Abstract:
Over the last two to three decades, the influence of children on family
purchasing has been steadily increasing. There is a growing body of
marketing literature focusing on the involvement of adolescents in the
acquisition of products for both family and personal use. The purpose of
this study is to investigate the perceived influence of adolescents on the
purchasing of products within different family communication styles.
Data were collected through a self-administered survey distributed to
221 adolescents in Pretoria. The findings show that there was little
difference in the amount of influence of adolescents from the different
family communication styles, and also no significant differences
between the influence of male and female adolescents on product
purchases. The results confirmed that adolescents had more influence
on products for their own use than they did on products for the family’s
use. Based on the findings, suggestions for future research are discussed.
