Asian children reveal extent of influence - 'Pester power' strongest among Korean kids, followed by Japan and Thailand

Kids as consumers are proving themselves a force to be reckoned with, exerting a strong influence on a large variety of household purchases, according to Cartoon Networks' New GenerAsians survey. South Korean kids had the strongest "pester power", followed by Japanese and Thai kids, in the way they influenced brand purchase decisions, from everyday products like toothpaste to high end items like computers. "Kids choose products, lobby for brands, howl with rage at 'uncool' purchases and scream when they get the wrong toothpaste ... for the 'youth' market, it's even worse," said Mr Tim Foley, director of regional research at Optimum Media Direction, which co-funded the survey. Parents and kids were separately asked to rate the degree of influence or pester power that children have over the purchase decisions in more than 30 categories. As expected, kids had the strongest say in the purchase of school supplies, ice cream, their shoes and clothing. While kids and parents don't agree on most things, they both agree kids have a strong influence on where the family's money is being spent, the survey found. By indexing kids' total weekly income, including pocket money, gifts and jobs, the survey also found that spending habits differed widely among kids across Asia-Pacific. Credit card companies may want to note that Indian kids showed the highest propensity to spend, however, in absolute money terms, Australian children were the biggest spenders. Reflecting their national "anabada" (frugality) drive, South Korean kids appeared the most conservative in spending. While kids from Malaysia and Thailand also shared a high awareness of the Asian economic crisis, they appeared to be trying to spend their way out of the recession. A variety of other issues were covered in the survey, including aspects of children's lives, their aspirations, how they spend money, and opinions on a wide range of subjects from new technology to toys and games, sports and entertainment, food and drinks, and fashion to cars. When it comes to eating, an apple a day was quickly being replaced by a Big Mac and fries in many countries. Hong Kong kids had the largest appetite for fast food, with 24 per cent tucking in at least once a day, while Thailand was only a few burgers behind at 22 per cent daily consumption. McDonald's came out as the top fast food choice in seven out of 12 markets. Coca-Cola is definitely it for kids, with 10 out of 12 markets choosing the brand as their favourite thirst quencher, although Pepsi scored two victories in the cola wars as the top choice in India and Thailand. The other favourite brands were Levi's, Nike and McDonald's. Acer, Nokia, Kellogg's, Ferrero Rocher and Casio enjoyed the highest brand recall rate. New GenerAsians covered 29 cities across 14 markets in the region, with a sample size of 7,752.

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