The effect of preschool (4-6 age group) child on purchase decisions of a family as one of the factors determining consumer behaviour (Practice example of Akhisar)

The modern marketing approach has based the consumers at the center of all its activities. Profitability in the long term through the satisfaction of the consumer is the aim of enterprises that have adopted the current modern marketing approach. Enterprises are in need to know the consumers closely to satisfy their requests and needs. The family is the smallest decision-making unit in society. Today, the nuclear family structure consisting of parents and children is common and decisions are taken with an egalitarian approach within these kinds of families. The changing socio-economic structure of society has also caused the roles in the family to change. Within the new family structure, children are now also family members with a say in the decisions. In this study, the effects of children aged 4-6 years on families' purchasing decisions were examined by observing different product groups. In addition, parents' thoughts on shopping experiences with their children and the socialization of children as consumers were investigated. According to the findings of this study, we observed that most of the parents in the sample group are between the ages of 31-35 and university graduates, also, the mothers are housewives, officials and teachers, and the fathers are tradesmen, workers and teachers. The sample group largely consists of middle-income, two children, egalitarian and nuclear families. Children are more effective in the purchasing behavior of the family than their parents, especially regarding products for their use. Factors affecting children's purchasing behavior are personal needs, social environment, advertisements, family members, stores, showcases, promotions and the internet. In the research, these factors were found to be related to the type of family, the education and profession of the mother and the father, the total income of the family, the number of children, the gender of the child, and the child's brand awareness, advertising message awareness, price awareness and the idea of the child being a conscious consumer. In addition, a relationship was found between the behavior of children as consumers, the mother and father's age and education, the family's monthly total income, and the number of children. As a result, the children in the 4-6 age group in the preschool education stage were effective at various levels in the purchasing and consumption decisions of the family within the framework of the limitation of the research population. Anahtar Kelimeler: Consumption, Consumer, Purchase, Family, Child.