Children: The Final Frontier . . . For Cell Phones

Table of Contents

Title Page ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………..... 1
Table of Contents ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 2
Case Analysis ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………... 3
Family Life Cycle ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….… 3
Figure 1: Consumer Development ……………………………………………………………………………………….… 4
Decision Dynamics …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..... 4
Children’s Perspective ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..... 5
Cell Phone Companies’ Perspective ………………………………………………………………………….……………..………... 6 Figure 2: Two Examples of Cell Phones Designed for Kids...….……………………………………..………... 6
Child Advocates’ Perspective …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 8
Parents’ Perspective………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…….... 8 Figure 3: Survey Questions …….………………………………................................................................. 9
Recommendations …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………... 10 Figure 4: Teen Cell Phones and Smartphones Ownership …………………………………..……………….. 11
References ……………………………………………………………………………………….………………..……..…………………….. 14
Appendix …...……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…….…………….. 16

Case Analysis Children: The Final Frontier . . . For Cell Phones
It is difficult to exist in today’s society without being influenced by the dramatic increase of the technology use and especially the use of cell phones. The cell phone market is becoming more saturated and competitive. Thus, marketers tend to look for new segment groups, study them, and eventually influence their decisions. Due to the rise reliance on technology, much of the communication between teens occurs through the digital use, particularly through their cell phones and smartphones. More than 65% of American preteens have their own cell phones. (Solomon, 2011) Consequently, marketers believe that children are the new targeted customer that will create the future market growth in the smartphone industry.
Family Life Cycle
Marketers study the family life cycle to better predict the demand of the present and future consumers. Learning the changes in the preferences and needs of the whole family that take place due to the current trends helps marketers make more accurate assumptions in regard to the future market demand of smartphones. For example, in order for smartphone marketing to influence the young customers and be involved in their lifestyle, marketers must understand the family life cycle, and changes the family household go through regarding income, number of children, the age of children, lifestyle changes like the way they communicate, and other changes and trends, and make more accurate assumptions regarding the changes of their needs and expenditures. Children go through five stages of consumer development. Consumer development is the process in which young individuals learn the attitudes and behavior patterns appropriate to their social roles. (Foxell, 2008). During the first stage, the infant is an observer to his parents’ actions. In the second stage, at the age of two on average, children request the products they want through pointing and gesturing. During the third stage and by the age of 4, they start making selections of what they want. This occurs when the child is able to locate and retrieve products. During the fourth stage, when children are about the age of 6, they usually start making purchase selections with the help of their parents. And finally by the age of eight, during the fifth stage, Children are able to make independent purchases. (Solomon, 2011) Figure 1 illustrates in a chart the five stages of consumer development, and the earliest and average age for each stage.

Decision Dynamics
Many factors influence the parents’ decision to buy their child a smartphone. Parents have a role to determine whether to buy the smartphone or not, which product and brand of choice they will decide to buy, from where to buy it, and when to buy it. Two types of decision might be involved in the process of decision making to buy a child a smartphone
Consensual Purchase decision: when all members of the family agree on the desired product (smartphone) to purchase, but they disagree on the terms of how they will achieve it. This kind of conflict would happen if the family disagree on the proper age for the child to carry a cell phone or a smartphone.
Accommodative Purchase decision: With this type, family members might have more conflict and disagreements than with the consensual purchase decision. The accommodate purchase decision occurs when family members disagree on the smartphone preference, needs, and expectations involved. Family members try to reach an agreement by compromising, bargaining or coercing. Parents can set rules for the child to earn the smartphone. For instance, if the child gets good grades then he gets to keep his/her cell phone. There are other factors play a role in the decision making of buying a smartphone for the child, such as the child’s assertiveness and the parent’s child-centeredness. (Solomon, 2011)
Child Assertiveness: the more assertive the child is, the more likely his parents will purchase his/her product preference. This part depends on how much input is initiated at the child’s end. Parent’s child-centeredness: the more child-centered the parent, the more likely he/she will purchase the child’s preference of smartphones. (Solomon, 2011)

Children’s Perspective
“Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.” – James Baldwin (Acuff, 1997) Children between the ages of 8 and 12 (tweens) on average are no longer interested in their toys, Barbie dolls, and toy cars. Instead, they placed their interests in video games and smartphones. There are many factors that influence the child’s behavior as a consumer. The main factor is the parents. As stated earlier, the first stage of consumer development is observing and exploring. Children observe their parents and try to imitate them when possible.
Tweens are the age group that is highly affected by age compression. Age compression is a social phenomenon when tweens are acting older and growing up faster than previous generations. (Michman, 2003) Tweens want to feel independent and adult-like. As a result, they prefer the “real-deal” products that make them look and feel older. Moreover, because of the developed cognitive awareness and the social sensitiveness that follows awareness, children normally at the age of 8 start needing to feel accepted and approved by their peers. When choosing products, they focus on “what’s cool” and “what’s in”. They are group-oriented, so they look at the environment around them for what to believe and how to behave. Tweens are attracted to personalized products that empower their self-importance and self-worth. (Acuff, 1997) Tweens prefer the cool looking cell phones over the cute kiddie ones, because a cell phone for a tween is not just a device for communication, it is a symbol of coolness and status.

Cell phone Companies’ perspective
Firefly, LG Migo, Disney and others started making cell phones for children. They designed them with the traditional keyboard which are suitable for smaller hands. Figure 2 provides two examples of those phones. Cell phone companies offered calling plans that are both appropriate for the use of children and convenient for their parents. But then again, children were not interested in the kiddie-looking cell phones. Instead, they preferred adult cell phones. They “don’t want what we call “fisher price” phones. They want the real deal, with the camera and the QWERTY keyboard for text messaging” said a Verizon Wireless spokesman. (Solomon, 2011) When cell phone companies realized that kids nowadays are hunting for “what’s cool”, they acted accordingly. Companies now have smartphones for children, with the camera and the QWERTY keyboard.
Because a family with children has different needs than the average family, cell phone companies offer fitting family services with features that address the needs of children as well as for their parents. Cell phone companies offer parental control packages to control children’s cell phone use by their parents. The packages include services that allows parents to control the date and time their children are allowed to use their phone. In addition, The Global Positioning System technology allows parents to locate their children when they are unable to call them. George Grobar, who is the senior vice president and general manager of Disney Mobile stated on the Disney Mobile website “We built a complete mobile experience that is specifically designed to meet their needs and is uniquely Disney from end-to-end. Disney Mobile will allow parents to manage their family 's phone use and help teach kids responsible.” (Disney, 2006)
Furthermore, Disney Mobile is not the only company that offers appropriate plans for children. In fact, most cell phone companies now offer parental control plans, in which the parents can add their child to their existing plan, and customize the child’s cell phone use according to their preference. Parental control packages allow parents to monitor their child’s phone activity, block picture text messaging, allow GPS to keep track of their location, and block the child from using their phone at inappropriate times. The Appendix provides two pictures demonstrating Sprint Mobile Control plan. The first picture shows how parents can lock their child’s phone during customized hours or scheduled hours like school hours or at night, and only allowing the child to call 911 if needed. The second picture is an example of the child’s texting summary throughout the day and the week. Parents can also block unfamiliar numbers from contacting their children. Because cell phone companies believe that customers are getting younger and younger, they target the youth group to establish a relationship marketing, and to ensure brand loyalty and long term commitment.
The youth use of smartphones is inevitable. The study of Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University found that teens are relying more on their smartphones to access the internet than any other devices. The mobile access to the internet is increasing. The study concluded that about three in four (74%) teens, ages 12-17, are “mobile internet users” who say that they access the internet from their phones at least occasionally. One in four teens are “cell-mostly” internet users, which is far more than the percentage of adults who are “cell-mostly” internet users (15%). This means that cell phone companies have succeeded in targeting the young consumer, and in involving their products in the young consumer’s lifestyle. (Berkman, 2013)

Child Advocates’ Perspective
While child advocates believe that children have no need to carry cell phone at a young age, their main concern is the child’s safety. Ralph Nader and others worry that cell phones would make children more vulnerable to pedophiles and predators, because of the difficulty on the parents’ part to monitor their kids’ electronic communication. Child advocates are opposed to children-targeted ads in general. They believe that direct marketing to children and preteens is an unethical way to maximize profit, and it undermines the parents’ authority. According to Ralph Nader “Companies deceptively excite youngsters to buy massive amounts of products that are bad for their safety, health and minds.” (Nader, 2005) Nader is the co-founder of Commercial Alert, a nonprofit organization that focuses on keeping the corporate culture and marketing temptations away from children. Child advocates believe in the disturbing, potential impact on the development of young children from the heavy exposure of violent and entertaining advertisement. For that reason and many more, Commercial Alert tries to prevent corporations from influencing children’s buying behavior, and consequently stop them from trying to pre-gain children’s brand loyalty and engagement.
Parents’ Perspective
Parents seldom fall for prestige and coolness when deciding whether to buy their kids cell phones or not. A survey was conducted by the National Consumers League in June of 2012. Among 802 adults who are the parents of children between the age of 8 and 12. According to the survey, safety is the most important reason parents bought cell phones for their tweens. Figure 3 from the National Consumers League survey, shows the parents responses for reasons they purchased a cell phone for their child.

Moreover, 273 parents were asked whether they regret buying their tween a cell phone or not. 243 responded that they had no regrets buying their tween a cell phone. And the thirty who had regrets, they mentioned issues such as the concern of not knowing who their children are communicating with, and some wish they shopped around before buying the phone because they believe that they spend too much for the service. Most parents from the survey discuss ground rules with their children before buying them a cell phone. (NCL, 2012)
Providing cell phones for their children offers the parents a peace of mind for many reasons, like the ability to spot their children’s location any time they want, the ability to communicate with them whenever necessary, and the conformity of knowing that their children can use their phone to call 911 if they are ever in danger.

Recommendations:
Children play the roles of the primary market, influence market, and the future market. Children and teens are estimated to influence between $130 billion and $500 billion in family purchases annually. (CSMonitor, 2000) Past marketing strategies targeting tweens to pre-gain product engagement have apparently succeeded in gaining their attention and money. In order for cell phone companies to maintain children’s brand loyalty and long term commitment, their products must be convincing to both parents and children. Children to be convinced, first they must be exposed to smartphones in early stages of the consumer development, but more effort should be targeted to children older than the age of 6, because the younger their age is, the less likely for them to cognitively distinguish between cartoon programs and commercials.
Even though the cell phone ownership among teens has been stable since 2011, the ownership of smart phone has grown significantly from 23% in 2011 to 37% in 2012. Figure 4 from the same study that was conducted by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society on teens and technology shows the percentages of teens’ cell phones and smartphones ownership. (Berkman, 2013)
Children learn their consuming behavior as they observe their parents’ actions. “Researchers find evidence of intergenerational influence when they study the product choices of mothers and their daughters”. (Solomon, 2011) Because parents are the most important influencer in the consumer development process, smartphones have to first be convincing for parents to carry them, in order for kids to be exposed to them, and eventually own them. Passing down product preference from generation to another promotes brand loyalty. Marketing strategies approach adults in a different way that they approach children. Marketers should highlight to the parents the positive effect of the smartphone on the child and the parents themselves. For instance, promoting apps that act as a baby sitter to the kid, when the mother is busy. For toddlers and preschoolers, there are educational apps that aid the mental development at earlier stages which can be beneficial for the child and convenient for the parent. For a tween, a smartphone can be used as a tool to keep track of assignments, as well as the apps to aid the tween’s learning skills.
Marketers and developers should be concerned with the moral implications that are communicated through their advertisement content and through smartphones themselves, because media has a big power and impact on children that should not be abused. (Gummesson, 2002) For instance; violence should not be carried out in any kind of cell phone advertisement targeted for children, or any kind of advertisement for that matter. Advertising for the youth is critical, not only because they make a great impact on the market, but also because children are developing their identities and they can be easily influenced by the environment around them. Further, while marketers spend billions of dollars a year targeting children, advertising must emphasize the benefits of smartphones in a fun and entertaining way. It is more likely for an advertisement to grab the attention of the child if it appealed in a humor sense. (Acuff, 1997) Because children admire certain superheroes, heroes, stars and celebrities, according to Acuff, the use of smartphones for educational purposes can be advertised through Elmo, cookie monster, and for tweens it can be promoted by Justin Bieber and other celebrities that tweens admire.
Spreading awareness of the appropriate use of phones in public among children is a way to create a positive impact of technology on the new generation. This can be achieved through TV advertisements on children’s channels and during children shows, and on apps where millions of kids hang out, such as Whyville. Emphasizing such cultural values gives the parents a motive to buy their children a smartphone, and gives cell phone companies an opportunity to gain a good reputation and respect from the public for caring for being socially responsible.
As mentioned earlier, it is essential for the parents to be convinced to buy their children smartphones. One way to do so is by stressing the safety aspect of carrying a smartphone, because parents care and worry about children’s safety. The safety feature of smartphones should be advertised by cell phone companies for family households. With family control plans, parents can navigate online to keep track of their children’s location, their calling and texting activities, and they can even control when and where their children can use their own smartphones. Because offering parents this kind of services and features creates a less stressful and demanding lifestyle, parents become more tolerable to the decision of buying their child a cell phone. Family control plans give the parents an advantage of using the child’s smartphone as a tool of reward for a good grade or behavior, or a tool of punishment by locking the phone until room is clean or assignments are taken care of. Additionally, promoting the promising peace of mind that smartphones can provide for parents is a reasonable approach marketers can follow.

References
About Us. (n.d.). Commercial Alert — Protecting communities from commercialism. Retrieved May 13, 2014, from http://www.commercialalert.org/about/
Acuff, D. S., & Reiher, R. H. (1997). What kids buy and why: the psychology of marketing to kids. New York: Free Press.
Davis-Packard, K., & Campbell, K. (2000, September 18). How ads get kids to say, I want it!. The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved May 15, 2014, from http://www.csmonitor.com/2000/0918/p1s1.html
Deshpande, R. (1999). Developing a market orientation. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications.
Disney Corporate Press Releases. (2006, June 13). The Walt Disney Company. Retrieved May 11, 2014, from http://thewaltdisneycompany.com/disney-news/press-releases/2006/06/disney-mobile-%E2%84%A2-available-now
Foxall, G. R., & Goldsmith, R. E. (1994). Consumer psychology for marketing. London: Routledge.
Grover, R. (2006). The handbook of marketing research uses, misuses, and future advances. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Gummesson, E. (2002). Total relationship marketing marketing strategy moving from the 4Ps--product, price, promotion, place--of traditional marketing management to the 30Rs--the thirty relationships--of a new marketing paradigm (2nd ed.). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Madden, M., Lenhart, A., Duggan, M., Cortesi, S., & Gasser, U. Teens and Technology 2013. Pew Research Center, 202.419.4500 .
Maddock, R. C. (2000). Motigraphics the analysis and measurement of human motivations in marketing. Westport, Conn.: Quorum Books.
McKay, C., & Wolf, A. A. (2012, July 10). National Consumers League. Survey: Majority of 'tweeners ' now have cell phones, with many parents concerned about cost -. Retrieved May 13, 2014, from http://www.nclnet.org/newsroom/press-releases/681-survey-majority-of-tweeners-now-have-cell-phones-with-many-parents-concerned-about-cost
Michman, R. D., & Mazze, E. M. (2003). Lifestyle marketing: reaching the new American consumer. Westport, Conn.: Praeger.
Nader, R. (2013). Told you so: the big book of weekly columns (Seven stories press first ed.). New York: Seven Stories Press.
Solomon, M. R. (2007). Consumer behavior: buying, having, being ([Australian version]. ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW.: Pearson Education Australia.
Parents, Tweeners and Cell Phones: Attitudes and Experiences. (2012, July 10). . Retrieved May 19, 2014, from http://www.nclnet.org/images/PDF/tween_cell_survey.pdf

Appendix
Sprint Mobile Control

References: About Us. (n.d.). Commercial Alert — Protecting communities from commercialism. Retrieved May 13, 2014, from http://www.commercialalert.org/about/ Acuff, D Davis-Packard, K., & Campbell, K. (2000, September 18). How ads get kids to say, I want it!. The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved May 15, 2014, from http://www.csmonitor.com/2000/0918/p1s1.html Deshpande, R Disney Corporate Press Releases. (2006, June 13). The Walt Disney Company. Retrieved May 11, 2014, from http://thewaltdisneycompany.com/disney-news/press-releases/2006/06/disney-mobile-%E2%84%A2-available-now Foxall, G Grover, R. (2006). The handbook of marketing research uses, misuses, and future advances. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Maddock, R. C. (2000). Motigraphics the analysis and measurement of human motivations in marketing. Westport, Conn.: Quorum Books. Nader, R. (2013). Told you so: the big book of weekly columns (Seven stories press first ed.). New York: Seven Stories Press. Solomon, M. R. (2007). Consumer behavior: buying, having, being ([Australian version]. ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW.: Pearson Education Australia. Parents, Tweeners and Cell Phones: Attitudes and Experiences. (2012, July 10). . Retrieved May 19, 2014, from http://www.nclnet.org/images/PDF/tween_cell_survey.pdf Appendix