Nathalie Guichard

How do children learn eating practices? Beyond the nutritional information, the importance of social eating

Purpose – Drawing on Bronfenbrenners ecological model, this research aims to investigate the interweaving of the socialization systems within which children learn eating practices, in order to open up new paths to build prevention and care programs against childhood obesity.Design/methodology/approach – Children were interviewed using semi‐structured interviews, including projective methods. The data were analyzed by both a manual content analysis and the use of qualitative analysis software Nvivo. Nvivo enables to cross verbatim and contributes to highlight the joint effects of socialization agents in terms of childrens eating learning.Findings – The study clarifies the interrelationships between social contexts in which children learn food practices. It points out that the different social spheres may sometimes exert contradictory influences and that food learning cannot be limited to the transmission of nutritional information, but also involves emotional and social experiences.Social implications – ...

Children’s price knowledge

Purpose – This research aims to evaluate young consumers’ knowledge of everyday product prices. Despite a large body of research on the child as consumer, few studies examine price. Design/methodology/approach – The study employs a quantitative methodology and administered questionnaires that target a sample of 224 primary school French children. Findings – The various employed measures help shed light on the pricing aspect of children’s consumption processes. In particular, the results show that although price recall is relatively weak, children become familiar with the order of price magnitudes and classify products according to their price level. Research limitations/implications – A future research could integrate that the children should be affected by internal reference price in the various tasks. Future studies could introduce other variables in the tests, such as children’s commercial experience and their experience with the stores they know. Practical implications – Firms should adapt their prici...

When children confront prices: an approach based on price presentation

Purpose – This paper seeks to examine how young consumers attribute and select product prices according to their presentation (i.e. format and ending).Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire, administered to a sample of children between six and 12 years of age, reveals that childrens allocation of prices and childrens choices depend on different price formats (i.e. non‐decimal versus decimal prices and varied price endings).Findings – Children tend to prefer round prices and to choose a 0‐ending in the decimal portion of decimal prices. However, their preferences also depend on their position as either a salesperson or a buyer.Originality/value – Research into the relationship between children and price is a relatively new field. This study uses recent works as a basis and extends the field with new insights.

La place du prix dans la socialisation de l’enfant-consommateur

Cet article s’intéresse à la place du prix dans le processus de socialisation du jeune consommateur. Il propose une synthèse des connaissances relatives aux capacités et processus liés au prix nécessaires à l’enfant pour participer aux échanges marchands. Le traitement des prix y est abordé sous différents angles : celui des compétences et des savoirs de l’enfant et celui de son utilisation en tant que consommateur – actuel et futur –, acheteur et prescripteur. Il considère également le rôle conjoint du prix et des autres variables du marketing mix dans l’expérience commerciale de l’enfant. Cette synthèse conduit à suggérer dix propositions de recherche.

The role of price in the socialisation of children as consumers

This article looks at the role of price in the socialisation of young consumers. It provides an overview of current knowledge on the capacities and processes associated with price and which are necessary for children to participate in commercial exchanges. The way in which prices are processed is approached from several perspectives: the knowledge and skills of children and how they use them as consumers, both current and future, buyers and prescribers. The article also considers the joint role played by price and other marketing mix variables in the commercial experiences of children. This overview leads to 10 research propositions.

The representation of shopping in children’s books

Purpose The purpose of this 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 50 books published over the past 60 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 is based on an immersion in children’s books that depict the world of commerce in one way or another.