Abstract:

In product fields in which children are interested and deeply involved (like sweets), they are strongly price-conscious. Despite the fact that they finance their purchases only partly by their own pocket money and rely widely on other "resources" (e.g. extra money from parents), they are looking very carefully for "value for money". This price-consciousness is even observed when the budget at hand is higher and the child could afford to buy higher priced products. There seems to be a "frame of reference" defined by a certain price level and within this price frame a specific brand/product is chosen. Higher prices for a given product range (up-trading) is only accepted, if interest in and attractiveness of the product range itself is strong enough. Finally it is assumed that price as a variable has two functions, one as the signal for quality, the other as the economical determinator of the buying attitude. This is discussed in a few examples of product development testing.