More on Pester Power, "Agents" and the Parents

It is true that Pester Power targets the earning adults ready to spend their money wherein the main Influencer, Initiator and probably the "Consumer" are only the pestering agents , ie., the Kids. But, then it is very important to Identify the Markets where our Initiators are basically adamant and forceful with their pestering power. With respect to the Indian context, it may be Kids are interested in Toys, Electronic Games, TV, Music Systems, Chocolate, Biscuits, Cakes and other Snacks. Cricket Bats, balls and other tyes of outdoor/indoor playing utilies or in present context even iPods or Mobile Phones!!! This is only a illustrative list and not a conclusive one.
But we need to understand if there is a similarity in their liking for and hence the pestering process to happen.

The fact is that for majority of the products that the child does the pestering, a common theme lies in the fact that:

• Usage of the Product does not require the Parental Guidance or Control.
• In addition the parent has the least involvement with these product purchased.
• The usage is majorly restricted to young or young at Heart.

However, there are also widespread paradigm shifts in the products for which pester power works itself! We shall discuss about them later. As far the marketing goes, this is a huge oppportunity targetting a specific set of Influencers.

One has to look at the success of the electronic games market to understand the importance of kids’ influence on their parents’ spending.Last year games marketers, dominated by the likes of Sony, Nintendo and most recently Microsoft, made more money than the film industry.With the success of markets such as these, kids’ products are today recognised as being big business, and the role children play in purchasing decisions has similarly increased in importance to marketers.

“A quarter of parents in their thirties take their children shopping with them and more than half of this age group take their kids shopping with them at least every second time, so there is a big opportunity for kids to influence brand choices there.”Ingenuity Research’s “Australians Today Consumer Insights” report is based on interviews with Australian kids aged six to 13 and their parents.

This year the report stated kids are most likely to influence the buying of snack foods: chips (56% of parents agreed), biscuits (48%) and other savoury snacks.Almost 30% of parents also said they buy the toothpaste their kids choose and 44% will buy a brand of spread, such as peanut butter, their children select.
But whether kids want a particular brand of peanut butter, or the latest game release, Einsteinz Toy Box MD Steve Quinlan says pester power is as much about the environment children are brought up in, as the kind of advertising to which they are exposed. He says it should not surprise anyone that kids will throw groceries into a shopping trolley, considering they have watched their parents and other shoppers do just that since their first trip to the supermarket. As we see Pester power doesn’t just come from the children—they are being influenced by their parents and their environment. From a marketing perspective, that’s a powerful tool. Researchers say that marketing aimed at children should not be interpreted as a means of forcing kids to drive their parents crazy to buy them a particular product—it is not brainwashing.

There will be trends and fads and things that kids get excited about, but that’s the same as anybody, we all have our cravings. It’s just basic marketing—you have to make a product appeal to kids, else your product will end up on the toy scrap heap. One has got to make the kids want what he is selling.”The same rules can apply to fast-moving consumer goods(FMCG) where kids might have a say in the choice of a particular product.The best way to market for the pestering kids, according to The Marketing Store MD Asia Pacific Christian Roth, is to provide a “rational or emotional benefit” that the parent can see.

Pester Power and Marketing

One of the important aspect of marketing involves understanding thought process of pestering agents, identifying the products that can be targeted for them and reaching them by proper means and ensuring that the purchase process does happen. Still if you are not certain of who these "Pestering Agents" let me explain some of the concepts that will make the things clear.

Pester Power: "The power children have, by repeated nagging, of influencing their parents to buy advertised or fashionable items".

It has been observed in many societies over a long period of time that children always have the power to influence their parent's purchase process. This is quite significant as usually the parents give up their stands for the relentless pestering of children for the substances they like. More often than not, the parents tend to buy items that they find to be trivial and have low involvement, but usually it happens that, they are the costliest item on their purchase list.

From a marketing perspective, we can look at various aspects of the "Pestering Agents" behaviors:

• The way in which the pestering differs between a girl and a boy and how they approach the "Pestering process"
• The difference in pestering mechanism of children of different age groups, like "KIDS", "TWEENS" and "TEENS".
• Impact of the promotions and offers in their decision for pestering.
• Impact of size, colour, appearance and taste(INDULGENCE) for the pestering to happen.
• The changing times and societal influences on pestering for the products.

I will also explain in detail the purchase process and emotional state of the parents during and after the purchase process and "Strategies" that the parents devise to avoid the pestering effect. In addition we will also look at the To understand the buying behavior of the children, we will also look at how "Visibility" matters for the children for the purchase they make on their own and their unplanned purchase process and the scope it allows for the marketers to target them.

Importantly, the pestering mechanism of the children need not be restricted only to the products that they consume, It can be even the products that their parents use and their siblings and peers use. I will further discuss on the aspects that make them to "pester" for these products which they would not use, but feel-good buying those for their siblings or parents or friends.

"What does this display name mean????!"

The Nimhsa Logic:
Let me start with clearing the common query. Many people have asked me what does my display name "nimhsa" represent. Some thoughtfuls have partly identified a relation between ASHWIN and NIMHSA. They inquisitively told me that I have written my name in reverse, but instead of writing NIWHSA (which could be the exact reverse), I have replaced 'W' with 'M'. I am happy that some had better observational skills, though the logic doesn't end there!!

Carefully follow the instructions:

• Take a piece of paper, a 'bit' sized one used for examination is sufficient.
• Write ASHWIN on the piece of paper.
• Now turn the paper through 180 degrees, i.e., turn the paper upside down.
• Now a bit of imagination is required. Imagine that 'A inverted' at the end is alone turned through 180 degrees.
• Hurray! This is how the name is obtained.

Rules for the Logic:

1. The alphabet is symmetrical about either horizontal or vertical axes.
2. If condition 1 is not satisfied, the split part of the alphabet must be the inverted image of the other split part of the alphabet about the axis. eg:'N', 'S'
3. The alphabet must be symmetrical about both the axis. eg: 'H', 'I', 'O', 'X'
4. If condition 1 is satisfied and condition 3 is violated, the alphabet must be some other alphabet when inverted. eg: 'M', 'W'
5. The comprehensive list includes the alphabets H, I, M, N, O, S, W, X.

Disclaimer:

All copyrights reserved for the usage of this logic. Restrain from using "The Nimhsa Logic".