier while in the Waitrose supermarket relayed stories of how their children asked if they had a shopping list with them while they were in an actual supermarket during the week (something they used in their fictitious role). For these parents this was a very noticeable change in their children’s knowledge as typified by the experience detailed by Brian’s mother: “We went shopping yesterday, and funnily enough, the only thing I can say that I noticed the difference, is that he did ask me if I had my shopping list with me, whereas he's never... I don't know if he's been aware of it before, but he's certainly never mentioned it, but he asked if I had a shopping list.” This very clear example of consumer socialization has ramifications for sponsors in potentially being able to extend or change the way people use products within consumption scripts, possibly even adding a use for a product that is previously not considered within a particular consumption sequence. Although there was no strong evidence of analytical or reflective thought indicative of later stages of development based on the supermarket experience, it could be argued that this was because the design of the shopping script was rather basic. For instance, it didn’t allow for any contingencies, which would provide scope for more complex elaboration. Alternately, the banking experience had an integrated role within the experience, allowing the children’s explanations to go beyond the perceptual features of a banking script to the more abstract applications of banking such as saving towards a goal or providing security. The distinction between their prior understanding and this more abstract thought was often very obvious as exemplified by Moza’s answer to the question of what she would use a bank for, which evolved from “I don’t know”, to “I will save my money with them to get something big for me”. Or take Saif’s answer for example, which demonstrates a move from a very perceptual description of a banking task, “I will go to the ATM and put my card in, then I put my password and take out how much I want after the machine gives me the money”, to a more abstract notion of how the bank is used as an intermediary, “I go collect the money I have been saving; I go first to the banker and tell him a have a salary, and I want to deposit it in my account”. Although these developments may simply be extensions of what can be expected within the analytical stage there was also some evidence of reflective reasoning. In particular, there were several instances where the children demonstrated a clear understanding of someone else’s perspective and the role that retailers had in the marketplace. These developments were enabled because the children were encouraged to understand the scripts from the production-side of each of the brands’ offerings by becoming the brand’s employees. Take this quote from Mohammed’s mother when asked about changes in his shopping behavior: “Yeah I notice some changes, like for Mohammed when I go to the supermarket he told me what the cashier does, that he’ll scan the stuff, then we’ll pay and he’ll give us the bill”. In this way some

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of the children became brand ambassadors, having been involved in the production and developing a sense of ownership of the brand. Transaction knowledge: Shopping knowledge and skills In the context of the edutainment center there was little scope to develop the specific shopping skills needed to determine value. There were no situations in which rival brands or stores could be compared, as exclusivity within the center environment was one of the benefits for sponsors. Where there was the potential opportunity to determine value, such as in the ‘supermarket game’, this was not provided as the activity centered solely on finding the correct items on a list and then taking items to the checkout. Children were simply provided a single generic product category to search for (i.e. cereal) and as the price was only produced at the checkout when scanned, pricing skills were not developed either. In this way pricing wasn’t a realistic part of the edutainment experience. Although they earned Kidzos, this was not used in a real sense but was used to buy ‘games’ to play, or to buy from the one toy store where they could buy real toys to take home. Despite this, parents were very pleased that children were encouraged to learn the ‘value of money’. As children needed to pay ‘Kidzos’ to play certain ‘games’ or to buy a better toy at the end of the day, they were conscious of the need to earn money. This is clearly demonstrated by Yousef’s father’s description of his son’s behavior: “He more wanted to do the activities where he was earning money because he thought he would be able to use it in Hamley’s (toy store) towards the end and get a better toy so he was collecting more than he was spending”. One area of shopping skills that was developed was the children’s retail store knowledge. This was evidenced through a greater understanding and enthusiasm for retail stores, which is an indication of the reflective stage. Again, this reflection was facilitated through being an employee of the various brands and helping to produce what was on offer. This instilled an understanding of the production of various products and thus empathy for the brand. Despite this the children were still missing aspects of analytical thought such as the knowledge that retail stores are owned to sell goods and make a profit. On reflection, it seems these two indicators of retail knowledge are not on a continuum and perhaps need revisiting in defining the various stages of consumer development. Advertising and Persuasion Knowledge While the children were very aware of the many brands that were present within Kidzania, their understanding of why they were there was weak. It was clear that most of the children had simply never thought about this before and, when asked, the conclusions they drew suggested an assistive intent of the sponsoring brands. In this way the children viewed the brand placements in a very positive light: as famous,

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fun and there to educate. For example Afra and Danielle revealed, “They want to help us play and work” and “To tell you what you can do when you grow up”. An evaluation of a more truthful and interesting sponsor is often found during the perceptual stage of development. Furthermore, only two of the 17 children identified the persuasive intent of the brand sponsors, and neither of these was phrased in a manner to suggest that the children were executing a cognitive defense. For example, Noura stated “[The brands help us] to learn how to work, order things, and when we grow up, we can go there and be customers.” Whilst an understanding of persuasive intent was clearly lacking, it is worth noting that the Kidzania experience did instigate a number of parent-child conversations about brands, which in a way provided an avenue for parents to approach the topic if they felt it was appropriate. Conclusion The findings here suggest a departure from the classic developmental stages perspective, where there are indications of various levels of socialization outcomes for those aged in the ‘analytical’ stage. Rather than age, and therefore innate abilities, the findings suggest that it is the degree to which the socialization agent is able to foster certain socialization outcomes that is important. There were many cases where a more basic, perceptual outlook was found, indicating that the amount children develop as consumers may be a function of the tasks directed towards them. Consequently, based on this situated learning context it is clear that children can go beyond what may be expected of them and develop quite complex consumer knowledge and repertoires. Additionally, by being the source of this learning, brands can gain a role in the child’s consumption. In this way, our results illuminate not only the extent of consumer socialization that occurs, specifically that of children's product and brand knowledge as well as shopping knowledge and skills, but that by being a sponsor of this socialization process, brands are rewarded with the child’s learned preference. Our findings have implications for marketers, parents, children and society at large. They suggest that edutainment centers are capable of expediting the consumer socialization process, and specifically the development of brand and product knowledge, and consumer scripts. Therefore, they could be beneficial in educating children about the roles and actions they should take as consumers. Overall our results indicate that using edutainment centers to foster customers from childhood is a promising and potentially longlasting revenue stream for marketers operating in an increasingly regulated environment. With this in mind, our findings of our study should be used to guide the consumer socialization experience in a responsible manner.

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Child consumers are not miniature adults: how children re-appropriate store environments

Kafia AYADI Assistant professor NEOMA Business School, 1 rue du Maréchal Juin – BP 215 76825 Mont-Saint-Aignan Cedex – FRANCE

Lanlan CAO Associate professor NEOMA Business School, 1 rue du Maréchal Juin – BP 215 76825 Mont-Saint-Aignan Cedex – FRANCE

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Abstract Purpose – This paper explores how children perceive and respond to store environments. While extensive research exists on consumer reaction to store environments, little is known about how children react. Children differ from adults in their cognitive, affective and social development, so this paper compares how children re-appropriate the store environment with retailer expectations. Design/methodology/approach – As we aim to understand a phenomenon, this study is qualitative. We collected data from 41 in-store observations and in-depth interviews with 5-12 year-old children in two French stores. Findings –Children consider stores as places of entertainment. They perceive appealing visual and aural elements and react cognitively, physically (e.g. by dancing) and emotionally. Children are more interested in having fun than in influencing purchases. Moreover, this playful re-appropriation of the store environment leads to conflict with their parents. Research limitations/implications – This study helps explain how children perceive and respond to overall store atmosphere, but the number of stores selected limits our findings. Practical implications –The findings suggest that retailers should adopt the perspective of fun orientation store atmosphere building; realize the significant gap between the meaning children see in the store environment and the meaning they are expected to see; and defuse the conflict resulting from the parents’ transactional use of store and children’s playful use of this place in order to improve the shopping experience for both parties. Originality/value – This research studies children’s reactions to store environments from a holistic perspective, including their perception and behavioural responses to physical, sensorial and social stimuli. Keywords: children, store atmospherics, re-appropriation, children-parents conflicts. Paper type – Research paper

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Introduction The extensive spending power of children (Brée, 2012; McNeal, 1992) has driven the rapid development of specialized stores targeting children. Stores such as Lego and Toys ‘R’ Us recognise the importance of store atmosphere building for the success of their business (Wiener, 2004). Retailers design or redesign their stores using different aspects of store environment such as colour, music, architecture, scent and lighting, even using the latest interactive technology to make their store more appealing to children. They believe that if children enjoy themselves in the store, parents will spend more time and money there (McSpadden, 2015). However, a store environment designed by adults, reflecting adult ideas and images about childhood, is perhaps not appropriate to children as they may experience it differently from what is intended (Ironico, 2012). Consequently, there is a real need for retailers to understand fully how children view, perceive, imagine and experience their stores (Nicol, 2014). Despite numerous studies exploring how shoppers and environments interact (e.g. Kotler, 1973; Bitner 1992; Mehrabian and Russel, 1974; Baker, 1986), only limited research among them deals with children’s responses to the store environments. Research on the subject is needed, as children differ from adults cognitively, affectively and socially (Piaget, 1989; Bandura, 1977, Roedder-John, 1999). Increasing attentions are paid to this area in the literature, in particular highlighting the active role of children in commercial spaces (Chin, 2001; Ironico, 2012; Langer, 2004; Russell and Tyler, 2005; Rust, 1993). For instance Ironico (2012) suggests that children tend to subvert the stores’ possible uses and symbolizations by actively reappropriating the meanings of products, promotional stimuli and spaces through play. However, few researchers have tried to deeply understand how children re-appropriate the store environment through observing their responses to store atmosphere. To fill this research gap, our study seeks to address two questions: 1) What are children’s cognitive, affective and behavioural responses to store atmosphere? and 2) according to their responses, how does store atmosphere impact their re-appropriation of store environment? Even though relevant dimensions of store atmosphere can be isolated and their respective effects on consumer behaviour can be explored, this research focuses on the holistic effect of the whole store environmental factors. This choice is based on two considerations: first, all these factors are highly interrelated and work together synergistically to affect consumers (Babin and al., 2004; Mattila and Wirtz, 2001; Mehrabian and Russell, 1974). Second, this study as a context-specific field study cannot manipulate and isolate the elements of store atmosphere and it is therefore difficult to study the effect of a single dimension or factor (Bitner, 1992).

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To answer these questions, this paper is structured as follows. First, we take into account how the concepts of store atmosphere, appropriation and re-appropriation have been defined, the impact of store atmosphere on consumer’s responses and the specificities of children’s behaviour in commercial environment have been dealt with in extant literature. We then develop a qualitative methodological approach to observe and interview 39 children in two French stores, and finally we discuss the results and suggest further research. Conceptualisation of store atmosphere Since Kotler (1973) initialised the literature stream about the atmospheric effects on consumer behaviour, various marketing and retailing researches have explored and evaluated the different aspects of store atmosphere and its influence on consumer behaviour. Store environmental factors are stimuli that are voluntary built to influence purchases and include lighting, music, colour, signage, style of furnishings, layout, wall decor, temperature, and so on (Bitner, 1992). These factors are classified into several dimensions in different ways in the literature. For example, Kotler (1973) uses four dimensions: visual, aural, tactile and olfactory; Baker (1986; 1994) adopts three dimensions: ambient, design and social; Bitner (1992) identifies three aspects: (1) ambient conditions; (2) spatial layout and functionality; and (3) signs, symbols, and artefacts. In terms of how store environment affect consumer behaviour, the stimulus-organismresponse (S-O-R) model (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974) is the dominatant model (Turley and milliman 2000). In this context, the store environment is the stimulus (S), which impacts consumers’ emotional states (O) and results on behavioural response (R) (Donovan and Rossiter, 1982; Mehrabian and Russell, 1974). Baker (1987) added human elements (such as staff) to the environment. The literature (e.g. Mehrabian and Russel, 1974; Bitner, 1992) precise that consumer may evaluate store environment (Stimuli) from three dimensions (Organism): cognitive (e.g. beliefs, categorization, symbolic meaning), affective (e.g. mood, attitude) and physiological (e.g. pain, comfort, movement, physical fit) and consumer behaviour responses (Response) may be of two types: approach (cf. positive responses such as a desire to stay in a particular facility and explore it) or avoidance (cf. negative responses include not wanting to stay in a store or to spend time looking or exploring it). The way people behave and adapt store environment to them is called appropriation (Aubert-Gamet, 1997). Retailers build store environment through factors that are not natural but intentionally planned and controlled to affect consumer behaviour in a way to contribute to the buyers’ purchasing propensity (Kotler, 1973). However, this scheduled environment may lead to avoidance approach from the consumer (Mehrabian and Russel, 1974). Aubert-Gamet (1997) introduced the concept of ‘reappropriation’ to describe the gap between the intended built space and the effective behaviour of the users. In other words, the active role of customers may lead them to adapt the store environment to their

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own way and differently to the planned one: “the consumer (become) another constructor of space, for the same reason as the architect” (Aubert-Gamet, 1997, p. 30). Children’s behaviour in commercial environments Children visit stores from early infancy. Between the age of three and seven, they view stores egocentrically as places to find desired products such as sweets or toys (McNeal 1964; Roedder-John, 1999). Between seven and twelve, children come to know that stores are managed to sell goods and make a profit (McNeal, 1992). Children’s experiences in stores help them socialize and learn to be a consumer (McNeal, 1992; Brée, 1993; Roedder-John, 1999). Their understanding of retail objectives increases with age: at seven, going to a retail location is seen as “a passion” whereas by the age of nine, it is considered as a “vital necessity” (Brée, 1993). Older children often act as partners of their parents when they shop together (Rust, 1993). Marshall (2014) found that during food shopping, children co-operate with their parents, and this results in a greater influence by the children over purchases. By taking an active part in shopping, children acquire responsibility that, in turn, gives them more influence (Marshall, 2014). Children play an active role at the shopping location, (Cook, 2003; Marshall, 2014) and view the point-of-sale as a place to play in (Chin, 2001; Mckendrick and al., 2000; Ironico, 2012). Children’s play becomes a business and retailers use ‘playful commodification’ - the process by which playing becomes a consumable product - to generate profit (McKendrick and al., 2000). In this context, ‘Commercial playgrounds’ “generate profits by offering opportunities for play in a design site” (McKendrick and al., 2000, p. 297). However, as children re-appropriate the store environment, they divert it from the purpose it was initially created for (Ironico, 2012). For instance, Ironico (2012) states that children give their own meanings and re-appropriate the selling space as well as products and communication tools. Ironico (2012) found that by playfully reappropriating the store, children give it a meaning different from that perceived by adults and the retailers, but consistent with children’s social and cognitive development (Piaget, 1989, Bandura, 1977). Play is an important element for children’s cognitive development (Piaget, 1989) that refers to “an activity or behaviour engaged in by children and defined by children as play” (Glenn and al., 2012, p.186). Children consider almost all activities could be play but parents are viewed as an obstacle for play opportunities as they impose time commitments and restrictions for play (Glenn and al., 2012). Methodology Many research about store environment effect on consumer behaviour were provided since Kotler (1973) suggested that store atmospherics could be considered as a marketing tool (for a review see Mehrabian and

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Russel, 1974; Bitner, 1992; Baker, 1986). Despite numerous studies in this area, very few investigated children perspective. Moreover, one important dimension of the store experience is missing: human relationships in the place. Indeed, Cova and Aubert-Gamet (1999) highlighted that human links are often more significant than the product itself. Within this framework, our objective is to understand children’s reaction to store environment in a holistic manner. Indeed, understanding consumer behaviour within the store is difficult due to its complexity. Consumers’ reactions to store environment could be explained by the built environment (Mehrabian and Russel, 1974; Bitner, 1992) but also by ‘intangible, ‘subjective’, and ‘uncontrollable’ stimuli (Rosenbaum and Massiah, 2011) such as ‘non-commercial relationships’ (interactions between the shoppers (Johnstone, 2012). Since this study was interested in understanding how children react to environmental, social and sensorial dimensions of the store, a qualitative approach was used. Due to the complexity of various social (incontrollable) and environmental (scheduled interrelated factors in explaining a behaviour, we choose to explore reactions towards the store in a holistic perspective. In-store observation In-store observation was shown to be an effective tool to investigate children behaviour within a store (Atkin, 1978; Chin, 2001; Ironico, 2012; Rust, 1993) due to children’s inaptitude to translate verbally all their ideas (Brée, 2012). Non-intrusive observational methods are helpful to give lighting onto processes, events or interactions that are difficult to relate (Groleau, 2003). Observations of children behaviour were made related to three elements: physical dimension, sensorial dimension and human elements. Physical dimension include design factors such as layout, equipment, furnishing, decor, architecture. Sensorial elements include colours and broadcasted music. Human elements refer to interactions between the child and siblings (if present) and the accompanist (parents and/or relatives). Semi-directive interviews In-depth interviews could also be an interesting method to collect data with children (Brée, 2012; Marshall, 2014; Banister and Booth, 2005) and provide children’s representations of a phenomenon with their own words. Banister and Booth (2005) recommend interviews with children to last 20-30 minutes but as Brée (2012) mentioned, the interviewer has to accept from the beginning that around 5 to 10 minutes of the interview could be exploited as they often have difficulties to translate their ideas. The interview objective was add information we could not observe and include the way children perceive shopping activity, the elements they like in the shopping place, those they dislike and what they did during the shopping activity. The combination of observations and interviews is interesting for two main reasons. First, it allows the researcher to check whether an observation is confirmed by children discourse, thus it could give more

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consistency to the results. Second, if an observation is not well understood, the interview could give an answer to this gap and vice-versa. Before observing and interviewing children, ethical considerations have to be taken. We followed ESOMAR (2009) guidelines while interviewing children: we requested parents and children authorization, guaranteed respondent anonymity did not use embarrassing or frightening questions and explained the study objectives. We selected two French stores - one selling children shoes and one selling educational toys - using two criteria: the use of sensorial marketing and sales of children’s products. The data consisted of 41 observations and interviews of children aged 7-11 belonging to “analytical stage” (Roedder-John, 1999). Observation took place in the store whereas we conducted the interviews outside the shop just after the visit. We noted our observations in a notebook and recorded the interviews, lasting 18 minutes on average. We analysed our results using thematic content analysis. Results Cognitive and emotional responses to store atmospherics: the store considered as a place of entertainment We observed that children considered the store as a place of entertainment: once they enter the shop, most of them begin to play and run. The store is seen as an amusement: “I like the shop because I have fun. It’s like playtime but not at school! (Laugh)” (F., 9). Children perceive all features appealing visually (colours, decoration, interior design, shape of furniture, store layout), aurally (background music) and by touching. They react to these features cognitively and emotionally. They associate the colours with childhood but not positively. Twenty six of them did not like the colours; they remind them of nursery school: “I don’t like these colours it’s for babies, like when I was in kindergarten. It’s as if we’re in a cartoon story!” (L., girl, 11). However, they like the background music and find it stimulating. Several children danced and sang when the music was upbeat. In the middle of the shoe store, the children can draw at a table. The chair backs are shaped like boys and girls. The difference between genders is important for the children: “No I don’t want to sit in that chair: it’s for boys! I’d rather stand up! It’s a shame if I have to sit in a boy’s chair!” (L., girl 10). On the floor, there were footprints that the children enjoyed following. However, they didn’t notice gender differences between the colours (red for boys and yellow for girls). The reason of this was that these colours are not consistent with their learned associations (pink for girls and blue for boys). The cash desk was in the middle of the store and children considered it like a playhouse: “I like the playhouse, sometimes I play hide-

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and-seek inside it” (M., 8). However, children were often stopped by parents while playing for two main reasons. First, parents wanted children to be close to them in order to choose the product. Second, they wanted children to show that they were wise and obedient. Behavioural responses to store atmosphere: playing rather than influencing purchases Children pay more attention to hedonic elements of the store than to the products on offer or the act of purchasing. They re-appropriate the place in a fun way. When they enter the store, they observed atmospheric features: footprints on the ground, lamps, the table and chairs, music, the playhouse and so on. However, most of them paid no attention to the products. Parents often called their child to choose shoes but the children were uninterested in the act of purchasing. They preferred playing. Sometimes parents chose the shoes for the children and then just asked them whether they liked them. Several parents got angry with their children, who wouldn’t stay with them. They threatened not to come back with them again. Here is an example of one observation we made: The child (8 years) runs in the store while the mother looks at the shoes. The mother calls S. but this one prefers to play around the cash register with a child she has just met. The mother calls for a second time the child and threatens: “If you do not come now, we go away without buying anything”. The child returns with a sad air and tries to convince her mother "please mum, can I play just 5 minutes ". The mother refuses. The child exclaims: “I am bored!” and starts crying. Without saying anything the mother let the child play and choose herself the shoe. At the end of the visit, we observed that many of children were unhappy to leave the shop, unlike their parents who were looking relieved. For children, purchasing is secondary: they prefer the hedonic, experiential aspect of the store. Moreover, the overall store environment limits the children influence’s on purchase decisions. Instead of persuading their parents to buy things for them, the goods children preferred playing. However, this was only observed in the shoe shop as it was considered for almost children as a boring activity. In the toyshop many children wanted many toys to be purchased. In general this lead to conflict with parents and the child finally choose quickly one toy in order to continue playing. Discussion Increasing numbers of specialised children’s stores explicitly design store atmosphere, to create an appealing environment for their core clients: children. Our research findings, based on data collected from 39 interviews and observations in two French stores, demonstrate that children often consider the store as a place of entertainment. They re-appropriate the store to play rather than to influence parents’ purchasing.

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These findings are in line with the literature that posits the active role of children in commercial environment (Atkin, 1978; Chin, 2001; Cook, 2003; Ironico, 2012; Russell and Tyler, 2005). Children may use the sales area and facilities for their own purposes. They even subvert the conventional meaning of atmospheric elements and employ them in their own way. Store atmosphere is made up of “objects” that children interpret rather than “stimuli” that act on children. In this process rather than using their “pesting power”, children transform an activity considered as boring to a playful one. This study extends the literature on children’s responses to store atmosphere, which highlights children’s reappropriation of the commercial space (Ironico, 2012), but ignores the constraints of this re-appropriation. Our exploratory study identifies the conflict between transactional use by parents and playful reappropriation of space by children. This tension created by the differing intentions of parents and children may leads to dissatisfaction of both parties and negatively affect retailer performance. This finding is in line with Cook (2005), who suggests that children can be at once active and passive. Their re-appropriation of store atmosphere is restricted by precise physical, cognitive and social constraints (McNeal, 2007; RoedderJohn, 1999). Furthermore, they are never completely autonomous, as their in-store conduct is supervised and their decisions are filtered by their parents. Previous studies about children’s reactions in stores dealt with the store’s physical features (Ironico, 2012); children’s play viewed as a consumable product (McKendrick et al., 2000); and co-operation between parents and children (Rust, 1993; Marshall, 1974). This research brings new insights to understanding playful re-appropriation of stores by children. The store is seen as a way to transform a “boring” activity to a funny one thanks to environmental stimuli. Furthermore, previous studies focused only on one dimension of the store and few dealt with sensorial elements. This research extends our understanding of children reaction to store environments by providing a holistic perspective including physical, sensorial and social dimensions. The study of the entire store environment highlights the way children re-appropriate the store in a playful way. Finally, Boulet et al. (2014) suggest that children prefer offline shopping rather than online shopping as their shopping motivation is strongly funoriented. As a result, improving store environment according to children’s playful re-appropriation way becomes also essential for physical store based retailer to compete against e-tailers. Managerial implications and limits This study provides interesting findings for retailers targeting children. First, retailers are recommended to attempt to create a fun atmosphere in their stores. Children consider the store as a place of entertainment and are more interested in playing than in purchasing. A fun atmosphere will attract children and keep them in the store longer. Second, retailers are suggested to seek to defuse the conflict between parents’ transactional use of stores and children’s playful use to improve the shopping experience for both parties.

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Adopting digital interactive technology to create store atmosphere may be an effective solution. For example, retailers could install interactive tablets for children to play with, and so increase the opportunities of showing off their products and brand. Furthermore, parents and children could play and buy together using a tablet. This study will help children’s retailing researchers to understand how children perceive and respond to overall store environment (physical, sensorial and social dimension). The limitations of the current study suggest directions for further research. First, we selected two French stores selling respectively children shoes and toys as our empirical study field. Obviously, the environment selected is a limitation. Future work should increase the variety of stores studied in terms of retail format and sector of activity to improve the validity of this study. Second, even observation was the main method and interviews serves as a complement, interviews made with children outside the shop just after the visit might have been monitored by the presence of parents. Future direction could use focus group studies to understand how store atmosphere influences children’s instore interaction, friendship formation, participation, aggression, withdrawal, and/or helping (Bitner, 1992).

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References Atkin, C.K. (1978), “Observation of parent-child interaction in supermarket decision-making”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 42, N°4, pp. 41-45. Aubert-Gamet, V. (1997), “Twisting servicescapes: diversion of the physical environment in a reappropriation process”, International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol.8, N°1, pp. 2641. Babin, B.J., Chebat, J.C. and Michon, R. (2004), “Perceived Appropriateness and Its Effect on Quality, Affect, and Behaviour”, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Vol. 11 No. 5, pp. 287-298. Baker, J. (1986), “The role of the environment in marketing services: the consumer perspective”, The services challenge: Integrating for competitive advantage, Vol.1, n°1, pp. 79-84. Bandura, A. (1977), Social Learning Theory, Englewood cliffs, NJ: Prentice - Hall. Banister, E.N. and Booth, G.J. (2005), “Exploring innovative methodologies for child-centric consumer research”, Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, Vol.8, N°2, pp. 157-175. Bitner, M.J. (1992), “Servicescapes: the impact of physical surroundings on customers and employees”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 56 No. 2, pp. 57-71. Boulay, J., De Faultrier, B., Feenstra, F. and Muzellec, L. (2014), “When children express their preferences regarding sales channels: online or offline or online and offline?”, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 42, N°. 11-12, pp. 1018-1031. Brée J. (1993), Les enfants, la consommation et le marketing, Presses Universitaires de France. Brée, J. (2012), “Collecter l’information auprès des enfants”, In Brée, Kids Marketing, 2nd EMS Ed., pp.117148. Chin, E. (2001), Purchasing Power: Black Kids and American Consumer Culture, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN. Cook, D.T. (2003), “Spatial biographies of children’s consumption, market places and spaces of childhood in the 1930s and beyond”, Journal of Consumer Culture, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 147-169. Cova, B. (1997), “Community and consumption: Towards a definition of the ‘linking value’ of product or services”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 31, No 3/4, pp. 297–316.

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De Faultrier. B, Boulay, J. Feenstra, F. and Muzellec, L. (2014), “Defining a retailer's channel strategy applied to young consumers”, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 42, n°11/12, pp. 953-973. Donovan, R.J. and Rossiter, J.R. (1982), “Store atmosphere: an environmental psychology approach”, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 58 No. 1, pp. 34-57. Dotson M.J. and Hyatt M.E. (2005), “Major influence factors in children’s consumer socialization”, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 22, n°1, pp. 35-42. ESOMAR world research codes and guidelines, interviewing children and young people, (2009), In https://www.esomar.org/uploads/public/knowledge-and-standards/codes-andguidelines/ESOMAR_Codes-and-Guidelines_Interviewing-Children-and-Young-People.pdf Glenn N.M., Knight C.J, Holt N. L. and Spence J.C. (2012), “Meanings of play among children”, Childhood, vol. 20, n°2, pp. 185-199. Groleau C. (2003), L’observation, in Giordano, Conduire un projet de recherche – une perspective qualitative, EMS, Management et Société, pp. 212-243. Ironico, S. (2012), “The active role of children as consumers”, Young Consumers, vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 30-44. Kotler, P. (1973). “Atmospherics as a Marketing Tool”, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 49 (Winter), pp.48-64. Langer, B. (2005), ‘‘Consuming anomie: children and global commercial culture’’, Childhood, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 259-71. Marshall, D. (2014), “Co-operation in the supermarket aisle: young children’s accounts of family food shopping”, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 42, N°. 11-12, pp. 9901003. Mattila, A. and Wirtz, J. (2001), “Congruency of Scent and Music as a Driver of In-Store Evaluations and Behaviour”, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 77 No. 2, pp. 273-289. McKendrick, J.H., Bradford, M.G. and Fielder A.V. (2000), “Kid customer? Commercialization of playspace and commodification of childhood”, Childhood, Vol. 7, N°3, pp. 295-315. McNeal, J. U. (1964). Children as consumers, Austin: Bureau of Business Research, University of Texas. McNeal, J.U. (1992), Kids as customers: a handbook of marketing to children, Lexington Books, New York, NY.

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McNeal, J.U. (2007), On Becoming a Consumer: Development of Consumer Behavior Patterns in Childhood, Elsevier, Oxford. McSpadden, K. (2015), “Toys ‘R’ Us Wants to Make Its Stores More Fun For, Well, the Kids”, Time.com, p. 1. Mehrabian, A. and Russell, J.A. (1974), An Approach to Environmental Psychology, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. Nicol, N. (2014), “The shopscapes: a tool and a methodology to better grasp kid's experiences of retailing”, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, vol. 42 No. 11/12, pp. 974-989. Piaget J. (1989), Le langage et la pensée chez l'enfant, Presses Universitaires de France, 10th ed., Paris. Roedder John, D. (1999), “Consumer socialization of children: a retrospective look at twenty-five years of research”, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 26 No. 3, pp. 183-213. Russell, R. and Tyler, M. (2005), “Branding and bricolage: gender, consumption and transition”, Childhood, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 221-237. Rust, L. (1993), “Observations: how to reach children in stores: marketing tactics grounded in observational research”, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 33, N°. 6, pp. 67-72. Turley, L. and Milliman, R.E. (2000), “Atmospheric Effects on Shopping Behavior: a Review of the Experimental Evidence”, Journal of Business Research, vol. 49 No. 2, pp. 193-211. Wiener, N. (2004), “How to engage with today's kids”, Young Consumers, vol. 5 No. 4, pp. 46-52.

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The Representation of Shopping in Children's Books Olivier Badot – [email protected] Associate Dean for Research Full Professor ESCP Europe

Normandie University, France

79 avenue de la République

UNICAEN, NIMEC, F-14032 Caen, France

75011 Paris

EA 969, F-14032 Caen, France Joël Brée – [email protected] Full Professor

Normandie University, France

ESSCA Business School

UNICAEN, NIMEC, F-14032 Caen, France EA 969, F-14032 Caen, France

Coralie Damay – [email protected] Professor - HDR ISC Paris Business School Nathalie Guichard – [email protected] Professor - HDR University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne PRISM-Sorbonne Laboratory Jean-François Lemoine – [email protected] Director of Doctoral School in Management, Pantheon-Sorbonne Full Professor University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne

ESSCA Business School

PRISM-Sorbonne Laboratory

Max Poulain – [email protected] Professor Normandie University, France UNICAEN, NIMEC, F-14032 Caen, France EA 969, F-14032 Caen, France

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Structured Abstract: Purpose: The objective of this research paper is to identify the representations, figures and processes of shopping/commerce in books published in France that are aimed at three to seven-year-olds. Design/methodology/approach: A semiotic analysis of nearly fifty books published over the past sixty years. Findings: These books reveal a broad diversity in the images of shops given to children (ranging from the traditional shop, a source of pleasure and creator of social ties, to the hypermarket/megastore, a symbol of stress and overconsumption) and the wealth of information that is given to children to help them assimilate the process of a shopping transaction. Originality/value: The originality and richness of this research lies in its methodological approach. Indeed, it is perfectly aligned with a recent academic trend that calls on researchers to mobilise and compare new data collection tools to apprehend current and future consumer behaviour. Consequently this research takes a forward-looking approach, based on an immersion in children's books that depict the world of commerce in one way or another.

Article classification: Research paper

Key words: semiotic analysis; children's books; figures of shopping; representations of commerce

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Introduction The first studies about child-consumers are not recent and it is now universally accepted that children today play a multi-facetted role in consumption. Buyer, influencer and persuader (Gollety et al, 2012) — successively and sometimes simultaneously — a child is also an adult in the making (McNeal, 1992), undergoing the process of socialisation. What they learn today, particularly through various agents of socialisation, the shopping experiences in which they are either a bystander or an active participant, and the knowledge they take in, all contribute to defining the adult consumers they will become. The various things they learn via the socialisation agents they come into contact with (family, school, media, peers), have been the focus of numerous studies in various contexts (Roedder John, 1999; Brée 2013). Similarly, the multifarious, evolving relationship they have with certain ingredients in the marketing mix — particularly advertising, and more recently price and packaging — have also been examined. In the area of retailing however, fewer studies have been carried out concerning children (Brée, 1988; McNeal, 1992; Roedder John, 1999; Ayadi, 2005; Heliès-Hassid, 2007; de La Ville, 2009), despite their significant frequentation of retail spaces. Although research has given us a better idea of children's expectations and their knowledge about retailing (e.g. Guichard and Damay, 2010), we do wish to investigate where this knowledge comes from. The sources of this knowledge are certainly multiple: parental transmission, shopping experiences, school and contact with the media, for example. But the knowledge that children accumulate about shops also comes from the representations of retailing spaces that they see. These representations, images and descriptions are mainly found in the illustrated story books they either leaf through or read from a very young age. Although the amount of time spent reading is declining nowadays among teenagers, being diverted instead to various digital media (Mermet, 2012, p 142), the ritual of reading a little story to small children at bedtime persists in many families.

Since the first French children's book was written in 16993 (Les aventures de Télémaque by Fénelon),4 the production of literature aimed at children has grown constantly in France, particularly since the 19th century, and has become a literary genre in its own right. Subject to a variable classification system, depending on the library or bookstore (real or virtual), the output of children's literature is prolific. For example, there are stories, albums (mainly early learning books), documentaries (e.g. Le Chocolat ), books of 3 Written for the Duke of Burgundy, grandson of Louis XIV, by Fénelon, his tutor (source: Albane Cogné A.,

Blond S. and Montègre G. (2011), Les circulations internationales en Europe, 1680-1780, Atlande, p. 210). Perrault's fairy tales (Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Tom Thumb, Bluebeard, etc.) date from the same period but were not originally aimed at children (source: http://clpav.fr/perrault.htm).

4

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nursery rhymes or songs, activity and handicraft books, and series containing stories of varying length that feature a recurring hero (Tchoupi, Martine, etc.). While many of these stories take place in a fictional setting, they offer their readers — whether consciously or not — a representation of the world that is a reflection of the author's or illustrator's own perceptions, in turn influenced by their environment, culture and knowledge. Within these images of the world we find a variety of commercial figures, rather materialistic values, and standards that children assimilate either fully or partially, and which inevitably contribute to forging their own representations of the world of commerce. The children who read such books are thus exposed to one or several representations of the commercial sphere, with different types of stores, archetypes or stereotypes, various types of decoration and design, more or less typical atmospheres, and processes that are presented as restrictive to a varying degree. Starting from this observation, our study seeks to identify the representations, figures and processes of commerce found in books published in France aimed at children from three to seven years of age. There are two particularities about this age range. First, it is an age when children have not yet become proficient in reading. When they "read" a book, it is not the text that guides them through the story so much as the pictures and their component parts (shapes, icons, colours, etc.). Children in this age range are therefore the primary target of picture books. Second, in terms of cognitive development, they are in the "preoperational stage", described by Piaget (1923) as the stage during which their symbolic abilities develop (language and mental imagery). It is therefore a critical stage in the construction of their frames of reference. It is not our intention to show how these books contribute directly to the socialisation of child-consumers.5 Rather, based on a detailed semiotic analysis (Floch, 1989, 2003) of the representations of shopping and commerce in a sample of books, this study aims to identify the possible effects that showing children such representations may have on their perception of today's world of retailing and also that of tomorrow. By extrapolation, this rigorous cataloguing, decoding of representations and analysis will enable us to envisage and discuss the managerial implications of such representations. There is a time gap (by cohort) between these implications and the current generation. The idea here is to imagine, based on the study of this material, what such representations will mean for perceptions of the retail world in 10 to 15 years, i.e. when the children of this age group have become adults and have money to spend. The research presented here can be likened to a business intelligence technique and conforms to a future-oriented semiotic methodology.

5 As Bettelheim (1976) does, aiming to show how fairy tales foster the development of a child's personality.

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This paper is divided into four sections. The first presents the material collected and the methodology used to identify representations of commerce in this corpus. The second details the results of this process. We present these findings according to the different figures that make up a shopping experience (the shop itself, the goods for sale, items to assist in shopping (carts/baskets), the shopping list, itinerary, money, staff, etc. In the third section we interpret these findings and put them into perspective, notably by projecting these perceptions of shopping 10 to 15 years into the future. The last section identifies the limitations of the study and suggests various ways to extend it. Methodology The first stage of our work was to collect the material to be studied: illustrated children's books containing representations of shopping. Children in the age range chosen (three to seven years old: from preschool to the start of elementary) love this type of reading and constitute the direct target demographic for picture books. For several months, the researchers searched bookstores (both online and brick-and-mortar) and the libraries of children in their circle in order to gather as many books as possible. We conducted our search for books in two ways: for real and virtual libraries we used key words (e.g. shopping, purchases, stores) and in bookstores we scanned the children's section and leafed through the various children's books and collections. The final corpus (not claiming to be exhaustive) contains 46 illustrated books, of varying format, publication date and publisher (see appendix 1). All of the books in our corpus6 are potentially accessible to children (at home or from school and municipal libraries). The older books belong to collections that are regularly reprinted or republished7 and are therefore available for children to read today. A multi-stage methodological protocol was applied to this sample of books. Following the example of recent research on the Build-a-Bear Workshop chain (Badot and Lemoine, 2009), on the ideal children's store (Guichard and Damay, 2010), and on experiences produced and undergone in shopping malls (Silveira-Cardoso, 2014), this study draws on the Spiggle (1994) paradigm, which suggests three stages for research work: observation, analysis, and interpretation. The "observation" of the books in the corpus led to an analysis of their content using the method described below. First, each researcher read all of the books (text + images) following a "serendipity" type of process. In the second stage, the corpus was subjected to an in-depth reading to produce an analytical grid identifying the themes and sub-themes evoked in the books. The illustrations were then catalogued, using a system adapted to graphics (Tissier-

6 Some of the books are foreign. 7 Book [23] for example (Martine fait ses courses) dates to 1959, but has been republished many times.

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Desbordes, 2004; Vignolles and Bonnefont, 2007). Each researcher studied the images in the books in order to identify the signifiers (plastic, linguistic and iconic signs: colours, objects, characters, textual elements, shapes, materials, etc.) and themes present in the drawings. These analytical grids were compared and then merged into a single grid once the researchers had reached a consensus. In the third stage, the books were examined one by one by the entire team, reread and analysed again using the new grid, following a systematic process recommended by Spiggle (2004). In particular, the researchers noted the types of shop, goods for sale, the atmosphere of the shop and the shopping experience, store design, the route taken by the customers, items used to assist in shopping, the characters present (customers or sales staff) etc. The books were coded so they could be identified later in the grid (see appendix 1). A brief descriptive record was also made for each book in the corpus. Findings and analysis Our future-oriented analytical approach follows a process borrowed from ethnomarketing (Desjeux, 1990), as it offers two key advantages: it is both methodological and managerial. Our analysis of these representations of commerce aims to identify the "weak signals and latent symbolic functions" (Badot and Lemoine, 2008) that are at the root of children's perceptions of commerce. A very rich set of representations emerged from the study of this material. These representations were examined using three different analytical levels and the themes we identified were classified according to those levels. The first level was to make a collective, cross-sectional synthesis of all the representations in the books studied. This approach generated particularly striking "top of mind" elements. We used these elements to summarize the corpus and compile a list of figures that evoke the stages in the shopping activity and the various aspects of commerce (§2.1). At the second level, these figures of commerce were indexed throughout the entire corpus and then analysed. They are presented in five generic categories (point-of-sale figures, shopping cart/basket figures, consumption itinerary and shopping route figures, money and transaction figures, and customer figures) and linked to specific examples taken from the books (§2.2.). Finally, at the third level of analysis, we identified different phenomenological themes related to commerce and shopping (§2.3).

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Cross-sectional analysis of representations of commerce Not to give away the analysis which follows, several striking elements emerge from the group analysis of the corpus. First, it is important to point out that there is no standardised or unique representation of commerce in the books we studied. Instead, what we find is a profusion of figures. Whether we look at the type of shop, sales clerks, items for sale, ambiance or shopping context, we find that the child reader may potentially be confronted with very disparate versions of commerce: closed world versus open, a clearly identifiable rural or urban shop versus vagueness about the setting, realistic versus fanciful products, pleasant versus stressful situations, characters with whom the child can identify versus others that introduce a certain distance, realism versus fantasy, etc. Nevertheless, semiotic saturation is a feature that many books share, as is the emotional charge, whether positive or negative, that can be felt as the story progresses. The absence of any future projection of commerce is also noteworthy. Indeed, the commercial sphere represented in the books we studied is often contemporaneous to the time of writing. What we find therefore is a – usually fragmented – picture of the way commerce exists today or how it was in the recent past. We will now present the different categories of figures that emerged from this variety of representations. Different figures of commerce The retail outlet, for example, appears in several forms: small, old-fashioned shop [7; 168], mini-market [9; 22], department store (with escalators and sales counters) [26], supermarket or hypermarket [2; 13; 40], or shopping mall [23], described with varying degrees of realism through the eyes of children or adults. It may be placed in a rural, country setting [5; 6; 15] or a more urban one [46]. The commercial universe is often depicted with sensorial saturation [10; 14; 22]: a profusion of colour and objects, the use of juvenile codes and universes: simple drawings [3], magic [3; 13], and clowns [10]. It can also take the form of a market [18] or a timeless, completely decontextualised stall [21]. The goods for sale may be minimalist [12] or overflowing [19; 23] — especially in large stores — and are then represented either very realistically (brands, vast product choice, rows of shelving) [6; 8; 13; 40] or in a somewhat simplistic way, as if they had been drawn by a child. The figures for shopping-related paraphernalia are also varied. They mainly depict items for carrying goods: wheeled shopping totes [15; 18; 19], baskets [3; 24], paper bags [10] of the type that are often found in the US, shopping trolleys [11; 28], occasionally child-sized trolleys [8], sometimes transformed into toys (military

8 See appendix #1.

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tanks, Formula 1 race cars, etc), and "farmers market" style wooden crates [7]. The shopping list is often present, serving as a route map [15] in that it guides the shoppers' footsteps. At times it is reassuring [5], at times tyrannical [1], because it governs the shopping itinerary and may even transform it into a sort of "military" mission [9; 11]. Money is not always present in the books we studied [1; 3]. But it may be overrepresented [2], or even central to the story, through the importance given to prices and negotiation, for example [12]. The customer also has many faces: child [6; 12], father-daughter [9], parent-child family unit [7; 13], anthropomorphic animal [12] or hero [7], etc. Different social classes are represented: the upper class [26], royalty [7] (!) and the middle class [46]. The shopkeeper and more generally the sales staff are not standardised either. The shopkeeper takes on different characteristics: friendly [22; 24], proud [24], helpful [8], but his attitude is usually philanthropic. Indeed, making the sale often seems to be a secondary concern. The shopping itinerary may be linear [13] or sequenced [7; 9; 19], may conform to the shopping list that guides it [5; 15], may at times be shaped by a certain form of determinism [1] or may be more chaotic [20] depending on unexpected events [6] that introduce ruptures into the shopping expedition. Going through the store is often likened to an adventure, with many challenges along the way (find the product, manage to reach it once it has been selected, have enough money to pay for it, etc.) and sequences (entering the store, following the list, final transaction, packing the goods), but which usually ends happily (the shopping is done!) Phenomenology of commerce In a third approach to the corpus, we identified different phenomenological themes related to commerce. For example, in some books the trip to the shop is like a family outing, where people are concerned about appearances. Doing the shopping is pictured as a nice, pleasant time [7; 10; 26] in a commercial universe that is sometimes re-enchanted [3]. The shop takes on a social function, of sharing between individuals [13]. Sometimes the shop creates a social divide [14], described as an agent of social mobility [7; 23]. Going to the shop may be an occasion for parents to instil their child with structured, conative and situational learning [4; 6; 18]. In other books, the shopping trip appears as destructive of self and of the group [20]. The store (in such cases often embodied by a hypermarket) gives rise to a system of tensions that may lead to perversion. Doing the shopping becomes a gruelling chore [21], a source of conflict (owing to the children's incessant demands and their unruly behaviour). And the store, where true emotions are revealed, becomes the locus of individual or group transgressions [11; 16] − leading to a strengthening of families ties in the latter − at times intergenerational [3]. Oppositions appear between figures of the profane (symbolised for example by licences and commerce) and of the sacred [20] (referring to values that provide structure) evoked by industry, aesthetics, [25], and culture [19].

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Putting the findings into perspective and discussion The first noteworthy element emerging from our analyses is that the way the different forms of commerce are presented in the children's books is a reflection of how adults see them, not how children see them. Indeed, writers, illustrators and editors offer their own version of the commercial sphere. Consequently, these forms reflect the reality of commerce at the time of publication — or a few years prior — rather than a future-oriented view. While it is true that some of the books are dated, having been published more than half a century ago,9 what is striking is that online commerce is totally absent from the corpus (even books published recently [28; 35]), considering that e-commerce amounted to €57.5 million in sales in 201410 — more than 14% of French retailing. This may be surprising, although ultimately it is consistent with the preference of children under age 12 for brick-and-mortar shopping (Boulay et al., 2013). Similarly, when money is depicted (which is not the most frequent case) it is always represented in the form of coins and banknotes [5; 12; 14; 40], never as credit/debit cards, although bank card terminals are sometimes depicted [28]. While children are naturally oriented toward the future, their parents (or the authors of books) prefer to remain in a universe that is familiar to them. And even though the environment evolves very quickly, it seems reassuring for them to give their children a representation that they consider timeless or that they borrow from the past either out of nostalgia for a bygone era or because they do not want to transmit a realistic view of commerce that they perceive negatively and that they unconsciously want to protect their children from. Whether realistic or not, this is the view of commerce that young children are exposed to when they read a storybook. The second point to mention is the very clear opposition shown between small traditional shops and hypermarkets/megastores. The former are shown as calm and pleasant places [19], where social ties are formed with shopkeepers and clerks [25] who seem to be there primarily to make the customers happy [24] rather than to carry out a commercial transaction, which may appear to be a secondary concern. These are places where the family can share moments of leisure, local businesses where people only purchase the items they had planned to buy when they went in. Hypermarkets, on the other hand, are depicted as places of stress and distress [20; 28], which may present certain dangers (such as getting lost [46] or knocking over a pile of merchandise [9]). Advertising is omnipresent, symbolising aggressive marketing aiming to make people buy a pile of unnecessary things. Children, in particular, are depicted as defenceless victims who

Nevertheless, whether the books are old or recent, they constitute the current reading environment for children and that is the basis of our research. 9

10 Source: FEVAD (French federation for mail order sales and e-commerce).

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desire everything that is shown to them, and as the story progresses we see "little angels" transformed into "real devils" [20; 28]. This is strongly reminiscent of "pester power" (Lawlor and Prothero, 2011). The family that enters the store smiling is quickly subjected to tensions and quarrels. Even the other customers in the background are depicted shouting or being aggressive. The prevailing feeling is that traditional shops are viewed as normal elements in the landscape of daily life, whereas introducing a self-serve hypermarket is, for the author, a kind of statement protesting against all the ills of consumer society. The rather clear-cut opposition in the books we studied between traditional local shops and big box stores — stemming from adult perceptions — is something of a caricature, lacking in nuance because it is binary, and therefore very memorable for young children. But apart from this opposition between forms of commerce, it is interesting to note that almost all of the books serve as vectors for learning. One way or another, even when the dominant discourse is very critical, there is almost always an opportunity for the child to learn: about money, about product quality, about the customer/sales clerk interaction, about logistical support items (shopping list, trolley, etc.), about the arrangement of items, and so on. Exposing children to different representations of the components of commerce through books (stages in the purchasing process, shops, characters, etc.) also contributes to their socialisation as consumers, just like other socialising agents. The content of the books studied here and the use that parents make of them (i.e. for enjoyment or for the transmission of knowledge) are capable of conveying lessons and values "that will shape their attitudes and guide their behaviour" (Brée, 2013, p. 228). Following Bandura's research (1980), we know that children learn by observing, and then by reproducing these observed behaviours. They also understand that certain behaviours and attitudes are to be favoured while others are to be eschewed (Bandura, 1980). What view of commerce will children retain after reading these different stories? What behaviours will they be inclined to value? Children today are "caught up in a commercial society" (Sirota, 2005) and grow up in an environment marked by consumption and materialism (Lipovetsy, 2006; Nguyen Chaplin and Roedder John, 2007). In this regard, some children's books are very contemporary with their representations of an abundance of goods and the dominant position of objects [1] or their illusion of a circular economy [6]. But others thrust the child into the past, to a bygone era when the traditional small shop was king, when appeals and demands — today a cause of tension — were less numerous. None of these books present a futuristic vision of commerce — apart from a few cash registers, technology is conspicuously absent from the books we studied — removing any chance of the child projecting into the future. What children read in the books they are given and the images to which they are exposed tend to arouse a feeling of nostalgia, where doing the shopping seemed to

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be more pleasant in the past than it is today. This hardly prepares them for their role as adult consumers and tells us little about the commerce of tomorrow. Might this exposure to anxiety-inducing versions of today's commerce, like the hypermarket as often described in these books, also become a source of inspiration for children to massively opt for or to invent a new type of commerce where "instead of being stressful buying and selling mills, shops would become theatres where doing the shopping would be a pleasure?" (Jaegere (de), 2004, p.109).

Limitations and further study The originality and richness of this research lies in its methodological approach. Indeed, it is perfectly aligned with a recent academic trend that calls on researchers to mobilise and compare new data collection tools to apprehend current and future consumer behaviour (Badot et al, 2009). Consequently, this research takes a forward-looking approach based on an immersion in children's books that depict the world of commerce in one way or another. Although the analysis of children's books has already contributed to research in sociology (e.g. Lovighi-Poittevin, 2004), this methodology is unprecedented in marketing. It is true that the analytical interpretation we have conducted here reflects primarily adult codes and does not take into account what children may see.11 This limitation is relative however, insofar as we assume that the phenomenological and semiotic approaches we have adopted enable us to identify a set of indisputable signified (e.g. staff who are depicted as smiling, friendly and helpful will certainly be perceived as such by all readers, whatever their age). Moreover, children are never alone in the relationship they have with these books. As they are so young, there is almost always an adult to read to them and this adult will play a moderating role. In addition to the fact that the adult will usually have chosen (and bought) the books to read to his/her children, the message he transmits through the tone he uses and the comments he makes while reading are as important as the content of the book itself. Will he deliberately choose a book that transforms a hypermarket into a living hell to convey his/her own anti-consumerist values or will he see the humour in this depiction and use it as a series of comic situations to make his/her child laugh? Will he skip over the socialising aspects of certain drawings or will he dwell on them in order to teach his/her child a particular lesson?

In order to truly understand the extent to which children's books are capable of forging a certain image of commerce and shops for children, two further studies should be undertaken to extend the present work. First, we need to capture the way children decode these books that primarily aimed at them. For example, 11 For example, things that frighten adults do not necessarily worry children.

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individual and group interviews with young people after they read a book could establish what each child has retained and what has impacted them, whether positively or not. Next, we need to identify what, within these moments of remembering, relates to the affective, cognitive and behavioural, attempting to link the results to the child's background (i.e. social environment and shopping experience). Reversing the process — having the child read the story to the adult — and observing what the child points out in the book's pictures may also tell us what the child really "sees" and potentially retains. The next step should be to understand how the parents of these children view the way these places of consumption and shopping processes are represented in the books and we should investigate all the dimensions of the context in which the reading ritual takes place. Conducting the same type of study in other countries also constitutes a promising avenue of research. This would certainly help to identify differences and associations in the representations of commerce that would be interesting to link to the history of commerce in those countries. Finally, it is important to remember that the methodological approach we adopted here is semiotic, based on an analysis of content that primarily focuses on visual signifiers, consistent with the emphasis that three to seven-year-olds place on perceptual elements.12 However, a different type of "reading" may in future be applied to the same corpus, for example, by analysing the books in a systematic way in terms of their format and cover, entering the stories through their text rather than through their illustrations, deciphering the plot structure (five-part structure13 versus repetitive), different narrative techniques (e.g. narrative continuity between text and illustrations, narrative voice/focalizations), and analysing the ending (e.g. happy/sad and closed/open/ambiguous, etc.) — all of these are elements that may potentially construct or infer children's representations of commerce.

12 Indeed, before the age of 12 children tend to favour visual processing of information (Peracchio, 1992). 13 Such as: starting point, problem to solve, quest/adventure, resolution of problem, return to stability.

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References Ayadi, K. (2005), Perception du point de vente par les enfants: impact des couleurs et de la musique, Actes des 10èmes Journées de Recherche en Marketing de Bourgogne, ed. M. Filser, Dijon, Université de Bourgogne. Badot, O., Carrier, C., Cova, B., Desjeux, D. and Filser, M. (2009), L’ethnomarketing: un élargissement de la recherche en comportement du consommateur à l’ethnologie, Recherche et Applications Marketing, Vol. 24 No. 1, pp. 93-111. Badot, O. and Lemoine, J.F. (2008), L’ethnomarketing au service de la prospective: une application au secteur de la distribution, Revue Management et Avenir, Vol. 5 No. 19, pp. 37-47. Badot, O. and Lemoine, J.F. (2009), La ritualisation du parcours-client chez Build-a-Bear Workshop. Phénoménologie et enseignements, 14èmes Journées de Recherche en Marketing de Bourgogne, Dijon. Bandura, A. (1980), L’apprentissage social. P Mardaga. Bettelheim, B. (1976), Psychanalyse des contes de fées, Laffont « réponses », Paris. Boulay, J., Faultrier (de), B., Feenstra, F. and Muzellec, L. (2013), When children express their preferences regarding sales channels: Online or offline or online and offline?, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Special issue on kids and retailing, Vol. 41 No. 2, pp. 1018-1031. Brée, J. (1988), Une dimension importante de la socialisation du consommateur: l’apprentissage du libreservice par les enfants, doctoral thesis in management science, Université de Rennes I. Brée, J. (2013), De l’enfant au consommateur: un processus de socialisation aux facettes multi-théoriques, in Gollety, M. (coord.) L’art, la gestion et l’Etat au cœur de l’action, voyage au cœur de l’action. Editions ESKA, Paris, pp. 227-242. Desjeux, D. (1990), L’ethnomarketing. Un nouveau souffle pour les études de comportement des consommateurs, Sciences Humaines, Vol. 1, November, pp. 38-39. Diasio, N. (2004), Introduction, Au Palais de Dame Tartine, L’Harmattan, Paris. Floch, J.M. (1989), La contribution d’une sémiotique structurale à la conception d’un Hypermarché, Recherche et Applications en Marketing, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 37-59. Floch, J.M. (2003), Sémiotique, Marketing et Communication: Sous les signes, les stratégies, PUF, Paris. Gollety, M., Guichard, N. and Ayadi, K. (2012), La consommation dans la famille: des influences de nature différente, in Collectif coord. by Brée, J., Kids Marketing, Collection La consommation des 0-25 ans, Editions EMS, 2nd edition, pp. 223-254. Guichard, N. and Damay, C. (2011), Exploration du magasin idéal des enfants: Identification des attentes enfantines à l’égard du point de vente, Perspectives Culturelles de la Consommation, Vol.1 No. 1, pp. 4378.

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Heliès-Hassid, M.L. (2007), Les enfants et la distribution: Kids retailing, in Kids Marketing, Brée, J. (ed), EMS, pp. 347-369. Jaegere (de), A.B. (2005), La vie rêvée de Virginie Dupuy… ou 70 innovations mondiales pour des magasins où faire ses courses est devenu un plaisir, in: Badot, O. and Benoun, M., Commerce et distribution: prospective et stratégies, Economica, Paris, 109-123. La Ville (de), I.V. (2009), L’enfant dans l’espace commercial: éléments pour une mise en perspective…, Revue Management et Avenir, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 157-171. Lawlor, M-A. and Prothero, A. (2011), Pester power - A battle of wills between children and their parents, Journal of Marketing Management, 26, 5-6, 561-581. Lipovetsky, G. (2006), Le bonheur paradoxal, essai sur la société d’hyperconsommation. Folio, Essai. Lovighi-Poittevin, A. (2004), Les fratries recomposées dans la littérature pour la jeunesse, in: Diaso, N., Au Palais de Dame Tartine, L’Harmattan, Paris, 181-196. Mermet, G. (2012), Francoscopie. Tout sur les Français, (ed) Larousse, Paris. Nguyen Chaplin, L. and Roedder John, D. (2007), Growing up in a material world: age differences in materialism in children and adolescents, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 34 (december), pp. 480-493. Peracchio, L. (1992), How do young children learn to be consumers?: A script-processing approach, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 18, pp. 425-440. Piaget J. (1923, republished in 1976), Le langage et la pensée chez l’enfant, 9th edition, PUF, Paris. Roedder John, D. (1999), Consumer socialization of children: a retrospective look at twenty-five years of research, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 26 No. 3, pp. 183-213. Silveira-Cardoso, F. (2014), Une étude ethnomarketing multi-sites sur les expériences produites et vécues dans les centres commerciaux: les cas de centres commerciaux à Buenos Aires, Londres, Paris, Rio de Janeiro et São Paulo", doctoral thesis in management science, ESCP Europe. Sirota, R. (2005), L’enfant acteur ou sujet dans la sociologie de l’enfance, Évolution des positions théoriques au travers du prisme de la socialisation, L’enfant acteur et/ou sujet au sein de la famille, coord par Bergonnier-Dupuy G., Erès (ed). Spiggle, S. (1994), Analysis and Interpretation of Qualitative Date in Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 491-503. Tissier-Desbordes, E. (2004), L’analyse de visuels: pour une complémentarité des principales approches, Décisions Marketing, No. 36, October-december, pp. 63-74. Vignolles, A. and Bonnefont, A. (2007), Expression d’expériences nostalgiques chez les jeunes adultes par la technique projective du collage: étude empirique exploratoire, 6èmes Journées Normandes de Recherche sur la Consommation, Rouen.

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Appendix 1. List of books studied (1948-2014) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46

Ratatam - Les Courses – C. Collinet (1998) Achète-moi la moto rouge – M. Piquemal and T. Baas (2009) Rose Tutu fait ses courses – Tamino (2004) Lapidou fait les courses – P. Yee (1992) Casimir Fait Des Courses - L'île Aux Enfants – C. Izard (1979) Oui-Oui fait les courses – E. Blyton (1994) Babar et ses amis font les courses – J. Brunhoff (de) (1991) Juliette fait des courses – D. Lauer (1997) Les courses avec papa – M. Harvey (2008) Les courses de Petit Ours – Collectif (2001) Les courses de Rita et Machin – J.P. Arrou-Vignod and O. Tallec (2007) Momo ouvre un magasin – Nadja (1990) Mastic fait les courses – L. Durbiano (2003) Les Taquinours font leurs courses – M. Doinet (2002) Petite Poule va faire les courses – M. Birchall (2001) Zoe joue à la marchande – E. Beaumont, N. Bélineau, C. Mekdjian, R. Brassart (2008) Vive Les Courses – H. Oxenbury (1982) Tchoupi et les courses – T. Courtin (2006) Chamalo fait les courses – M. Billet (2010) Astalik fait ses courses – E. Abécassis (2010) C'est l'heure des courses – É. Lallemand (1994) Allons faire des courses avec Pierre et Pierrette – L. Combes (1948) Martine fait ses courses – G. Delahaye and M. Marlier (1959) Je fais mes courses – P. Pâquerette (2002) Calinours va faire les courses – A. Broutin and F. Stehr (2001) Les courses des petits ours – Collectif (1989) Annie fait les courses – B. Despres, Text and drawings (1965) Bébé Koala fait les courses – N. Berkane and A. Nesme (2014) Caillou au supermarché – M. Johnson (2002) Caillou: Les courses – N. Nadeau (1987) Choubouloute au marché – C. Ogier (2010) Dans la rue - La promenade - Les courses – C. Legrand (1997) Je fais les courses – M. Stanley (2003) Je fais les courses avec maman – Collectif (1987) La maison des souris: Sam et Julia font les courses – K. Schaapman (2014) Léo et Popi font les courses – H. Oxenbury (1988) Les courses – Collectif (1997) Les courses de Didou – Y. Got (2003) Mon sac à mots - Viens, on va faire les courses ! – Collectif (1997) Oops et Ohlala font les courses – Mellow and A. Graux (2013) Paddington: Paddington fait ses courses – Collectif (1992) Pénélope fait les courses – A. Gutman (2005) Petit Lapin Blanc fait les courses – M.F. Floury and F. Boisnard (2008) Petit Ours brun achète le pain – D. Bour (2004) Plumi fait ses courses au marché – Collectif (1995) Tchoupi se perd au supermarché – T. Courtin (1999)

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The perception of young children of the ideal shopping

Zsuzsa Deli-Gray, ESSCA School of Management, Budapest, Hungary, [email protected]

Marie-Pierre Pinto, CERES University of Limoges Limoges, France [email protected]

Cécile McLaughin CERES University of Limoges [email protected]

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Abstract Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to shed light to what very young (3–6 years old) children know about shopping as well as about the role of technology in the shopping process and to how they describe an “ideal” shopping process. Design/methodology/approach – A review of literature is followed by the description of an exploratory study done in two countries (Hungary and France) as well as its findings. Data collection was performed in three distinct phases. First, focus group discussions were conducted at kindergartens. Eighty Hungarian and fifty six French kids took part of the discussions in groups of 7 to 10. Second, thirty interviews were organised with individual children and one of their parents. Third, kindergarten teachers were asked to make children prepare drawings about their actual and their ideal shopping. Findings – The results of the research show that very young children do and would like to very actively participate in the shopping process no matter where they live. French and Hungarian children differ in the way how they see themselves in the shopping process: in French the kids focus on the products they buy and on the games they can play while shopping, in Hungary the children put an emphasis on their desire to take part in the process itself and to be able to complete missions during shopping. The results also showed that children have a great knowledge on i-phones and computers and many of them do know how these technical devices are used in shopping. While French kids would be really happy to replace offline shopping by online shopping Hungarian kids find that this would be a very bad idea. Interestingly, both French and Hungarian kids associate their opinion with their desire to spend more time with their parents but along a different dimension. Research implications – While most of the researches on the understanding of children about shopping have been carried out with a focus of children above 8 years, real life evidence and the results of the present paper prove that even very young children have a good understanding of shopping, understand quite a lot about the role of technology in shopping and would be very happy if they were physically involved in the shopping process. The scientific concepts and the corporate strategies should therefore be revised by incorporating the potentially very important role of these kids in the purchase processes. Originality/value – The value of the paper lies in the focus of the demonstrated research as well as in the methodology used in the research project: The knowledge and opinion on the shopping process of very young children, whose importance in the shopping process is very frequently overlooked, was analysed. Three methodological tools were applied to collect data about the knowledge and opinion of very young children on the shopping process. Key words – Very young children, shopping, technological advances in shopping, ideal shopping, consumer behaviour, Hungary and France Classification – Research paper

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The role of foreign companies in the Hungarian retail sector

Agnes DUCROT Director, Hungarian - French Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Budapest, Hungary, [email protected]

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Social and ethical issues of RFID use with children14

Fabien Durif Harold Boeck

UQAM (Université du Québec à Montréal) Montréal Canada

14 Acknowledgement: This research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

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Abstract Purpose - The twofold purpose of this paper is (i) to identify the risks associated with the commercial use of RFID technology with consumers, and (ii) to understand the social and ethical challenges of RFID application in sectors of the retail trade aimed at children.

Design/Methodology/Approach - Following a descriptive meta-analysis of academic literature focusing on issues relating to the use of RFID technology with consumers (99 references), social and ethical challenges were assessed by means of a procedure used to analyse case studies involving children (two in the retail sector, two in the retail/leisure sector).

Findings - The descriptive meta-analysis brought to light five major concerns: protection of personal privacy, data ownership, data ethics, data accessibility and data accuracy. The issue of protection of personal privacy far outweighed the other areas of concern, especially when it came to shopping where concerns related to personal privacy, consumer profiling, consumer purchasing behaviour and habits, as well as consumer tracking and localization. The case study involving children evidenced two major social and ethical challenges to be explored: (i) protection of personal privacy and (ii) data ownership. Companies with stated goals relating to personalization of the customer experience tended to exert the greatest social and ethical impact on children.

Research implications - This paper is one of the first research initiatives to investigate the impact, from the dual standpoint of social and ethical risks, of the use of RFID technology in the retail sector with children, and proposes promising avenues for cogent research in the field.

Social implications - This paper demonstrates the necessity for organizations to adopt rules of professional conduct and transparency regarding the use of RFID technology with customers, and for public authorities to define in greater detail applicable operating guidelines.

Keywords RFID, retail industry, retail trade, privacy, ethics, children tracking, descriptive metaanalysis, case study

Paper type Research paper

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Introduction In recent years, ongoing developments in organizational practices in force in the retail trade having spawned growing numbers of ethical issues, in particular respecting consumer manipulation and personal data management. Indeed, the market has focused on personalizing the customer experience by rendering retail experiences satisfyingly unique and memorable for consumers, children and adults alike (Klaus and Maklan, 2013). Consumer experience management has become a marketing tool for promoting brands based on the premise that consumers are essentially emotional beings (Badot and Cova, 2003). Two trends, each deemed innovations in their own right, stand out in this respect. The first, initiated in the late 1980s, is known as sensory marketing and can be defined ‘as point of sale use of factors such as atmosphere to appeal to consumer senses and forge affective, cognitive and/or behavioural associations favouring the buying act.’ (Daucé and Rieunier, 2002, p.46, freely adapted from original text). By atmosphere-related factors, we mean factors relating to overall ambience (temperature, air quality, noise level, music, scent), space (merchandising, equipment, furniture), as well as signs, symbols and artefacts (signage, staff presence, style of décor). However, sensory marketing has spurred criticism, in particular from consumer-based associations which view the concept as a new form of manipulation. The second trend involves the use of new technology, notably radio frequency identification or RFID technology. RFID technology entails the use of tiny transponders equipped with a memory chip and radio antenna, also referred to as electronic labels or RFID tags (Bendavid, 2012). These tags, either worn by consumers or placed inside products, each contains a unique identifier designed to provide a multiplicity of information (i.e. name, photo, loyalty program number, history of previous purchases, etc.) which is remotely transferred by electronic means (via the Internet) unbeknownst to consumers. Access to new information of the like, infinitely more current and content-specific, makes possible an ultra-personalized marketing approach in real time. The technology supporting implementation of these models has led to the gradual deployment of myriad related devices and communications networks. Consider, for example, the mobile telephone, personal digital assistant, laptop computer, PC tablet, Wi-Fi network, Bluetooth, AIDC technology, onboard micro-sensor and Bluetooth beacon. The technologies adopted by organizations for the marketing purposes provide for targeting, geolocation (automatic remote identification of goods and consumers, real time tracking of movements within points of sale), and geomarketing. The result is an enhanced understanding of consumers through the collection of behaviour-related data. The spread of RFID technology continues to post relative growth, with expansion under way into all manner of industrial sectors at the international level. However, adoption of available technology is leading

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to questions about the impact on consumers (Piramuthu, Wochner and Grunow, 2014) in terms of respect of personal privacy (consumer habits: profiling, consumption behaviour; consumer localization and tracking) (Wasieleski and Mordechai, 2008; Lockton and Rosenberg, 2005) and the safeguarding of personal data (data theft: unauthorized access to data; data use: use of information, custom advertising, data mining, collection and sharing). Consider the case of German retailer Metro. Ethics-related concerns by consumer groups (CASPIAN, 2004) ultimately led to boycott campaigns. This article therefore examines the extent to which the usefulness and risks ‒ real and perceived ‒ linked to the commercial use of RFID technology with consumers, especially children, impact adoption by endusers. Today, consumer knowledge of the use of this type of technology remains sparse and fragmented, and practically no research has been conducted into related marketing applications (Pramatari and Theotokis, 2009; Slettemeas, 2009; Uhrich, 2008). Additionally, research has focused little on segments of the market aimed at children and minors. Technology is nonetheless destined to enjoy an ever increasing impact on dayto-day purchases by consumers, with the influence on children unknown. Hence the twofold purpose of this paper: (i) To identify the risks associated with the commercial use of RFID technology with consumers; and, (ii) To understand the social and ethical challenges of RFID application in sectors of the retail trade aimed at children. To achieve these objectives and to develop a framework for evaluating the social and ethical challenges involved, we conducted a descriptive meta-analysis of academic literature and studies touching upon ethical issues relating to the use of RFID technology with consumers. Subsequently, this framework was used to analyse current professional cases relating to the use of this technology with children.

Interrelation of RFID, retail trade, ethics and children The use of RFID technology in the retail trade, ever on the rise, entails interaction between chips and consumers. Today, the majority of large retailers such as Walmart, Macy’s, J.C. Penney and Marks & Spencer have initiatives in place. It is important to understand that each RFID chip may contain information such as a unique code which makes it possible to identify a product offered for sale and ultimately link the product to the consumer who tests and/or purchases the product. Once the chip/customer association has been made, it becomes possible to use other antenna in different locations in the store, shopping centre, park or city to monitor consumer movements and retrieve information about individuals (Information Week, 2007). Widely recognized, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) developed by Davis (1989) presents

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perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use as two key independent variables impacting consumer attitudes with regard to technology. This model is based on the theory of reasoned action (Fishbein and Azjen, 1975) which attempts to explain the link between attitude, intention and behaviour. Albeit interesting as a theoretical basis for this paper, the majority of studies having used the model focus on individual acceptability and ergonomic considerations. Rarely does the scope extend to social acceptability: the study of attitudes, as well as the social and normative constraints which prompt users to use a given technology (See the Model of System Acceptability by Nielsen, 1993). Acceptability is dependent upon practical usefulness which, in turn, is dependent upon usability. What is more, fewer studies yet extend the technology acceptance model to include ethical dimensions and related risks. Hence our interest in incorporating the four dimensions detailed by Mason (1995), namely: 1) invasion of personal privacy: notion of personal privacy to applies to all personal data collected by companies and marketing managers; (2) accuracy of data collected: retention of exact, authentic information; (3) data ownership: ownership of personal data and distribution channels; and, (4) data accessibility: refers to individual rights and security of personal data. Indeed, a number of fears have been formulated with respect to usage of the like with consumers. Consumers against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering claim that RFID technology involves the utilization of spychips which will lead to a society where everything is monitored in real time and where supermarkets will possess databases on all their customers (Garry, 2004). Some also fear that the technology enables merchants to track individuals outside stores and even monitor consumer behaviour even in the home (Willey, 2007). The size of RFID chips also raises concerns about the ease of concealing them from consumers. As chips can be read remotely, anyone in possession of a reader could theoretically access chip content. A task force set up by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the United States indeed underscored the fear of being monitored in stores, public places and the workplace. To date, consumer-centric research into and analyses of RFID technology have tended to focus on the issue of personal privacy, often perceived as a major impediment to implementation of this technology (Uhrich et al., 2008; Bhattacharya, Chu and Mullen, 2007), notably in terms of cost for consumers (Sill et al., 2008). Indeed, it would appear that the importance consumers attach to safeguarding their personal privacy impacts their propensity to purchase goods fitted with RFID chips (Angeles, 2007) or accept and/or use goods containing technology-related residue (Crazier, Jensen and Dave, 2008). This implies that the more consumers are concerned about their personal privacy, the less likely they are to adopt the RFID technology used by some retailers (Müller-Seitz et al., 2009). However, it is important to understand that few consumers are currently sufficiently aware of the commercial use of RFID technology to be able to assess the

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impact on their personal privacy (Rothensee and Spiekermann, 2008). Hence, acceptance remains relatively high at present. Regarding the commercial use of RFID technology with children, acceptance would essentially appear to relate to parental fears of losing children in shopping centres or large amusement parks (Chen, 2010; Lin et al., 2010). Exploration of the age variable would doubtless prove relevant since according to the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) (Venkatesh et al., 2003), age plays a role in technology adoption.

Methodological process Study 1. Descriptive meta-analysis Meta-analytic procedure. Considered a part of empirical research, meta-analyses offer many advantages, especially for quantifying the variables involved (Aldag and Stearns, 1988). Hunter and Schmidt (2004) identify different meta-analysis techniques (e.g., meta-analysis of correlations; meta-analysis of experimental effects; purely descriptive meta-analysis). Since this article aims to profile emerging research on the ethical risks associated with the use of RFID technology with consumers, a descriptive meta-analysis was deemed most appropriate in the circumstances. This type of meta-analysis provides a descriptive overview of the specific field of research and yields an overall picture, but does not attempt to analyse methodological issues in the selected references (Glass, McGaw and Smith, 1981).

Selection of relevant articles for review. A two-step selection procedure was used to identify relevant articles between June and September 2013. (1) Literature search: Articles were identified using the: (a) ABI/Inform Global™ database without a date range. This database covers more than 3000 scholarly business journals published since 1923; (b) Business Source Complete database which covers leading business periodicals dating as far back as 1886 and provides access to the profiles of world's 10 000 largest companies (EBSCO); and, (c) Emerald Management Xtra database which references articles from over 100 trade periodicals and conferences, mainly in management and information sciences. Research using these three databases was conducted without specifying the year of publication. Select keywords included as follows: 'RFID AND ETHIC*', 'RFID and PRIVA*', 'RFID and PROP*', 'RFID and ACCESS*', 'RFID and ACCUR*' and 'RFID and OWN*'. These keywords were chosen by researchers based on classifications defined by Mason (1995).

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(2) Establishment of basic criteria for inclusion of references: Only peer-reviewed studies appearing in scholarly and peer-reviewed journals listed in the databases were selected. Studies both conceptual and empirical were accepted. Regarding references of interest to us, two evaluators examined abstracts and entire articles, as required, to ensure that each article broached at least in part the use of RFID technology with individuals.

Data coding and analysis. Two researchers separately coded data at the reference level; differences were resolved through discussion. This type of multi-coding not only yields precise definitions but also affords control reliability. A strong percentage of agreement between the two evaluators (90%) was observed during encoding. Atlas.ti software was used to analyse content. A total of 16 features per reference were classified in a meta-matrix: (1) year of publication; (2) title; (3) name of publication; (4) name of authors; (5) article keywords; (6) empirical vs conceptual article; (7) quantitative vs qualitative methodology; (8) data collection method; (9) sample size; (10) nature of sample; (11) sector; (12) geographical context; (13) location of RFID chip; (14) ethical considerations; (15) solutions proposed; (16) avenues of research proposed.

General features of study. Upon refinement, a total of 99 articles were retained. All had been published in the period between 2004 and 2013, the majority after 2007 (54.55%). A full 69 of the 99 articles were published in high level journals appearing in the 2013 ranking of Journal Citation Reports) (cf. Table 1). The journals from which the greatest number of articles were gleaned included Communications of the ACM, recognized as the most reliable source of industry information for IT professionals (9 papers) and Computer Communications, a journal dedicated to the IT communications networks of the future (8 papers). The studies selected proved largely conceptual (87 articles out of 99), pointing to the exploratory nature of the field. Of the 12 empirical studies, 10 were quantitative and based on relatively small samples. The quasi totality of articles (80 out of 99) focused on the retail trade sector. A very large majority of articles (87 out of 99) related to RFID chips incorporated into goods (e.g. loyalty card, sole of shoe, bracelet, etc.) that individuals could transport with them.

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Table 1. Journals with most references

Rank Journal 1 2 3 3 3 3 3

Communications of the ACM (CACM) Computer Communications Ethics and Information Technology Industrial Management & Data Systems Computer Networks Information System Frontier Journal of Network and Computer Applications

Impact Factor 2.863 1.352 0.520

(Quartile in category) Q1. Q2 Q3

Number of references (% of total references) 9 (9.09%) 8 (8.08%) 3 (3.03%)

1.345

Q2

3 (3.03%)

1.282 N/A

Q2 N/A

3 (3.03%) 3 (3.03%)

1.772

Q1

3 (3.03%)

Study 2. Case study Case study procedure. An inductive, case study type approach (Gioia and Pitre, 1990) was favoured given the difficulty in obtaining and collecting data on the use of RFID technology with children. A case study is an empirical investigation which focuses on a contemporary phenomenon in a real-life context. This research methodology is particularly appropriate when the boundaries between the phenomenon and the related context are not clearly evident (Yin, 2003).

Case study selection. In the instance of the research at hand, the case study focused solely on secondary data. Only those cases broaching the use of RFID technology with children in the retail and leisure sectors and touching upon the social and ethical issues relating to use of the like were to be selected. After having searched the most prominent case database in the field, the RFID Knowledgebase by IDTechEx (4500 case studies), using the same keywords as for the meta-analytical procedure, plus a seventh keyword, namely 'RFID AND CHILD*', findings proved inconclusive, indicating the little developed nature of the field at the current juncture. As efforts in this regard failed to identify cases relevant for the purposes of this study, other sources of current data were consulted using Google Search.

Data coding and analysis. Data processed was gleaned directly from company websites and related Webbased references. Coding was carried out manually. Cases were analysed based on the framework for evaluating social and ethical challenges which flowed from the descriptive meta-analysis (cf. table 2).

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General features of study. Only for cases were retained in total. Two related to the retail sector:

Baroue (Kuwait): o

A 69 000 square metre store selling 20 000 products for children, including toys, clothing and infant accessories: “It is designed exclusively around the needs, dreams and expectations of children, a one-stop shop with the highest quality and variety of merchandise for children up to [the] age of 12, along with [a] wide range of toys, maternity, baby care and baby nursery…” (See company website)

Tape à l’œil (France): o

Founded in 1995, the company purchases and distributes clothing for children from infancy to 14 years of age in stores and via the Internet

o

The company’s mission is to make fashionable children’s clothing accessible to all

Two related to the retail and theme park sectors:

Legoland Parks (Denmark): o

Amusement park based on the theme of LEGO building blocks

o

The park at Billund, in Denmark, opened in 1968 on a 3.6-hectare site

o

The facility draws some 1.6 million visitors a year

Disney Word (USA): o

Founded in the United States by Walt Disney in 1923, The Walt Disney Company is today a major world media and family entertainment business

o

The company owns six major brands: Disney, Disney. Pixar, ABC, ESPN, Marvel and Star Wars

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Key findings Study 1. The coding15 of articles focusing on ethical considerations linked to the use of RFID technology with consumers enabled us to ascertain that the safeguarding of personal privacy was by far the key concern (149 mentions in 99 references), followed by data ownership (38 mentions), ethical business practices (19 mentions), data accessibility (15 mentions) and data accuracy (2 mentions).

Table 2. Main ethical considerations linked to use of RFID technology with consumers and identified in metaanalysis

Sub-dimension

Keywords

Number of occurrences

Total occurrences

Protection of personal privacy Shopping

Movements

Government Society Medical Banking

Demographics Lifestyle

Personal privacy of consumer Customer profile Buying and purchasing behaviour Consumption habits Tracking Tracking Location Action/Movements Citizen surveillance Citizen information Criminal history Right to personal privacy Civil liberty Risk of infection Priority treatment Patient location Banking information Solvability General personal data Contact information (postal address, telephone number, e-mail) Name and biometrics Health care

61 15 11 6 1 15 2 1 7 3 1 6 4 4 1 1 3 2 2

94

18

11 10 6 5

1

4

1 1

1 149

Data ownership Data theft

Use of data

Data scanning / eavesdropping Unauthorized access to data Clandestine access Cloning Use of information Data storage Personalized advertising Data exploitation Unauthorized access to data

5 5 4 2 5 2 1 1 1

16

10

15 Coding was conducted using non-exclusive criteria, meaning that articles may have broached several dimensions of the issue. Coding was carried out manually following the perusal of each of the 99 articles.

80

Information and tag ownership Data storage Linked to database Scope, wireless, contactless Sell / purchase Authorize third party

Data collection

Data sharing

3 3 1 1 3 1

8

4 38

Data ethics Medical

Shopping

Government Society Data collection

Risk of infection Priority treatment Liability relating to rejection or replacement (subcutaneous) Reduced confidence in patients vs tag-based information Consumer profiling to identify individuals most likely to buy Accuracy of shopping basket Consumer confidence in commercial establishments Sell good/service previously offered at no charge Loss of confidence Location of foreign workers Human dignity, individual freedom of choice Hidden RFID readers Hidden RFID tags

4 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1

7

6

2 2 2 19

Data accessibility Criminal

Identity thieves Security consequences Identify thieves Pickpockets

7 5 2 1

15 15

Data accuracy Data quality

Reading error Falsification of data

1 1

2 2

On the issue of the protection of personal privacy, shopping was found to illustrate the greatest number of major concerns: consumer profiling, purchasing behaviour, consumption habits and consumer tracking (e.g. Blass, Kurmus and Refik, 2013; Zhou, Zhang and Zongwei, 2010; Deursen and Radomirovic, 2009; Piramuthu, 2007).

Study 2. Objectives relating to use of RFID technology. Two of the companies indicate using RFID technology for security purposes to help prevent children from getting lost or to find them more quickly should they wander astray (Baroue and Legoland Parks). The two other companies engage the technology for reasons of the personalization of consumer relationships and experiences (Tape à l’oeil and Disney World). Security: Baroue (offering an RFID-based tracking system at its new children's superstore to enable parents to monitor their young ones as they play in the store's playground); Legoland Parks (RFID technology enables parents to locate their children more quickly. Each season, some 1600 children get lost within park confines)

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Experiential marketing: Tape à l’oeil (‘Build free, custom, dynamic and ludic customer relationships with a view to developing and promoting brand image through exploitation of the full potential of new technology’); Disney World (‘MagicBands and cards are secure all-in-one devices that allow you to effortlessly access the plans and vacation choices that you have made with My Disney Experience. You may use your card or MagicBand to: unlock the door of your Disney Resort hotel room; enter theme and water parks ‒ with valid admission; check in at FastPass+ entrances; connect Disney PhotoPass images to your account; charge food and merchandise purchases to your Disney Resort hotel room’).

The system implemented by Disney is one of the most complete since the RFID bracelet is both transactional (payment, admission) and relational: ‘It would function as a room key, a parking ticket, a pass for certain rides, a payment system and, if you opted in, a personal ID that would, say, allow Disney characters to greet you or your children by name’16. ‘To accommodate the new system, Disney removed all of its entry turnstiles and installed a total of 283 touch points with built-in RFID readers, as well as biometric finger scanners for redundancy purposes. The company also installed RFID touch points at the door to each of its 28 000 resort rooms.’17

(Uses of MagicBand at Disney World)18

16 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/mickey-is-watching-you-does-disneys-new-magic-band-infringe-on-consumerfreedoms-8503823.html 17 http://www.rfidjournal.com/articles/view?11877/2 18 Photos provenant des sites : http://www.lexpress.fr/tendances/voyage/disney-lance-le-magic-band-un-bracelet-multifonctions_1675194.html; http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/mickey-is-watching-you-does-disneys-new-magic-band-infringe-on-consumer-

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Types of RFID applications. Three of the four companies use RFID wristbands: MagicBand (Disney ‒ dual frequency 13.56 MHz and 2.4 GHz RFID); wristband in form of plush toy lion (Baroue ‒ Ubisense ultrawideband battery-powered RFID tag); Bluesoft AeroScout wristband (Legoland parks ‒ Bluesoft AeroScout T2 tag, about 1.5 inches by 2.5 inches).

(MagicBand, Disney; RFID wristband, Baroue)19

In the case of Tape à l’oeil, the company uses a contactless sticker-based loyalty program. The loyalty card features a detachable RFID sticker which can be affixed to a mobile telephone or other item used during the buying act. Legoland Parks is the only company to charge for use: ‘Parents pay €3 for a day’s rental of a tag for their child’. Disney World offers their MagicBand free of charge with any Disney hotel booking or purchase of a Walt Disney World pass. MagicBand is, however, also available for purchase at designated Walt Disney World Resort points of sale or online20 for US $12.95.

Ethical considerations linked to use of RFID technology with children. Table 3 outlines the ethical concerns relating to the use of RFID technology with children as identified in the four cases studied. Based on available data, and like in the case of results of the descriptive meta-analysis, the primary ethical concerns related to the protection of personal privacy (46 issues identified in the four cases) and data ownership (38 issues). Elements relating to issues of data ethics and data accessibility were considerably less prevalent, with no issues at all relating to data accuracy.

freedoms-8503823.html; http://www.cleveland.com/travel/index.ssf/2014/03/new_disney_magicbands_make_tou.html; http://capturingmagic.me/disney-photopass-can-now-be-linked-to-magicbands 19 Photo provenant du site : http://www.rfidjournal.com/articles/view?3900/ 20 http://www.disneystore.com/magicband/mn/1024701/

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Overall, Disney World (31 issues identified) and Tape à l’oeil (30 issues) would appear to be the most sensitive cases, followed by Legoland Parks (21 issues) and Baroue (13 issues). Clearly, the companies with stated goals relating to personalization of the customer experience tended to exert the greatest social and ethical impact on children.

Table 3. Main ethical considerations linked to use of RFID technology with children Enterprises

Tape à Baroue Legoland l'oeil Protection of personal Privacy

Shopping

Movements

Governement

Society

Medical

Banking Demographics

Lifestyle

Personal privacy of consumer Customer profile Buying and purchasing behaviour Consumption habits Tracking Tracking Location Action/Movements Citizen surveillance Citizen information Criminal history Right to personal privacy Civil liberty Risk of infection Priority treatment Patient location Banking information Solvability General personal data Contact information (postal address, telephone number, email) Name and biometrics Health care

121

Disney World 1

1 1

1 1

1 1

1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1 1

1 1

1 1

1 1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1

Data ownership Data theft

Use of Data

Data scanning / eavesdropping Unauthorized access to data Clandestine access Cloning Use of information Data storage Personalized advertising

21 ‘1’: presence of an ethical problem

84

Data collection

Data sharing

Data exploitation Unauthorized access to data Information and tag ownership Data storage Linked to database Scope, wireless, contactless Sell / Purchase Authorize third party

1

1

1

1

1

1

1 1 1

1 1 1

1 1 1

1 1 1

1

1

Data ethics Medical

Shopping

Government

Society

Data collection

Risk of infection Priority treatment Liability relating to rejection or replacement (subcutaneous) Reduced confidence in patients vs tag-based information Consumer profiling to identify individuals most likely to buy Accuracy of shopping basket Consumer confidence in commercial establishments Sell good/service previously offered at no charge Loss of confidence Location of foreign workers Human dignity, individual freedom of choice Hidden RFID readers Hidden RFID tags

1

1

1

1

Data accessibility Criminal

Identity thieves Security consequences Identity thieves Pickpockets

1 1 1

1 1 1 1

Data accuracy Data quality

Reading error Falsification of data

In each of the four cases studied, issues relating to the protection of personal privacy (Disney World, 13 issues identified; Tape à l’oeil, 13 issues; Legoland Parks, 12 issues; Baroue, 8 issues), appeared to be the items of leading concern. In 2013, Ed Markey, Democratic senator for the US State of Massachusetts, expressed concern over Disney World practices:

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“…[Ed Markey] has privacy concerns about the MyMagic+ bands that Disney plans to introduce, and he has sent a letter to Disney CEO Robert Iger asking for clarification on how the data Disney collects will be used. Markey says the bracelets ‘could potentially have a harmful impact on our children’ and he has raised questions about how the privacy of millions of guests will be protected. ‘Widespread use of the MagicBand bracelets by park guests could dramatically increase the personal data Disney can collect about its guests,’ he says in his letter to Iger. ‘Although kids should have the chance to meet Mickey Mouse, this memorable meeting should not be manipulated through surreptitious use of a child's personal information, he said.’”22

Consumer behaviour monitoring practices instituted by Disney World have been strongly criticized and labelled by some as contributing to a ‘surveillance society’ (Zara, 2013). Indeed, systems implemented enable officials, in addition to tracking and monitoring child movements (in some cases, cameras record child movements (Barou) or take pictures (Disney World)), to accumulate personal child particulars such as ‘customer’ profile, purchasing habits, etc. At Tape à l’oeil, customer accounts display and purchases are instantly logged whenever a customer makes a purchase and a sales slip is issued.

Example: ‘Disney's Memory Maker program enables individuals to be automatically associated with pictures on a ride. As they pass a camera, a custom-built reader captures the ID number transmitted by the MagicBand's transceiver, and the Disney World software links his or her picture with that ID. Once the picture is taken and paired with that guest, it can be stored on the user's MyDisneyExperience account. The visitor can then log into the MyDisneyExperience site, and—if that person has purchased the Memory Maker product—view and purchase the photographs online’23

22 http://www.wesh.com/themeparks/disney/Rep-Ed-Markey-voices-privacy-concerns-over-Disney-s-MyMagic-bands/18268138 23 http://www.rfidjournal.com/articles/view?11877/2

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Barou – ‘At kiosks located throughout the store, parents view digital images of their children at play’24

Marketing results stemming from these initiatives are impressive as Claire Jolivet, Project Manager, Customer Loyalty with Tape à l’œil, points up : “ …in 6 months, we had over 170 000 loyal, active customers combined with a knowledge of their likes and dislikes, purchasing habits and expectations, making it ever so much simpler to personalize our customer relationships.”25.

Protection of personal privacy is strongly linked to the issue of data ownership, another element of particular concern. What do companies do with the information and data that they collect? Disney states as follows:

‘We may share information about your experiences on our site with other members of the Walt Disney family of companies, but you may always elect not to receive advertising on our behalf.’ ‘We do not use the information collected via MyMagic+ for the purpose of personalized advertising aimed at children under the age of 13 years.’26

24 http://www.rfidjournal.com/articles/view?3900/2 25 http://www.filrfid.org/article-la-nfc-tape-a-l-oeil-37879882.html 26 https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/fr-ca/faq/my-disney-experience/privacy-policy/

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Tape à l’oeil states that data collected makes it possible to develop highly personalized promotional marketing initiatives: ‘Gifts and promotions are forwarded via the customer’s preferred channel of communication (SMS, email or social media platform) and may be used on our website or at a company point of sale. Gifts and promotions are automatically posted by means of our cash management software. In addition to traditional promotions, it is possible to set up a card community and transfer points among friends and family members to use coupons more quickly and to take full advantage of them. The banner enjoys enhanced customer knowledge through this real time reporting system which makes it possible to target marketing campaigns based on specific objectives: increase the value of the average shopping basket and the number of site and store visits.’27

In its defence, Disney has responded to critics, stating that ‘the MagicBand is an opt-in system that no one is obliged to use’28.

Discussion and conclusion

This paper is one of the first research initiatives to investigate the impact, from the dual standpoint of social and ethical risks, of the use of RFID technology in the retail sector with children. The descriptive meta-analysis brought to light five major concerns: protection of personal privacy, data ownership, data ethics, data accessibility and data accuracy. The issue of protection of personal privacy far outweighed the other areas of concern, especially when it came to shopping where concerns related to personal privacy, consumer profiling, consumer purchasing behaviour and habits, as well as consumer tracking and localization. Findings mirrored those appearing in general literature on the topic of e-commerce technology and in which the issues of privacy – e.g. data collection without prior authorization and consent

27 http://www.categorynet.com/communiques-de-presse/erp-%10-crm/tape-a-l’œil,-enseigne-mode-des-0-14-ans,-innove-et-choisit-la-plateforme-nfcadelya-loyalty-operator-20091013106933/ 28 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/mickey-is-watching-you-does-disneys-new-magic-band-infringe-on-consumerfreedoms-8503823.html

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from consumers, the sale of their personal data or receiving unsolicited customized advertising – and the security of personal data collected by businesses proved the most preeminent (Stead and Gilbert, 2001). In light of the opportunities for growth associated with technological innovation, some of today’s companies may perhaps have rushed into applications without first having assessed their social and ethical impact on consumers. Indeed, one of the primary concerns relates to consumer fear over what companies do with personal data such as addresses, likes and dislikes, and shopping preferences, (Nantel, 2005). The case study involving children evidenced two major social and ethical challenges to be explored: (i) protection of personal privacy and (ii) data ownership. Findings were consistent with those of the descriptive meta-analysis in that they underscored the same two ethical issues relating to the use of RFID technology with children. Of particular note is the fact that companies with stated goals relating to personalization of the customer experience tend to exert the greatest social and ethical impact on children. There would therefore appear to be a link between relationship marketing processes and ethical risks in the case of RFID technology use, thereby bringing to the fore, yet again, controversial questions linked to the concept of consumption experience (See Filser, 2002). Equally questionable is the matter of the commercial use of this technology with children, given the purchasing power of today’s children, their influence on their parents, and the sheer size and economic import of the children’s market (Sutherland and Thompson, 2003). These same authors point to the considerable weight of marketing strategies on today’s parents, ensuing feelings of guilt and ultimate yielding to the demands of their children. Sutherland and Thompson (2013) label the notion ‘importance nagging’ and estimate that 46% of toy purchases, 34% of food purchases and 20% of theme park purchases occur as a result of nagging. Furthermore, these in-store experiential strategies play out differently based on the age of the children involved. As advocated by Roedder John (1999): (i) Children between the ages of 3 and 7 years – perceptual stage – have an egocentric vision of stores as sources of desired possessions; (ii) Children between the ages of 7 and 11 years– analytical stage – understand that stores are designed to sell goods and manage benefits; and, (iii) Children between the ages of 11 and 16 years – reflective stage – understand and experience a sense of enthusiasm about stores. What then is one to think about the use of RFID technology with children? Is it illegal? Is it ethical? “As far as the law is concerned,” says James Mullock, head of privacy and data law at Osborne Clarke, "there is nothing inherently illegal with the use of RFID chips so long as this and other data protection law

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obligations – such as keeping the information secure – are met. [But] there is a trade-off which needs to be considered carefully by companies who use RFID technology. Through openness they need to win the confidence of their customers, and therefore their consent to being tracked."’29 Companies clearly have a role to play in educating consumers and raising their awareness respecting the use of captured data and the security measures taken to safeguard their data. Hence the importance of adopting a clear, concise ethical code of conduct to prevent unethical behaviour, for today’s consumers expect nothing less. A study conducted in 201330 in Canada demonstrated that consumers, first and foremost, expected retailers to respect their rights. This finding is especially meaningful given that corporate social responsibility behaviour is known to exert a real impact on business credibility and integrity (Swaen and Chumpitaz, 2008), business brand capital (Yoo, Donthu and Lee, 2000), as well as consumer confidence and loyalty (Hoefller and Keller, 2002).

29 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/mickey-is-watching-you-does-disneys-new-magic-band-infringe-on-consumerfreedoms-8503823.html 30 Québecer appreciation of responsible engagement by retailers, The Responsible Consumption Observatory (www.consommationresponsable.ca), 2013.

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Child orientation: A future trend for retailers selling products for children? Brigitte de Faultrier31 Florence Feenstra ESSCA School of Management, Angers-Paris, France E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]

Riina Koris Estonian Business School Tallinn, Estonia E-mail: [email protected]

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Abstract:

Purpose – Companies that produce or sell products for children could target parents only or they could show a specific interest and be centred on children (child/parent couple). When children have resources and the opportunity to become valuable consumers, it seems especially important to understand the place that is given to them by companies. The purpose of this paper is to define the notion of child orientation. It also aims at identifying the criteria to be achieved in characterizing a company as “child oriented”.

Design/methodology/approach – The notion of child orientation has been found to be related to parents (child-centred mother), school (child-centred pedagogy), upbringing (child-oriented upbringing), heath (care child-centred approach), and research (child-orientated research protocol). Various aspects of children’s consumption-related behaviours have been examined by researchers but the notion of child-orientation is rarely raised when companies are involved. So to delineate the domain of child orientation (child-oriented company), we have used a qualitative discovery-oriented approach. We have conducted in-depth interviews with purposive sampling to include managers from companies selling products for children.

Findings – Three pillars have been found to define child orientation which includes a focus on child, having an internal shared responsibility regarding child intelligence and the fact that making profit is not the short term priority for child-oriented companies. We have gained a greater understanding of child orientation by identifying three antecedents and two major consequences moderated by the contribution of child to the turnover of the company and the ability to manage complexity inherent to the child market.

Research limitations/implications – This study contributes to the existing literature on children as a customer and on their contribution in retailing. The research propositions derived from the findings offer the potential for future research related to child orientation.

Practical implications – Our research gives managers a comprehensive view in gaining a greater understanding of child orientation and the ways to attain it. The results give managers the opportunity of building their strategy on child orientation. They could compete in the child market via the child/adult couple, creating a differentiation from the companies targeting only the adults. The child/adult couple becomes the hub around which operations and strategies evolve.

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Originality/value – The research offers a unique insight into the way companies could implement the “best interests” of the child and could actively adapt to the child’s needs by suggesting a definition of the child orientation. In the market of products for children it helps at understanding what differentiates a child oriented company from one that only takes adults into account.

Keywords – Child orientation; Kids; Retailers; Discovery oriented approach Paper type – Research paper

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Channels and bridge opportunities: When children think out of the [big] box

Florence Feenstra32 Brigitte de Faultrier ESSCA School of Management, Paris- Angers, France E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]

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A Real child in a virtual in a virtual world: Children’s motives for participating in virtual gaming communities Monali Hota33 Assistant Professor IESEG School of Management (LEM CNRS 9221), Lille Catholic University 3 Rue de la Digue, Lille 59000, France E-mail: [email protected] Tel: 33-3-20 545 892, Fax: 33-3-20 574 855

Maud Derbaix Professor Research Cluster for Creative Industries, Culture and Sport Kedge Business School 680, Cours de la Libération, 33405 Bordeaux, France E-mail: [email protected] Tel: 33-5-56 846 333, Fax: 33-3-57 355 500

Karine Charry Associate Professor IESEG School of Management (LEM CNRS 9221) 3 Rue de la Digue, Lille 59000, France E-mail: [email protected] Tel: 33-3-20 54 58 92, Fax: 33-3-20 57 48 55

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Acknowledments: It is acknowledged that the research data was collected by Marion Chevalier. The authors thank her for her contribution.

Abstract: Purpose – This paper examines whether children’s motivations to participate in online gaming communities are extending to virtual retail shopping motivations given emerging trends. It also examines the influence of age related differences in children’s intellectual, social and consumer development versus adults and gender on this.

Design/methodology/approach – The study was conducted using two focus groups and 10 in-depth interviews with 20 French children between the ages of 8 to 12 years.

Findings – Results show that the dominant adult typology of motivations surprisingly holds for children but has been extended due to current online gaming trends into virtual retail shopping motivations. Further, the study findings challenge the current adult motivational typology that has been conceptualized and detailed as applicable across genders. There is a huge distinction between boys’ and girls’ games preferences, as well as motivations to participate in online gaming, as there is coherence between the two aspects.

Research limitations/implications – Research should be conducted on children in different age groups. All aspects of the process and consequences of children’s participation in online gaming communities should be examined more comprehensively. Quantitative research is required. Results may also vary with country and cultural context.

Practical implications – Firstly, children are active consumers (influencers and buyers) for all companies and current online games provide the perfect setting for better understanding of children’s motivations and behavior regarding virtual retail shopping because they provide virtual in game money for different achievements that children use to engage in such behavior. Secondly, online gaming companies can benefit

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by taking into account gender differences in children’s motivations and the importance of the games’ social dimensions and interactions when designing online games. More globally, from an ethical standpoint, the risks of playing computer games for children in terms of playing violent games, leading a virtual life, materialism and excessive consumption must be considered and studied carefully by companies.

Originality/value – This is the first study on children’s motivations for online gaming and will help us to understand children’s mind-set and motivations for retail activities in this unique retail setting. The study results show that the dominant adult typology of motivations is getting extended due to current gaming trends into virtual retail shopping motivations that are very gender specific unlike adults.

Keywords: Children, Social Development, Motivations, Online Games, Virtual Communities, Gender Differences

Paper type - Research paper

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Introduction 2008 data suggested that 16 million players interacted with each other every day in modern day online gaming environments (Woodcock, 2008), something that has grown to 23 million now (Van Geel, 2013). Children are also an important part of the online game consumer market today. There is no discussion or reporting on popular online games for children in France. But research shows that 48% of French school children aged 11-17 surveyed, used the internet for online gaming regularly, while 74% used it from time to time (Freduelle, 2013). There are two major trends in the online gaming market – the increasing social nature of games and the tendency to engage in virtual purchases for virtual in-game money (see Cole and Griffiths, 2007; Lin, 2008) - which could lead to developments in terms of extending motivations to play online into virtual retail shopping motivations.

Recent research in the field of consumer psychology (Rose et al., 2009; van Reijmersdal et al., 2012) has examined some aspects of children’s and adolescent’s behavior as consumers of the virtual world because of their growing numbers. While van Reijmersdal et al. (2012) have investigated children’s cognitive and affective responses to advergames, Rose, Rose and Blodgett (2009) have investigated the influence of website design on children’s information processing performance. However there is a dearth of empirical research on children’s motivations to participate in online gaming communities. Due to the growing importance of the children’s market and their active role as consumers (influencers and buyers), it becomes critical to examine whether current trends in the online gaming market are extending children’s motivations to play online into virtual retail shopping motivations. This will help us to understand children’s mindset and motivations for retail activities in this unique retail setting. Further, it seems theoretically relevant to check whether the extension will be as hypothesized for adults given age related differences in children’s intellectual, social and consumer development as well as gender differences in children’s online gaming.

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Theoretical background The theoretical foundation for this study is based upon research from a variety of disciplines and areas including consumer behavior, developmental psychology, cyber psychology and virtual communities. Our study aims to check whether current gaming trends are extending children’s motivations to play online into virtual retail shopping motivations given age-related and gender differences. This requires a selective overview of past research in the following areas: (a) the basic typology of motivations to play in online games; (b) current trends in online gaming; (c) gender issues and differences in online gaming and (d) children’s social and consumer development. This review will highlight the concomitant need for research beyond the current motivational typology and further beyond adults into children. This is all the more important, since thorough summaries and critiques of the first three types of literature exist primarily in the cyber psychology context, and not in the consumer psychology context.

A Basic Theory of Motivations for Participation in Online Games Adult’s motivations for their participation in online gaming communities are not identical across players (Castronova, 2004). In his pioneering work, Bartle (1996) proposes a simple theoretical typology of players the Achievers, the Explorers, the Socializers and the Killers - related to four key types of motives namely, [1] achievement within the game context, [2] exploration of the game, [3] socializing with others and [4] imposition upon others.

Yee (2006) has used Bartle’s (1996) online game player theoretical typology along with qualitative information obtained from earlier surveys of Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (i.e. MMORPG) players, to further develop an empirically and quantitatively validated typology of motivations for

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people to play and participate in online gaming communities. This typology suggests that people’s motives to play online and participate in virtual gaming communities consist of three types of motives, namely, Achievement, Social and Immersion, which may co-exist at an equivalent level in the same player, unlike what Bartle (1996) has theorized.

Yee’s (2006) typology misses a motivational type that directly addresses the Killer type of players. However, this is an improvement rather than limitation. Bartle’s (1996) player type theory was based on all types of online games but Yee (2006) has empirically validated his typology using only players of MMORPG, which are social games that focus more on role playing rather than the traditional combat and action aspects, a highgrowth segment according to industry reports and analyses.

Finally, there are some gender differences in adult motivations to participate in online games - male players score significantly higher on all the achievement components than female players, a variation even better explained by age, while female players score significantly higher than male players on the relationship subcomponent. However, the gender difference in the relationship subcomponent is not reflected in the socializing subcomponent, although these two subcomponents are highly related; something that implies that male players socialize just as much as female players, but are looking for very different things in those relationships (Yee, 2006).

Additional Perspectives due to Current Trends in Online Games Virtual communities are mediated social spaces in the digital environment that allow groups to form and be sustained primarily through on-going communication processes, due to mutual goals, whether functional (as in the case of online brand communities) or hedonic (as for the typical MMORPGs) (Bagozzi and Dholakia, 2002). These share five key characteristics, of which, the first four have strong similarities to the

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characteristics of today’s increasingly social online gaming communities. These are, namely, [1] organization around a specific area of interest; [2] presence of community oriented social norms and processes; [3] presence of shared conventions, language, rituals, and communal goals; [4] active creation of content by community members and [5] criticality of communication as a community shaping force. There are unique but highly significant differences between traditional text-based virtual communities and the emerging online gaming communities in the criticality of communication related to both the emerging trends in the online gaming market. Virtual communities basically provide members with an opportunity to participate in social interactions with others that do not care about their looks or speech, but are more interested in knowing about their thoughts and the way in which they communicate (Rheingold, 1993). Increasingly social games that focus more on role playing are turning this around as they place various advanced tools and techniques at the disposal of online gamers apart from text, such as advanced gaming features, and avatar creation facilities, providing opportunities to express social identity online.

Further, a lot of people are now participating in virtual brand communities formed due to the mutual functional goals of consumer exchange of useful information regarding products. Popp, Worartschek and Roth (2008) have worked on people’s motivations for participation in virtual brand communities and propose a scale which reveals three factors of motivation: “community-related motives, brand-related motives and motives related to “added value”, with some similarities to the existing typologies of people’s motivations to play online games. Examining their community-related motives, one finds that these are quite similar to Yee’s (2006) social motivations to play online games, but with some additional dimensions. This is because virtual brand communities have a very strong group-oriented driver for participation similar to increasingly social online gaming communities. These additional dimensions are [1] for actively participating in the community, [2] because the other members have the same goals that I have, [3] because it is important to me to be part of the community, [4] for gaining recognition from other members of the community and [5] because I identify with other members of the community. The additional group-oriented motivational dimensions identified from virtual brand community literature appear to be an extension of the teamwork dimension of Yee’s (2006) social motivations, lending theoretical support to the contention that the increasing social component in online gaming leads to an extension of motivations to represent people’s motivations to participate in online gaming communities rather than just playing online games.

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In what could be considered a related development, there is a growing tendency of online gamers to engage in virtual purchases within the online gaming environment. Lin, Chiu and Tsai (2008) explain that consumption is driven by different motivations such as: “to satisfy inherent desires; to fulfil manipulated desires; to establish identity and communicate with others; and to pursue pleasure and experiences (p. 89).” In the virtual context, this could be either to rise up game levels, or to emulate other successful virtual persona in the game, where success can be attributed to the purchase of a virtual gaming accessory. Similarly, major within game purchases such as the purchase of online identity and avatar formation accessories and aids, also happen due to varied motivations such as community social norms; social interaction, identity expression and need to escape from reality (Boss, 2007; Castronova, 2004; Healy, 2007; Levine, 2007). Virtual purchase behaviors can result within the online gaming environment due to different types of interpersonal influence and motivations because these games provide virtual in game money to participants for different achievements. Therefore, one realizes that the second emerging trend in online gaming is leading to people developing virtual retail shopping motivations similar to Popp, Worartschek and Roth’s (2008) added value-related motives where there are dimensions such as [1] buying tools and aids to build a suitable online identity and appearance in accordance with the social norms of the virtual community [2] buying accessories, rewards and awards to aid in building virtual reputation and social status, [3] buying tools and accessories to aid in better performance and results and [4] buying tools and accessories to emulate other successful performers. This already seems to be reflected in the customization dimension of Yee’s (2006) typology, but he refrains from discussing the commercial aspect of virtual purchases within online gaming communities, something extremely important today.

This suggests that it is now becoming very important to analyze how the influence from other players and player’s social norms and interactions with each other works. Such influence can either enhance the social motivation to play online games, or act as an additional related virtual retail shopping motivation to play

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online games. Hence, examining this is imperative given differences in children’s levels of social and consumer development compared to adults.

Children in the Context of Motivation to Play Online Games Children’s Social and Consumer Development The previous discussions examined how the emerging trends in online gaming could extend motivations for online gaming into virtual retail shopping motivations. One needs to now discuss the differences in children’s developmental levels, as this would have an impact on their acceptance of the emerging trends versus adults.

Children are less advanced compared to adults in their social skills and also go through progressively different stages of social development which subsequently leads to different levels of ability to accept reference group influence and understand the social aspects of consumption (John, 1999; John, 2008). Reference groups such as peer groups can exert influence on children’s product choices and decisions only if children have developed certain social sensibilities and cognitive skills (Bachmann et al., 1993). Social perspective taking (Selman, 1980) and impression formation theories (Barenboim, 1981) can act as building blocks and provide a basis for predicting and explaining when peer group influence might emerge and how it might develop as children mature (Bachmann et al., 1993). Research suggests however, that peer group influence does not accelerate with increasing age for a wide range of products, as older children become more susceptible to peer group influence only for those products that are conspicuous in nature (Bachmann et al., 1993).

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Gender Differences Now one examines an issue that could really impact on children’s motivations and make them significantly different from adults, as previous literature and research suggests.

Research on children, right from the 1980’s to date has revealed consistent gender differences in several aspects of online gaming, whether it is in the case of consumer perceptions (Subrahmanyam and Greenfield, 1998), consumer game-creation (Kafai, 1996) or consumer online play and interactions (Calvert et al., 2003). Some minor gender differences have also been found for adults (Yee 2006).

Research has always discussed that boys are more partial to such gaming than girls (Dominick, 1984; Lin and Lepper, 1987; Morlock et al., 1985; Rushbrook, 1996; Subrahmanyam and Greenfield, 1998; Wilder et al., 1985).

There are gender differences in the kinds of games boys and girls create – not only do girls prefer less violence, but they also prefer different kinds of games, game characters and game worlds (Kafai, 1996). Similarly, gender differences exist in the online play and interaction styles of children - using avatars to “stand in” for them, while boy pairs adopt a playful interaction style, girl pairs are more likely to chat with each other and mixed-sex pairs moderate their interaction styles (Calvert et al., 2003).

This is the first empirical study on children’s motivations for online gaming given age-related differences versus adults and gender differences and will help us to understand children’s mind-set and motivations for retail activities in this unique retail setting.

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Methodology Two different types of qualitative methods were implemented to collect the data – focus groups and indepth interviews. The main objective of multiple research phases and types of data sources is to deepen the understanding of children’s motivations. Moreover each qualitative method of data collection has unique strengths and weaknesses, but methodological triangulation and investigator triangulation can improve the way research questions are answered (Hall and Rist, 1999). So, it was expected that the use of different types of research methods in the two phases would serve to lessen their respective drawbacks.

Children between 8 and 12 years were selected for both phases of the study from households representing similar socio-economic classes (i.e. the upper middle class) from Paris in France, in order to ensure the comparability of data. Young people have personal, social and cognitive differences as compared to adults. Thus, while some of the existing research into adult virtual communities may be applicable, it lacks a developmental lens. That is why the focus of this study is on the 8-to-12-year-old range.

Research Phases Focus groups The first phase of the study consisted of two focus groups of children 8-12 years of age, consisting of 5 persons each, one group for boys and one group for girls. We follow the advice of Ffelan and Marshall (1999) to separate the genders to ensure the best possible discussion. Focus groups offer an appropriate method for researchers wanting to study children in their role as consumers, although there could be a potential problem due to children’s susceptibility to peer group influence (Todd, 2001). In the specific case of this study, the limitation of peer group influence acting within the focus group was beneficial, as virtual gaming

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communities are places where peer pressure acts significantly on children’s participation and purchases within the community. Further, focus groups also yield insights into the language children use when discussing consumption issues (Gunter and Furnham, 1998), which is critical information for child researchers who have been advised to speak to them using their own terms (Todd, 2001). Focus groups were conducted in a small independent room within a day-care center for children between 8 and 12 years of age. All these participants already knew each other, which allowed them to feel free to speak in a friendly way. A semi-structured guide was created to conduct the group interviews properly, based on the literature review and the conceptual foundation. The group interview discussions lasted for one hour each, and were started by asking the children to create a new online game, which is the perfect game according to them. In addition, the discussion went over different topics from their favorite games (with a detailed explanation), their motivations to play in a particular type of game to the kind of interactions they have with the other players and why they would possibly buy virtual products.

Group interviews were not only an important source of data for the study but also fed into the creation of the research instrument for the second phase of the study – the individual interviews.

In-depth interviews The second phase of the study consisted of 10 in-depth interviews combined with observations, of children aged 8-12 years, taking care that they were evenly split for sex and age (i.e. above and below 10 years of age). Individual interviews offer greater potential for children to discuss their 'true’ underlying tastes and preferences (Todd, 2001) without problems associated with group interviews such as the undue influence of the peer group. The individual interviews thereby allowed a deeper investigation into the topic of children’s

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participation in virtual gaming communities and combined with direct observation, this part of the datacollection process focused more on children’s lived experiences.

The in-depth interview and observation phase took place in real conditions which means at home directly on the Internet. Before that, the interviewer had a chance to talk with parents who provided her with more insight about the child’s family life including the presence of siblings, the parents’ perceptions of online games, whether parents play online games themselves or whether they just focus on controlling their children’s use of the Internet (especially online games). Individual in-depth interviews sessions lasted around one hour each. The researcher was alone with the participant in order to avoid any family bias and to be in an open relationship with him/her based on confidence and empathy. A semi structured interview guide with open-ended questions was built relying on the initial findings of the group interviews, as the purpose of this phase was to go deeper into some particular topics discussed in the focus groups.

Data Analysis and Interpretation

Group interviews as well as in-depth interviews were audio taped and then fully transcribed by the primary researcher. Data analysis began with the authors reading the transcription of each interview. Authors’ insights and notes were then compared and central themes emerged. The interpretation of the interview texts was undertaken using hermeneutical process (Thompson, 1991) which involved moving iteratively, back and forth between interview texts and the literature.

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Emerging findings To illustrate our key findings, we present vignettes or quotations from children across the two phases of research. Taken together, the quotations illustrated and discussed are chosen for their ability to point toward plausible theoretical insights, through either their representativeness of major themes or, in a few instances, their distinctiveness. The findings are structured according to four categories: [1] support for the primary typology of motivations to participate in online games in the child context; [2] extension of the typology of children’s motivations to participate in online games given the current trends in online gaming; [3] revealed differences of the typology of motivations to participate in online games, comparing children with adults and [4] gender differences in motivations. Relative attention to these categories is commensurate with our study goals. Further, all the findings are analyzed and interpreted in light of literature on (1) children’s social and consumer development and (2) gender differences.

Children's motivations to play online games The data provide good support to Yee’s (2006) existing motivational typology but with gender differences in the motivations between boys and girls, which will be discussed in more detail later.

Children’s extended motivations to participate in online gaming communities The enhancement of the teamwork component The children interviewed are beginning to understand what involves teamwork in the game and attempt to increase this component of social motives. As Bachmann, John and Rao (1993) have observed, children from 9 to 11 are indeed beginning to understand external influences and are open to influences from their peers.

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More specifically, in online gaming communities, they exchange advices and opinions or help each other within the game. This is illustrated by the following quotes: "It’s better to play in a team and to ask for advice… when someone is new, I give him some advice, I tell him how to play, I help him to create his personage." (Théo, 9)

"We could go out with friends, meet a little bit more […] You can help if someone asks you, you either agree or not." (Sarah, 9, Girls' focus group)

Children want to be part of a group, a team, an online community rather than play as an individual. A child between 7 to 12 years-old is able to “mentally step outside himself or herself to take a self-reflective or “second-person” perspective on his or her own thoughts and actions” (Selman, 1980). Hence, children are able to influence each other now because they are able to conceptualize a “second-person” perspective.

Added value motivations and interpersonal influence Our analysis suggested children’s emerging tendency for impression formation: possessions acquired through virtual purchases seem to be of primary importance for children participating in online games. So, an additional category of virtual retail shopping motivations appears for children, as the current gaming trends predict for adults. Children know that they can buy virtual items (accessories, additional features for their avatar and weapons) with the money earned during the game. As in the case of social motives, the goal of their purchases often underlies achievement motives: they want to advance and progress within the game. Examples of this include:

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"You can buy some guns, a new engine, some accessories for your motorbike, in order to go faster!" (Idriss, 9, Boys' focus group)

"With the money earned, I would buy a big house, adopt children and hire a nurse." (Clara, 8, Girls' focus group)

To summarize, boys buy online tools and accessories for better game performance while girls want to enhance their social status and reputation.

Objects are helpful for someone willing to enter a group. Children who want to join a group need specific objects to gain acceptance (Delalande c.f. Brée, 2007). In online gaming communities, children share knowledge about products and even about strategies that will help in-game progress: "I prefer playing with friends because alone, it’s boring… Being with someone else means not feeling deserted or lonely. […] I do everything to help the poor people; that way they can help me fighting against the others, otherwise I won’t go far alone with my poor little army." (Gaspard, 8)

Children who diverge slightly from their peers as they do not share the same interests feel embarrassed (Gayet c.f. Brée, 2007). Hence, children are willing to get the same objects at the same time as their friends. In online gaming communities, these objects can be weapons that allow boys to increase their power or clothes, pets or houses that allow girls to improve their social status. Someone with enough money to buy an "expensive" item within the game will receive glory and friendship from others ("Friendship comes with success!" as children interviewed say). According to Bachmann, John and Rao (1993), children are more

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subject to their friends’ influence when considering products consumed publicly. It is really important for the child to choose the best product that suits the group image and is “validated” by the others, as everybody sees it. In online gaming communities this group conformity is also expressed through power acquisition and children wanted to demonstrate that they are the best: “I like it because I am more powerful than the others and I kill them all…The goal is to obtain as many points as possible… I prefer attacking than defending which is for losers… I like this game: we have to play with the keys and that’s difficult! When I am strong, I prefer playing one against the others because otherwise it’s too easy” (Loïc, 10).

Differences in the motivational typology comparing children to adults As the data so vividly illustrate, these children will begin to display an increased ‘teamwork’ component of social motivations to participate in online gaming communities somewhat similar to adults. But there are some differences. Normally, children are not used to playing in teams and do not appreciate the concept of sharing the same goals with other players. These children have the developmental capacity to understand the concepts outlining such motivations, which are in fact related to relationship building with other community members (Cole, 1996; Rogoff, 2003; Selman, 1980). But this capacity is more developed for children somewhat older than the ones we have interviewed (see Rubenstein, 2012). Therefore, although these children now spoke about wanting to be part of a group, a team, an online community, rather than playing as individuals they also had some unique reasons for doing so. When asked about team work and support, almost every child answered that it would help in reaching his or her goal, a very individualistic point of view.

Gender differences in children's overall motivations to participate in online gaming As discussed earlier, research, right from the 1980’s to date has revealed some consistent gender differences in several aspects of online gaming for children

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Focus groups clearly bring to the fore gender differences among young participants to online games. When asking what is their favorite game or their dream game, not surprisingly, boys are especially attracted to games involving fighting, weapons and blood, while girls favor role-playing games. Girls would rather spend their time creating things instead of destroying things; enjoying everyday life activities and metaphors just as much if not more than fantasy adventures. This is illustrated by the following verbatims:

"It's also a war game…[…] It's a little bit like the World War II or something like that: you have to destroy towers for example." (Florian, 9, Boys' focus group)

"In the game, there is a girl who owns a store. She has a horse, a pet, a house, a car, and friends. She can cook, do the meals, dress and wash her horse. There is a park, she can sleep, work, put make-up, comb her hair, create her parents, adopt a child and go to school. She can do some exercises, go out, trek, and meet people." (Sarah, 9, Girls' focus group)

Further, girls tend to enjoy games that allow for open-ended play and exploration that does not necessarily require completion of one goal or level to get to the next (Gorriz and Medina, 2000). These finding are in line with Subrahmanyam et al.’s (2000) work indicating that girls tend to prefer games based on reality and boys games based on action and fantasy. They also seem rather obvious as children live and develop in a genderbased world (Calvert et al., 2009). They construct their personal identity partly by being a girl or a boy, which is related to gender-based behaviors, such as play patterns and choices. Moreover, boys are more likely to

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play games with a more dominant, power-based approach whereas girls are more likely to communicate or even to strike up friendships.

Discussion The data surprisingly support the contention that children’s primary motivations to participate in online gaming will be similar to adults (Yee, 2006), despite age related differences in children’s intellectual, social and consumer development.

Secondly, the data highlights how current trends and issues in online gaming such as [1] the increasingly social nature of such games and [2] virtual purchases within online games, can lead to an extension of such motivations into virtual retail shopping motivations. Indeed the study findings clearly show that these children will begin to display an increased ‘teamwork’ component of social motivations to participate in online gaming communities; although with some differences compared to those hypothesized for adults. These children have the developmental capacity to understand the concepts outlining such motivations, which are in fact related to relationship building with other community members (Cole, 1996; Rogoff, 2003; Selman, 1980), but these children have an individualistic reasoning behind displaying these group level motivations as it would help them in reaching their individual goals. Further, they will also begin to display added value motivations reflected in the growing tendency of online gamers to engage in virtual purchases, due to interpersonal influence within the online gaming environment, as has been hypothesized for adults. Similar to social motivations these children are able to apprehend the concepts outlining such motivations, which are in effect related once again to the social aspects of life, the need for consumption in order to achieve all that, and finally the role of interpersonal influence in consumption (John, 1999; John, 2008). Hence, possessions acquired through virtual purchases seem to be of primary importance for these children

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while participating in online games, especially due to peers' influences inside online gaming communities. By acquiring objects, children conform to online peers and feel part of the community, just the way that they do in the real world. That way, children show their differences from the others who are not part of the group.

Thirdly this study makes an important contribution as the findings challenge the current adult motivational typology that has been conceptualized and detailed as mostly applicable across genders (Yee 2006). There seems indeed to be a huge distinction between boys’ and girls’ games preferences, as well as motivations to participate, as there is coherence between the two aspects.

Gender strongly influences children’s motivations to participate in online gaming communities as stressed in other cyber psychology research on children (Calvert et al., 2003; Kafai, 1996; Subrahmanyam and Greenfield, 1998). Achievement motives seem to be of primary importance for children, but the primary motivations are different for both the genders. Boys need in-game progress and power gains, while girls need social status enhancement. Similarly, role-playing provides evidence for immersion motives for boys; whereas it is customization (e.g. through an avatar) for girls. Further, social motives appear through an increased teamwork dimension, where boys prefer to build alliances and girls, new relationships, within the game, rather than playing alone. Added-value motives are also displayed through the purchase of virtual tools and accessories by all children using virtual in-game money. Finally, it can be observed that achievement motives often underlie the three other types of motives. Hence, although boys and girls both display added value motives to engage in virtual purchases within the gaming community, they will engage in different types of purchases due to the differences in their primary achievement motives as outlined earlier. Children, more specifically girls, begin to understand the social meanings and status attached to possessions as explained by impression formation (Baker and Gentry, 1996). They get a sense of personal

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achievement through the accumulation of possessions (John, 1999; John, 2008). Ultimately, children’s selection of different online games vary according to gender and this may be well due to differences in what they like doing while playing in real life that ends up reinforcing gender stereotypes (as in Calvert et al., 2003).

Managerial implications Firstly, children are active consumers (influencers and buyers) for all companies and current online games that provide virtual in game money for different achievements provide the perfect setting for better understanding of children’s motivations and behavior regarding virtual retail shopping. So companies must allow recognition for success by providing specific and recognizable items that show power in the case of boys and high status in the case of girls.

Secondly, online gaming companies can benefit by taking into account gender differences in children’s motivations and the importance of the games’ social dimensions and interactions when designing online games. First of all, companies must make a distinction between boys' and girls' games as gender conformity appears important at this age. Also, noting gender differences in motivations to participate in online games will allow companies to better meet boys' and girls' specific expectations. Companies must create two distinct games since it will allow more gender specificity into expectations and motives for participation.

Finally, the risks of playing computer games for children must be considered and studied carefully. Virtual worlds and online games move children into a world where the distinction between real life and simulation may not be clear (Subrahmanyam et al., 2000). Therefore, the effects of playing violent games (for boys) or

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leading a virtual life (for girls) must be understood. These games are providing unique retail environments where children are developing retail motivations through peer group influence that could transfer into the real world. However, they could also have an impact on children's developing identities and views of the world and promote materialism and excessive consumption.

Limitations and future research First, the focus groups and in-depth interviews used to detail the extension of children’s motivations to participate in online gaming communities are based on 20 children from France. However, this project’s goal is not the breadth of knowledge about children’s motivations to participate in online gaming communities, but rather the depth of the knowing (Ji, 2002). Therefore, this does not overshadow the study’s merits.

This current investigation has obviously just scratched the surface of an enormous iceberg. Therefore, some additional insights need to be gained. For instance, we suggest digging into younger age groups as we realize that online gaming provides access to virtual retail shopping motivations and consequently, may shape their consumer behaviors much earlier than in a non-virtual environment. Further, given the focus of this research, appropriate attention was not paid to all aspects of the process and consequences of children’s participation in online gaming communities, except for those related to virtual retail shopping motivations. Future research should examine this important issue more comprehensively. Finally, future research is required in other countries and cultural contexts to assess the general applicability of the theory.

We also suggest empirically validating the set of propositions derived from the results of our qualitative studies.

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Conclusion Despite the criticality of examining children’s motivations to participate in online gaming communities to understand children’s mindset and motivations for retail activities in this unique retail setting, there has been a dearth of empirical research on this issue. This research contributes to fill this knowledge gap and results show that children’s motivations to participate in online gaming are getting extended into very gender specific virtual retail shopping motivations due to current gaming trends.

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Shopping for kids luxury brands: young mothers' identity quest in retail spaces

Christel de Lassus Associate Professor at Université Paris Est Université Paris-Est, IRG Institut de Recherche en Gestion Bld. Descartes Champs sur Marne, 77454, Marne-la-Vallée Cedex 2 Email: [email protected]

Virginie Silhouette-Dercourt Associate Professor - Université Sorbonne Paris Cité Researcher - CEPN - CNRS UMR 7234 Member of Sociétés Plurielles research program

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Abstract Many luxury brands are now eagerly targeting children. The children’s segment of the luxury-clothing sector is therefore growing strongly and children’s fashion apparel trade shows have been held in a number of European cities while new retailers are entering this lucrative market. What can account for consumers’ keen interest in children’s luxury clothing brands given the prices involved?

Purpose: The aim of the present study is to understand parents’ motivations, and more specifically mothers', and thus to enable retail stores and brands to familiarize themselves with these new purchasers.

Methodology: Using a qualitative and netnographic approach, this study identifies the motivations for, as well as the obstacles to purchasing luxury children’s clothing in retail spaces.

Findings: We show that motivations are in part related to the desire to socialize young children, but also by the young mothers' own identity quest. The findings underscore the importance of specific motivations, which might help mothers to build their identity.

Originality: The conclusions of this exploratory study are that young mothers build their new maternal identity and their projected relationship with their child through purchases of children’s luxury goods in specific retail space environments.

Key

words:

children,

luxury,

brands,

retail

spaces,

identity,

motivations.

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Introduction and purpose Luxury brands are increasingly targeting children in their retail spaces. While Christian Dior introduced a children’s offering in 1967, other brands have only done so recently, including Armani, Burberry, Escada, Kenzo, Marc Jacobs, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Sonia Rykiel. These retail spaces target primarily infants (up to age 2) and children (from age 2 to 12). But it is not only the top end of the market that develops : new concept stores targeting kids such as Notsobig, Bonton and Kidsgallery have recently opened. In January 2015, Pitti Bimbo a specialist trade fair in infant and children’s fashion was held in Florence. It is noteworthy to underline that the economic recession does not seem to have affected this sector, with dynamic demand from consumers in France, in Europe and in Asia.

Thus, it may be asked what accounts for this vogue for children’s luxury brands. The aim of the present study is to understand parents’ motivations, and more specifically mothers', and thus to enable retailers and brand managers to familiarize themselves with these new purchasers. The paper presents the findings of this investigation in three sections. In the first section, we look at work in the social sciences and in management studies to understand the consumption of luxury products by mothers for their children. This literature review indicates the need for more researches to be conducted in this field, which we then conducted, both through qualitative interviews and by means of a netnographic study. It is presented in the second section of the paper. In the third section, we discuss the results of our research and provide recommendations in terms of retail space management.

Literature review

While there are many studies that have been conducted on consumers of luxury goods, there are very few focusing on children - despite the economic importance of this sector; and even less on mothers' motivations to engage in shopping errands for them in luxury retail spaces. The objective of this literature review is to highlight these two gaps.

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Bastien & Kapferer (2008) as well as Vigneron & Johnson (2004) or Dubois et al. (2001) have conducted researches on luxury brands, but which fail to adress the “children” segment of the market. On the other hand, researches pertaining to children have developed in marketing due to the growing economic importance of this segment over the recent years (Ezan and al., 2015). It is of particular interest because kids and young people have been shown to have an increasing buying power and power of influence in a retail context (de la Ville, 2009; De Faultrier et al, 2014). In the area of luxury retail spaces, there are some interesting contributions (Huvé-Nabec, 2004; Dion & Arnould 20011; Joy et al., 2014) but academic research dedicated to children is scarse. Interesting to note that the 'mother to daughter' literature in Europe or in the United States insists on the importance of the family influences (and on the key role played by mothers) in children' consumption behaviors. Mothers remain the first source of influence (Dano, Roux & Tissier-Desbordes, 2005; Martin & Bush, 2000). In the United States, intergenerational (IG) researches have shown that IG effects are potentially important depending on the product category under consideration or the market characteristics. Works conducted on motherdaughter dyads show that IG effects continue to play a role when the child becomes an adult (Moore, Willkie & Lutz 2002). Buying or consuming IG brands symbolizes loyalty and parental affiliation. Recent studies have shown that transmission within mother-daughter dyads reflects the family experience (Ladwein, Craton & Sevin, 2009). Regarding fashion, it has also been shown that transmission within mother-daughter dyads reflects the family experience (Ladwein, Craton and Sevin, 2009), and even that some brands, such as Hermes, benefit from inter- and trans-generational attachment (Limerat & Roux, 2011). For these “heritage brands”, their history play a positive role in the perception of the value of the brand by consumers (Urde, Greyser & Balmer, 2007; Wiedmann, Hennigs, Schmidt & Wuestefeld, 2011), an aspect that has been analyzed for older girls (Ladwein et al 2009; Dano, Roux & Tissier-Desbordes, 2005). On the side of consumers, Holbrook and Hirschman (1982) underline the different cultural forces that influence the purchase of products and brands which allow them to express the variability and complexity of their identities. Recent researches have highlighted the fact that women buy cosmetics and fashion products for their strong identity dimensions (Marion, 2003; Silhouette-Dercourt & de Lassus, 2014). In the present research, we wish to focus on parental purchasing for young children. A line of research provides indeed explanations for parents' motivations to transmit specific consumption behaviors as an expression of their social identity. Psychologists have demonstrated that human beings are structured 141

through interactions with the cultural system they belong to. Mead (1963) has highlighted the « enculturating process » by which the social group, and more particularly the mother, transmits to the new born and infant the shared-group cultural norms and values. Are mothers and parents shopping in luxurious retailers re-enacting with and for their children cultural norms and values associated to their own social group ? Another line of thinking, as stated by Mead (1934), develops around the concept of « social identity » built around the notion that social interactions to which each individual participates are at the foundation of the « self » and personality. Self-esteem is the result of an effort to conform to social expectations (ibid), which can put a lot of pressure on the individual who must cope with the discrepancies between a real self and an idealized self as portrayed by the social group. Belonging to a group highly contributes to the definition of one's identity. As Tajfel & Turner (1986) indicated in their social identity theory : each individual – in our case, parents with their children - tries to maintain or develop a positive social identity ; this is done through comparison with other groups and when comparison is perceived as negative, each individual will try and access other social groups that are perceived as better off, or will transform her/his own group with more positive elements. Based on this social identity theory, one of the hypothesis of this research could then be : parents and more specifically mothers, are looking to reinforce or transform positively their social identity (and self) when shopping in luxurious retail stores for their child. Another line of explanation given by the literature would be to consider this shopping behavior as part of the self-development of the parent (or mother) accessing to the parental stage. Erikson (1951, 1968 and 1982) considers the different stages of the construction of identity, from the stage of the baby through to the end of life. At each of the eight stages of self-development, individuals are confronted with different behavioral tasks that give rise to a specific “crisis” that he/she must overcome successfully in order to develop a positive personality. The success in coping with each crisis of the self is also linked to previous self-development crises such as the one encountered for example during infancy, early childhood, playful age, school age or adolescence. Shopping luxury items in luxurious stores could then be seen as a way for adult women to cope with the developmental phase of becoming a mother or as a way to “repair” a previous self-developmental crises. Erikson insists on the importance of everyday rituals in the transformation process and in the construction of the individual's identity : could these

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shopping errands be considered as a ritualized process for mothers to enact a positive “motherlyidentity”?

Given the fact that literature is still scarse when it comes to luxury brands for children and specifically with regards to parents' role in the process, it is therefore appropriate to examine, from a theoretical standpoint, the specific motivations for young mothers to engage in these shopping errands for their children.

Methodology Because of the exploratory nature of this research, it was necessary to opt for a qualitative methodology. Two data collection methods were implemented. We decided to conduct an exploratory study, through interviews with women in shops or in “corners” of department stores on the one hand, and online exchanges with Internet users on the other. We focused on mothers of children still not subject to influences other than those of their families, and thus on the purchase of luxury clothing brands by parents for children up to age 7. Our analysis was based in part on a 56-pages corpus consisting of transcriptions of 21 interviews lasting more than 90 minutes, conducted in Paris and the French provinces. We concentrated on mothers rather than fathers, because they purchase such items more frequently. Interviewees were questioned after being approached while existing shops. In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted in the home, with women aged 29 to 43, all mothers of girls from 3 up to age 8, equally proportioned between professionally active women and housewives and balanced in terms of age distribution. The women’s “life stories”, rich in content, formed part of the interviews (Berteaux, 1997). Their initial purchase of a luxury product for a child constituted the point of entry into the interview. Half of the interviews were conducted with mothers with only one child, and half with mothers with more than one child, on the assumption that this might be an explanatory variable (see Appendix 1). In a second step, we added a netnographic analysis stage. We collected qualitative material in the form of comments posted on forums, in response to questions about luxury clothing. We adopted a position of participant observation, taking part of these forums and asking a number of questions. This phase 143

was important for finding out about the various constraints and motivations of buyers and prospective buyers, a distinction that is more difficult to ascertain in stores. These in situ observations on forums complement the datas collected through interviews and to conduct comparative analysis. Netnography makes it possible to observe actual processes by noting communications between users (Nelson & Otnes, 2005). The main difficulty we encountered arose in previous netnographic studies (Nelson & Otnes, 2005; Kosinets, 2010), namely how to deal with expressions and emoticons specific to the Web. Here we were helped by a website enabling users to decode emoticons.

We conducted a classic thematic analysis. This first step in the content analysis was very relevant because it enabled us to analyze the mothers’ discourses, particularly with regards to the cultural role of such consumption, in an objective and accurate way. After transcribing the data, we sorted and organized the content on the basis of core meanings, which, in the words of Bardin (1998), “by their presence and frequency can mean something for the analytical purpose chosen” (Bardin, 1998, p.137). Analysis by categorization proved particularly suitable. We followed these various steps for the first twelve interviews and then went back to the field for verification and iteration.

As regards

quantification (Giannelloni & Vernette, 1995), we took into account the frequency of occurrence of each theme to sharpen the descriptive character of the analysis. Similarly, analysis of co-occurrences was very useful for analyzing the discourse of Internet users.

Findings Results are organized to highlight the different types of motivations expressed by mothers for buying luxury brands for their children. Such shopping is characterized by two dimensions, aesthetic and hedonic, much in the same way as for adults. The attitudes are therefore in part, similar to those of individuals buying luxury brands for themselves (Lipovetsky & Roux, 2003) or that luxury equals beauty (Kapferer, 1998). The mothers’ motivation involves the pursuit of hedonism as well as providing an emotional experience with a strong creative component. This shopping characterized by two dimensions – aesthetic and ludic: the aesthetic is fundamental, but the ludic dimension in choosing clothes is equally important.

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“I play around a bit with the clothes, try out new looks” “Transforming her into a fashion victim, that slays me…”

But additionally, the analysis as a whole allowed us to identify the motivations regarding the purchase of luxury items for children, and to shed light on the identity construction of young mothers by means by these purchases.

The most important motivation is hedonic in nature. The pleasure of giving: mothers want to give their children what is best, and with this in mind, they are very happy to buy them luxury items.

“Nothing is too good for my daughter, she’s our princess, we dreamed about her for ages, and now she’s here, it’s my pleasure”

Second, the analysis highlights the motivation of exclusivity, or even uniqueness. For a mother, it involves buying her child a luxury item that is unique (Vigneron & Johnson, 2004; Kapferer, 1998), but its uniqueness guarantees the very best quality: in this respect, the motivation is very specific. Uniqueness (Kapferer, 1998) or scarcity (Lynn, 1991; Dubois et al., 2001) constitutes a strong motivation, already observed in adults, but further intensified since it concerns someone viewed by the mother as unique, namely her child. This explains why a number of mothers buy these luxury brands only for their children, not for themselves. As such, they make them gifts that they would not offer to themselves.

“I deprive myself for her, I don’t buy much for myself, but I want her to have these gifts”

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The idea of the gift and of giving is very structuring in the world of the toddler. Some mothers spontaneously mention how many gifts they received for their baby at its birth (from 20 to no less than 187). The fact that their infant regularly receives gifts seems to them to be an important indicator of recognition of the role he or she has acquired in the family.

“Being a mother is a real joy, and brands allow me to celebrate it”

Gifts are almost always linked to brands in this discourse, and the prominence of the brand plays an important part in this pleasure.

« I’m a fan of brands for myself, so with my little lads, I have a wonderful time.”

A key motivation is the sign value Luxury clothing brand enables one to have a distinctive garment compared to other clothes. The mothers’ discourse refers to the motivation of conspicuous consumption, where a brand is purchased in order to assert or express a social position. As with adults, buying a luxury brand for children is driven by a search for social status and self-esteem, linked to the search for prestige highlighted by studies of adult consumers (Vigneron & Johnson, 1999). For some people this motivation is associated with a sense of belonging. It is a matter of defining a certain social status, but also of showing that one belongs to a distinctive elite group.

“In any case we don’t try and dress them in Roberto Cavalli or Alexander McQueen, what we want is baby Dior, with Dior quality, and the Dior image.”

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Such consumption is necessary, to show that children also have the right to the same luxury. But it seems that this obligatory search is different from adult luxury shopping. It is strengthened by the fact of giving children a distinctive status.

“My little girl who is eighteen months, and my five year old daughter, they are also entitled to luxury. I like to see them well dressed, I’m very fussy…”

In this very specific form of socialization, the transmission of social rules can be based on showing oneself to be different from other people.

“I loved it when my little girl’s teacher told her to wear less intimidating clothes in school.

I

like her being different! I certainly didn’t change anything!”

Strong brand awareness and socialization motivations The majority of interviewees (19 out of 21) mentioned a socialization motive in purchasing clothing, by teaching the child about beauty and brands. This finding is consistent with studies on “brand literacy” (Bengtsson and Fuat Firat, 2006), which point out that consumers need to find out about luxury brands, as a kind of literacy, learning and discovery of codes. Note that research on luxury goods, with Chinese consumers, has revealed the problems associated with such lack of awareness in emerging countries (Oswald 2009). In our case, mothers emphasized their wish to make their daughters become aware of the codes and the quality of luxury brands, in a desire to socialize them.

“I want to provide her with knowledge of these brands, of that world, as quickly as

possible,

it’s good ...”.

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The analysis shows that mothers want to pass on to their daughters the “codes of beauty”, which they have themselves acquired in their life, and a grasp of which they believe is necessary.

A further motivation concerns the mother’s own childhood and “inner life”. The child is projected into an upward ideal, an ideal of a better life.

“When I was her age, my mother dressed me in clothes she made herself.” “In my childhood, I was not at all spoiled, so now, since I can spoil her, I do so.”

Note that the analysis reveals nothing by way of nostalgia. Mothers may refer to their own childhood, but largely to denigrate it. There are no nostalgic references to their own childhoods. The great majority of mothers said they had not been dressed in luxury clothes during childhood, and this is true of all the respondents in the forums. In the analysis as a whole, the number of children in the family, and whether the mother has one child or more than one, does not seem to be an explanatory variable. On the other hand, analysis of the discourses confirms the extent to which the specific motivations of the mothers are formative for this type of purchase for their children.

•

Purchasing that allows their identities as young mothers to develop

It appears from the analysis of the interviewees’ discourses, as also from responses in the forums, that this type of purchase allows these young women to come to terms with being mothers, or even define their identity.

“It’s by buying wonderful things that I begin to play my role as a mother” “Being a mother is very new for me, and I show my baby that I’m giving her the best, with Burberry’s.”

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“I want to be a caring mother and at the same time fashionable, and buying Baby Dior seems logical to me.”

For some of the respondents, buying luxury products enables them to develop without fear of being dowdy. “It suits me better like this, as a woman and a mother of luxury, rather than a housewife with dirty ugly kids.” “Now being a mother is sexy, it's nothing like it was before, and fine brands help, one can be even sexier with one’s with little girl.”

Buying luxury clothes for children represents one of the aspects of the mother’s

identity

trajectory Luxury clothes shopping reflects the desire of some mothers to transmit values to their daughters, and to pass on to her aspects of their own identity. But at other times, there may be identity positions with regard to the child, revealed in the discourse. For some women, it is an idealization process: the purchase of luxury clothes allows them to project a perfect child, who is not simply an ordinary infant. “She will live better than me, she's already better than me” “I’ve been in the shop at the same time as Carla Bruni, we buy the same things”

For others it is also a search for appropriation: the little girl is seen as a “mini replica” of her mother, and purchases support this perception. “If we stroll around dressed the same, it’s even trendier, we’re both fashionista”

In this respect, various brand ambassadors and celebrities have paved the way. “It’s like Victoria Beckham and her daughter, her daughter is a mini-her” 149

“Madonna and Lourdes, who dress the same with great brands, I appreciate that”

These results are in line with work on the construction of consumers’ identity. Erikson (1951) looked at the different stages of identity construction from infancy through to the end of life. Purchasers of luxury clothing for their children appear to construct their identities and their self-images through consumption. Thus Holbrook and Hirschman (1982) show that various cultural forces influencing the purchase of products or brands or going to stores make available to people items that allow them to express the variability and complexity of their identities. Furthermore, recent works have emphasized the role of the consumption of fashionable and luxury products in the construction of identity (Silhouette-Dercourt, Darpy & de Lassus, 2012; Gentina & Fosse-Gomez, 2006; Suarez, Casotti & Campos, 2006; Dano, Roux & Nyeck, 2003; Marion, 2003). Our results fit into this line of researches. Content analysis reveals that the mother is torn between a sense of similarity and a sense of differentiation with regard to her daughter. A more semantic reading of the accounts allows recurrences of related words to be identified. Thus, the terms “like me” and “different from me” are often used in all the discourses, as well as discrepancies between their real life story and their idealized vision of their child. These deictics emerges as values that underlie the understanding of the story and the production of meaning for the researchers. We can distribute them along a contrariety axis: the differences between “like me” (or “same”) and “not like me” (or different) create meaning. These differences lead to the construction of the mother’s identity, in relation to her child. The mother oscillates between a desire for similarity to and a desire for differentiation from her child. The discourse of these young mothers reveals the complexity of managing their feelings with regard to their child as part of their self or a version of their ideal self.

This rather complex analysis of the mother’s identity construction in relation to the child can be depicted by a semiotic square. Developed by Greimas and Rastier, a semiotic square can refine analyses involving oppositions by raising the number of analytical categories derived from a given opposition from two (for example, life/death) to four (for example, life, death, life and death: the undead, neither life nor death: an angel), eight or even ten.

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The semiotic square is the visual representation of the articulation of any semantic category (Floch, 1990; Greimas and Courtés, 1993). Its use helps analyze discourses and identify recurring stories which are structured around a limited number of semantic categories (Marion, 2003). Figure 1. Semiotic square of young mothers’ construction of identity with regard to their children

Real Self (as defined by real life conditions) Child = “mini replica”, “mini me”

Ideal Self (as defined through social comparison and fashion discourses) Child = “princess” - or mother's social 'repair' Perfect child → perfect me → growing self esteem

Not Ideal Self

Not Real Self

(Distancing from Ideal Self with the presence of the child)

(Distancing from Real Self with the presence of the child)

Child = “as a motherhood maker”→ identity crisis management

Child = “is different” from me → will have a different (a better) life

I am proud to be a mother, to share my inherited values and knowledge

The purchase of luxury goods plays a part in the construction of identity, and may even have a number of facets, depending on when the purchase occurs and the brands bought. The discourses and their analysis with regards to the semiotic square show how they are situated and how they move from one position to another in their purchases of luxury goods. The mother’s identity may depend whether it involves a desire variously for identification, for idealization, for transmission or for creation. Thus purchases of luxury goods for children accompany the stages of the identity construction of mothers in relation to their children, but these stages are not necessarily fixed.

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Figure 2. The mother’s identity positions regarding her child through consumption of luxury clothing

The development of relationships makes the semiotic square a tool that is dynamic as well as static (Hetzel & Marion, 1993). Indeed, the square articulates meanings and establishes positions, but it can also move on “butterfly wings”: thus pathways are predictable (Floch, 1983). Some mothers may oscillate between different positions with regard to their children, depending on when they make the purchase and the brands they buy. Our research also emphasizes the mother’s identity strategies for positioning herself in relation to her child and the dynamics this may give rise to in terms of attitudes towards the child, variously involving identification, idealization, transmission and creation. 152

Discussion This exploratory research show that young mothers build their new maternal identity and their projected relationship with their child through purchases of luxury goods in specific retail space environments. These findings are consistent with those pertaining to adults, but shed new light on an unexplored area, namely the dynamics of mothers’ identity-building strategies with regard to children’s luxury products shopping.

Shopping for luxury children brands is not only related to a search for specific looks and styles, a sort of fashion “kidster” but involves complex and multidimensional identity issues on the parts of mothers that retailers must take into consideration. Our results complement work on the transmission of luxury goods, and further elucidate previous work on intergenerational dynamics. Indeed, they show that the purchase of luxury items for children depends on the desire mothers have for transmission and socialization with regard to their children. Luxurious retail shopping for children is both a way to express self-identity and to regain a positive image inside the social group. It enables mothers to develop her self-esteem and go over this “crisis” of the self brought by the fact of becoming a mother. From a managerial standpoint, this research is instructive in a various ways. Managers of retail spaces carrying luxury brands would be advised to analyze both their marketing strategies and their communication objectives, in the light of mothers' identity-related motivations. Besides focusing on the kids' looks, store visuals should portray the relationship between mother and child and provide reassurance to mothers in their maternal role. It seems important to establish links with these mothers who buy luxury items for their children, with a view of building a long-term relationship based on trust. Retailers can nurture this relationship through messages about the beauty of the parent-child bond. Doing so may also provide useful information for enhancing store loyalty, and may enable managers to develop a long-term relationship between a brand or a store and a family. A third managerial contribution concerns recommendations for communication, particularly communication on blogs, forums and other social networks. It would be in the interest of luxury fashion houses and retailers to foreground on their official page a section on parents and childrens fashion, or even to introduce an interactive discussion space regarding luxury for children. There may be a number of messages on blogs

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linking these purchases to a growing awareness of beauty and of learning about socialization and values in society, for children. This study's aim was to give a first insight of the mothers' motivations, but more research certainly needs to be conducted. Research questions to be explored might look at the role of fathers in the process and of how changes in families' structures might impact how shopping for kids' luxury brands is experienced. Consequently, from a managerial standpoint, it is important to be aware that motivations differ with respect to luxury clothing for children and luxury clothing for adults. It seems appropriate to develop effective communication strategies based on these motivations, for addressing not only parents purchasing these items, but also their children.

Conclusion The present study is an exploratory approach and offers at least three contributions to the understanding of consumption behavior in relation to luxury products for children. It seems important to emphasize that the feeling of achievement and the desire for the best for their children might imply a changed role for socialization agents. Indeed, it appears that purchasing luxury brands for their children is a new form of socialization for parents who want to teach important aspects of life in society to their children. Finally, the results present the various logics available to mothers with regard to their children, and show that the logic of transmission is not the only one involved in the purchase of luxury goods. The semiotic analysis reveals the mother’s identity strategies to position herself in relation to the child and the dynamics that these strategies can generate in terms of her motivations regarding the child – identification, idealization, transmission, creation. It must be said that despite worldwide economic uncertainties, lines for minis will continued to develop and are an irresistible fad for luxury brands and retailers. Chanel or Yves Saint Laurent have not yet succumbed to this trend. But in March, Karl Lagerfeld has announced the launch of a line of clothes for kids under the name Karl Lagerfeld Kids, with two collections per year and a retail launch early 2016, showing that this fad is bound to remain strong in the next years, encouraging researchers to conduct more studies into this phenomenon.

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References Bastien V. and Kapferer J. N. (2008), Luxe oblige, Groupe Eyrolles, Paris. Bengtsson A. and A. Fuat Firat (2006), Brand literacy: consumers’ sense-making of brand management, Advances in Consumer Research, vol. 33, 375-380. Dion D. and Arnould E. (2011), Building the legitimacy of a brand through charisma: the magic of luxury, Journal of Retailing, vol. 87, n°4, 502-520. de Faultrier B., Feenstra F., Boulay J. and Muzellec L. (2014), Defining a retailer’s channel strategy applied to young consumers, International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, vol. 42, n° 11/12, 953-973. de La Ville Valérie-Inés ( 2009), L'enfant dans l'espace commercial : éléments pour une mise en perspective, Management & Avenir, n° 21, 157-171. Erikson E.H (1982), The lifecycle completed, New York, Norton. Erikson E.H (1968), Identity : youth and crisis, New York, Norton. Erikson E.H (1951), Childhood and society, New York, Norton. Ezan P., Gollety M., and Hémar-Nicolas V. (2015), Le dessin comme langage de l'enfant : contributions de la psychologie à l'enrichissement des methodologies de recherché appliquées aux enfants consommateurs, Recherche et Applications en Marketing, 30/2. Huve-Nabec L. (2004), L’extension du circuit de distribution sélectif d’une marque : Quelles répercussions sur l’image de la marque et sur celle de l’enseigne ? Décisions Marketing, n°35 Juillet-Septembre. Joy, Wang A., Jianfeng F., Chan T.S., Sherry J., John F., and G. Cui (2014), M(Art)Worlds: Consumer Perceptions of How Luxury Brand Stores Become Art Institutions, Journal of Retailing, 90 , 3, 347–364. Ladwein R., Carton A., Sevin E. (2009), Le capital transgénérationnel: la Transmission des Pratiques de Consommation de la Mère vers sa Fille, Recherche et Applications en Marketing, 24, 2, 155

1-27. Lipovetsky G. and Roux E. (2003), Le Luxe Eternel: De l’âge du Sacré au temps des Marques, Gallimard, Paris, France. McNeal J.U. (1992), Kids as Customers, Lexington Books, New York. Marion G. (2003), Apparence et identité: une approche sémiotique du discours des adolescents à propos de leur expérience de la mode, Recherche et Applications en Marketing, 18, 2, 1-29. Mead G. H. (1934), Mind, self and society from the standpoint of a social behaviorist, Chicago , University Chicago Press. Mead M. (1963), Socialisation et enculturation, Current Anthropology, 4, 187. Moore R. L. and Moschis G. P. (1981), The role of family communication in consumer learning, Journal of Communication, Autumn, 42-51. Storm D., Kozinets Robert V., Sherry John F, DeBerry-Spence-Benet, Duhachek A. and Nuttavuthisit K. (2002), Themed flagship brand stores in the new millennium: theory, practice, prospects, Journal of Retailing, vol. 78, no. 1, 17-29. Tajfel H. and Turner J. (1986), The social identity theory of intergroup behavior, in S. Worchel & W. Austin (eds.), Psychology of intergroup relations, Chicago, Nelson Hall, 7-24. Vigneron F. and Johnson L. (2004), Measuring perceptions of brand luxury, Journal of Brand Management, 11, 6, 484–506.

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Hanging out at the convenience store: discretionary food consumption among young Tokyo consumers

David W. Marshall, University of Edinburgh Business School. [email protected]

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Working Paper Abstract Purpose: Children for the most part are reliant on others for their food and while there is evidence that they are more directly and indirectly involved in family food decisions relatively little of their consumption is discretionary (Marshall et. al. 2007). Food purchases made independently are most likely to place on the way to or from school raising concerns about retail provision in the surrounding environment (Wills et. al. 2015). Consequently, retail store assortment has an impact on what is available to buy and access to retail stores a key determinant on food choice. This paper considers the question of children’s discretionary consumption in Japan where the ready access to convenience stores presents a unique retail landscape. It looks at how young Japanese consumers use this store format part in their discretionary food consumption. Design/Methodology/Approach: this is an exploratory study that draws on secondary data on the retail sector in Japan and primary qualitative data based on store observations and a survey with young consumers. This approach provides an insight into the convenience store food offering and young consumer’s everyday food practices and experience of using these retail stores. Findings: the data reveals a relatively limited range of purchases on each visit with some variation across time of the day and differences between individual and groups of young consumers. Visits before and after school remain the most popular and young consumers make around 2-4 visits per week to a convenience store. The data collection and analysis is on-going. Research limitations: this is a limited exploratory study with a geographically constrained sample conducted in several prefectures in Tokyo, Japan. It is a convenience sample recruited using student contacts and snowballing techniques. Practical implications: this work provides an insight into the way young Japanese consumers use convenience stores and promises an insight into their discretionary food purchase behaviour. There are both commercial implications as the convenience sector seeks to expand it’s fresh food offering (Credit Suisse 2013) and health policy implications as concern grows over the increase in consumption of processed food and snack items. Originality/Value: this offers a unique insight into the relationship between children’s discretionary food choice and local retail provision in the convenience sector. Most of the focus has been on supply chain rather than consumer issues and this offers an insight into the consumption behaviour of a key group of consumers. It adds to the debate on the role of food environment on food choice and the extent to which young Japanese consumers are socialised into particular food practices through their engagement with the retail sector. Paper: research type, work in progress

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Introduction ‘The mass media (e.g. Nikkei Rutsu Newspaper 1987a, Yomiuri Newspaper 1988) reported that pupils of junior high School and even primary schools congregated at convenience stores on the way to or from their cram schools. While these pupils generally lived with their parents, they were also attracted to the convenience stores……..’The nearest cram school starts from about 4 pm. Soon after coming back from school pupils either have refreshments or stop by at a convenience store, buy something like potato snacks and eat them there with their friends, and then go to the cram school’ as mothers of primary school pupils reported in Megro Ward, Tokyo (Ashi Newspaper 1990). As a result, a nationwide sample survey indicated that 39 percent of the customers of convenience stores were the young, from primary school pupils to university/college students’ (Usui 2014: page 189). In his book ‘Marketing and Consumption in Modern Japan’ Usui (2014) notes the rise in convenience stores in Japanese retail and the attraction to particular segments of Japanese society. This paper explores the idea of discretionary consumption and considers the attraction of the convenience store to young Japanese consumers. It begins by looking at how young people are socialised into food shopping and their increasing involvement in family food shopping noting the important role that the food environment plays in relation to their discretionary spending. This is an exploratory piece of research with the aim of investigating young Tokyo consumer’s use of convenience stores as part of their discretionary consumption practice. The methodology section outlines the research agenda drawing on secondary and primary data collection. It briefly outlines the unique history of the convenience sector in Japan before presenting findings from qualitative fieldwork drawing on observations in and around convenience stores and survey data collected from young consumers (university students and school children). The paper offers an insight into children’s food shopping experiences and the role of convenience stores in their discretionary consumption practice.

Conceptual Foundation Food socialisation and discretionary consumption Children are more actively engaged in family food shopping and decisions around food choice (Ekstrom 2010, Epp and Price 2008, Gram 2014, Marshall 2014, Nash and Basini 2012, O’Docherty et.al. 2006, Nooregaard 2011, 2007). Moreover they are increasingly knowledgeable about product categories and retail layout, often assisting with the food shopping, negotiating the store aisles (Gram 2015, Haselhoff et. al. 2014, Wilson and Wood 2004) and engaging with products in the store (Aitken 1998). Yet most of these trips to the retail store involve at least one parent and despite their influence in store their behaviour is sanctioned by parents. Even very young children display an understanding of the grocery ‘script’ and mimic adult behaviour (Drenten et. al. 2008). But we know much less about children’s ‘discretionary consumption’ i.e. when children are ‘free’ to buy, and eat, what they want independently of their parents (Marshall et. al. 2007). These occasions outside of the home and away from the parents represent an important part of their food consumption experience and practice and while much of the 159

debate around children’s food choice has centred on advertising and marketing we know much less about how they engage with the food retail environment (Elliot 2012). In these situations the opportunity for direct co-operation, or conflict, with parents does not exist and children are faced with a different set of decisions about where to shop and what to eat. This leads to the question of how they experience the food retail environment when the opportunity for ‘discretionary consumption’ arises. The food shopping environment and healthy eating The food environment has a significant impact on food choice not least in relation to diet (Gallo et. al 2014, Lake et. al. 2001, Ruff et. al. 2015). Although the relationship between food availability and health is not straightforward (Lee 2012, Sheil et. al 2012) there is some evidence, from health researchers investigating shopping behaviour in low income Mexican households in the US, that children’s nutrient intake is less healthy when children can purchase food on their own from a convenience store (Sharkey et. al. 2012, Sharkey et. al. 2013). British research found that while there was considerable variation in the number of food outlets in close proximity to schools only a small proportion, around fifteen percent, were visited by school children outside of school. Over half of the pupils surveyed purchased food or drink outside school. One fifth of pupils bought food at lunchtime from a corner shop or grocery store and one quarter from a supermarket. Special offers and prices were a key factor in choosing where to purchase food and drink and while variety, service and prices (although not meal deals) were all important proximity to the school and friends influence were key (Wills et. al. 2015). The report did not show a about how these factors varied by outlet but the data shows the variation across schools and what children are purchasing (Wills et. al. 2015). As daily work and school routines change the snack and food industry has responded with a number of convenient food options and eating outside the home is becoming more widespread across parts of Asia (Veeck 2014). As Usui (2014) notes in Japan young consumers represent an important segment of convenience store shoppers but what is the appeal of the convenience store?

Method Given the unique characteristic of Japanese retailing and the density of convenience stores combined with a relatively safe shopping environment and location in residential areas this paper looks at how young consumers use convenience stores. This is an exploratory piece of research with the aim of investigating young Tokyo consumer’s use of convenience stores as part of their discretionary consumption practice. Specific research questions include 1. Are young consumers visiting convenience stores? 2. Are they visiting the store individually or in groups? 3. What food and drink products are they buying in the convenience store? 4. Do food and drink purchases vary across the day? 5. What appears to be driving their purchasing behaviour? The paper draws on secondary literature and market data on the convenience sector to present an overview of the sector and then draws on unobtrusive observation in and around convenience stores at key times in the day. Data collection took place in several prefectures in the metropolitan area of Tokyo around Ikebukuro and Shiki. The observations were undertaken by undergraduate and postgraduate students as part of a class exercise and the observation 160

sites were located in close proximity to student dormitories (Shiki area) and around educational establishments (cram schools and a university in Ikebukuro area). Observations took place across several times of the day and included several stores (Table 1). Students were instructed to observe stores looking at store traffic in and out of the store, mobility and behaviour in the stores along with purchase behaviour of young consumers. Further information was collected on store layout and merchandising. This observational data was supplemented with several exit interviews. Interviews with parents and children were planned but due to problems with recruitment and translation this was replaced with a small survey of university and high school students using a convenience sample (n=55). All participants were ‘regular’ users of convenience stores for food related purchases and familiar with these retail stores (Valkenberg and Cantor 2001, John 1999).

Table 1: Convenience Store Observations Store location 7-11 Ikebukuro

Time of observation 12.15-13.15 3 separate occasions 6-8th May, 2015

Family Mart Ikebukuro

16.00-19.00

7-11 Ikebukuro 16.00-16.30

7-11 Shiki

7.30-8.30

Main findings Girls more likely to shop in groups boys individually Purchasing 1-2 items Girls purchasing snacks boys purchasing drinks Boys spending less time in store than girls Boys purchasing drinks and salty snacks Girls purchasing sweets and onigri Girls more deliberate in purchasing Majority of visits alone Non mixed groups of 2/4 max 5 Purchases 100-300 yen Most visits < 3mins Groups spending longer in store Average purchase 150-350 yen

Findings Japanese convenience stores The convenience store forms a central part of the food retail sector in Japan and the proliferation of convenience stores is something that strikes one a as visitor to Japan particularly in Tokyo. Early forms of convenience store were part of voluntary chains led by wholesalers and handled perishable foods such as vegetables, fruit, meat and fish. In the early 1970’s these traditional Japanese style convenience stores (nihon-gata) were replaced by a new type of convenience store, as general super storesi entered the convenience sector. Today the sector is dominated by three main operators - 7-Eleven Japan (Ito Yokado), Lawson (Daiei ) and Family Mart (Seiyu). As the majority of convenience store consumers walk rather than drive to the store each store defined it’s primary trading area as 500m from the store. This 161

‘strategy of dense location’ (shuchu shutten senryaku) led to the geographical concentration of stores often from the same company and a unique Japanese retail feature (Usui 2014: 187-189). Legislative changes prohibited and restricted the operation of large food stores meaning that there was little competition from the supers. It is claimed that by 2020 most urban Japanese will live no more than 200 metres from a convenience store (Eagle 2015). There are currently around 57,000 convenience stores across Japan, 2013 figures, with 7-Eleven having around 40% of the market share followed by Lawson and Family Mart both with around 19%. These outlets sell a range of food and non-food products with around 17,000 sku’s and a growing number of private brand items (Credit Suisse 2013, Eagle 2015). Food items include instant ramen, onigiri (rice balls), sandwiches, bread, along with hot foods like fried chicken, nikuman and oden, and microwave meals as well as obento (lunchboxes), snacks and sweets, (Japan.com 2015, Usui 2014). Early morning breakfast items will be replaced by lunchtime foods and later evening meals as the merchandising changes to accommodate the different times of the day. This allows small stores (around 128 square metres) to stock a wide range of products supported by an efficient and effective food distribution system. A typical store layout can be seen in figure 1 (Japan.com). The convenience store operators strive to renew and refresh their product offering and currently 7Eleven are committed to developing their product offering of chilled products and pastries while Aeon have been expanding their range of fresh products with My Basket stores (7-Eleven annual report 2014, Aeon annual report 2014). There are a range of other food outlets including supermarkets, general stores, department stores and fast food outlets but the dense location strategy means convenience stores are very accessible. In 2007 convenience stores accounted for around 14% of 45trn yen market in products they sell. Fresh and processed food account for 60-70% of daily sales in stores (Credit Suisse 2014). Despite the growing proportion of older consumers, more women employed outside the home, and the shift towards smaller households young consumers remain an important segment for convenience stores and represent future customers; although the falling birth rate means that this segment will likely represent a smaller proportion of convenience store customers than in the past.

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Figure 1: typical Japanese convenience store layout (Japan.com)

Store Observations. Observations across different convenience stores and times revealed a distinct pattern of visits that included both individuals and groups, some variation across time of day, and specific behaviour patterns relative to these different shopping contexts. These preliminary findings reveal something of the nature of young Japanese consumer’s interaction and use of with the convenient store as part of their food practices. These findings are not meant to be representative but indicative of the type of behaviour and consumption practices of young consumers. It reveals the nature of their interaction and use of convenience stores. The convenience store observations revealed the food areas of the store, particularly the chilled and snack food areas and the sweets and confectionary aisles, attracted the most traffic among young consumers. The early morning observations in the Shiki area took place in a 7-Eleven located close to the railway station. Young consumers used this store on their way to school and the observations revealed more store traffic around the chilled and snack areas (Figure 2) as they opted for small snack items, (onigiri, bread products and sweets), and drinks (juice, canned coffee and wate). Some of the students purchased bento meals and sandwiches but this was a relatively small proportion of the observed purchases. Average expenditure per student was around 150 yen to 350 yen

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Figure 2: Convenience store layout in Tokyo suburb of Shiki

The observations in the afternoon and early evening, centred on Family Mart stores, located close to cram schools in Ikebukuro, and found drinks and salty snacks along with sweets and onigiri were most popular among the young shoppers (6-12 years old). This supports other evidence that suggests the purchase of snacks is higher in the afternoon period (Kasamaki 2013). The students bought around two snacks comprising a drink and sweet, or a salty snack and onigiri or two sweet products. Purchases ranged from 100 to 300 yen. Once again these young consumers appeared to be familiar with the store and rather than lingering in the store they went directly to the area of the store where the food products were located before moving to the counter to pay for the items. Any time in the store was spent deliberating over which brand to choose rather than what products to purchase. The most popular drink was tea (80%), with more varied food purchasesii that included bread products, snacks, ice cream, confectionary, onigiri, and heated meals. The food purchases were more varied compared to the morning observations. Despite the wide range of food items in store purchases centred on onigiri (rice balls), snacks and confectionary. There were some subtle differences across the day with early morning dominated by sales of onigiri, lunchtime drinks and snacks with more purchases of snacks and meals towards the end of the day afterschool and before cram school. Most of the store visits were unaccompanied and individual customers spend relatively little time, one to two minutes, in the store often going directly to the section of the store making the purchase and leaving. Boys, in particular were less likely to linger in the store during the observations. Approximately 609-75% of the afternoon visits involved young consumers visiting the store unaccompanied. A smaller number of observations involved groups of shoppers – ranging from two up to five individuals. These visits were usually one or two minutes longer that those involving single shoppers and the groups were more likely to discussion the selection of snacks. For example, in one group of female shoppers, the 164

discussion led to one of the young women changing her choice in after her friends comment. In other cases suggestions and comments from peers were ignored. Consequently the time in store was longer for groups than for individual shoppers and the groups tended to move around the store as a group buying what they wanted and standing in the queue together but paying individually. One lunchtime store observation showed proportionately more young females shopping in groups compared to young males. While there are few differences in the frequency of store visits between men and women (Miyakei 2012) the observations suggest that boys may be more impulsive and spend less time in the shop than young females deliberating or comparing products. Female customers were more likely to looking at package or comparing products – particularly where the products were new or on trial. In an exit survey of the lunchtime shoppers (n=10) advertising and suggestions from friends were the most important influences for young female shoppers whereas in store displays, enticing impulse purchases and items on offer were more important to young male shoppers. In general these young consumers were making, what appeared to be, fairly habitual and lowinvolvement purchases of snack and food products in stores that they appear to be familiar with. However, the observations do reveal a range of purchases include a range of products that would be considered healthy snacks. There are regular promotions in the convenience stores, at the time of observation 7-eleven were promoting a new sweet breaded snack product and promoting coffee and donuts at the checkout counter. The variation and range of food products available throughout the day is considerable but these young customers appear to have an idea of what they want before they arrive in the store. However, the observations in the early afternoon reveal the challenges of keeping the shelves fully stocked with onigiri and snacks at this at this time of the day. There were a number of products out of stock and further observations reveal the extent to which a number of these appear to be on promotion (as indicted by coloured shelf labelling). This may be influencing the customers decision on what to buy in store, particularly given the average expenditure per visit , as customers are attracted to products on offer. It is unclear from the observations whether customers are buying what plan or reacting to an in store promotion or an out of stock situation by purchasing a close alternative. Either way the final decision about what to buy may be taken in store in response to what is available, to in store promotions, or after consulting with others in the group.

Student survey The majority of young consumers completing the survey (n=47) were first year university students, so relatively recent graduates from school and familiar with using convenience stores (university students 82.2%, elementary school students 4.4%, Junior High and High school 13.3%). The majority of university students (~68%) claimed to visit a convenience store two to four times per week. At the other extreme university students were more likely to visit twice a day compared to school aged children more of whom reported visiting once a week. The most popular visiting times were on the way to school or after school (Kasamaki 2013). The reports on food purchases partially confirm the observations with onigiri (~23%), breads (~22%) and takeaway meals the most popular purchases for university students while 165

onogiri (~19%), breads (~19%) and snacks (~15%) were more popular among school aged children. This may reflect the nature of the purchase timing as over half of the school aged children are purchasing after school and before cram school. Juice (~30%) followed by green tea (~20%) were the most popular drinks with university students more likely to drink coffee compared to school aged children. There was an overall preference (~60%) for manufacturer brands over private label with university students more likely to choose private label.

Conclusions This is a limited study confined to a small number of stores and drawing on observations and a convenience survey of university students. Observation does not allow us to discover the nature of the decision and tracking individual purchases behaviours is challenging in a crowded shop. Despite this the study does allow us to make some observations on how young consumers are using the convenience stores. The observed visits appear purposeful and expedient with relatively little time being spent in store or around the convenience store. Some of this may reflect the timing of the data collection – in Golden Week – but across several stores and locations the overwhelming observation was the limited time spent in the convenience store buying food and drinks. That said, convenience stores appear to be an integral part of the shopping experience for young consumers who are using the stores in and around their study activities going to or from school, en route to cram school, or to university lectures. These retail formats are an unavoidable reality in many Japanese cities and the continued expansion of this sector is likely to see further growth in this retail format. Watching what young consumers are buying in the store shows a fairly limited range of purchase and expenditure dominated by onigiri, snacks and sweets with some purchase of ready meals by students. There are some gender differences but on the basis of the sample size we cannot extrapolate beyond this study. Not all of the purchases are classified as unhealthy although the popularity of bread products compared to the traditional onigri raises some interesting questions about the ways in which product development; merchandising and promotional policies expose children to a more, or less, healthy range of options. The interest in, and shift towards, more fresh foods is a positive development in this sector but whether children will buy these is another question. Given that expenditure per visit was around 300 yen this limits what these young consumers are spending and their ability to trade up to fresh foods or meals. Moreover, many of their purchases appear to supplement their lunches or tie them over to the evening family meal, which remains an important part of Japanese family life (Agriculture and Agrifood Canada 2010). There was little evidence of young consumers eating in store and public consumption of snack foods is not widely evident in and around the stores. What we see is a set of consumption practices that reveal the extent to which children are engaging in and using these retail stores to purchase foods for their own use in and around school activities. The relatively long school days supplemented by additional study in cram schools necessitates some form of sustenance but the observations do not suggest an over reliance on sweet foods or snacks. However, the 166

unavoidable exposure to these retail formats means that what the stores elect to stock can potentially have a huge influence on what children are buying and eating. Concerns elsewhere about children’s exposure to the food environment is particularly relevant here has implications for the health of young Japanese consumers. Habits and practices established in these early years may set a precedent for food consumption patterns and behaviour in later years. Engaging the convenience sector in promoting healthy options may be one way to impact on the diet of young consumers in and around school activities. What this research suggests is a relatively high level of discretionary consumption among young Japanese consumers. These children are not hanging around the convenience store, they don’t have time, but they are using these outlets on a regular basis and the choice of store appears to be as much about location as it is about the merchandise. The aim of this exploratory research was to look at young Tokyo consumer’s use of convenience stores as part of their discretionary consumption practice. What the observations reveal is that young consumers are using convenience stores for purchasing food and drink and their decisions on what to buy reflect the time of day, the presence of others and the in store stocking and promotional activities. For these young consumers convenience stores are an integral part of their food consumption experiences.

Acknowledgements: Thanks to all the students on the KN51 Advanced Seminar series at Rikkyo University, Tokyo, who assisted with the observations and data collection in May 2015. The ensuing discussions and insights were invaluable.

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Miyake, M. (2012) “The Reality of High School Students' Consumption Behavior－Aspect of Consumer Literacy Education－,” Journal of Home Economics of Japan Vol.63 No.6, March pp.327-336, https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jhej/63/6/63_327/_pdf, accessed May 2015. Nørgaard,M.K, and Brunso K, (2010) Family conflicts regarding food choices’, Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 10, 3, 141-151. Nørgaard,M.K, Bruns K, Harudrup P,Mikkelsen C.M.R (2007) Children’s influence on and participation in the family decision process during food buying, Young Consumers, 8, 197-216. O’Dougherty, M., Story, M. and Stang, J. (2006), ‘‘Observations of parent-child co-shoppers in supermarkets: children’s involvement in food selections, parental yielding, and refusal strategies’’, Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, Vol. 38 No. 3, pp. 183-188. Ruff, R.R., Akhund, A. and Adjoian, T. (2015) Small Convenience Stores and the Local Food Environment: An Analysis of Resident Shopping Behavior Using Multilevel Modeling. American Journal of Health Promotion (In-Press).doi: http://d x.doi.org/10.4278/ajhp.140326-QUAN-121 Rust, L. (1993) A new approach to the qualitative analysis of observational data. Journal of Advertising Research, 33, 4, 65-70. Sharkey et al.: Convenience stores are the key food environment influence on nutrients available from household food supplies in Texas Border Colonias. BMC Public Health, 13:45. Sharkey JR, Dean WR, Nalty C (2012) Convenience Stores and the Marketing of Foods and Beverages through Product Assortment.Am J Prev Med, 43:S109-S115. Sheil, V., An, R. and Strum, R. (2012) Is there a robust relationship between neighbourhood food environment and childhood obesity in the USA? Public health, 126, 9, 723–730. Tyrell, R. L. (2014). Exploring adolescent food choice;: a food environment perspective. phD thesis university if Newcastle upon Tyne. http://hdl.handle.net/10443/2530 Veeck, A., Yu, F., Yu, H, Veeck, G. and Gentry, G.W.(2014) ‘Influences on food choices of urban Chinese teenagers’, Young Consumers, 15 (4), pp. 296-311.

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What is the price perception of teen’s impulsive buyers?

Isabelle Muratore CRET-LOG, Aix Marseille Université [email protected]

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Abstract

Purpose - Considering that retailers typically view impulse buying as an important component of their business (around 75% of the purchases are unplanned) and considering also that teens often do some shopping in autonomy and represent an important financial power, this study aims to fill the lack of studies concerning adolescent consumers impulse shopping behaviours. This paper investigates the relationships between the positive (prestige sensitivity, price quality schema) and the negative ( price consciousness, value consciousness, price mavenism, sales proneness) role of price in teens’impulse buyings.

Design/methodology/approach - this research is of a quantitative nature. The test of the hypotheses has been achieved on a sample of 325 french teens (age between 14 to 18) using MANOVA. Previously, respondents were split in two groups which are impulsive buyers and non impulsive buyers.

Findings - findings show clearly differences between teens’impulsive buyings and teens’non impulsive buyings. Teens impulsive buyers possess more prestige sensitivity, price quality schema, price mavenism, sale proneness and less price consciousness and value consciousness than non impulsive buyers. Morever, this research reports that females adolescents are more inclined to be impulsive buyers when they are in a retail store than males adolescents.

Originality/value - not only it is one of the rare studies that investigates on teens impulsive buying but above all, it is the only study that takes into consideration the role of price perception, while a price has to be paid in order to buy.

Keywords of the research - retail shopping, adolescents, price perception, impulse buying, sale proneness.

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Around 75% of purchases are not planned34, so retailers view impulse buying as an important component of their business. An impulse purchase is “when a consumer experiences a sudden, often powerful and persistent urge to buy something immediately. The impulse to buy is hedonically complex and may stimulate emotional conflict. Also, impulse buying is prone to occur with diminished regard for its consequences” (Rook 1987). Impulse buying is related to positive (hedonism, reward…) and negative (bad mood, stress) emotions (Youn and Faber, 2000). Impulse buying is also linked to a deficit of self control (Vohs and Faber, 2007), low self-esteem, can contradict long-term goals (e.g., saving money) and engender satisfaction but also regrets or guilty (Rook, 1987). Teens, who are learning to be consumers, constitute an important market segment especially because of their spending power (Palan, Gentina and Muratore, 2010). Concretely, French teenagers spend a lot of time doing some shopping, more than half teenagers (13-19 years) visit at least once a month a store of fashion or of cultural products (Ipsos MediaCT). On the one hand, shopping is considered by them as a form of entertainment, and, on the other hand, they are the target of numerous marketing stimuli while they shop. Besides, people who are more prone to experience emotional or affective state are more likely to express impulsive buying (Dholakia, 2000). Considering that adolescents experience intense emotions, have a deficit of self-regulation and that they are creating their own identity, they may engage themselves in more impulse buyings than adults (Brici, Hodkinson and Sullivan-Mort, 2013). Brici and al. (2013) underline that “Some scholars suggest that young consumers engaging in reckless behaviour is the norm rather than the exception”. This study seeks to investigate adolescents’impulsive buyings from the perception of price perspective. There are not many studies concerning teens’ impulsive buyings, none has dealt with the price perception (compulsive buying and price perception has already been studied for adults, see KukarKinney, Ridgway and Monroe, 2007 and 2012), yet when a purchase is made, obviously a price is paid. So what is the perception of price for the adolescent impulsive buyer? The aim of this research is to better understand the relationships between several concepts which deal with the role of price (Lichtenstein, Ridgway and Netemeyer, 1993) (prestige sensitivity, price quality

34

CreditCards.com, nov 2014. 173

schema, price consciousness, value consciousness, price mavenism, and sale proneness) and adolescent impulsive buyers. In order to answer this issue, first, we will present a review of the literature on impulsive buying and then on price perception. Then hypotheses will be developed and the methodology to test them will be described. Finally, the results and the discussion will be presented.

Impulsive buying Impulse buying is a concept which has evolved. First, it has been defined as “unplanned buying” to a more complex definition. If each impulse buying is unplanned, each unplanned buying is not impulse buying (Iyer, 1989). Unplanned purchasing is a broader concept while impulse purchasing is one situation of unplanned buying. Drawing on previous researches, the impulsive buying is constituted by two parts, the consumer feels suddenly a strong desire to buy a product, then the consumer loses his self-control because his desire is too strong and so, he buys impulsively the product (Hoch and Loewenstein 1991) in order to get an immediate gratification. So the type of purchase is characterized by an intensive desire and a lack of control. The impulsive buying is defined through three dimensions (Youn 2000) : a conative dimension (quickness and reactivity) ; a cognitive dimension (low level of deliberation, few consideration about the futur and the consequences and without planning) ; an affective dimension (a urge to buy, emotional conflict, a tendancy to experience feelings). Virvilaite, Saladiene and Bagdonaite (2009) propose a definition taking into consideration the evolution of this concept “behaviour of impulsive purchasing is a consumer’s response to stimulus experienced in a purchase environment and it is an instant decision and a consumer feels emotional and/or cognitive reactions in post purchase. Impulsive purchasing does not correspond to rational decision making model of a consumer: when need emerges, a consumer buys impulsively (without search of information) and does not search for alternatives… Consumers buying impulsively try to satisfy their hedonistic demands through normative evaluations which affect a person’s impulsivity and by doing this reduce his behaviour of impulsive buying.” 174

This conflict between desire and self control invites to avoid either a potential anticipated regret of a non purchase or a potential anticipated purchase regret (Hoch et Loewenstein, 1991). An anticipated regret of a purchase is negatively linked with impulsive buying whereas an anticipated regret of a non purchase is positively linked with impulsive buying. It has to be noticed that most researches deals with compulsive buying and not with impulsive buying, often one is taken for the other. To be clear, the difference between the two concepts is a question of degree. Indeed compulsive buying appears to be as a pathologogy that is an addiction. According to Hirschman (1992) the difference is that the impulsive buyer has enough self control in order to avoid his impulsivness to become self-destructive. Prior researches focus on factors which trigger impulsive buying : on the one hand internal cues and on the other hand external cues (Wansink, 1994).

Internal cues According to Verplanken and Sato (2011), both negative and positive mood are linked with impulsive behaviour. That is in order to get a more hedonistic experience or to reduce bad mood, the consumer can have an impulsive behaviour. Clearly impulsive buyers are more emotional sensitive than non impulsive buyers (Rook et Gardner, 1993). The strong desire to buy appears to be a self-regulatory mechanism in order to reduce negative feelings as low self-esteem (Verplanken and alii., 2005) and negative well being (Silvera, Lavack and Kropp, 2008). The impulsive buying results in a change to the consumer’s negative mood by rewarding himself (Hausman, 2000). Moreover, impulsive buying is also perceived sometimes as a postpurchase dissatisfaction, a guilty feeling or regret (Rook and Fisher 1995) allowing for the future the implementation of control strategies. The lack of control, stress reaction, absorption (Podoshen and Andrzejewski, 2015), immaturity (Zhang and Shrum 2009), materialism (Podoshen and Andrzejewski, 2015), consumer impulsiveness (Sharma, Sivakumaran and Marshall 2010), perception of inadequacy levels concerning his self identity (Dittmar,

Beattie and Friese, 1995), age (Parboteeah, 2005)

were found to be related to impulse buying

tendencies.

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External cues It is important for retailers to be aware that marketing elements that they control are able to arise a strong desire to buy that is to buy impulsively. Indeed, according to the review of the literature store layout, atmosphere for example defined by sights, sound, smells (Youn and Faber, 2000), staff (Parboteeah, 2005) have a strong effect on impulsive buying because these factors are linked with the hedonism. Moreover, to touch the product increases impulse purchasing as the distance between product

and consumer decreases, so, point-of-purchase signs, displays, and packaging encouraging product touch increase impulse purchasing (Peck and Childers 2006). Promotional incentives can trigger impulsive buying (Dholakia, 2000; Rook, 1987). Indeed, impulsive buyings often take place in the sales period or deal with products considered by the consumer as “not expensive” (Youn et Faber, 2000). Moreover, according to Ortony, Clore

and Collins (1990) the

unexpected character of a situation may trigger impulsive behaviour, yet sales are often unexpected and so can trigger impulsive buying. The use of promotional activities and merchandising tactics is relevant in order to focus consumers’ attention on emotionally appealing products (Kacen, Hess and Walker, 2012). Concerning the price, even if researches emphasize that a low price is generally preferred to a high price by impulsive buyers (e.g. Kacen and al., 2012), others assert that consumers make impulsive purchases of both expensive and inexpensive items across a wide range of product categories (e. g. Dittmar and al., 1995).

Price perception

Adolescent price perception Concerning price perception, studies carried out on children and teenagers do not deal with this concept unilaterally. They take into account the notion of price as a simple (as opposed to complex) notion, and they seek mainly to apprehend the sensitivity to prices in a one-dimensional way, e.g. taking price into account versus not taking price into account. These studies answer the question: « Do children and teenagers take the price of products or services into account ? », but do not answer the question: « How

176

do teenagers perceive price ? ». Furthermore, the price variable does not generally constitute the core of the studies, but is studied in a subsidiary way. Two main results are to be pointed out. Firstly, price does not seem to play an important role for children (Brée, 1987 ; McNeal, 1992; Ward, Wackman and Wartella, 1977). But, taking into account the simplification applied to the concept of price, these results need to be discussed more thoroughly. Secondly, by studying the way children take into account promotional offers of cents-off reductions, Muratore (2003) underlines the non-linear character of the child' s cents-off sensitivity development : cents-off sensitivity does not increase from childhood to adulthood continuously. Price cue appears to be more complex than it seems. Moreover, involvement is a strong antecedent of the child' s cents-off sensitivity. In conclusion, it appears clearly that the relationships between individuals and price have been studied only among adults and children under fourteen. Consequently, in order to propose the first elements of analysis of the genesis of price perception, it seems relevant to study what goes on between the ages of fourteen and eighteen.

Adult price perception Price perception could be defined as the process by which consumers interpret price and attribute value to a good or service (Sternquist, Byun and Jin, 2004). In this article, we postulate, with Lichtenstein, Ridgway and Netemeyer (1993) and Sternquist and al. (2004) that price is a multi-dimensional cue. Lichtenstein and al. (1993) use seven constructs to understand price perception, five linked with negative role of price and two linked with positive role.

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Figure 1. Negative and positive role of price Negative

Positive role

role

of price

of price

Value consciousnes

Price consciousnes

Coupon proneness

Sale proneness

Price mavenism

Price-quality schema

Prestige sensitivity

A concern for price paid relative to quality perceived

The degree to which the consumer focuses exclusively on paying low price

An increase propensity to respond to a purchase offer because the coupon form of the purchase offer positively affects purchase evaluations

An increase propensity to respond to a purchase offer, because of the sale form, in which the price positively affects purchase evaluations

The degree to which an individual is a source for price information for many kinds of products and places to shop for the lowest prices

Generalized belief across product categories that the level of the price cue is related positively to the quality level of the product

Favorable perceptions of the price cue based on feelings of prominence and status that higher prices signal to other people about the purchaser

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Hypotheses

The negative role of price35

Price consciousness is defined by Lichtenstein and al. (1993) as the degree to which the consumer focuses exclusively on paying attention to low price and it concerns the negative role of the price. According to this point of view the consumer is looking for low prices in order to buy. Such a perception necessitates to have a knowledge of prices levels. As early as 8 years old, children know perfectly well the price of the products they wish to buy (Estess and Barocas, 1994). With a much broader access to information during their teenage years (autonomy, expertise of web browsing), they can compare prices of a product or a brand. So, on the one hand, teens have skills to search for low prices, but, on the other hand , this search is in contradiction with impulsive behaviour. Indeed, an impulsive purchase is characterized by fast decisionmaking (Youn and Faber, 2000), while the low price searching necessitates time. Moreover, the impulsive buying process is more linked to an affective dimension, while the search for low prices concerns a cognitive process : teens impulsive buyers are less in a deliberative process. Futhermore, according to Brici and al. (2013), teen consumers show less consideration of finances following impulse buying than adults. Subsequently, they are much less aware of their real-life constraints, finances and budgets. So, searching for a low price is not something which matters for teens that are impulsive buyers because they do not need to manage their budget. Thus, the following hypotheses might be drawn :

H1: Teens impulsive buyers are less likely to be price conscious than teens non impulsive buyers.

According to Brici and al. (2013) adolescents’ impulse buying is associated with negative moods, such as ‘‘bad mood’’ and regret. So as mentioned in the literature review adolescents will exhibit impulsive behaviour under stress and negative emotion. The use of impulsive buying as a form of mood repair could be triggered by the context of the shop. Indeed, the retail environment can, via different means, promote impulse behaviour. In fact, sale

proneness (an increase propensity to respond to a purchase offer, because of the sale form in which the price positively affects purchase evaluations) is used in a way to pay less to get as much or to pay as 35

None hypothesis will be made about coupon proneness which is a specific kind of deal, we prefer to include it in sale proneness. 179

much in order to get more (more product, cents-off…). According to Yip, Chan and Poon (2012) the presence of promotion is an attribute (at the sixth place) determining young people ’s favorite store. Teens report to be attracted by discounts and buy one get one free offers. Concerning adults, several studies (e. g. Puccinelli and alii, 2009) underline that getting good deals on purchases trigger impulse buying. Moreover, according to several searches (e.g. Youn and Faber, 2000) impulsive buying often occured during the sales period. In fact, some consumers are looking for deals because of an economic profit, while others buy products in sale for a psychological profit (Lichtenstein, Burton and Netemeyer, 1990). This psychological profit is linked with the «smart-shopper-feeling » and according to LabbePinlon, Bonnefont and Giraud, (2005) to be proud of making a good deal is linked with impulsive buying. In fact, the sale is understood as the sign of a good deal. So, the sale can be viewed as a “good deal” which can stimulate the adolescent’s purchase and make him feel like a “smart shopper”. Doing so, his guilty feeling which seems according to Brici and al. (2013) linked to the impulse behaviour, will be minimized. It is also a way to avoid an anticipated regret of a non sale. Sale’s prone teens, by buying impulsively, are not following a deep cognitive process comparing the objective value of the deal, but will follow the “communication about the deal” (that is the crossed off price…).

H2: Teens impulsive buyers are more likely to be sale prone than teens non impulsive buyers.

As far as price mavenism (that is the degree to which an individual is a source for price information for many kinds of products and places to shop for the lowest prices) is concerned, the frequency of the interactions between peers may lead teenagers to discuss the price of products. However, the fact that teenagers might discuss between themselves about the price of their purchases does not constitute a necessary condition to turn them into price maven. What seems to be the fundamental characteristic of a maven is his objective expertise and his perceived expertise. Breazeale and Lueg (2011) report through a review of the literature that self-esteem is positively links to marketing mavenism. Given that several authors (e. g. Verplanken and al., 2005) have shown that self esteem is negatively linked to impulsive purchase, the following hypothesis can be drawn :

H3: Teens impulsive buyers are less likely to be price maven than teens non impulsive buyers. 180

Value consciousness, that is a concern for price paid relative to the quality perceived, constitutes a complex cognitive process. Indeed, this requires examination of two products’attributes (price and quality) in the decision. Such a process takes time to compare and to evaluate the value of the product through different kinds of indicators. However, the urge to buy which characterized the impulsive buying is in contradiction with the time needed to achieve such a deliberative process. So, the following hypothesis can be proposed:

H4 : Teens impulsive buyers are less likely to be value conscious than teens non impulsive buyers.

The positive role of price

Prestige sensitivity is a favorable perception of the price cue based on feelings of prominence and status that higher prices signal to other people about the purchaser. Prestige sensitivity is related to socially visible consumption behaviours (McGowan and Sternquist, 1998). Among teenagers, peers constitute an important socialization factor (Gentina, Butori, Rose and Bakir, 2014). So, it is highly probable that the conspicuous feature of consumption behaviours plays an important role among teenagers who are creating their own identity through peers’regard. Products are very used to define its owner (Belk 1988). According to Chaplin and John (2007) around the age of 10–11, the symbolic meanings and the status accorded to certain types of possessions and products are understood. Indeed possessions are a way to define self-concepts, to translate a salient part of who they are. To do so, teens manage their impressions by acquiring brands and products plebiscited by their peers in order to be accepted (Cohen, 1982). So peer relationships are very important to teen’s development of self-image (Molenmaker, 2008). Besides, Bearden, Netemeyer and Teel (1989) have shown that self-esteem relates negatively to normative interpersonal influence on purchasing decisions. In fact, a deficit in self-concept may be affected in a more important way by external sources such as peer pressure (Gil, Kwon, Good and Johnson, 2012). In the same way, Yang, Schaninger and Laroche (2013) have supported that children's self-esteem negatively relates to their susceptibility to peer influence. Moreover several researches (e. g. Silvera, Lavack and Kropp, 2008) have underlined that an impulse purchase is a way to cope with the feelings of low esteem. 181

Teens that buy in an impulsive way products in order not only to give a better image of themselves (to them and to the peers) but also to increase their self esteem, do so in order to compensate their low esteem. The above discussion leads to the following hypothesis:

H5: Teens impulsive buyers are more likely to be prestige sensitive than teens non impulsive buyers.

Price-quality schema is about the belief that price evaluates the quality of the product. Higher the price is, better the quality is. The studies that have been carried out on this subject tend to show that this aspect of price perception exists in all cultures (Sternquist and al., 2004; Veek and Burns, 1995). The dimensions of price-quality schema and prestige sensitivity should not be treated in the same way. Indeed, both are related to price, but in a very different way : price-quality schema expresses a belief about the intrinsic meaning of price (e.g. price is an expression of the quality of a product or service), whereas prestige sensitivity expresses a belief in relation with other people’ s perception. Children are aware that the price of a product depends on its quality as early as ten years old (Fox and Kehret-Ward, 1990). As a consequence, this type of heuristic is already existing during teenage years. Thus, given that impulsive buying is something achieved quickly (Youn and Faber, 2000), we can postulate that teens will less go through a deep investigation (a complex cognitive process) during their impulse buyings and so will use heuritsics to make their choices. More precisely, every teens have the skill, but impulse buyers are more likely, because of less deliberation, to use heuristics in order to take an impulsive decision. Also, we can imagine that acting this way is, on the one hand, worrisome from teens financial resources point of view (Brici and al. 2013), but, on the other hand, this heuristic provides to them an evidence that they have made a good choice. Doing so, they alleviate a post-purchase regret. It is, for teens, a way to deal with an anticipated regret (Hoch and Loewenstein, 1991). So the following hypothesis can be drawn :

H6: Teens impulsive buyers are more likely to infer quality on the basis of price than teens non impulsive buyers.

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Gender is an important segmentation criteria in marketing. So it seems necessary to be able to know if teens gender has an influence on the propensity to buy impulsively. Gender differences are most pronounced in European and American cultures in which sex-role differences are relatively small, such a statement underlines that cultural factors are not responsible for the differences in personality traits between men and women (Tifferet and Herstein, 2012). Concerning adults, several searchers (e.g. Segal and Podoshen, 2013; Tifferet and Herstein, 2012) have suggested that women overall make more impulse purchases than men. According to Tifferet and Herstein (2012) it is because women score higher in hedonic consumption than men and that they show more anxiety and depression than men. Yet the literature review have clearly highlighted the existing relationship between positive and negative emotions and impulse buyings. Concerning teenagers, they are achieving autonomy not only as individuals transitioning to adulthood but also as consumers learning how to navigate the contours of the market by themselves. Concretely, in this autonomous consumption, adolescent girls, relative to teenage boys, are the primary shopping spenders in this age group (Palan and al., 2010). Consequently, adolescents girls may make more unplanned purchases. Futhermore, Moksnes and alii. (2010) found that girls scored higher on all measures of stress and emotional states than boys, underlying a more emotional background for girls than for boys. For these reasons we propose that :

H7: Females adolescents are likely to be more impulsive buyers than males adolescents males.

Method

Data collection Data collection has been achieved through three high schools36. These high schools were located in the south of France and were varied concerning the type of teens. The data collection procedures insured respondent anonymity. The final sample was of 325 french teens (age between 14 to 18). There were 57.85% female and 42.15 % male. Concerning the age the 36

All our thanks go to the head masters of Dumont D’Urville (high school) , bosco (secondary high school) and L’Herminier (secondary high school) 183

distribuion was the following : 14 years old 13,54%; 15 years old 25,23% ;16 years old 14,46 %;17 years old 21,85 %;18 years old 24,92 %.

Construct measures All constructs were measured using existing scales. Because the seven scales are english, all items were translated into French using the parallel-blind technique to insure translation equivalence and have been pre tested in order to check the understanding of each item because of the translation but also to check the good understanding of teenagers (the scale has been initially achieved on adults). So several items have been deleted or adapted. The scales were formated into five-point Likert. To measure the tendency to buy impulsively a scale developed by Rook and Fisher (1995) (buying impulsiveness scale) has been used. This scale is usually used in other researches (e. g. Fenton-O’Creevy and al., 2012). Initially it consists of 9 items and only one dimension. Given that three items during a pre test were misunderstood they have been deleted. This scale includes statements such as “I see it, I buy it, describes me”, “I often buy things without thinking”. Cronbach’s alpha for the scale was .82. The chisquare value for the confirmatory factor model was 41,884 (d.f. = 9; p = 0.000). Other goodness of fit measures were: GFI = 0.957 ; AGFI = 0.899 and RMSEA = 0.1 indicating an adequate fit of the model. The other concepts (price consciousness, sale proneness, price mavenism, value consciousness, prestige sensitivity and price-quality schema) have been measured through the scales developed by Lichtenstein and al. (1993). Each scale was uni-dimensional. The chi-square value for the confirmatory factor model for the 6 scales was 231.512 (d.f. = 120; p = 0.000). Other goodness of fit measures were: GFI = 0.921 ; AGFI = 0.887 and RMSEA= 0.05 indicating an adequate fit of the model. Discriminant validity is supported.

Price consciousness The original version consists of 5 items. Two items have been deleted. This scale includes statements such as " The time it takes to find low prices is usually not worth the effort”, “I am not willing to go to extra effort to find lower prices” (reversed score). Cronbach’s alpha for the scale was 0.806. 184

Sale proneness Initially it consists of 6 items, 2 items have been deleted. This scale includes statements such as “If a product is on sale, that can be a reason for me to buy it.”, “I am more likely to buy brands that are on sale”. Cronbach’s alpha for the scale was 0.91.

Price mavenism The original scale was achieved through 6 items, two have been misunderstood. Examples of items used include “I like helping people by providing them with price information about many types of products ”, “For many kinds of products, I would be better able than most people to tell someone where to shop to get the best to buy”. Cronbach’s alpha for the scale was 0.754.

Value consciousness Value consciousness was operationalized using 2 items among the five. Teenagers indicated their agreement with such statements “ I am very concemed about low prices, but I am equally concerned about product quality”, “I generally shop around for lower prices on products, but they still must meet certain quality requirements before I buy them”. Cronbach’s alpha for the scale was 0.77.

Prestige sensitivity 3 items on the 9 items were used. Sample items include statements such as “ Buying the most expensive brand of a product makes me feel classy ”, “People notice when you buy the most expensive brand of a product”. Cronbach’s alpha for the scale was 0.80.

Price-quality schema

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This construct was measured using 2 items above the 4 (“The price of a product is a good indicator of its quality”, “You always have to pay a bit more for the best”). Cronbach’s alpha for the scale was 0.785.

Results

The test of the hypotheses has been achieved using MANOVA. Previously, respondents were split in two groups (impulsive vs non impulsive buyers). Respondents with an impulsive buying index value of 13 (median value) or higher were classified as impulsive buyers (represent 54.15 % of the respondants) and those respondents whose index value was 12 or below were classified

as non-impulsive buyers

(represent 45.85 % of the respondants).

According to Hypothesis H1, teens impulsive buyers are less likely to be price conscious than teens non impulsive buyers, the test supports this hypothesis. Consistent with this hypothesis teens’s non impulsive buyers score higher concerning price consciousness than teen’s impulsive buyers (Mteens impulsive buyers = 9.25 ; Mteens non impulsive buyers = 10.32 ; F1,323 = 11.471 ; p = .000 ; r = 0.185). We predicted in Hypothesis 2 that teens impulsive buyers are more likely to be sale prone than teens non impulsive buyers. This prediction is confirmed : teens’s non impulsive buyers score is less higher concerning sale proneness as opposed to teen’s impulsive buyers. (Mteens impulsive buyers = 15.65 ; Mteens non impulsive buyers = 14.25 ; F1,323= 20.348 ; p = .000 ; r = 0.243). In hypothesis 3, we state that teens impulsive buyers are less likely to be price maven than teens non impulsive buyers. However, contrary to what we have expected, teens impulsive buyers are more likely to be price maven in comparison with teens non impulsive buyers (Mteens impulsive buyerss = 11.90 ; Mteens non impulsive buyers = 10.20 ; F1,323= 18.147 ; p = .000 ; r = 0.231). Hypothesis 4 predicted that teens impulsive buyers are less likely to be value conscious than teens non impulsive buyers. This hypothesis is supported. So teens non impulsive buyers show a higher score 186

concerning value consciousness than teens impulsive buyers (Mteens impulsive buyers = 7.17 ; Mteens non impulsive buyers = 7,72 ; F1,323= 6.759 ; p = .009 ; r = 0.143). In the line with what we have postulated in hypothesis 5, teens impulsive buyers are more likely to be prestige sensitive than teens non impulsive buyers, H5 is validated. So teens non impulsive buyers are less likely to be prestige sensitive as opposed to teens impulsive buyers (Mteens impulsive buyers = 8.47 ; Mteens non impulsive buyers = 6.32 ; F1,323= 38.234 ; p = .000 ; r = 0.325). Furthermore, as reported in hypothesis 6, the inference of quality based on the price is higher for teens impulsive buyers than for teens non impulsive buyers (Mteens impulsive buyers = 5.71 ; Mteens non impulsive buyers = 4.87 ; F1,323= 10.818 ; p = .001 ; r = 0.18). Finally, hypothesis 7, according to which females adolescents are likely to be more impulsive buyers than males adolescents, is confirmed. So males adolescents appear to ess engage themselves in impulsive buying than females adolescents (Mfemales = 15.2 ; Mmales = 13.2; F1,323= 9.889 ; p = .001; r = 0.17).

Discussion and implications The aim of this research is to better understand the relationships between the role of price (Lichtenstein, Ridgway and Netemeyer, 1993) and teenager impulsive buying. The findings show clear differences between teens’impulsive buyings and teens’non impulsive buyings. Each hypothesis has been validated excepted H3. Teens impulsive buyers possess more prestige sensitivity, price quality schema, price mavenism, sale proneness and less price and value consciousness than non impulsive buyers. Moreover, this research reports that females adolescents are more impulsive buyers than males adolescents. So several points seem to be underlying. Firstly, even if emotion seems to be involved in impulse buying, teens’impulsive buyers use heuristics (that is price quality schema or the presence of a deal) but not as an algoritm process to buy quickly. It is why teens’ impulsive buyers are less price conscious and value conscious. Concerning price consciousness, according to Labbe-Pinlon, Bonnefont and Giraud (2005), the correlation between perceived price and real price is weak. The authors suggest that price evaluation is not an antecedent but the consequence of impulsiveness. Indeed the consumer will under estimate the price of a product when his product desire is very strong. Price consciousness appears to be more a behaviour which consists to look after low price, but what is the relation of this concept with the price 187

perceived and the price knowledge? Hence, maybe the measure of the price knowledge could give another result more objective than the price consciousness. Secondly, sale proneness, prestige sensitivity and price quality schema are a way to increase self esteem or to reduce guilty feeling, allowing adolescents’impulsive buyers to attain the positive feelings they seek. Teens’ impulsive buyers do not seem to pay attention to the financial dimension of price because they are not very concerned by budget. So, teens’ impulse buyers are more vulnerable because they focus their purchases more on products that provide them with prestige. Their sale proneness allow them to alleviate their regret and guilty. It allows teens impulsive buyers to feel as smart shoppers not really because of the objective advantage but because of the feeling to get a good deal because there is a sale. In other words teens impulsive buyers focus their purchases more on products that provide them with prestige and so buy well-known and well accepted brands. Even if teens impulsive buyers are not price conscious, that is they do not look intentionally for low prices, they do however feel happy when they can take advantage of a promotion. Thirdly, H3 is not validated. Teens’impulsive buyers are more likely to be price maven than teens non impulsive buyers (even if they do not search for low price). It is maybe because adolescents impulsive buyers, because they buy frequently, are perceived by peers as having a good knowledge of prices and seem to be experts. Clearly, this research shows that teen’s impulsive buyers tend to consider price at the same time in his positive and negative role. Considering that retail stores strategies are seeking to activate impulse behaviour, that impulse purchase is linked to emotions and that young people are full of emotions (stress…), consequently, teens’ impulse buyings become a frequent strategy to repair (ehance) their mood (Brici and al., 2013). This research also has implications for retailers. A way to trigger the teen’s impulsive buying is to send them sales deal via e.mail or on their mobile phone, underlying also the prestige of their products and the peers acceptance. We can also imagine sales promotion for three friends (girls) who will shop together, this type of deal would take into consideration the place of deal and peers acceptance. Moreover, the achievement of « flash » deals in the store could be also a good way to trigger impulse behaviour. Finally, geolocalized mobile deals appear to be also a relevant way to touch this target. 188

Indeed, this generation called the Z generation is born with the mobile phone and the internet. So, the technologies are well known. The geolocalization on mobile is particularly adapted in order to trigger impulsive buying through deals. As according to Ortony and al. (1990), the unexpected character of a situation may trigger impulsive behaviour. This geolocalization makes things unexpected in two ways : not only a deal is ephemeral but also the geolocalization (the store can know where I am) can appear as surprising and unexpected. In order to contribute to change self-esteem (that is to boost self-esteem), the teen’s membership for a brand can be relevant. Indeed to inform him of new products, new deals, to invite him personaly to discover a new offer (for different kind of events) that is to communicate with him as a vip, will make him feel as a very important person. Hence, the brand membership will alleviate his low self-esteem. This can bring him to make more impulsive purchases in the store. From a more societal point of view, given the frequency of their buyings, it could be possible to educate adolescents to make more optimal purchases via the achievement of program at school concerning how to manage a budget and the consequences of a bad management. Clearly given - that unplanned buying constitutes an important aspect of the retailing , - that adolescents have money and so buy products on their own and are also influencers, - that adolescents are not likely to consider the risk, - that they are more likely to experience emotional or affective state, - that they are in construction and so very dependant of their peers regards, the study of the impulsive buying of this target seems to be worth. The study implies several important directions for future researches. This theme has to be studied deeper. Different questions are to be solved. For instance, what is the place of price among other variables which can trigger impulsive buying? Given that the adolescent is a member of the Z generation : how to trigger teenager impulsive on-line buying? Does the role of price is the same in teenager online impulsive buying? 189

It appears also that teenagers impulsive buyers are more deal prone. But more precisely what kind of deal will trigger them most? Moreover, in order to better apprehend the role of price in adolescent impulsive behaviour, the understanding of his money attitude and his buget management are important. The aim will be to build a typology of adolescents impulsive buyers in order to better target them. Finally, in echo with the review of the literature : what kind of display and atmosphere are more inclined to trigger adolescent impulsive buying ?

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Born to buy? The influence of consumer kids on family consumption: Hungarian perspective

Agnes Neulinger Corvinus University of Budapest e-mail :

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Boy+doll and girl+car: children’s reactions to incongruent visuals in a retailer’s catalog

Isabelle ULRICH Neoma Business School Bd André Siegfried 76825 Mont-Saint-Aignan Cedex e-mail : [email protected]

Pascale EZAN Université de Rouen 3 avenue Pasteur 76186 Rouen Cedex e-mail : [email protected]

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Structured Abstract Purpose: French retailer Système U has triggered controversial debates among professionals and parents recently, by inserting visuals revolutionizing gender norms in their Christmas toy catalog, with boys nursing dolls or girls playing cars. As children’s perceptions have not been included in these debates, the purpose of this paper is to explore their reactions across age groups, regarding this catalog and its incongruent visuals.

Design/Methodology/Approach: An exploratory qualitative study was conducted with 26 children aged 5 to 10, from middle to upper social class. The methodology combines, with each individual, participant observations and semi-directive interviews. First, each child is observed while freely flipping through the catalog and commenting. Second, after closing the catalog, children are asked what they recall and which visuals. Third, the interview focusses on 4 incongruent visuals of the catalog in turn, to further explore reactions.

Findings: Results show first that incongruent visuals are not spontaneously noticed and memorized by children, except by girls aged 9-10. Second, children’s acceptance/rejection of these visuals and toys is influenced by (1) the stage of gender constancy when rigidity about gender intensifies (between 5-7), (2) children’s own flexibility towards gender roles at 8-10, and (3) the collective destination of the game.

Originality/value: This paper adds to the literature in revealing children’s reactions to a toy catalog containing incongruent visuals, introduced recently. It provides new insight into how children notice and memorize these visuals, and about variables explaining their appreciation of these pictures and toys across age. It gives practical implications for retailers to better adapt their catalogs.

Keywords: children, retailing, toys catalog, gender constancy, gender roles flexibility. Paper type: Research paper

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Every Christmas, millions of toy catalogs published by retailers are sent to children. Unlike other retailers’ promotional leaflets, they are eagerly awaited by families, read through and kept by children, to write their letter to Santa Claus (Roederer, 2008). Hence catalogs of toys are key communication instruments for both specialist toys retailers and mass distribution retailers. In western countries since 1945, toy catalogs have been structured along a strict gendered rule, vehiculating a traditional gender ideology denounced by researchers (Pennel, 1994): products are categorized along gender, with ‘girl toys’ presenting domestic household goods and dolls, and ‘boy toys’ proposing occupations in the realm of building, fighting and adventure with trucks or guns (Zegaï, 2010). As of 2012, French mass distributor Système U has introduced visuals breaking with traditional gender norms in its Christmas catalog, like a boy nursing a doll in girls’ pages, or a girl playing cars in boys’ pages. The same year in Sweden, Top-Toy retailer published a catalog with visuals of a girl at play with toy weapons, and a boy playing with a pink hair-dryer. These attempts from retailers aim at reflecting in their communication supports new gender-neutral values, in coherence with societal evolution towards gender equality. Yet these initiatives have raised controversial debates in both countries among professionals and parents, especially in France where experts have outlined the incongruent characteristics of these visuals, without reaching a consensus about their impact on children’s choices of toys. Therefore the objective of this research is to explore children’s reactions to Système U catalog, their perception regarding incongruent visuals and the attractiveness of the related toys.

Toys and catalogs: key instruments to children’s gendered socialization Interactions with toys can be seen as the gateway to many aspects of children’s socialization and cognitive development during childhood. A large body of research has shown that children’s choices regarding toys are linked to gendered socialization (Bradbard & Parkman, 1984). Boys and girls begin making sex-typed toy selection by 18 months and clearly prefer same-sex toy by 3 years (Fagot, 1974; Caldera, Huston & O’Brien, 1989). As of 16 months, boys already prefer looking at trucks and girls at dolls (Serbin et al., 2001). In parallel, Tap (1985) has demonstrated that children can classify toys as ‘masculine’, ‘feminine’ or ‘neutral’ as of 3-4 years. Studying children’s letters to Santa Claus, authors have shown in many developed countries that Christmas toys requests are traditionally sex-typed (Richardson & Simpson, 1982; O’Cass, & Clarke, 2002; Halkoaho & Laaksonen, 2009), except recently for 209

common gifts such as game consoles, though, even in these requests, the gender difference could be discerned in specific color choices (Halkoaho & Laaksonen, 2009). Finally, children tolerate better that girls engage in masculine games than the reverse, reflecting parents’ behavior (Tostain & Lebreuilly, 2006).

For toy catalogs, studies outline the gendered lessons they communicate to children, by picturing differently the way boys or girls engage in games (Schwartz & Markham, 1985) or using a symbolic language of gender encoded in toys and their presentation (Pennel, 1994). These catalogs are crucial for children, as they use them to source cut-outs and images to qualify their requests for Christmas gifts (O’Cass and Clarke, 2002; Roederer, 2008). Many research show that toy catalogs are structured with separate sections devoted to boys vs girls, with distinct vocabulary, distinct colors (blue vs pink), visuals associating boys+masculine toys then girls+feminine toys (Chaumier, 2004; Zegaï, 2010). So far, marketing and sociology literature have provided only adult’s perspective on catalogs with detailed studies of sex-stereotyping of toys in their presentation, analysis of textual components and pictures with their symbolic interpretation (Fèvre-Pernet, 2005). More recently, Damay & Guichard (2013) have focused on how children pay attention to toys’ prices in catalogs when constituting their letter to Santa Claus. In this context, it appears pertinent to turn towards children and explore their reactions to Système U catalog which really breaks the rules of gendered norms with its incongruent visuals displaying a girl playing cars or a boy nursing a doll.

Children’s gender development and stages of rigidity/flexibility Gender is one of the first social categories used by children to understand the world around them (Dafflon-Novelle, 2006). How do children develop a sense of their gender and gender-typed differentiation? Building on the work of Piaget (1954), Kohlberg (1966) showed that they develop cognitively in three stages: (1) gender identity (2 years): children realize they are either a boy or a girl, (2) gender stability (3-4 years): they recognize this identity does not change over time, and (3) gender constancy (5-7 years): they understand this identity is not affected by changes in gender-typed appearances, activities or roles in society. The literature also suggests that the relative strength or rigidity of gender-related knowledge and behavior waxes and wanes across child’s development. Between 2-4 years, toddlers begin to be aware of gender stereotypes, then from 5 to 7, children embrace strong gender norms and become rigid; finally between 8-11, they enter a phase of flexibility, 210

recognizing that a wider range of behaviours or objects are acceptable for both genders (Trautner, 1992). This pattern of a peak of rigidity between 5-7 is consistent with the attainment of gender constancy: children are highly motivated by gender norms at about the time they acquire gender constancy, between 5-7 (Martin, Ruble & Szkrybalo, 2002). Once certain their own sex will not be affected by their behavior, they can behave in a more flexible manner.

Methodology An exploratory qualitative study was conducted with children at their home (10 boys, 13 girls between 510, from middle to upper social class). This age group was selected because by 5 years, children are able to verbalize their behavior’s motivations, and by 11, their interest in toys decreases (Dafflon-Novelle, 2006). Moreover, this allows exploring reactions at different stages of children’s flexibility towards gender roles (Trautner, 1992). The limitation to the upper social classes builds on prior literature: transgression of gender norms should be better accepted (Dafflon-Novelle, 2006). Children were recruited through personal contacts via a snow-balling technique in Rouen, and in a school in Paris through contacts with their parents. Recruitments were stopped when saturation was reached for the different age groups within the 5-10 years old range. For each child, the methodology combines in one session individual participant observation and semidirective interview (30 minutes on average): - Stage one: each child is observed while freely flipping through the catalog at their home, possibly commenting what they see. Hence children are exposed to 99 visuals of toys or kids at play (9 incongruent). - Stage two: after closing the catalog, children are asked what they recall and which visuals. - Stage three: the interview focusses next on 4 incongruent visuals from the catalog in turn, to further explore reactions: boy+baby doll, boy+kitchen (within girls’ pages); girl+car, girl+race-track of cars (within boys’ pages). Children are requested to describe pictures, their impressions, understanding and appreciation of photos and toys. Overall, this qualitative design adds to existing research on catalogs, having provided so far only adults’ perspective on these communication supports with detailed coding studies or semiotic analysis (Pennel, 1995), by focusing on children’s reactions instead. The catalog as stimuli engages children, more at ease with visuals than words (Solomon & Peters, 2006). As noted by Moore & Lutz (2000), interpretive method with interviews offers researchers the opportunity to access additional insights into how 211

children view communication, as opposed to the closed-ended nature of experimental research, and generate rich descriptive data. Regarding the visuals’ selection, the chosen child/toy pairs are genderincongruent: children classify baby dolls and kitchens as ‘feminine’, whereas cars and race-tracks as ‘masculine’ (Tap, 1985). Also this selection of visuals allows targeting different age groups (younger age for baby doll vs kitchen, car vs race-track). To reduce order bias, the authors paid attention to having some children exposed first to girl+toy visuals (either first to the girl+car visual or girl+race-car visual), and other children first to boy+toy visuals. All sessions were registered and transcribed. Observing behaviors during sessions, co-authors took down notes. The collected material was analyzed using an iterative process (Spiggle, 1994), to develop thematic categories and identify potential links between children’s reactions and profiles. Several themes emerged in the categories, deepened by an inter interviews analysis and compared between coauthors, to reach final agreement.

Research results Exploration of catalog Intuitive understanding of gendered structure In stage one of research, children rapidly identify pages devoted to boys, girls, or neutral pages, as an intuitive process. Boys spontaneously comment boys’ pages located firstly in the catalog, pointing with excitement the toys they like, their actual possessions, and those they dream of. Then they immediately detect girls’ section, building on an automatic gender-labelling of toys, color codes, and characters from photos. The same process goes for girls, but in reverse: Charles (7): I like this gun… This boat I have it, I’d love this crane…. Now it’s for girls, I skip pages, I turn them fast. Poneys and all that, it’s for girls only. There’s a micro, but it’s pink, do they have one for boys? Paola (5): I don’t like this: it’s a boy thing. Boy, again for boys, boys always….. Ah! here it’s for girls, I love Poneys, and Polly-Pockets I don’t have them but I’d like to. While comments on their own-sex pages are numerous and favorable, showing their involvement in these toys, children react differently with the opposite-sex pages, revealing greater distance. They tend to turn these pages quicker, without watching toys pictures with attention. Many children turn them without a word or just skip some pages. Some informants give a few remarks on the opposite-sex pages:

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either they notice toys owned by other-sex relations or siblings, or they express a general dislike of opposite-sex toys.

Incongruent visuals rarely noticed, except by older girls All incongruent visuals in the catalog go unnoticed by most children, when exploring. Most infants go through the pages containing the 4 selected incongruent visuals without noticing, though they may be targeted by these visuals. Hence, positioned among other visuals in the catalog, gender incongruency does not seem salient for most children. However, the oldest girls aged 9-10 remark the 2 incongruent visuals of girl+masculine toy but not those of boy+feminine toy. Boys aged 9-10 do not notice. These girls stop and scrutinize photos, then spontaneously comment gender incongruency. Yet, they may appreciate these pictures and toys differently, in relation with their integration of gender norms. Emilie, the eldest of two brothers, highlights visuals’ gender-inappropriateness and her lack of interest for boy toys. But Pascaline who has an older brother applauds this initiative and displays stronger tolerance to girls playing at masculine games: Emilie (10): It’s rather odd: it’s a girl who plays with that car. I think it’s rather a boy toy. Pascaline (9): It’s great to put a girl in the photo, so that girls they get interested in cars too.

Visuals memorization After closing the catalog in stage two of research, spontaneous children’s memories are mostly own-sex toys. They recall toys commented before, items they would like to possess, which they appreciate or have appreciated in the past. Some children also evoke same-sex characters from photos. No mention of gender-incongruent visuals was quoted. When asked about recall of specific visuals with children, all respondents are able to cite several examples. Most memories focus on own-sex pairs of child+toy (e.g. boys quoting boy+vehicle visuals), discourse being centered on character’s gender and a brief description of the toy. Ianis (5): There was a child, a boy who played at repairing; and also boys with cars. However, incongruent visuals with girl+masculine toys are immediately recalled by girls aged 9-10 who had noticed them before. Furthermore, several children recall visuals with toys typical of the opposite gender, often because they strongly reject these toys, as Albert. Pascaline (9): There was a sort of train race-track with cars on, and the girl alone was playing 213

Albert (7): I don’t like princesses and Barbies, there were lots of them with girls at play

Focus on incongruent visuals In stage three, several variables influencing acceptance of these visuals and toys are revealed. Attainment of gender constancy and coinciding rigidity Overall, children between 7-10 years old tend to show tolerance or even indifference to gender incongruency in visuals. Hence they appreciate these toys when considered appropriate for their age (kitchen at 7; car and race-track at 7-10) or explain the target is younger than themselves (baby doll). Conversely, children at 5-6 years of age strongly reject visuals of boy+doll and girl+car, though belonging themselves to the consumer target. Expressing the gender-inappropriateness of these toys, they also comment unfavorably the characters playing in these visuals. Finally they reject these toys, associated only to the other sex. Those reactions can be explained by attainment of gender constancy between 5-7, when rigidity about gender norms intensifies, followed by greater flexibility afterwards, as outlined previously in the literature. To illustrate, whereas Albert appreciates the car visual, his younger brother Ianis (5 years) says: Ianis (5): There’s a girl playing with a car. I don’t like the photo, because it’s a girl. And I don’t like girls, because they are not like boys. It’s only a toy for girls, because it’s a girl who is playing! It’s for girls older than me, not for boys. Albert (7): There’s a girl with a remote control to make the car go quickly. I like this car and its color. It’s a toy for kids, not for the youngest, and not for super old kids. It’s for girls and boys you see, because there is a girl in the picture. Otherwise I would have said it’s a toy for boys, but if I see a girl on the picture, it means girls they can play too. Similar reactions are obtained from girls at 5-6 years of age who strongly reject this car visual, as illustrated by Paola (5), contrary to her older sister Laurie (8) who shows greater acceptance of this visual though explaining she is not really interested in cars: Paola: It’s a girl playing with toys for boy, so it sucks ! I wouldn’t like being this girl, because she plays with toys for boys, so it’s stupid! Laurie: There’s a girl playing with this car, making it jump. It’s OK, but I don’t like very much playing cars. This girl, she can play cars if she wants. But I don’t really like playing cars. Sometimes I play cars with my older brother because he doesn’t like playing alone.

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Strong rejection of the visual boy+doll is displayed by boys and girls at 5-6, while tolerance is evidenced with older children as of 7, even boys. Hence this doll is not appreciated by girls who constitute the traditional target of this toy because of the non-congruent visual (while at the same time they comment favorably the other dolls visuals on the same page), and is not able to attract boys at that age. Ianis (5): There’s nothing interesting here! because he’s not fun this boy. There’s a boy who holds a baby doll, but I don’t like it! I don’t like the baby. And I don’t like this boy either. It’s a toy for girls. Because girls they play with dolls, and boys they don’t. Albert (7): It’s a small boy, playing with a doll wearing a sweat and a cap. I don’t like dolls very much now. Sometimes, some time ago, I played with dolls, but not any more now. It’s a little more for girls. So this doll, it’s for girls and also for small boys at 2 or 3 years old, and maybe 5 or 6 years old. Jeanne (5): It’s a baby doll with a small boy. He plays with the doll. But I don’t like it! I just like the doll’s shoes. I don’t like the baby doll, I don’t like this photo! It’s a doll for boys. I would not like to have this baby doll, because I don’t want there is this boy here on the photo. I prefer these other baby dolls here, this one and also this one, these are for girls.

Own flexibility towards gender roles As of 8, some children react more unfavorably to incongruent visuals than others, rejecting visuals with doll/car and these toys. This may be due to their own flexibility towards gender roles, since flexibility vary among adults and among children after they reach gender constancy (Liben & Bigler, 2002), due to the way they have integrated gender norms. To illustrate, Eric (8), second of 3 brothers, displays great tolerance to all incongruent visuals and appreciates all toys (specifying that baby doll and kitchen are for younger boys). In contrast, his friend Lucas (8), third of 3 brothers, reacts unfavorably to pictures of girl+car and boy+doll. He outlines their gender incongruency, tends to dislike the car and reject the doll: Lucas: I don’t know if it’s a small girl or a boy on the photo. It must be a little girl, because boys don’t usually play with dolls... Ah no, when I watch closely, it’s a boy on the photo! Well, I don’t like this doll. Because you see I don’t like playing at dolls, because it’s a girl thing. I don’t like this picture, just the Christmas tree on it. This baby doll is for small girls, and not for small boys. Eric: It’s a toy for young kids, you see. Because you can tell from the boy: he is small. The boy seems to like the doll. There’s nothing I don’t like in this photo, it’s nice. But it’s a toy for young kids, boys and girls, boys at 2-3 years. It would be ridiculous for a boy my age. 215

The same process is experienced with girls. For instance, Sarah (8) reacts very favorably to the boy+doll visual, whereas Marie (8) or Laurie (8) appear less favorable: Laurie: I don’t like at all this baby doll and this boy. The baby doll looks weird and the boy does not go with it! Ah, I don’t like it, they do not fit together!

Collective nature of the game Some incongruent visuals are better accepted than others, in relation to the collective nature of the associated game. Thus girl+race-track visual is better accepted than girl+car, because a partner is needed to play: hence one from the opposite gender is tolerable. So Sylvain (5) who strongly rejected the car visual and toy, is more positive about the race-track visual and toy: I don’t like the girl on the picture, but I like the race-track. I like the remote control there. It’s for boys, and girls too, they can play too. You need to be several to play. Likewise, Paola (5) is less negative about the race-track visual than she was for the car visual: I don’t’ like cars because it’s a boy game. But here it’s possible, a girl can play with a boy to the race-track with cars, but she cannot play alone, she wouldn’t like. Similarly, boy+kitchen visual is better accepted than boy+doll: children refer to cooking as a collective activity where one can play with a partner. Also kitchen is perceived by them as a game played mainly by girls, but still acceptable for boys. Some children also refer to cooking being an activity performed at home by mum and dad, which is not quoted for nursing: Paula (5): It’s fine this kitchen. But kitchen is not a toy for boys alone. Well, a boy can play with a girl with the kitchen, this is possible. A girl can play with another girl at this kitchen, but a boy he can’t play with another boy at this kitchen. I like this kitchen. Sylvain (5): Ah, I’d like this kitchen for Christmas! There’s a little boy who plays with the kitchen, I like the oven and also the fridge, You can play kitchen with others. It’s a toy for boys and girls at 3 years. You know, cooking it’s for mums and dads; sometimes my dad cooks. Alexandre (9): I used to play with a kitchen like this before, but it’s no problem, it’s a girl’s game but in-between. It means that both boys and girls can play, but girls play more often. Interestingly, many children as of 7-8 imagine that incongruent visuals are part of a previous game played together by children from both sexes. This may help them “reconcile” these toys with the gender appropriate character playing with it, hence making visuals more acceptable. It appears that toys enabling collective game allow more easily such a recontextualisation from children. Furthermore, 216

respondents aged 7-10 also express expectations for visuals depicting boys and girls playing together with these toys, kitchen or race-track: Sarah (8): The child who was playing at race-track with this girl, he has left during the game Laurie (8): I’d put a boy on the race-track photo so that they play together with their cars on the race-track.

Conclusion To our knowledge, this research is the first to reveal children’s reactions to a Christmas toy catalog, and specifically to gender incongruent visuals contained in a catalog which represents a new trend in European presentation of these communication supports. Firstly, it shows that children have an intuitive understanding of the gendered structure of toy catalogs, identifying quickly boys/girls sections and focusing more on the pages targeting their gender. Indeed the gendered norms of catalogs denounced by researchers (Zegaï, 2010) have been strongly integrated by children of middle-upper social class and lead them to concentrate on same-sex toys and skip pages concerning the opposite gender, hence missing opportunities to discover many toys. Then, this research shows that gender incongruent visuals are not spontaneously noticed and memorized by children, except by girls aged 9-10. Hence gender incongruent visuals in catalog appear not salient to most children from upper to middle class, contrasting with the interest and controversial debates which these visuals have raised among adults and professionals37 in France. This limited awareness from children may be linked to the limited amount of non-congruent visuals inside the catalog (10%). Yet, this integration of gender non-congruent visuals in a catalog has some important consequences on children’s interest in the related toys, which are revealed by this research and discussed hereafter. Importantly this study shows that children’s acceptance/rejection of these incongruent visuals and toys is influenced by three factors. The first factor is the stage of gender constancy when rigidity about gender norms intensifies (between 5-7): children in this age group strongly reject these visuals and toys. This can be explained by attainment of gender constancy at this period coinciding with less gender flexibility (Martin, Ruble & Szkrybalo, 2002). It adds insight to prior socio-psychological literature (Trautner, 1992) by showing that children raised in an educated and egalitarian milieu also experience

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this rigidity phase. Hence visuals boy+doll and girl+car are unable to attract both boys and girls of this age group, although they represent the target consumers for these toys. These children at 5-6 are not more tolerant to girls engaging in masculine activity (playing cars) than boys engaging in feminine activity (playing at doll), which refines previous findings (Tostain & Lebreuilly, 2006). Furthermore, girls at this age do not seem more tolerant to incongruent visuals than boys: this adds to prior literature suggesting that girls could be more tolerant to the violation of gender norms than boys (Archer, 1984) while other works show no significant gender differences (Smetana, 1986). The second factor revealed in his research which influences children’s acceptance of incongruent visuals is children’s own flexibility towards gender roles at 8-10 years of age. This builds on prior socio-psychological literature (Liben & Bigler, 2002) indicating that some children – like adults – may be more flexible about gender roles than others, in connection with the gender stereotypes they have integrated. Finally, this research suggests that the third factor influencing the acceptance of incongruent visuals is the collective nature of the game. Collective games depicted with a gender inappropriate partner are better accepted than individual games by respondents, because they can be played with opposite-gender partner. This had not yet been revealed by prior literature.

Practical implications This research invites retailers to reconsider toy catalogs in view of children’s perceptions and evolution of gender norms in society. By 5-6 years, children from middle/upper social classes where violation of gender norms should be best accepted, tend to reject gender incongruent visuals and the associated toys. This should be taken into account, as it is linked to children cognitive development about gender. Yet for games with a collective nature, gender incongruency in pictures could be better accepted by children, and visuals depicting boys and girls together at play seem an even more interesting option. For children as of 8, retailers can propose mixed visuals or incongruent visuals with toys enabling collective play, in order to accompany a less traditional ideology of gender. Moreover, inserting some incongruent visuals for individual toys is possible, to attract gender-flexible children coming from modern families. But this would be less efficient for rigid children living in more ‘gender-traditional’ families. Overall, a multichannel perspective to toy catalogs should also be developed, to allow interactivity and fluidity. Online presentation could renew the way toys are proposed, building on a classification along children age, and enabling children to test and discover interactively a wider range of toys, instead of being limited to their own-sex section of toys. 218

Limitations and further research Yet this research has some limitations. First, it is limited to the catalog and visuals being tested. Second, it is limited to the age group 5-10 from middle to upper classes. Further research should focus on lower classes and younger children. Moreover, it would be interesting to conduct experimental research with children exposed to multiple incongruent visuals pairing child+toy, varying the collective vs individual nature of the toy, and varying the degree of masculinity or femininity associated to the toy. Future research could also study the combined reactions of children and their parents to gender incongruent visuals, in order to analyze the mechanisms of influence regarding gender stereotypes inside the family. Finally, cross-cultural research should be conducted to compare the way children react to incongruent visuals in other developed countries.

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Appendix: selected incongruent visuals from Système U catalog

Visual girl+car

Visual boy+baby doll

Visual girl +race-track of cars

Visual boy +kitchen

i

The supers, looking for growth, were attracted by formats that eluded the Large-scale Retail Laws which restricted opening hours and regulated the floor space of large scale retail store formats (Usui 2014: 184) ii This account is based on one student’s observations in a 7-11 store located close to a number of cram schools in the Ikebukuro area..

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