Young Consumers, Deprivation, and Christmas Commercialisation

Background

Children as consumers are studied from various perspectives in the field of marketing. Some scholars view them as developing beings, others suggest viewing children in here and now and as autonomous individuals and consumers in their own rights (Nairn et al. 2008 and Martens et al. 2004). In relation to adult consumers, Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) advances our understanding of consumption and consumer behaviour and represents, according to Arnould & Thompson (2005, p.868): ‘a family of theoretical perspectives that address the dynamic relationships between consumer actions, the marketplace, and cultural meanings’. This theory is based on the well-studied assumptions that products/ brands are being purchased, not only for utility reasons, but also for their symbolic meanings (Elliot & Wattanasuwan, 1998; Levy, 1959). Furthermore, consumers are viewed as active individuals who, through consumption and the symbolic meanings of brands, define themselves and locate themselves in a social world (Patterson & O’Malley, 2006; Elliot & Wattanasuwan, 1988; Fournier, 1998; Levy, 1959). At the same time, marketing scholarship now acknowledges that children are consumers in their own right and consumers who actively influence the purchasing power of their parents (Gbadamosi, 2010, 2012; Buckingham, 2011; Marshall, 2010; McNeal, 1999). However, the literature on children as active consumers remains very limited (Lopez & Rodrriguez (2018).